Summary and response 1315 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summary and response 1315 - Assignment Example Joe Posnanski expresses a sharp criticism of the well known baseball players such as Willie Mays who had received a lot of public recognition due to their exemplary performance on the pitch. In his opinion, such athletes are not genuine and their great performance is a result of the use of steroids which enhances their performance. Cheating in his opinion amounts to any form of divergence to the officially allowed rules of the game which some writers and athletes seem to ignore. The cheerleading aspect that Jennie Yabroff is against is that of the view that cheerleaders are generally people with low moral standards. The view has been in existence due to the conduct of some of the cheerleaders. The cheerleaders need to disapprove this general belief by being good examples and role models to the society. The argument is found in the second page in the last paragraph. Sara Maratta is of the opinion that sporting activities are still dominated by men. The view is supported in his book by sidelining of Andrea Kremer a football reported who has witnessed criticism for her comments on men’s game. Female fans do not receive a fair treatment from their male counterparts who tend to sideline them in their fan base despite having sacrificed to attend the

Human activity causing climate change

Human activity causing climate change Climate is changing in a horrid way. The change is influenced both by natural reason and human activities. El Nino, the Earth surface temperature increased, acid rains and many phenomenons are damaging the environment. Experts are worried about the rapid changing climate, because the change may fetch people many big disasters. Worldwide people are trying to find the solution and save humanity. This essay will discuss how human activities contribute to climate change, and give some advice how to prevent the Earth. Human activities in causing climate change It is clear that human activities accelerate the climate change. The first part of essay will canvass 2 human activities that effect climate change. Burning fossil fuels The earth surface temperature increasing owe to greenhouse gases, because they carry the short-wave radiation from the Sun to the Earth (NSW Department of Primary Industries, 2008). Obviously, more greenhouse gases mean severe climate change. Before showing the reasons of greenhouse gases growth, people need to understand what greenhouse gases are. The reason why people call these gases greenhouse gases is because they work like a glass greenhouse that heats up with the radiation trapped by the glass (NSW Department of Primary Industries, 2008). Greenhouse gases are not just one kind of gas, actually it includes water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide (NSW Department of Primary Industries, 2008:2). Obviously, because of the high-level greenhouse gases concentration, the temperature became higher than before. However, burning fossil fuels are the arch-criminal of rising greenhouse gases in atmospheric has accelerated. Excessive human emissions also caused 1.4 ÂÂ °F gone up in the past century (Pew Centre on Global Climate Change, 2008b). Burning fossil fuels not only cause greenhouse gases to contribute to climate change, but also sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides contribute to climate change because of their ability to create acid rain. Acid rains which have baneful influences on buildings, trees and animals are also bad for climate (John, S et al. 2006). Overuse of the natural resources Apart from burning fossil fuels, the reason why climate change in such a fast way is overuse of the natural resources. The natural resources on the Earth are limited, no matter non-renewable resources or renewable resources. It seems that the growing population of mankind does not realize the facts; people always exploit more resources than peoples requirement to make sure the trend of growth. Conspicuously, overuse the nature resources becomes one part of causation led to climate change. People knows that many daily supplies made from wood, such as papers, some clothes and furniture, ordered more and more trees felled. As previously mentioned, greenhouse gases are bad for climate, and one of the methods to decrease is more plants. Tress can absorb carbon dioxide, and mitigate the consistency of greenhouse gases. However, the bad news is that the solution is dissatisfying for overusing the natural resources. As a result, deforestation exacerbates the climate. On the other hand, defor estation also conduces to desertification which contributes on climate change. Land degradation can also lead to environmental degradation, poverty, migration and the cycle of conflict, but also often affected countries and regions, political stability risks (UNCCD: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, 2009). People who live here need to deforest to earn money to make live. Outline further deterioration may be prevented After discussing the human activities, the second part of essay will bring forward 2 solutions that may protect the environment. Government regime As mentioned above, burning fossil fuels is one of the human activities that contribute to climate change. Factories create electricity by burning fossil fuels. To solve the problems, government regime seems to be an indispensable method. Nowadays, there is an effective policy that is accepted in Australia and some European countries, which named cap and trade (Minter-Ellison, 2007). The regime relate to electricity generation, transport, industrial process, forestry, agriculture and waste (Minter-Ellison, 2007). The policy means government will cap the greenhouse gases emissions for every factory or else. For instance, a factory has to pay for the emissions if it emit more greenhouse gases than the cap, also a factory can sale its emissions if it emit less greenhouse gases than the cap. With government regime, people and factories are encouraged to reduce the measure of burning fossil fuels. This is a good example for government to constitute some policies, order emitters prevent en vironment on their own inititiative. Exploit new energy and find how to use the new energy The second solution is to exploit new energy, and find how to use the new energy. Because people is used to manufacture some fuels by wooden, deforestation is hard to avoid. Account for the problem, to exploit new energy is imminent. Actually some new energy like wind and solar power have been found for many years, but for the limit of science, people can not use the new energy well. For example, people have no idea about solar power when it is cloudy. Fortunately, PSEG Global, a company found the method to use wind and store wind. According to their announcement, when wind power beyond the need of consumer, they will store the wind in underground caverns or in tanks. During the peak hours, the stored wind will release and become energy (Davidson, P. 2008). Besides, scientist also exploited some other new energy and found how to use. E-Coal is one kind of new energy which substitutes for coal. E-Coal was called no greenhouse gases emission fuel, because it was made by biomass, though E-Coal liberate carbon dioxide when burning, E-Coal can absorb equal carbon dioxide during their life (Davidson, P. 2008). In conclusion, human activities like burning fossil fuels and overusing the natural resources changed climate a lot. Only nowadays people are aware of the importance of environmental, and start to solve the problems. Government and scientists have been working to find the solution. Everyone lives in the Earth, so everybody has to do their best to protect environment. References Davidson, P. (2008) Energy Innovators: 4 creative solutions to energy problems (abridged). USA Today. Available at: http://news.tnanytime.org/energy/node/1074 John Slaght, Paddy Harben and Anne Pallant (2009) Acid rain in Norway. In: Reading Writing Source Book, UK, Garnet Publishing Minter-Ellison (2007) News alert New Zealand Government outlines its climate change solutions Available at: http://www.minterellison.com/public/connect/Internet/Home/Legal+Insights/Alerts/NA-NZ+Government+outlines+its+climate+change+solutions NSW Department of Primary Industries (2008) What is climate change? Available at: http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/topics/climate-change/causes Pew Centre on Global Climate Change (2008b) The causes of global climate change. Science Brief, Number 1 Available at: http://www.pewclimate.org/docUploads/global-warming-science-brief-august08.pdf UNCCD: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. UNCCD Thematic Fact Sheet Series No. 1 Climate change and desertification. Available at: http://www.unccd.int/documents/Desertificationandclimatechange.pdf last accessed 28 October 2009

Avian Influenza and Its Expected Ramifications Essay -- Disease/Disord

Over the past fifteen years H5N1 influenza (also known as Avian Flu or Bird Flu) has become a common topic of speculation and debate worldwide, causing quite a bit of confusion about its possible impacts on our society. At this point in time it is generally recognized by the international medical community that Avian Flu is bound to become a pandemic, most likely within the next ten years. Research on Avian Flu and its effects have led many scholars to make grave predictions of major global turmoil while a small portion of medical scientists remain skeptical, believing we will have enough time to thoroughly prepare for the outbreak. The one thing that nearly all health professionals seem to agree upon is that the avian flu will surely have a large impact on the development of humankind. To truly understand the threat of this disease and what we must do to prepare for it, we need to look at the issue from multiple angles and consider what the spread of a disease so lethal and so pron e to mutation would mean for our daily lives, health professionals, laws and government procedures, and of course the continuation of the human race. It is necessary in order to understand Avian Flu's impacts on society to first understand what H5N1 influenza is. Like any virus, influenza viruses cannot reproduce on their own the way bacteria can. Technically, viruses aren’t even alive because in order for them to reproduce, they must take over the living cell of another organism. This makes all viral diseases notoriously hard to cure because modern research has yet to reveal a medication or procedure that can kill a virus without killing its host. The best medications that we currently have available to treat viruses can only prevent the virus fro... ...pe.com/viewarticle/757540>. Swain, James C., Linda L. Chezem, Caroline S. Cooper, Kim B. Norris, Carolyn T. Ortwein, Ronald J. Taylor, Fred Wilson, Francis Schmitz, Daniel O'Brien, Clifford Reeves, Elaine Snyder, 13) Thomas, James C., and Siobhan Young. "Wake Me Up When There's a Crisis: Progress on State Pandemic Influenza Ethics Preparedness." American Journal of Public Health 101.11 (2011): 2080-082. ProQuest. ProQuest, 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. . 14) Thomas Rhatigan, Joseph A. Trotter, Christopher Billeter, and Lenzing Lahdon. "Guidelines for Pandemic Emergency Preparedness Planning: A Road Map for Courts." CDC.gov. Center for Disease Control, Apr. 2007. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. .

Proposal: to Increase Breastfeeding Rates in New York

Public Budgeting Professor Lynch Spring 2009 Proposal to: Increase Breastfeeding Rates in New York Introduction In a time when overwhelming research shows that human milk is superior to any sort of manufactured human milk substitute, with great economic benefits for breastfeeding families, the health care system, and society in general, breastfeeding is no longer seen as just an individual choice, but as a public health challenge that deserves more publicity to create supportive systems and environments for mothers to breastfeed. Human milk is more than food, it’s a living substance like blood that have active germs fighting and health ingredients to help protect babies against all kinds of common or un-common infections. Human milk have all the necessary nutrients and a low protein content a baby will need and any period of breastfeeding a women can give either short or long would be of benefit. The national goals set by Health People 2010 are for 75% of women to initiate breastfeeding, for 50% to still be breastfeeding at 6 months and 25 % by 12 months. Billions of healthcare dollars would be saved if more infants were exclusively breastfed and for a longer time. The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) Page 2 estimates that $2 billion per year are spent by families on infant formula and that $3. 6 – 7 billion dollars could be saved each year in preventable conditions if breastfeeding rates were increased to the recommended levels. Breastfeeding is one of the most important aspects of infant health. When babies are fed with formula rather than breast milk they are more likely to be sick more often and more seriously. The health problems that infants encounter for not breastfeeding are gastrointestinal, respiratory, and ear infections. There are negative health consequences to not breastfeeding for the mother also. The mothers experience more postpartum bleeding and delayed uterine involution, return or no return to pre-pregnancy weight and increase risk of ovarian cancer. Additionally, formula feeding is not good for the environment since it burdens our landfills and required more fuels for its manufacturer and preparation. It also creates pollution from required products during the manufacturing of plastic bottles and containers for the storage and delivery of infant formula Despite evidence that in New York State there has being a decrease in the number of women who initiates breastfeeding, minority and low income women are still being reluctant to promote breastfeeding. According to the New York State Department of Health is goal is to provide the physical and emotional well-being of childbearing mothers and their infants by increasing the rate and duration of breastfeeding in the State. Page 3 The overall percentage of New York women breastfeeding is 76. 3% higher than that of the entire United States. However, the overall rate of women New York exclusively breastfeeding for the first 6 months is only 8. 4%, 3 months exclusively 25. 5% and 12 months 24. 6 %. Existing Law Several laws have been enacted in New York to protect a woman’s right to breastfeed. In August of 2007 Governor Eliot Spitzer sing into legislation protecting rights of nursing mother in the workplace, that requires employers to provide uncompensated time and private space to express milk or nurse their children for a period of time. A bill was introduced to amend the public health law in relation to breastfeeding mother’s bill of rights. The public health law was amended by adapting a new section 2505 which specifies that a patient bill of rights for breastfeeding should be posted in a public place in each maternal health care facility. The Breastfeeding Bill of Rights was re-introduced for breastfeeding practice and the New York State Rules and Regulations for more to be done to protect mother’s right to breastfeed her child, but also empower and supports new mothers as they seek to breastfeed their children. Page 4 Proposal To address this issue I am proposing breastfeeding legislation that would: 1)Change a hospital stay policy that does not provide adequate time for mother’s milk to come in or for appropriate education and support. )Recommend that all licensed nurses working within a maternity unit of a hospital receive a minimum of 18 hours of training on basic lactation management and demonstrate a specified level of competencies; and 3)Recommend teaching all licensed doctors in Obstetrics and Child Health to diagnose and treat the medical problems that comes between baby and mothers whom are breastfeeding; and 4) To recognize the importance of breastfeeding in maternal child health Women experie nce many barriers to successful breastfeeding, the proposed legislation would address three of the many problems that occurs during the most vulnerable time. The early postpartum period is critical to the successful establishment of lactation making what occurs during this short time extremely important. A breastfeeding woman can always switch to formula feeding very easily; the decision to bottle feed is very hard to reverse after only a few days. Page 5 Rationale for restricting formula marketing: Women need to feel confident in their ability to adequately nourish their babies. Exposure to formula marketing and free samples of formula has been shown to undermine a woman’s confidence, especially if she is encountering difficulties to establish lactation. The use of supplements has the negative effect of decreasing a woman’s milk supply and further interfering with adequate and early weaning from the breast. Restricting formula marketing during the early postpartum period allows women to make a more informed decision about feeding, based on personal preference and available resources. Marketing formula to women during the vulnerable postpartum period is unethical from a public health standpoint. Some healthcare professionals are collaborating with the industry by accepting materials, incentives and financial assistance (discharge packs, free supplies, lunches, sponsorship of in-services and conferences, upgrade and construction of maternity facilities, etc. ) from formula companies. Instead of formula samples and messages, health care institutions should provide women with medically accurate breastfeeding support and information, such as the direct cost of buying artificial milk, including the cost of consumers advertising. Besides perfect nutrition of human milk, there are many other benefits in breastfeeding for babies, mothers as well as society, such as easily digested, higher IQ, protects infant guts, prevents hemorrhaging after delivery, no worry of which brand of milk Page 6 s best, the milk is never been recalled due to manufacturing problem, no issues of contamination, etc. Major Obstacles/Implementation Challenges Breastfeeding may not be for all women, therefore the decision to breastfeed or formula feed is based on their comfort level, lifestyle and medical conditions that they might have, as well as, class and racial implication of breastfeeding, such as economic and cultural constraints could make it difficult for a woman to nurse. Women need and should have the right to receive medically accurate, evidence-based information about lactation from health care providers before delivery that provides nutritional, medical and psychological benefits of breastfeeding and after delivery for adequate assistance and support during the critical postpartum period from nurses/doctors who possess accurate, up to date information and skills in basic lactation managements is essential to helping women breastfeed. During the early postpartum period, nurses are often the most influential and trusted sources of information about infant feeding. But, many do not possess the knowledge or skills to adequately provide the support needed to help women to initiate lactation. Nurses who have not been trained in breastfeeding management cannot be expected to give mothers effective guidance and provide skilled counseling. Page 7 Lactation management is often omitted from curricula in basic training of nurses and is currently not a required part of on the job training. Opponents of this training may argue that the resource for this is beyond the scope of the New York State government’s duties or that it may cost too much. Upon examining the program, however, one will note that some of the burden could be assume by the federal government to improve the quality of care mothers’ receive after post-partum on breastfeeding. Looking at the cost on implementing these trainings and certifications no one institution should cover the cost. Given the rapid growth of new mothers, there would be no better time to implement these trainings, although the decision to breastfeed is a personal one. Breastfeeding do come with some challenges for both women and babies such as plenty of patience and persistence, personal comfort, time and frequency feedings, etc. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. HHS Blueprint for Action on Breastfeeding, Washington, D. C. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. HHC People 2010; Conference Edition – Volumes I and II. United States Department of Agriculture, â€Å"The Economic Benefits of Breastfeeding† A Review and Analysis. Food assistance and Nutrition Research Report No. 13 (20001) American Academy of Pediatrics. Policy Statement: Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk (RE9729). Pediatrics 1997; 100(6) 1035-1039 D. A. Frank et al, â€Å" Commercial discharge Packs and Breastfeeding Counseling: Effects on Infant-Feeding Practices in a Randomized Trial. Pediatrics 80 (1987): 845-854. www. Baby center. com â€Å"Breastfeeding† www. Kids Health. com â€Å"Benefits of Breast Feeding† New York State Department of Health: â€Å"Breastfeeding Mothers Bill of Rights† See generally the websites for the Center for Disease Control: [http://www. cdc. gov/breastfeeding] and the National Women’s Health Information Centers’ Resources on Breastfeeding: [http://www. 4woman. gov/breastfeeding]. 6 S e e American Academy of Pediatrics home page at [http://www. aap. org/advocacy/bf/brhist. htm]. http:/www. state. ny. us/governor/press/0822072

Crime Data Comparison Essay

Crime is being committed every second of each day around the world. Citizens of certain communities view crime as unwanted and causes of unnecessary stressors, although citizens from the lower class society view crime as a normal standard for everyday life. Certain crimes across the United States can be directly associated with gender, ethnicity. For instance, woman shoplift more than a man, and men conduct more violent offenses such as murder, armed robbery, and assault are associated with gender specific. The Federal Bureau of Investigations implemented a country wide database known as the Uniform Crime Report, which compiles statistics of criminal offenses from 18,000 thousand agencies that record and report crime data to the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The Uniform Crime Report is an essential tool for compare and contrasting the crimes across the nation and various components of crime causation. This paper will cover the various crime rates of Los Angeles, California, and Phoenix, Arizona, while employing the most recent statistics derived from the Uniform Crime Report. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports on numerous crimes that have been committed in different areas, and while emphasizing violent crimes. Violent crimes include acts as robbery, murder, forcible rape, aggravated assault, and non-negligent manslaughter. In Los Angeles, California, has approximately 3,837,207 people as of 2011, and Phoenix, Arizona, has a population of 1,466,097 in 2011, which indicates the population size is quite different. The obvious hypothesis is that Los Angeles posses two times the amount of population than that of Phoenix. The crime comparison data clearly illustrates per one hundred thousand people residing in Los Angeles, California, committed 20045 violent crimes than that reported crime in Phoenix, Arizona, which 8089 violent crimes in 2011. In 2011, Los Angeles had reported 11956 more violent crimes than those compared to Phoenix. In 2011, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Los Angeles population commits 5.22% of violent crimes  per 1,000 residents with a violent crime rate amount 20045 occurrences, whereas Phoenix has an estimated population of 5.52% of 1,000 residents has commit violent crimes with the occurrence of 8089 (Herald Review, 2013). This signifies that Los Angeles has almost double the amount of individuals with a proportion of 2:1, which means that for every one individual residing in Phoenix, Arizona, there are two people in Los Angeles, California. The crime data indicates that Los Angeles has 44% less dangerous to live oppose to Phoenix. The crime data for Phoenix indicates that residents are 15.8% to get robbed, 2.2 % more likely to get murdered. Despite the number of citizens reported, the amount of crime committed has far greater ratio than that of Los Angeles (Herald Review, 2013). According to the data retrieved from the Uniform Crime Report Los Angeles ranked 95 out of 459 cities throughout California for violent crimes, and Phoenix was ranked number 16 out of 67 cities for violent crimes. Los Angeles has 3.07% of violent crimes when compared to Phoenix, which has 4.64% violent crimes. Phoenix has 0.55% crime and 0.63% for Los Angeles. Los Angeles has the larger percentage because the population is larger. Although the crime rates for Los Angeles, and Phoenix did change between the years of 2011 and 2012, there was a huge change in crime rates. Even though the rates of violent crimes have decreased by 1498 in Los Angeles, California, some crime rates have increased by 1345 in Phoenix, Arizona, although other crimes decreased. A number of factors take place regarding incidents of crimes and why they may have been committed that may explain the difference between the two. According to Schmalleger, hard determinism would be an acceptable understanding of crime causation (Schmalleger, 2013, p. 62). To understand the factors of crime causation theories, theories of crime must be examined because there is more than one factor present when an individual commits a crime. These theories include learning theory, labeling theory, social disorganization, trait theory, social conflict, choice theory, and life course theory. The social process theories, which include the labeling theory and learning  theory, take into thought that criminal behaviors in people are foreseeable based on the interaction with her or his environment. The learning theory is based on the main idea that one must be taught both the emotional and practical skills that an individual will need to commit a crime. These skills are characteristically â€Å"taught† by a friend or family member who shows criminal behaviors them self. The labeling theory is founded on the idea that society creates criminals and crime by placing labels on people who show deviancy. These labels may result in excluded from society and eventually could result in an individual to adopt the characteristics of that label (Gaines & Miller, 2006). The social disorganization theory is founded on the idea that criminal behavior is more likely to occur in areas where social organizations such as schools, family, and the justice system fail to apply control over the community. This means that if the laws, guidelines, and rules of the community or society are not being enforced, criminal activity is more likely to be higher in those communities than those who do enforce the laws (Gaines & Miller, 2006). The trait theory is founded on the belief that psychological and biochemical conditions play a major role in one committing a criminal act. If one has a psychological disorder or a hormonal imbalance, there may be an increased chance that the individual is vulnerable to giving into criminal urges. The choice theory is based on the belief that before one commits a criminal act, that individual weighs the possible benefits versus the costs of committing a crime. If that individual believes they have a greater chance of benefitting from that crime, she or he is most likely going to proceed with that crime (Gaines & Miller, 2006). According to Gaines and Miller, the life course theory is based on the thought that conduct problems such as stealing, lying, and bullying seen in childhood are strong indicators of someone showing future criminal behavior. The social conflict theory states that criminal behavior is founded on the conflict with a ruling social class labeling specific behaviors as illegal because of a social or an economic interest in protecting that community’s  status quo. This is based on the belief that instead of laws showing the values of an entire society, the laws only exhibit the values of the few in society that hold power, and has no oppositions in using the justice system as a means of ensuring that power is kept. If behaviors, such as these are not corrected later in one’s life with improvements such as jobs and positive relationships, wrongful acts of behavior will continue to exist, possibly leading to future criminal activity (2006). The life course theory could explain the differences of criminal activity between Los Angeles and Phoenix as well as the social process theory. The social process theory governs the labeling theory, and learning theory. The development of criminal behavior can be tribute to the environmental conditions. In many cases investigating crime indicate that each crime is different, also the factors contributing to a certain crime can differ. The commonality between the two crime riddled metropolitan areas are the environmental conditions that enhance criminal behavior. In the end crime causation can be linked to several theories but unless mentally unstable should be able to tell right from wrong. References Gaines, L. K. & Miller, R. L. (2006). Criminal Justice in Action: The Core. Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com/docview/199569524?accountid=458 Schmalleger, F. (2012). Criminology today: An integrative introduction. (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, p.62. The Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2013). A Word about UCR Data. Retrieved from: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/word

Free Essays on Management Skills For The Non-Profit

Management Skills For the Nonprofit The deeper my dealings with the nonprofit sector become, the more completely I have come to understand, and appreciate the need for leaders in this field to possess outstanding business management skills. In addition to management skills, not-for-profit leadership must also become adept at understanding financial reports, developing and administering a budget, and it is greatly desirable to have a strong understanding of computers and the ways in which they can be used to increase productivity while reducing costs. Many nonprofit directors and board members have a background that is firmly rooted in the humanities and therefore it is to be expected that their education would have focused primarily on human service issues rather than business classes. This however leaves a gap in the knowledge base of the primary leaders in many nonprofits. This is particularly true in the case of the nonprofit that I am affiliated with. In The Non-Profit Management Handbook: Operating Policies a nd Procedures, Connors (1992) points out that leaders in the nonprofit sector are just as much in need of â€Å"the 4Ms† as those managers and directors who work in the world of for profit business. The M’s of which Ms. Connors speaks are â€Å"Mission†, â€Å"Marketing†, â€Å"Money†, and â€Å"Management† principles based on the premise that a well-educated nonprofit leader will have had a fusion of both human service and business education in their background. It is a decided advantage for the not-for-profit leaders of today to be thoroughly versed in computer usage as well as having a good exposure to business principles. The primary reason behind the existence of every for profit business is to earn a profit which will then be distributed to shareholders, owners, and/or employees to their benefit. Some profit will of course be reinvested into the company in most cases, but the primary goal is to make money for ... Free Essays on Management Skills For The Non-Profit Free Essays on Management Skills For The Non-Profit Management Skills For the Nonprofit The deeper my dealings with the nonprofit sector become, the more completely I have come to understand, and appreciate the need for leaders in this field to possess outstanding business management skills. In addition to management skills, not-for-profit leadership must also become adept at understanding financial reports, developing and administering a budget, and it is greatly desirable to have a strong understanding of computers and the ways in which they can be used to increase productivity while reducing costs. Many nonprofit directors and board members have a background that is firmly rooted in the humanities and therefore it is to be expected that their education would have focused primarily on human service issues rather than business classes. This however leaves a gap in the knowledge base of the primary leaders in many nonprofits. This is particularly true in the case of the nonprofit that I am affiliated with. In The Non-Profit Management Handbook: Operating Policies a nd Procedures, Connors (1992) points out that leaders in the nonprofit sector are just as much in need of â€Å"the 4Ms† as those managers and directors who work in the world of for profit business. The M’s of which Ms. Connors speaks are â€Å"Mission†, â€Å"Marketing†, â€Å"Money†, and â€Å"Management† principles based on the premise that a well-educated nonprofit leader will have had a fusion of both human service and business education in their background. It is a decided advantage for the not-for-profit leaders of today to be thoroughly versed in computer usage as well as having a good exposure to business principles. The primary reason behind the existence of every for profit business is to earn a profit which will then be distributed to shareholders, owners, and/or employees to their benefit. Some profit will of course be reinvested into the company in most cases, but the primary goal is to make money for ...

medical insurance essays

medical insurance essays The initial idea of medical insurance should have been a good idea as a way of helping Americans afford medical bills in a case of emergency or just routine physicals and check-ups. A lot of lower class Americans could not afford the treatment and would therefore go without medical attention in both of these cases. In cases of emergency, they would usually be put in to collection because they could not pay the bills after the treatment. The government decided to set a plan to have humans insured, just like automobiles, to supposedly make medical treatment available to all people - high, middle, or low class. This should have been a good idea...however, I believe that it has only made By making this plan for insurance on human health, the insurance agencies are making trillions upon trillions of dollars on people who would usually skip going to the doctor for a common cold. Initially, the insurance policies were made to help in emergency situations for people who had a broken a leg, or had to have major surgery and could not afford the price of high-technology treatment. The insurance would have made the customer pay about fifty dollars a month out of theyre hard-earned money whether they were going to use it or not, for medical treatment. Still, the insurance did not cover all of the expenses even though the customer is shelling out thousands of dollars, sometimes for nothing. It is just another way for a large insurance business to make people believe that they need to insure their own health, like they were a possession or an item. Now people are paying for insurance that they seldom use, but feel better because the business has made them believe that they cannot and will not live without medical Another bad result of medical insurance is that it has turned the entire field of ...

Discovery of the Higgs Field Behind the God Particle

Discovery of the Higgs Field Behind the God Particle The Higgs field is the theoretical field of energy that permeates the universe, according to the theory put forth in 1964 by Scottish theoretical physicist Peter Higgs. Higgs suggested the field as a possible explanation for how the fundamental particles of the universe came to have mass, because in the 1960s the Standard Model of quantum physics actually couldnt explain the reason for mass itself. He proposed that this field existed throughout all of space and that particles gained their mass by interacting with it. Discovery of the Higgs Field Though there was initially no experimental confirmation for the theory, over time it came to be seen as the only explanation for mass that was widely viewed as consistent with the rest of the Standard Model. As strange as it seemed, the Higgs mechanism (as the Higgs field was sometimes called) was generally accepted widely among physicists, along with the rest of the Standard Model. One consequence of the theory was that the Higgs field could manifest as a particle, much in the way that other fields in quantum physics manifest as particles. This particle is called the Higgs boson. Detecting the Higgs boson became a major goal of experimental physics, but the problem is that the theory didnt actually predict the mass of the Higgs boson. If you caused particle collisions in a particle accelerator with enough energy, the Higgs boson should manifest, but without knowing the mass that they were looking for, physicists werent sure how much energy would need to go into the collisions. One of the driving hopes was that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) would have sufficient energy to generate Higgs bosons experimentally since it was more powerful than any other particle accelerators that had been built before. On July 4, 2012, physicists from the LHC announced that they found experimental results consistent with the Higgs boson, though further observations are needed to confirm this and to determine the various physical properties of the Higgs boson. The evidence in support of this has grown, to the extent that the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Peter Higgs and Francois Englert. As physicists determine the properties of the Higgs boson, it will help them more fully understand the physical properties of the Higgs field itself. Brian Greene on the Higgs Field One of the best explanations of the Higgs field is this one from Brian Greene, presented on the July 9 episode of PBS Charlie Rose Show, when he appeared on the program with experimental physicist Michael Tufts to discuss the announced discovery of the Higgs boson: Mass is the resistance an object offers to having its speed changed. You take a baseball. When you throw it, your arm feels resistance. A shotput, you feel that resistance. The same way for particles. Where does the resistance come from? And the theory was put forward that perhaps space was filled with an invisible stuff, an invisible molasses-like stuff, and when the particles try to move through the molasses, they feel a resistance, a stickiness. Its that stickiness which is where their mass comes from. ... That creates the mass.... ... its an elusive invisible stuff. You dont see it. You have to find some way to access it. And the proposal, which now seems to bear fruit, is if you slam protons together, other particles, at very, very high speeds, which is what happens at the Large Hadron Collider... you slam the particles together at very high speeds, you can sometimes jiggle the molasses and sometimes flick out a little speck of the molasses, which would be a Higgs particle. So people have looked for that little speck of a particle and now it looks like its been found. The Future of the Higgs Field If the results from the LHC pan out, then as we determine the nature of the Higgs field, well get a more complete picture of how quantum physics manifests in our universe. Specifically, well gain a better understanding of mass, which may, in turn, give us a better understanding of gravity. Currently, the Standard Model of quantum physics does not account for gravity (though it fully explains the other ​fundamental forces of physics). This experimental guidance may help theoretical physicists hone in on a theory of quantum gravity that applies to our universe. It may even help physicists understand the mysterious matter in our universe, called dark matter, that cannot be observed except through gravitational influence. Or, potentially, a greater understanding of the Higgs field may provide some insights into the repulsive gravity demonstrated by the dark energy that seems to permeate our observable universe.

Government mandated use of ethanol in consumer used gas stations Essay

Government mandated use of ethanol in consumer used gas stations - Essay Example Ethanol in the US is an alternative to foreign oil. The government established that it is easier to rely on ethanol for energy other than relying on foreign countries for oil. For many years, there has been use of oil as a source of energy in running machines. There has also been a constant rivalry between countries on the control of oil and its products. In addition to this, the oil wells are on the state of almost complete depletion and at one time, there will be no more of it. The government decided to seek an alternative source of energy that is reliable and easier to regenerate (Shawn & Kimberly 168). Another advantage of ethanol is that it is of an organic origin. Ethanol is a plant-based fuel whose production hails from agricultural products such as corn, waste paper, wheat, sugarcane and sorghum. The resources used to produce it are available locally from farmers. This easy availability makes it easier to rely upon as compared to oil. In using locally produced raw material, it also contributes to the development of the economy making it economically friendly (Gaffigan 42). Ethanol is environmentally friendly. When producing energy, ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline. Car users note that ethanol does not produce large amounts of toxic materials to the environment as compared to the alternative gasoline. The commodity does not contain toxic materials such as lead and benzene, which compose the components of gasoline making it toxic. This advantage, of being environmentally friendly, gains ethanol’s popularity over gasoline (Shawn & Kimberly 168). Although ethanol is friendly to the natural environment, scientists prove it very corrosive. Ethanol is a good absorber of water and dirt. This property enables it to absorb water and dirt in the engines of motor vehicles. In the event that the water and dirt does not filter out properly, it causes corrosion and a lot of damage in the interior of the engine block. In addition to

4G Wireless Networks Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

4G Wireless Networks - Research Paper Example In 2001 a new technology was launched in Japan by the name of 3G which stands for third generation telecommunication. In mid 2010 the networks which were widely used for wireless transporters in U.S. were 3G. 3G networks are considered as a noteworthy development over 2G arrangements as they offer high speeds for data transfer. The improved technology offered by 4G over 3G can be compared to the High Definition TV features (diffen.com, 2011). 1. Services and application 3G is the abbreviation for 3rd generation which is a standard defined for wireless technology which allows internet browsing over wireless networks. A good example of 3G technology is EV-DO. Next is the 4G technology which is the generic abbreviation for 4th generation wireless technology which has been optimized for data transfer over wireless networks. This method provides improved speed and efficiency of data delivery. LTE technology is an instance of 4G network compatibility. The 3G and 4G networks comprise of a b road range of cellular data tools. 4G offers speed which is ten times quicker hen 3G networks and it is categorized having downstream range between 20 and 10 Mbps (Nadel, 2010). 2. Network architecture The underlying network architecture of 3G mobile network constitutes of a circuit-switched and packet-switched network. The services which are offered by this technology include wireless voice telephone, mobile TV facility, video calls and mobile internet accessibility. The underlying network architecture embedded in this technology is radio interface which is referred to as â€Å"Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Code Divisions Multiple Access (CDMA), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), 2000, GSM (Global System for Mobile), and some referred to as GAN (Generic Access Method)† (Nadel, 2010). 3. Data throughput CDMA2000 is a technology of 3G network which is largely utilized in North America, The data throughput which is offered by this technology is up to 14Mbits/s which has the ability to p rovide additional features like, supplementary outlets, altered inflection and the associated coding techniques, and an aptitude to recover easily from errors. The WCDMA disparate to CDMA utilizes a series of two up to around five channels. The fourth generation networks are outside the range of 3G technology which is designed at higher data rate that falls between 100Mbps to 1Gbps (netlogix.com, 2009). 4. User perceptions If we compare 3G and 4G networks it is clearly apparent that mostly 4G networks have elevated bandwidth which ranges to approximately 100Mbps. 4G networks are able to support multimedia services contrary to 3G networks. The 3G network is designed to include both circuit switched and packet switched networks. If we consider other functions of the system it can be found that 4G has emerged as a more secured and reliable 3G data transmission technology. Moreover 4G networks are recognized in providing international mobility and network scalability which is why it is widely recognized and accepted (Gobjuka, 2010). 2. Distinguish between the 4G LTE, 4G WiMax, and 4G WiBro networks 1. Download and Upload speeds 4G LTE is considered as the current advancement in the range of GSM broadband arrangement. HSPA is defined to provide uplink speeds of 11.5 Mb/s and downlink speeds having 28 Mb/s, while LTE is designed for working with data speeds in the range of downlink speed of 100 Mb/s and uplink

Assignment 3 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

3 - Assignment Example On contrary, another statement states that, â€Å"ESL students can understand the basic grammar rules of language only if they are able to create a lot of new sentences†. Qs.2 knowledge is a true opinion comprising of a rational explanation or definition, and it is also a real belief or a sensation. However, belief is the inner state of mind that is directly accessible to the introspection that relates to human behavior. Belief always plays a central role in the theoretical reasoning and involves a practical reasoning. For instance, in pdf.1, in appendix 3, an example of belief is a statement that states, ‘some people tend to have the ability to learn foreign language’. For a person to have knowledge there must exist a sense of truth, justification, and belief, on a basis of believing in them. For example, a knowledge is evident in this article, whereby the truth remains that ‘English is a foreign language to the non-natives’. Qs.3. Teacher’s beliefs play vital roles towards student’s reaction, acceptance, and theories that concern language. Teachers were also once students thus their understanding about teaching often reflects on to students on how they also learn a language. The beliefs also portray a clear picture in expressing the realities that may influence classroom practices. The teacher’s view shows that, it is their role to offer a part in playing and interaction with the native speakers. in chapter 9, the word ‘smoothly running’ a classroom is used. According to me the word means a proper class or the one that is in order. Similarly, goal of the lesson and a means by which goal is achieved is the main distinguishing factor of a language. Teachers have a number of concerns. They usually plan the activities designed for facilitating learners in the use and acquisition of language. According to Doyle (396) an orderly course is the one within acceptable

(business)Minimum Wage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

(business)Minimum Wage - Essay Example Peter Jones in Rights contrasted the difference between natural and human rights1. The concept of natural rights is tied up in the idea where the citizens gave up to the governing body for the good of law and order and in return the governments protected and upheld within the law, i.e., Constitutions. Therefore the argument of natural rights has now become so diluted that it is no longer an effective model. Human Rights as theory admits from the outset they are intangible and not from nature, therefore one cannot empirically observe or measure them, as Margaret MacDonald2 criticized the argument from nature. Human rights, as described by Jones, are prescribed by the fact of being human and part of humanity3. It picks up on the egalitarian theory of equality, whereby human beings are equal and therefore are afforded these basic rights. The arguments for these rights come from arguments, such as self-evidence, human worth and moral worth. The basis of the core rights theorists is the work of Immanuel Kant. ... How does Kant argue that this is an all-encompassing ethic outside of societal conventions, without the aid of a divine being Kant argues that it is the individual's ability to reason and autonomous will that is the basis of his a priori argument. Shestack5 describes the basis of Kant's argument as; 'rights then flow from the autonomy of the individual in choosing his and her ends, consistent with a similar freedom for all... In short, Kant's imperative is that the central focus of morality is 'personhood', namely the capacity to take responsibility as a free and rational agent for one's system of ends'.6 This ethic was one of the most influential arguments for universal human rights, in response to Nazism, eugenics and ethnic cleansing, which can be illustrated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with words such as inherent, inalienable and equality applied to rights and the basis of these rights are the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in world. Kant's theory is th e basis of the core theorists and has been very influential in the drafting of the 20th Century human rights treaties and legislation. However how do we measure what should be included in these universal rights The answer to this question is at the heart of this discussion for the international treaties and human rights legislation does not seem to be meeting the needs to fulfil Kant's ethic as Evans argued modern human rights law is too legalistic. This is a core rights theory, which purports these rights transcend statehood therefore automatically requiring the state to extend these rights to all individuals and arguably future generations. Rawl's, on the other hand, in his thesis for engendering human rights states that justice7 is the prime basis of all

Corporate real estate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Corporate real estate - Essay Example The real estate market has largely adopted the concept of out-tasking as indicated by numerous research studies. Some of the common tasks related to real estate that are commonly out-tasked include real estate brokerage, market analysis, site selection, transaction management, project management as well as construction management. In the case of real estate, out-tasking basically involves assigning the work involved in specialized real estate tasks as opposed to assigning the all the responsibilities involved in real estate as an enterprise. The rationale behind managers selecting out-tasking as opposed to outsourcing is that they want to retain control over the corporate processes (Zeffane, 2005, p. 30). Out-tasking is often used as a strategic catalyst that managers use to rationalize the processes of the business. For instance, executive in the real estate market carry out a comprehensive analysis of the overall real estate strategy when making the decision to out-task. Some of the decisions are assigned to a trusted advisor who determines the parts of the real estate process that will be out-tasked and the ones that will be handled inhouse. This is to ensure that there is the proper allocation of resources and talent relative to the business and professional stakeholders. In most cases, out-tasking is used as a tactical implementation of strategies that are consistent with the corporate objectives of facilities management (Williamson, 2004, p. 119). Research studies indicate that the real estate market is one of the industries that have adopted the concept of out-tasking. This has been majorly influenced by the growing needs of corporate users. This means that professionals in the real estate market have the responsibility of creating value in addition to reducing costs. Cost reduction has been the main driver for large enterprises to outsource their business

Innovative Solutions Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

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Corporate real estate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Corporate real estate - Essay Example The real estate market has largely adopted the concept of out-tasking as indicated by numerous research studies. Some of the common tasks related to real estate that are commonly out-tasked include real estate brokerage, market analysis, site selection, transaction management, project management as well as construction management. In the case of real estate, out-tasking basically involves assigning the work involved in specialized real estate tasks as opposed to assigning the all the responsibilities involved in real estate as an enterprise. The rationale behind managers selecting out-tasking as opposed to outsourcing is that they want to retain control over the corporate processes (Zeffane, 2005, p. 30). Out-tasking is often used as a strategic catalyst that managers use to rationalize the processes of the business. For instance, executive in the real estate market carry out a comprehensive analysis of the overall real estate strategy when making the decision to out-task. Some of the decisions are assigned to a trusted advisor who determines the parts of the real estate process that will be out-tasked and the ones that will be handled inhouse. This is to ensure that there is the proper allocation of resources and talent relative to the business and professional stakeholders. In most cases, out-tasking is used as a tactical implementation of strategies that are consistent with the corporate objectives of facilities management (Williamson, 2004, p. 119). Research studies indicate that the real estate market is one of the industries that have adopted the concept of out-tasking. This has been majorly influenced by the growing needs of corporate users. This means that professionals in the real estate market have the responsibility of creating value in addition to reducing costs. Cost reduction has been the main driver for large enterprises to outsource their business

The Effect of Nokia Phone Campaign for Better Communication Case Study

The Effect of Nokia Phone Campaign for Better Communication - Case Study Example The process of solicitation involves the assessment of the needs of the project. At this stage of the procurement, we intend to outline what our needs are in greater detail so that all the requirements are properly identified. As per the requirements of our project, we identified the following requirements for the procurement of scheduling software: The process of solicitation involves the assessment of the needs of the project. At this stage of the procurement, we intend to outline what our needs are in greater detail so that all the requirements are properly identified. As per the requirements of our project, we identified the following requirements for the procurement of scheduling software:1) Buy hardware and software including servers to run the tool and house the project database.2) Hire a team of technicians to configure the software3) Hire a training entity to teach students how to use the tool4) Hire tool usage experts to transfer the knowledge to the students5) Plan for the removal and disposal of the software. The above requirements are very clearly identified and are diversified in nature i.e. will not involve just one vendor. It is therefore important that we must identify and select capable vendors to deliver the above for the successful completion of the same. Selecting VendorsSelection of vendors is the next phase in this process of procurement. Do select vendors require that we must clearly have an idea of what exactly our needs are? If we fail to clearly identify the needs at the solicitation stage, selection of vendors would be an idle exercise. Since the requirements of our project are multiple in nature, therefore, we would be planning to approach multiple vendors so that our requirements are properly met.

African Socialism: Analysis of Ujamaa

African Socialism: Analysis of Ujamaa MAJOR THEMES IN AFRICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT LECTURER: FRED OTIENO STUDENT: CHRIS MUGO NDIRANGU QUESTION What is African Socialism (Ujamaa)? Citing concrete examples from around Africa, examine why this ideology has faced immense opposition. INTRODUCTION African Socialism is an ideology that can be traced to the 1950s and 1960s when most African countries were attaining their independence. The ideology was propounded by African leaders in independent Africa who sought to ground their states in this ideology they believed would achieve the goals and aspirations of independence. The proponents of the ideology sought to differentiate it from other forms of socialism that existed across the world at the time, particularly Marxist-Leninist strands of socialism. African socialism can therefore be defined as a belief in sharing of economic resources in a traditional African way. It is however prudent to accept that the interpretations and definitions of African socialism differ as it is not the brainchild of a single thinker. According to Freidland (1964) : African Socialism differs in that no single leader has been distinctively and uniquely associated with the ideology. Rather the ideology of African Socialism has been the product of diverse leaders operating within the variety of exigencies in their own countries, which helps to account for the lack of development of a unified theory. (p. 2) African socialism can be said to be an indigenous attempt by various African leaders to develop a distinctive â€Å"African† path of economic and political development. It advocates for a return to traditional African values practiced before colonization. As mentioned above African socialism is a product of different leaders. Therefore to understand African socialism we must study the leaders and their works which collectively contributed to this ideology. These leaders implemented this ideology in their respective countries. Some were successful while others were not. The ideology as will be explained in this paper faced immense opposition hindering its full adoption. CHARACTERISTICS OF AFRICAN SOCIALISM Though the African Socialist leaders had their own distinct views on African socialism various characteristics of African socialism can be drawn. According to Martin (19) the socialist leaders’ conception of African socialism had the following common characteristics: Ideology and practice are inextricably linked Politics has supremacy over the economy Socialism is not a sacred dogma but a guide to action African socialism is a socialism building on and adapted to African indigenous values, culture, traditions and society The people are the main agents and ultimate beneficiaries of socialist development African socialism aims at creating ‘a new man’ The single party operates according to the Marxist-Leninist principle of Democratic Centralism, which institutionalizes communication between the leadership and the rank-and-file of the party, with ultimate decision-making power resting with the highest executive organ of the party. Collective decision making is based on collective deliberation and consensus State has control over the economy Furthermore (Batsa, 1965) has summarised some six basic characteristics of African Socialism: It ignores the power of monopoly capital. It accepts the mixed economy as a permanent feature of socialism. It denies the existence of classes in Africa and advances the idea of the neutral state. It advocates a multi-party system where possible, or a single party open to all, irrespective of beliefs, with a specific denial of any vanguard role The African element of the theory consists of a romantic interpretation of our traditional morals and culture Positive non-alignment is treated as neutrality Several African countries on attaining independence sought to establish declarations or policy documents that sought to clearly stipulate the ideology they adopted. In the context of African socialism, very few countries had clear and concrete policy documents on African socialism. Notable among these countries is Kenya and Tanzania that formulated policies or declarations with regards to African Socialism. Tanzania in 1967 formulated the Arusha Declaration a document written by socialist leader Julius Nyerere for the ruling party the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU). In this declaration it is clearly stated that ‘The policy of TANU is to build a socialist state’. It further goes on to lay down certain socialist principles it seeks to implement in Tanganyika. In Part two of the document lay The Policy of Socialism. The fist element in this policy is absence of exploitation. The declaration states that in a socialist state all people are workers and in which neither capitalism nor feudalism exists. It believes in a classless society where there is no one exploits another. Every worker receives a just return for their labour. However the declaration points out the fact that Tanzania still has elements of feudalism and capitalism that are remnants of colonialism. The second element is that the major means of production and exchange are under the control of the peasants and workers. The declaration stipulates that this should be done through the machinery of their Government and their co-operatives. The third element is the existence of democracy. This element requires that the government should be chosen and led by the peasants and workers themselves. Finally is that socialism is a belief. The declaration states that socialism is a way of life. A socialist society can only come into existence if i t is built by those who believe in and practice the principles of socialism. The declaration believes that the successful implementation of socialist objectives depends very much up to the leaders. On the other hand Kenya in 1965 produced a sessional paper which outlines in detail both the theory of democratic African Socialism and its practical application in Kenya. The president in introducing this paper states that, ‘we rejected both Western Capitalism and Eastern Communism and chose for ourselves a policy of positive non-alignment.’’ Thus the Kenyan government fully adopted the African socialism philosophy. The sessional paper goes on to outline the operating characteristics of African socialism. They are: Political democracy Mutual social economic responsibility Various forms of ownership A range of controls to ensure that property is used in the mutual interests of society and its members Diffusion of ownership to avoid concentration of economic power Progressive taxes to ensure an equitable distribution of wealth and income The above characteristics are evident in the various works of the African Socialist leaders. The understanding of their concept of African socialism is enhanced by looking critically at the individual African socialist leaders and their ideas and perception of African socialism. AFRICAN SOCIALIST LEADERS JULIUS NYERERE Julius Nyerere was the founding father of Tanganyika and later on Tanzania. He comes up with his own form of socialism known as Ujamaa a Swahili term for family hood and brotherhood. Ujamaa become the official policy of Tanzania in 1967 following the Arusha Declaration. According to Nyerere socialism is an attitude of mind and not strict compliance to a standard or set political pattern (Nyerere, 1977) . Nyerere emphasised on brotherhood or family hood where people view each other as brothers and sisters or as members of one family. Nyerere argues that social institutions and organisations cannot by themselves achieve the purpose of socialism. These institutions can only do so if they are infused with the spirit of brotherhood and care for one another. Nyerere believed that Ujamaa differed from other strands of socialism in that the foundation of the philosophy was to be found in African culture and traditions. Furthermore Ujamaa was opposed to capitalism and scientific socialism or Marxism which legitimizes class conflicts. Nyerere went further to elaborate on the practices of Ujamaa. The first is love where an African doesn’t regard his brethren as another enemy. An African regards all men as his brethren as members of his extended family. People in African Societies cared for one another. Secondly, Nyerere argues that their existed a classless society in Africa. Classes were only brought as a result of the agrarian and industrial revolution. These events produced conditions that brought about a class system. Since these revolutions did not occur in Africa, therefore no classes existed in Africa. Thirdly Nyerere believed that in traditional Africa everyone was a worker. Everyone contributed his or her fair share of efforts towards the production of societal wealth. There was no place for laxity or laziness. Finally Nyerere maintained that wealth was shared in traditional Africa. No one could hide wealth or amass it for personal selfish reasons. The riches or the poverty of an individual or famil y were the wealth or poverty of the whole community at large. KWAME NKRUMAH Kwame Nkrumah’s ideas on African socialism were different from those of Julius Nyerere. Indeed the two showed criticised each other on their perceptions of African socialism. Nkrumah in his own admission subscribed to scientific socialism and described it as the only true socialism. According to (Martin, 2012) Nkrumah viewed African socialism as a means of not only liberating the people from the shackles of imperialism but also empowering the people politically, economically, socially and culturally after independence. Nkrumah believed that the following were the tenents of African socialism; Common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange Planned methods of production by the state, based on modern industry and agriculture Political power in the hands of the people in keeping with the humanist and egalitarian spirit which characterized African traditional society Application of scientific methods in all spheres of thought and production AHMED SEKOU TOURE Toure’s concept and ideas on African socialism was similar to that of Nkrumah. The two had a strong friendship that was evident when he granted Nkrumah asylum when he was overthrown by a military coup in 1966. Toure led an authoritarian regime in Guinea that was strongly oppressive. He arrested over a thousand people who simply opposed his regime. Prominent intellectuals and cadres were jailed, tortured and executed. Sekou Toure’s was more grounded in the Marxist-Leninist education as compared to Nkrumah. He had a great interest in the writings of Mao Tse-tung as well as other Marxist philosophers. Initially during the first decade of his rule, he refused to launch the country into clear path to socialism. He downplayed the role of ideology in the construction of a new society. He adamantly refused to choose between capitalism and socialism. He argued that certain strange theories had little to do with the crucial tasks facing the country. However during the Eighth National Congress of the PDG (the ruling party of Guinea) in 1967, Sekou Toure officially launched Guinea on to a path to socialism. Sekou Toure prescribed to scientific socialism from which he derives the meaning of socialism from. That is socialism is expressed by the effective exercise of political, economic and cultural power by the working people. Toure however was for a socialist ideology adapted to African realities. He preferred the term â€Å"communaucratic’’ instead of African socialism. He believed that African life is communal characterized by collective life and social solidarity. An Afric an cannot organize his life outside that of his social group-family, village or clan. Finally Toure believes in the supremacy of politics over the economy. In this regard he was heavily influenced by the Marxist-Leninist ideology on the roles of the state and the party in the creation of institutions designed to translate socialist ideas into practice (Martin, 2012). Toure believed that the ruling party was the definer of the general interest, the custodian of the popular will and the incarnation of the collective thought of the whole Guinean people. The basic aim of Toure’s socialism is alter the relationship between human beings. This is done by decolonizing their viewpoints and attitudes and by creating a new man freed from a system of capitalistic exploitation and participating with all his strength in the development of his nation. MODIBO KEITA He was the first president of Mali. He led the Nation on a path to socialism, both politically and economically. In 1960 the countries single party, the Union Soudanaise RDA (US-RDA) decided to set the country on a socialist path to development. Keita’s priority was to build a new society aimed at the political, economic, social and cultural empowerment of Mali’s popular masses. Keita firmly believed that a type of socialism adapted to the conditions of Mali would be the best tool to achieve this goal. Mali’s socialism was characterized by the following features; A socialism based on agricultural workers and peasants rather than on a nonexistent proletariat A vibrant private sector encouraged to contribute to national development Respect of the Malian spiritual and religious values Modibo Keita argued that socialism cannot be adopted wholesale; it must be adapted to the specific socio-cultural context of Mali. Keita elaborated that Africa has its own values, its own history. Africa thus can solve its own problems within the African context using African methods. Malian socialism was also grounded in universal human values. Keita argued that socialism cannot be reduced to purely economic or social concerns. Its goal is man itself in its material, moral, spiritual and cultural dimensions. The African man must be open to all kinds of experiments. Keita considered socialist planning necessary to achieve the primary goal of improving the living conditions of the majority of the people, which in Mali were the peasants. He focused on the development of agriculture through an elaborate network of rural cooperatives, down to the village level. Keita also embarked on the complete overhaul of Mali’s educational system to be consistent with Mali’s rich cultural heritage. The above leaders contributed significantly to African socialism. They sought to implement their socialist ideas and concepts in their countries. Some were successful to some extent while others failed. Case in point is Kwame Nkrumah who was overthrown in a military coup. OPPOSITION TO AFRICAN SOCIALISM African socialism as an ideology faced immense opposition as an ideology. This is because of the various cons associated with the ideology. These disadvantages or flaws in the ideology brew dislike for the ideology preventing its adoption or implementation. African socialism faced opposition due to the following. First it is an unreal theory which cannot be implemented as it is. Most of the socialist principles were borrowed from the Marxist-Leninist school of thought. The socialist ideology is not adopted in the same way it was advocated by Marx and other socialist thinkers. Secondly and closely related to the first is improper implementation. African socialism faced rejection due to improper implementation. Few people were in charge of wealth distribution and formulation of policies such as taxation. Thus the notion that the masses or the people have control over the nation’s wealth is a fallacy. Thirdly is that African socialism is economically inefficient. The lack of a self regulating labour market, private ownership of capital and a free financial market affects the economy negatively. Entrepreneurs and foreign investors are discouraged from investing in the economy. This leaves a country economically underdeveloped. This is the case with most socialist countries. Another pitfall of African socialism is no real increase in standard of living. African socialism does not raise the standards of living but lowers it instead. This is because the income of the rich is reduced making them fall closer to the level of the poor. It only reduces the gap between the rich and the poor but does not improve the standards of living in the society. Lastly is that socialism promotes laziness and incompetence among members of society. This is because of the social security system in socialist states that takes care of those with no income. Such provisions by the government deter people from working hard to earn their livelihood. This equally affects the hard working members who feel dissatisfied as they are not rewarded for their toil. Their toil goes to taking care of those who don’t work. Such a system impacts productivity and hence economic growth negatively. REFERENCES Batsa, K. (1965). African Socialism. The Labour Monthly , 514-517. Martin, G. (2012). African Political Thought. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Nyerere, J. K. (1977). Ujamaa-Essays on Socialism. USA: Oxford University Press. William H. Friedland, C. G. (1964). African Socialism. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Page | 1

HOW TO USE CABLE NUT :: essays research papers

CABLENUT ADJUSTER v4.08 Copyright (C) 2000,2001 CableNut Software - www.cablenut.com ------------------------------------------------------ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): http://www.cablenut.com, has a frequently asked questions guide as well as other content about the CableNut Software. INSTALLATION: The CableNut Adjuster is compatible with Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/NT/2000/XP each CCS file is tagged with an Operating System specific tag to show what Operating System it is compatible for. Explanation of specific terms are found below. 2K = Windows NT/2000/XP supported 9X = Windows 95/98/98SE/ME supported Cable_normal = Cable connections that can support up to 250KB/sec Cable_fast = Cable connections that can support over 250KB/sec Adsl_normal = Adsl connections that do not have the 1.5Mbps speed package Adsl_fast = Adsl connections that can achieve 1.5Mbps speed, or more ------------------------------------------------------ ADJUSTER.EXE  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Main CableNut program CABLENUT.HLP CableNut help file UNINST-CABLENUT.EXE CableNut uninstaller OFFICIAL SITE.URL Official CableNut site README.TXT Software readme info ..CCS/ CableNut Custom Settings (CCS) sub-folder 56K/ 56K_9X.CCS Dialup 56K modem tweak file for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME 56K_2K.CCS Dialup 56K modem tweak file for Windows NT/2000/XP Cable/ CABLE_NORMAL_9X.CCS Cable broadband tweak file for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME CABLE_NORMAL_2K.CCS Cable broadband tweak file for Windows NT/2000/XP CABLE_FAST_9X.CCS Cable broadband tweak file for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME CABLE_FAST_2K.CCS Cable broadband tweak file for Windows NT/2000/XP Adsl/ ADSL_NORMAL_9X.CCS Adsl broadband tweak file for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME ADSL_NORMAL_2K.CCS Adsl broadband tweak file for Windows NT/2000/XP ADSL_FAST_9X.CCS Adsl broadband tweak file for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME ADSL_FAST_2K.CCS Adsl broadband tweak file for Windows NT/2000/XP Satellite/ SATELLITE_9X.CCS Satellite Internet tweak file for Windows 95/98/98SE/ME SATELLITE_2K.CCS Satellite Internet tweak file for Windows NT/2000/XP ------------------------------------------------------ GETTING STARTED: 1. Locate the CCS sub-folder in the CableNut folder. (This can either be done by the desktop shortcut, the start menu shortcut, or by locating the CableNut install folder.) ------------------------------------------------------ 2. Run the CableNut Adjuster program. (Adjuster.exe - shortcuts are on the desktop, and in the start menu.) ------------------------------------------------------ 3. Select 'Open Custom Settings File' from the file menu. (This will load a specific CCS file into the Adjuster.) ------------------------------------------------------ 4. Select the correct CCS file that corresponds to your Internet connection. (All of the CableNut CCS files are located in the CCS sub-folder.) ------------------------------------------------------ 5. Click open on your selected CCS file. ------------------------------------------------------ 6. The values for the specific CCS will show. ------------------------------------------------------ 7. Press the 'Save to Registry' button. ------------------------------------------------------ 8. This will install the selected CableNut tweak file. ------------------------------------------------------ 9. Restart your system. (A restart is needed after every change in the Adjuster.) ------------------------------------------------------ 10. Your system is now tweaked for optimal Internet speed.

Market Structure Essay -- essays research papers

Market structure is defined as the particular environment of a firm, the characteristics of which influence the firm’s pricing and output decisions. There are four theories of market structure. These theories are:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pure competition   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Monopolistic competition   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Oligopoly   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Monopoly Each of these theories produce some type of consumer behavior if the firm raises the price or if it reduces the price.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The theory of pure competition is a theory that is built on four assumptions: (1.)There are many sellers and many buyers, none of which is large in relation to total sales or purchases. (2.) Each firm produces and sells a homogeneous product. (3.) Buyers and sellers have all relevant information about prices, product quality, sources of supply, and so forth. (4.) Firms have easy entry and exit.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A pure competitive firm is a price taker. A price taker is a seller that does not have the ability to control the price of the product it sells; it takes the pri...

Culture adaptation and survival Essay

With communication and transportation more readily available than before, the interpenetration of cultural facets between groups have become easier if not more frequent. However, this flow of data cannot be solely attributed to the presence of devices that allow information dissemination; people take an active part whether consciously or not, in spreading and reforming cultures by their global movements and actions. This paper will look into this event, focusing on how adopting cultural features from other groups can resemble biological adaptation in that they both can lead to higher survival rates in a given environment. Historical and relevant situations gathered from related literature will be used to develop and provide grounds for this statement. Jia, Lu and Heisey posit that â€Å"globalization is not only penetrating the economic sphere but also threatening the cultural boundaries of many nations†¦ † (Jia, Lu & Heisey, 2002, p. 155). A part of the globalization trend is the influx of different peoples to different countries. Due to exposure to new environments and possibly new cultural practices, the sense of stability of the migrating peoples is compromised. According to Kim, in order to once more achieve internal equilibrium and reduce the stress the situation has affected upon them, â€Å"a person adapts by altering his or her internal conditions† (as cited in Liu, 2001, p. 14). During the nineteenth century, strong sentiments of Anglo-conformity pervaded the Americas as new immigrants came in droves. There was a strong notion that the formation of the American peoples and identity had ended and there was doubt whether the newcomers can be assimilated (Dicker, 2003, p. 44). The assumption that the immigrants had a strong desire for assimilation was not completely true. Though they did have a strong desire to acquire English and several traits of mainstream America, this is mostly to open paths to reach their goals and not for total incorporation (Dicker, p. 39). This partial cultural assimilation can be likened to temporary biological adaptations such as acclimatization; here the body’s biological functions work hard to tolerate the current environmental condition. This process is not immediate, requiring time for the body to adjust itself to the climate; such as for a climber to survive high altitude conditions, it is recommended for them to climb slowly, resting a few times (Backer, et al. , 2005, p. 223). These adaptations may be partial and temporary but they allow people moving in that environment to function and achieve their goals. Environments, whether social or natural, hold a certain amount of resources and if these are limited the existing groups compete to gain access to these. In the case of the Spanish settlers in the Americas, a tri-racial society- the Spaniards, the natives and those that were borne out of relations between the two- was created and â€Å"access to power and prestige depended on a person’s degree of acculturation† (Dicker, 2003, p. 48). According to Daniels: â€Å"An individual who spoke Spanish, wore European clothes, and ate European style food was considered, if not Spanish, not any longer Indian† (as cited in Dicker, p. 48). People had to adhere to the standards that the Spanish had set in order to gain access to resources and survive, for those that are no longer Indian were set to help manage the state (Daniels as cited in Dicker, p. 48). Grasping the basic ideas of survival of the fittest, those that are able to adjust to some current norms of the society are able to survive, have access to resources and thus achieve more reproductive success than those ostracized, cut off and with limited offspring. Kim’s theory (as cited in Liu, 2001, p. 14) assumes that â€Å"stress and growth are inseparable and that both are necessary for successful adaptation†. A culture or a species must be able to grow and adapt to surrounding cultural facets to lessen the stress that is affecting them. According to Cohen (1974, p. 3) â€Å"A population’s adaptation is its relationship to its habitat†. The population adapts when it changes key factors in itself so that the environment can be a more fitting place for them to live, such as adapting the language of the place, the standards set by those that control the resources etc. Adopting cultural features from other groups allow the people to be integrated, whether partially or completely, into that community and lessen the stress that limit them from surviving. Biological evolution is similar to this as success in here is measured by how a population manages to reproduce generations and provide for them. Backer, H. D. , Bowman, W. D. , Paton, B. C. , Steele, P. Thygerson, A. L. & Gulli, B. (2005). Wilderness first aid: emergency care for remote locations (2nd ed. ). Massachusetts, USA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Cohen, Y. A. (1974). Man in adaptation: the cultural present (2nd ed. ). Chicago, USA: Aldine Transaction. Dicker, S. J. (2003) Languages in America: a pluralist view (2nd ed. ). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Jia, W. Lu, X. & Heisey, D. R. (2002). Chinese communication theory and research: reflections, new frontiers, and new directions. Connecticut. USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002 Liu, J. (2001). Asian students’ classroom communication patterns in U. S. universities: an emic perspective. Connecticut, USA: Greenwood Publishing Group.

The Future of Marriage in America

http://marriage. rutgers. edu/Publications/SOOU/TEXTSOOU2007. htm The State of Our Unions The Social Health of Marriage in America 2007 Essay: The Future of Marriage in America David Popenoe  © Copyright 2007 Introduction In this year’s essay, David Popenoe argues that long-term trends point to the gradual weakening of marriage as the primary social institution of family life. More Americans today are living together, marrying at older ages or not at all, and rearing children in cohabiting or solo parent households. Overall, the U. S. trends are following the far-advanced trends toward nonmarriage in Northwestern European nations, albeit at a slower and more uneven pace. Popenoe attributes the weakening of marriage to a broad cultural shift away from religion and social traditionalism and toward faith in personal independence and tolerance for diverse life styles – otherwise known as â€Å"secular individualism. † This cultural shift is a central feature of modern societies and therefore unlikely to be reversed. Compared to Europeans, moreover, Americans are more libertarian and thus may be more susceptible to harshly negative consequences of secular individualism on family life. As Popenoe concludes, it will probably require a cultural awakening, perhaps prompted by rational self-interest, to avoid such an outcome. We will have to adopt the view that personal happiness depends on high-trust and lasting relationships and that such relationships require constraints on short-term adult interests in order to foster long-term commitments to children, and thus to the future. Barbara Dafoe Whitehead THE FUTURE OF MARRIAGE IN AMERICA David Popenoe Almost a decade ago, in our first annual State of Our Unions Report in 1999, the lead essay was â€Å"What’s Happening to Marriage. † The picture we painted was hopeful, if not especially optimistic. Marriage, we reported, â€Å"is weakening but it is too soon to write its obituary. † In this, our ninth annual report to the nation, I want to summarize what has been happening to marriage in recent years and peer into the future. One question in particular is compelling: Is marriage in America headed in the direction of the European nations, where it is an even weaker social institution than in the United States? Or are we, as in other areas of our national life—such as our higher level of religious participation and belief—the great exception to the seemingly entrenched trends of the developed, Western societies? This raises, in turn, another intriguing question: Is America still a single nation in family terms, or are we becoming more divided by region and class? Marriage and Family Trends of the Past Decade There can be no doubt that the institution of marriage has continued to weaken in recent years. Whereas marriage was once the dominant and single acceptable form of living arrangement for couples and children, it is no longer. Today, there is more â€Å"family diversity:† Fewer adults are married, more are divorced or remaining single, and more are living together outside of marriage or living alone. [The most recent data are available in the second half of this report. Today, more children are born out-of-wedlock (now almost four out of ten), and more are living in stepfamilies, with cohabiting but unmarried adults, or with a single parent. This means that more children each year are not living in families that include their own married, biological parents, which by all available empirical evidence is the gold standard for insuring optimal outcomes in a child’s development. In the late 1990s quite a bit was written about a â€Å"marriage and family turnaround,† or a reversal of the many family weakening trends. Most negative family trends have slowed appreciably in recent years; they have not continued in the dramatically swift trajectory upward that prevailed in the 1970s and 1980s. Much of this may be due simply to the slowing of social trends as they â€Å"mature. † The only major family trend that has actually reversed direction is divorce. After rising steeply, beginning around 1965, the divorce rate has dropped gradually since the early 1980s, apparently mainly the result of adults becoming better educated and marrying at a later age. Other possible reasons for the decreasing divorce rate are the rise of non-marital cohabitation and a decline in second and subsequent marriages. Divorcees, for example, have become more likely to cohabit rather than remarry, thus avoiding remarriages that have always had a disproportionately high risk of divorce. The Marriage Gap One surprising development of recent years is the growth of a marriage and divorce â€Å"gap† between differently educated segments of the population. People who have completed college (around a quarter of the population) tend to have significantly higher marriage and lower divorce rates compared to those with less education. Among those married in the early 1990s, for example, only 16. 5 percent of college educated women were divorced within ten years, compared to 46 percent for high school dropouts. Indeed, most of the recent divorce rate decline has been among the college educated; for those with less than a high school education, the divorce rate actually has been rising. 1) The weakening of marriage and the resultant growth of family diversity thus is found much more prominently among those with less education and associated lower incomes. The underlying reason for this may be as simple as the fact that the personality and social characteristics enabling one to complete college are similar to those that foster today’s long-term marriages. Or, that delayed entry into the adult world of work and childbearing, and the incr ease in income and knowledge that college typically fosters, better allows mature values and financial security to undergird choice of partner and family life. Whatever the reasons, this marriage and divorce gap has been a major contributor to the growing economic inequality in America. Some expect the marriage gap to grow larger in the future because children tend to follow the family behavior of their parents. Children of the educated and financially comfortable are better socialized to marry successfully and to contain childbearing within marriage, whereas children of the lower classes often do not have this advantage. But it is doubtful that this gap will have much effect on the over-all drift of marriage in America. The increase in the college-educated portion of the population has been slowing appreciably. And the fertility of college-educated women has dropped. Twenty-four percent of college-educated women aged 40-44 were childless in 2004, compared to only 15 percent of women that age who didn’t finish high school. (2) On a national scale, the continuation of this fertility discrepancy could seriously counteract any beneficial family effects of higher education. The European Direction No matter how weak it has become, however, compared to other modern nations marriage remains at the center of American life. About 85 percent of Americans are expected to marry sometime in their lives, compared to less than 70 percent in a number of European nations. Only ten percent of Americans in an international survey agreed that â€Å"marriage is an out-dated institution,† compared to 26 percent in the UK and 36 percent in France. (3) Only about ten percent of American couples are cohabiting outside of marriage, compared to almost one third in Sweden. And our commercial wedding industry certainly has become huge. Yet an overriding question is whether marriage and family trends in every modern society are headed in a common direction. In other words, is there a set of family trends endemic to modern (urban, industrial, democratic, and still mostly Western) societies that supercedes economic, cultural, and even religious differences among regions and nations? If so, the current family system in the United States is not an exception but merely a laggard; we will gradually be swept up in the tide. Up to now, the pacesetters in most contemporary marriage and family trends—all moving in the direction of a non-marriage culture—have been the nations of Northwestern Europe, especially the Nordic countries. They have the latest age at first marriage, the lowest marriage and highest non-marital cohabitation rates, and the largest number of out-of-wedlock births. The nations in Southern Europe such as Spain, Italy and Greece, with less cohabitation and fewer out-of-wedlock births, tend to look more like the United States. Family traditionalism remains stronger in these southern nations, and young people live longer in their childhood homes, often until they marry, rather than living independently or in cohabiting unions. The United Kingdom and the Anglo-settler nations, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, typically stand somewhere in between the two extremes. But with respect to each of the dominant family trends of recent decades the other modern nations have been moving, albeit at varying speeds and not without some temporary lapses, in the Northwest European direction. The percentage of people getting married has been going down, the number of people cohabiting outside of marriage has been increasing, and the out-of-wedlock birth percentage has been skyrocketing. Between the early to mid 1990s and the early 2000s, for example, the marriage rate dropped twelve percent in Italy, 14 percent in Spain, 22 percent in Canada, 28 percent in New Zealand and 24 percent in the United States. At the same time, the non-marital cohabitation percentage (of all couples) climbed 23 percent in Italy and Australia, 53 percent in the United Kingdom, and 49 percent in the United States. The nonmarital birth rate jumped 24 percent in the United States, 48 percent in the United Kingdom, 96 percent in Italy, and a whopping 144 percent in Spain. 4) In one major respect the United States has long been the pacesetter and not the laggard. For generations, we have had the highest divorce rate. Yet even this is now changing. The U. S. rate has been dropping for several decades, while the divorce rate in many European nations has stayed the same or been climbing. The number of divorces per one thousand married women in the United Kingdom in 2002 was 14. 4, not too far from the United States rate of 18. 4. In the past, the incidence of family breakup was closely aligned with the incidence of divorce, but this is no longer the case. Because more people now cohabit in place of marrying, when a cohabiting couple breaks up it is not registered as a divorce would be. Unfortunately, we have no standard reporting system for the breakup of cohabiting couples, but all empirical studies show that cohabiting couples breakup at a much higher rate than married couples. While only ten percent of American couples cohabit, some 20 percent of British couples do. So if we are considering total family breakup, it is likely the case that Britain plus a number of other European nations now surpass us. There is one other important respect in which America has been in the vanguard of family trends—we have the highest percentage of mother-only families. Many European nations have a much higher percentage of out-of-wedlock births than we do, but the great majority of these births are to unmarried but cohabiting couples. In America, much more often, children are born to a lone mother with the father not in residence and often out of the child’s life. Nearly half of all extramarital births in America were of this nature in 2001, according to the latest available data. 5) One reason is our relatively high percentage of births to teenagers, 80 percent of which are non-marital and more than half of those to lone mothers; another is that 70 percent of all unwed births to African Americans are to lone mothers. However, the gap in mother-only families between the United States and other nations of the West is also in the process of diminishing. Being born to a lone mother is onl y one route to living in a mother-only family. Another route is through the break-up of parents after the child is born, which is far more common among parents who cohabit compared to those who marry. With parental break-up rates in other nations climbing rapidly, thanks largely to increased non-marital cohabitation, many of these nations are catching up with us in the alarming statistic of mother-only families. Even by the early 1990s, according to the calculations of several scholars, New Zealand had caught up with the United States with nearly 50 percent of children expected to experience single parenting by age 15, and the figure for Canada and five European countries exceeded 33 percent. (6) These percentages would probably be much higher if they were recalculated today using more recent data. So if we are moving in the direction of the more negative family trends of other modern nations, and they are moving in the direction of our negative trends, where does this leave us? Aren’t we all in a common basket, destined to witness an institution of marriage that is ever weakening? Before considering this, let us first have a look at the possibility that America is becoming increasingly bifurcated into two distinct cultures. Could it be that only one part of America is moving in a European family direction? The American Red-Blue Divide The recent family trends in the Western nations have been largely generated by a distinctive set of cultural values that scholars have come to label â€Å"secular individualism. † It features the gradual abandonment of religious attendance and beliefs, a strong leaning toward â€Å"expressive† values that are preoccupied with personal autonomy and self-fulfillment, and a political emphasis on egalitarianism and the tolerance of diverse lifestyles. An established empirical generalization is that the greater the dominance of secular individualism in a culture, the more fragmented the families. The fundamental reason is that the traditional nuclear family is a somewhat inegalitarian group (not only between husbands and wives but also parents and children) that requires the suppression of some individuality and also has been strongly supported by, and governed by the rules of, orthodox religions. As a seeming impediment to personal autonomy and social equality, therefore, the traditional family is an especially attractive unit for attacks from a secular individualistic perspective. On average, America has been moving in the direction of secular individualism, as can be seen in the general drift of our family trends. But the â€Å"on average† covers up some very substantial variations, some of which account for why, looked at internationally, we are a nation with relatively conservative family values. A recent National Cultural Values Survey (7) found that American adults usefully can be split into three groups, based on the degree to which they have embraced secular individualism, ranging from the Orthodox to the Progressives, with Independents in the middle. The survey found 31 percent of the population in the religiously Orthodox category, 17 percent in the secular Progressive category, and 46 percent as Independents. The Orthodox category is far larger than one finds in Western Europe and the other Anglo nations, and the Progressive category (i. e. , secular individualist) is considerably smaller, and therein lies the major basis for American family exceptionalism. One thing that makes these categories so prominent in American culture is that they are strongly expressed geographically. As analyzed by demographers at the University of Michigan, the two extremes are reflected in the so-called Red (Republican) and Blue (Democratic) state distinction frequently made in recent national political analysis. 8) The more Progressive Blue states are principally those of the Northeast, the Upper Midwest, and the West Coast, while the more Orthodox Red states are found in the South, the lower Midwest, and the Mountain region of the West. Reflecting their different ideologies, the Blue states tend to have lower marriage and higher cohabitation rates, along with lower fertility, while the Red states are more t raditional in their family structure. [See box in the second half of this report. The ideology and family behavior found in the Blue states resembles that of the other Western nations, although not quite as far down the path of Progressivism. If one were referring only to this part of America, one would not be talking about American exceptionalism. The large Orthodox population of the Red states, however, does give the United States a unique configuration in the modern world. If it were not for this population, we would not be having a â€Å"culture war† and we probably would not even be having a national conversation about the weakening of marriage. There is no such conversation about marriage in the Northwestern European nations, despite the fact that the institution of marriage is considerably weaker there than it is here. It is clear that the family structure of America is exceptional in some respects. The question is, are we so exceptional that we can resist the modern trend of marriage and family decline? So far the answer is no—we have been headed down the same path as every other modern, Western society toward ever-increasing secular individualism with its associated family structures. If this trend continues, the family structure of the Red states will come to look more and more like today’s Blue states, and the Blue states will look ever more like Europe. The Prospect for Cultural Change To reverse this trend of marriage and family decline would take a cultural transformation of some kind, and it is interesting to consider and evaluate what this might look like, and what could bring it about. One potential source of change would be a significant expansion in influence and authority of today’s orthodox, anti-individualist religions. Much has been written in recent years about the weakening of secularization, pointing out that modernization no longer necessarily means the demise of religion. The evidence for this comes from the newly modernizing countries of the world, however, where orthodox religions have actually been gaining, rather than losing, strength. There is no evidence that anything like this has been happening to date in the Western European and Anglo nations. Quite the opposite; with each passing year these nations—including the United States—are more secular than ever before. The National Cultural Values Survey noted above found that regular churchgoing has dipped below 50 percent and only 36 percent believe â€Å"people should live by God’s principles,† concluding that â€Å"America no longer enjoys cultural consensus on God, religion, and what constitutes right and wrong. â€Å"(9) A powerful indicator of future trends are the beliefs and attitudes of today’s young people, which are unmistakably more secular and individualist than those of their elders. A recent study concluded that emerging adults (ages 18-24) in America, compared to their earlier counterparts and their older contemporaries, are more disaffected and disconnected from society, more cynical or negative about people, and have moved in a liberal direction. (10) A Pew Foundation national survey found that 20 percent of today’s young people (18-24) say they have no religious affiliation or are atheist or agnostic, nearly double the percentage of the non-religious found in that age group less than 20 years ago. In the same time period the percentage of young people who did not agree that they had â€Å"old fashioned values about family and marriage† jumped from 17 percent to 31 percent. (11) A study in Britain, starkly pointing up the entrenched nature of this generational shift, found that a child with two religious parents has only a 50 percent chance of being religious, while a child with one religious parent has 25 percent chance of being religious. 12) Another cultural transformation that could move the family in a more traditional direction is widespread immigration. In combination with low birthrates, massive immigration is capable of changing the culture, social experiences, and self-identity of a population—including the ideologies of secularism and individualism. This possibility is beginning to be discussed in Europe, where birthrates in many nations remain well below replacement level and immigration, mostly from orthodox Muslim countries with high birthrates, is h igh and growing. The percentage of foreign born in many Western European nations is now similar to that in America, around twelve percent, but the birthrates of these groups are typically far higher than the indigenous populations. Projections are that the percentage of people of â€Å"foreign origin† may reach as high as one third in some European nations by 2050, and far higher than that in the major cities. (13) What is not known is how these new immigrants ultimately will react to secular individualism and the other cultural beliefs and practices of modern, Western democracies. As many have noted, because of long-standing antipathies between peoples of the Muslim faith and those of Christianity, often violent and going back well more than a millennium, it does seem possible that Europe faces the prospect of a major cultural transformation sometime in the future through immigrants who, rather than assimilate, will pull the culture in a new direction. The immigration situation in the United States, however, is different, and it does not seem as likely that in the foreseeable future immigrant groups will be able to seriously shift our culture in a more traditional direction. The most likely candidate for cultural change, of course, is the growing Hispanic population. The percentage of Hispanics is projected to reach 25 percent of the total population by 2050, when non-Hispanic Whites will make up only a slim majority. (14) But unlike Europe we are already a nation made up of many different immigrant groups; many Hispanics have been here for years, and they share a common religious heritage in Christianity. Thus Hispanics don’t pose the same threat of not assimilating to Western culture as do the Muslims. Indeed, to date, Hispanics seem to have assimilated into the American culture of secular individualism more than the reverse. For example, the unwed birth percentage among Hispanics has jumped from 19 percent in 1980 to 48 percent in 2005 and stands well above the percentage for the non-Hispanic White population (25 percent). Hispanics have the same divorce rate as non-Hispanic Whites, and in recent years their rate of non-marital cohabitation has grown faster than that of any other immigrant group. These trends contradict earlier expectations that Hispanics might bring this nation a new wave of family traditionalism. The prediction of the continued growth of secular individualism within modern cultures rests on some powerful facts. So far in the Western experience, at least, the dominant sociological factors associated with secular individualism are that the higher the educational and income levels of a population, and the more urbanized it is, the greater the degree of secular individualism. Is it likely that any time in the near future educational, income, and urbanization levels in America will drop? They have been increasing inexorably for three centuries, so a turnaround would most likely occur only in the event of some catastrophe, either natural or man-made. Absent such a catastrophe (which certainly can not be ruled out in today’s world), the most likely future scenario is that secular individualism will increasingly dominate the cultures of the West. The best prospects for cultural change, therefore, rest on the possibility that, at some time in the future, new generations of secular individualists themselves will undergo a change of heart. One way this might occur is through the growth of new, non-orthodox religious ideologies that remained compatible with secular individualism but take it in new directions. Unfortunately, the new religious strains that have emerged in recent decades, so-called New Age religions, have been profoundly individualistic. None has shown any interest in preserving marriage and family solidarity. Indeed, they seem part and parcel of the secular individualist movement, albeit with a more â€Å"spiritual† bent. The same seems to hold true for today’s rapidly growing â€Å"green† movement, which itself shows signs of becoming a new quasi-religion in which the environment has replaced God as a focus of almost divine adoration. So far there is little evidence that â€Å"pro-green† translates into â€Å"pro-marriage† or â€Å"pro-family,† although it is conceivable that somehow the conservation of nature could become translated into the conservation of the family. Any widely accepted â€Å"new morality† that might change family behavior would probably have to be compatible with secular individualism’s motivating force—rational self-interest. The self-interest of today’s young people still includes the desire to have strong intimate relationships and to want to do best by their children. And there is every reason to believe that these interests will continue into the future because they are, in fact, an intrinsic part of being human. The task that lies ahead, then, is to help young people to see the importance of marriage and strong families as the best way to achieve these interests; to help them realize that a better and more meaningful way of life, both for themselves and for their children, involves a commitment to long-term marriage. What Can be Done? As a first step, the institution of marriage needs to be promoted by all levels of society, particularly the families, the schools, the churches, the non-profit sector, and the government. The great majority of American high school seniors still want to get married, with 82 percent of girls and 70 percent of boys recently saying that â€Å"having a good marriage and family life† is â€Å"extremely important† to them. These percentages, in fact, represent a slight increase from the late 1970s. 15) But as high schoolers reach young adulthood, when the attraction of cohabitation and careers gains strong currency, making the actual commitment to marriage is not easy. Young people need, therefore, to be made continually aware of the many benefits married life brings, both for themselves and for their children. The empirical evidence is now strong and persuasive that a good marriage enhances personal happiness, economic success, health and longevity. This ev idence should become a regular part of our educational programs and our public discourse. Yet successful marriage promotion requires more than empirical evidence. Marriage has fallen by the wayside, in part, because it receives less and less social recognition and approval. Any norm of behavior requires for its maintenance the continuing support of the community, including active social pressures to uphold it. When social approval and pressures wither, the norm weakens. Today’s young people have been taught through the schools and in their communities a strong message of tolerance for â€Å"alternative lifestyles. † â€Å"Thou shalt not make moral judgments about other people’s family behavior† seems to have become a dominant message in our times. The reason for this is completely understandable; children and young people come from ever more diverse family situations which are not of their own doing, and they should be fully accepted and not be penalized. The problem is that this moral message is carried on into adult life, where it is applied not to children and young people but to adults who do have choices about how they shape their lives. In an effort not to judge much less stigmatize any adult life style, we have all too often become virtually silent about the value and importance of marriage. This silence is extremely damaging to the promotion of a pro-marriage culture. The widespread promotion of marriage is directed at only half of the problem, however. Getting people to marry is one thing, helping them to stay married is something else entirely. Helping people to stay married is the main focus of an important set of programs known as marriage education. Typically conducted in group settings rather than counseling situations, marriage education programs focus on developing the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed for making a wise marital choice and having a successful marriage. Although marriage education has been around for many decades, it recently has been thrust into the limelight thanks to widespread publicity and government financial assistance. The importance of marriage education is magnified by the fact that the marital relationship today is so different from what it was in the past. Marriage is now based almost entirely on close friendship and romantic love, mostly stripped of the economic dependencies, legal and religious restrictions, and extended family pressures that have held marriages together for most of human history. Until fairly recent times marriages had little to do with romantic love, sexual passion, or even close friendship; they were functional partnerships in the intense struggle of life. Today, a successful marriage rests almost entirely on how well one gets along, intimately and for the long term, with someone of the opposite sex. The â€Å"relationship knowledge† this requires has never been part of formal education, but there is no reason to believe that it can not effectively be taught to married couples and those about to be married, as well as to younger people as part of the high school curriculum. Indeed, the initial empirical evaluations of marriage education programs conclude that they are both well-received and have generally positive outcomes. Marriage promotion and marriage education are essential steps, but in order fully to rebuild the institution of marriage there would probably have to be a cultural shift of a more fundamental nature. Modern cultures would need to pull back from the now dominant thrust of secular individualism—the excessive pursuit of personal autonomy, immediate gratification, and short-term personal gain—and give greater emphasis to issues of community and social solidarity. This could come about through a growing realization, based on rational self-interest, that our personal happiness and sense of well-being over the long course of life are less affected by the amount of independence, choice, bodily pleasure and wealth we are able to obtain than by the number of stable, long-term and meaningful relationships we have with others. (16) And through a greater recognition of the fact that short-term adult interests can be in conflict with the long-term health and wellbeing of children, and that our children’s welfare has everything to do with the future of our nation. Conclusion America is still the most marrying of Western nations, but nevertheless we are caught up in the prevailing trends of modernity that lead toward an ever-weakening institution of marriage. Marriage rates have been dropping and cohabitation and out-of-wedlock birth rates have been rising, thanks in large part to the growing influence of secular individualism in all modern cultures. The negative effects of this are felt most profoundly by our children, who are growing up in family situations that are less and less optimum from a child-development perspective. As we move in the direction of the weaker family structures of Europe it is important to remember that we lack many of the welfare â€Å"safety-nets† found there, and therefore the negative effects of marital decline on children are likely to be heightened in this country. We are not a unified nation in family terms. We have a marriage gap, whereby the college-educated have a stronger marriage culture than the less well-educated. And we have a Red state/Blue state divide, whereby the nation is geographically split up into areas of family traditionalism and non-traditionalism. Yet these divisions remain peripheral to the overall waning of marriage in America. The rebuilding of a stronger marriage culture is possible. In addition to the heavy promotion of marriage built around the self-interest of today’s young people, it will probably require a cultural shift of some magnitude, one in which stable, predictable, and long-term relationships with others come to be viewed as the best foundation for adult personalities, childrearing, and family life. Footnotes 1. Steven P. Martin, â€Å"Trends in Marital Dissolution by Women’s Education in the United States,† Demographic Research 15-20 (December 2006), 537-560. 2. Jane Lawler Dye, â€Å"Fertility of American Women: June 2004. † Current Population Report, P20-555, Washington, DC: US Census Bureau (2005),Table 7. 3. Reported in Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, â€Å"Marriage and Divorce: Changes and their Driving Forces,† unpublished manuscript, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (2007). 4. Unless otherwise indicated, all calculations are by the National Marriage Project from published international data sources. . Lisa Mincieli and Kristin Moore, â€Å"The Relationship Context of Births Outside of Marriage: The Rise of Cohabitation,† Child Trends Research Brief 2007-13 (May 2007). 6. Patrick Heuveline, J. M. Timberlake, and F. F. Furstenberg, Jr. , â€Å"Shifting Childrearing to Single Mothers: Results from 17 Western Countries,† Population and Devel opment Review 29-1 (March 2003), 47-71. 7. Culture and Media Institute, Alexandria, Virginia (2007). 8. Ron J. Lesthaeghe and Lisa Neidert, â€Å"The Second Demographic Transition in the U. S. : Exception or Textbook Example,† Population and Development Review December 2006), 32-4. 9. Executive Summary, op. cit. 10. Tom Smith, â€Å"Generation Gaps in Attitudes and Values from the 1970s to the 1990s,† in R. A. Settersten, Jr. , F. F. Furstenberg, Jr. , and R. C. Rumbaut (eds. ), On the Frontier of Adulthood: Theory, Research, and Public Policy (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2004). 11. The Pew Research Center, â€Å"A Portrait of Generation Next,† Washington, DC, 2007. 12. Alasdair Crockett and David Voas, â€Å"Generations of Decline: Religious Change in the 20th Century,† Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (December 2006), 45-4. 3. David Coleman, â€Å"Immigration and Ethnic Change in Low-Fertility Countries: A Third Demographic Transition, † Population and Development Review 32-3 (September 2006), 401-446. 14. Philip Martin and Elizabeth Midgely, â€Å"Immigration: Shaping and Reshaping America,† Population Bulletin 58-2 (June 2003), p. 22. 15. Data from Monitoring the Future surveys, reported in this second half of this report. 16. For an important statement about this, see John Ashcroft and Phil Caroe, â€Å"Thriving Lives: Which Way for Well-Being? † Relationships Foundation, Cambridge, England (2007). SOCIAL INDICATORS OF MARITAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING TRENDS OF THE PAST FOUR DECADES Marriage Divorce Unmarried Cohabitation Loss of Child Centeredness Fragile Families with Children Teen Attitudes About Marriage and Family THE RED/BLUE AMERICAN FAMILY DIVIDE The Red State/Blue State divide has become a familiar theme in national politics. In a series of recent presidential elections, the so-called Red states have tended to vote Republican and the Blue states have voted Democratic. The Red states consist of the South (e. g. Alabama), the lower Midwest (e. g. Oklahoma), and the Mountain Region of the West (e. g. Montana). The Blue states are those of the Northeast (e. g. Massachusetts), the upper Midwest (e. g. Minnesota), and the West Coast (e. g. California). Less well known is the fact that the Red and Blue states also differ significantly in family terms, and this may help to explain their politics. The Red states typically have a more traditional family structure than the Blue States; people in the Red states marry younger and in larger numbers, cohabit outside of marriage less, and have more children. This is in large part because Red Staters are likely to be more religiously observant and to belong to denominations that profess allegiance to more conservative social values. However, the Red states also have higher divorce and out-of-wedlock birth rates than the Blue states, and these rates can hardly be considered indicators of traditionalism, much less religiosity. A closer look at the actual demographic differences among the states can help us to better understand the nature and causes of the Red/Blue American family divide. Red states have significantly higher marriage rates. The national marriage rate was 41 marriages per 1000 single women in 2005. Some of the highest marriage rates are found in the South, with Arkansas (77) and Alabama (54) leading the pack, and in the Mountain states of Idaho (66), Wyoming (60) and Utah (58). The lowest marriage rates, in contrast, are found in the Northeast with Pennsylvania (24), New Jersey (27), Delaware (28) and Connecticut (28) at the bottom. a) Higher marriage rates are associated with less non-marital cohabitation, and this also clusters geographically along Red/Blue lines. The national rate of unmarried partner households (as percent of all couple households) was 10% in 2005. States in the South and Midwest have the lowest percentages: Alabama (6%), Mississippi (8%), Kansas (8%), and Arkansas (8%). At the opposite pole are the states in the Northeast and Northwest: Vermont (14%), Maine (13%), Oregon (12%) and Washington (12%). (b) Statewide fertility rates fo llow a similar Red/Blue geographic distribution. The national fertility rate was 67 births per 1000 women ages 15-44 in 2005, but it was in the 70s in a number of Red states, Idaho (77), Kansas (70), and Georgia (70), and only in the 50s for Vermont (51), Maine (54) and Massachusetts (56). In addition to family traditionalism, the fertility rate in a number of southwestern States is greatly affected by the higher-fertility Hispanic population. (c) Put all together, these demographic characteristics add up to more married couples with children in the Red states and fewer in the Blue states, and this is ne of the biggest reasons for the Red/Blue political divide. Married people with children have tended disproportionately in recent presidential elections to favor the Republican Party. Indeed, for recent elections the correlation between married-with-children and voting Republican is one of the highest ever found between demographic factors and voting behavior. (d) Yet the Red states also, interestingly, have the highest out-of-wedloc k birth percentages and divorce rates. While 37% of all births in the U. S. ere out-of-wedlock in 2005, the unwed birth percentages for the Red states of Mississippi (49%) and Louisiana (48%) are far ahead of the Blue states of New Hampshire (27%) and Minnesota (30%) A closer examination, however, shows that this Red/Blue geographic pattern of unwed births is heavily dictated by the racial and ethnic make up of each state, as well as by educational and income levels. States such as Mississippi and Louisiana are at the top partly due to the extremely high unwed birth percentages for Blacks (77%) and Hispanics (50%). The state with the highest overall unwed birth percentage is New Mexico (51%), owing mainly to the contribution of its large Hispanic population. If one removes Blacks and Hispanics from the equation and looks just at unwed births among Whites, a geographic pattern more influenced by family traditionalism emerges. For the White population only, the unwed birth percentage in Mississippi (26%) is lower than for the White population in New Hampshire (27%). Unwed birth percentages below the national average of 25% for Whites are also found in the Red states of Alabama (21%), North Carolina (23%), and Georgia (23%). In contrast, above average unwed birth percentages for Whites are found the in secular and cohabitation-high Blue states of Vermont (32%) and Maine (35%) and Oregon (29%). (e) The picture is further complicated, however, by the fact that marriage, cohabitation, and unwed birth rates are so strongly affected by income and educational levels. In general, people with lower incomes and less education tend to marry less, cohabit more, and have more births out-of-wedlock. While professed traditional family values may help to generate fewer unwed births, they do not seem to provide much protection against divorce. The highest divorce rates are found in the more religiously-based Red states such as Arkansas (25), Oklahoma (25), and West Virginia (23), in striking contrast to more secular Blue states such as Pennsylvania (11), and Massachusetts (11). The national divorce rate was 16 divorces per 1000 married women in 2005. (f) Level of educational achievement is the single factor that probably best explains the geographic distribution of divorce. The lower the educational (and associated income) level, the higher the divorce rate, and educational levels are substantially lower in the Red states than in the Blue states. The Blue states of the West Coast stand as an exception to this education-based pattern, however, with the divorce rates for highly-educated Oregon and Washington being above the national average (probably California, too, but unfortunately divorce rates for that state are not available). In addition to education, therefore, another important causal factor in divorce may be the level of geographic mobility in a state, making the more recently settled and more transient populations of the West Coast and Mountain states more vulnerable to divorce. Mobility levels may also help to account for another geographic exception: the long-settled Red states of the Central Plains (e. g. Iowa and North Dakota) have very low divorce rates, comparable to those of the East Coast states. Footnotes: a. Calculations by the National Marriage Project obtained using data from the Current Population Surveys, March 2005 Supplement, as well as Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths: Provisional Data for 2005, National Vital Statistics Report 54:20, July 21, 2006, Table 3. The exceptionally high marriages rates in Nevada and Hawaii are not considered here because so many out-of-staters go to these states to get married. b. Calculations by the National Marriage Project using data downloaded from the American Community Survey, 2005. c. Fertility rates from â€Å"Births: Preliminary Data for 2005,† National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 55, No. 11, December 28, 2006. d. Ron J. Lesthaeghe and Lisa Neidert, â€Å"The Second Demographic Transition in the US: Exception or Textbook Example? ,† Population and Development Review 32:4 (December, 2006). e. Unmarried mother birth data from â€Å"Births: Preliminary Data for 2005,† National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 55, No. 11, December 28, 2006. f. Calculations by the National Marriage Project obtained using data from the Current Population Surveys, March 2005 Supplement less population in CA, GA, HI, IN, LA and MN to match unreported divorces in these states. Divorce counts from Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths: Provisional Data for 2005, National Vital Statistics Report 54:20, July 21, 2006, Table 3. The highest divorce rate, of course, is found in Nevada (38. ), and not considered here because of the out-of-stater problem. MARRIAGE Key Finding: Marriage trends in recent decades indicate that Americans have become less likely to marry, and the most recent data show that the marriage rate in the United States continues to decline. Of those who do marry, there has been a moderate drop since the 1970s in the percentage of couples who consider their marriages to be â₠¬Å"very happy,† but in the past decade this trend has swung in a positive direction. Americans have become less likely to marry. This is reflected in a decline of nearly 50 percent, from 1970 to 2005, in the annual number of marriages per 1000 unmarried adult women (Figure 1). Much of this decline—it is not clear just how much—results from the delaying of first marriages until older ages: the median age at first marriage went from 20 for females and 23 for males in 1960 to about 26 and 27, respectively, in 2005. Other factors accounting for the decline are the growth of unmarried cohabitation and a small decrease in the tendency of divorced persons to remarry. The decline also reflects some increase in lifelong singlehood, though the actual amount can not be known until current young and middle-aged adults pass through the life course. The percentage of adults in the population who are currently married has also diminished. Since 1960, the decline of those married among all persons age 15 and older has been 13 percentage points—and 25 points among black females (Figure 2). It should be noted that these data include both people who have never married and those who have married and then divorced. In order partially to control for a decline in married adults simply due to delayed first marriages, we have looked at changes in the percentage of persons age 35 through 44 who were married (Figure 3). Since 1960, there has been a drop of 20 percentage points for married men and 18 points for married women. (But the decline has not affected all segments of the population. See the accompanying box: The Marriage Gap. ) Marriage trends in the age range of 35 to 44 are suggestive of lifelong singlehood. In times past and still today, virtually all persons who were going to marry during their lifetimes had married by age 45. More than 90 percent of women have married eventually in every generation for which records exist, going back to the mid-1800s. By 1960, 94 percent of women then alive had been married at least once by age 45—probably an historical high point. (1) For the generation of 1995, assuming a continuation of then current marriage rates, several demographers projected that 88 percent of women and 82 percent of men would ever marry. 2) If and when these figures are recalculated for the early years of the 21st century, the percentage of women and men ever marrying will almost certainly be lower. It is important to note that the decline in marriage does not mean that people are giving up on living together with a sexual partner. On the contrary, with the incidence of unmarried cohabitation increasing rapidly, marriage is giving ground to unwed unions. Most people now live together before they marry for the first time. An even higher percentage of those divorced who subsequently remarry live together first. And a growing number of persons, both young and old, are living together with no plans for eventual marriage. There is a common belief that, although a smaller percentage of Americans are now marrying than was the case a few decades ago, those who marry have marriages of higher quality. It seems reasonable that if divorce removes poor marriages from the pool of married couples and cohabitation â€Å"trial marriages† deter some bad marriages from forming, the remaining marriages on average should be happier. The best available evidence on the topic, however, does not support these assumptions. Since 1973, the General Social Survey periodically has asked representative samples of married Americans to rate their marriages as either â€Å"very happy,† â€Å"pretty happy,† or â€Å"not too happy. â€Å"(3) As Figure 4 indicates, the percentage of both men and women saying â€Å"very happy† has declined moderately over the past 25 years. (4) This trend, however, is now heading in a positive direction. 1 Andrew J. Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992): 10; Michael R. Haines, â€Å"Long-Term Marriage Patterns in the United States from Colonial Times to the Present,† The History of the Family 1-1 (1996): 15-39. 2 Robert Schoen and Nicola Standish, â€Å"The Retrenchment of Marriage: Results from Marital Status Life Tables for the United States, 1995. † Population and Development Review 27-3 (2001): 553-563. 3 Conducted by the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago, this is a nationally representative study of the English-speaking, non-institutionalized population of the United States age 18 and over. Using a different data set that compared marriages in 1980 with marriages in 1992, equated in terms of marital duration, Stacy J. Rogers and Paul Amato found similarly that the 1992 marriages had less marital interaction, more marital conflict, and more marital problems. â€Å"Is Marital Quality Declining? The Evidence from Two Generations,† Social Forces 75 (1997): 1089. THE MARRIAGE GAP There is good news a nd bad news on the marriage front. For the college-educated segment of our population, the institution of marriage appears to have gained strength in recent years. For everyone else, however, marriage continues to weaken. Thus there is a growing â€Å"marriage gap† in America, between those who are well educated and those who are not. Recent data indicates that, for the college educated, the institution of marriage may actually have strengthened. It once was the case that college-educated women married at a lower rate than their less educated peers. Indeed, marriage rates for college-educated women were lower well into the late 20th Century. Since around 1980, however, this situation has reversed. College-educated women are now marrying at a higher rate than their peers. Not only that, but the divorce rate among these women is relatively low and has been dropping. This may be due partly to the fact that college-educated women, once the leaders of the divorce revolution, now hold a more restrictive view of divorce than less well educated women. b The out-of-wedlock childbearing of college-educated women has always been well below that of other segments of the population. Now, among those who delay marriage past age 30, this is the only group becoming more likely to have children after marriage rather than before. c There is more good news. The marriages of the college educated have become more egalitarian than ever, both in the sense that husbands and wives are matched more equally in their educational and economic backgrounds, and that they hold more egalitarian attitudes about marital gender roles. d As icing on the cake, all of this may add up to greater marital happiness. The percentage of spouses among this group who rate their marriage as â€Å"very happy† has held fairly steady over recent decades, whereas for other parts of the population the percentage has dropped significantly. In large numbers, therefore, the college educated part of America is living the American dream—with happy, stable, two-parent families. There is one problem, however, and it is a serious one for the future of the nation. College-educated women aren’t having enough children to replace themselves. In 2004, for example, twenty four percent of women 40 to 44 years old with a bachelor’s degree were childless, com pared to only fifteen percent of those without a high school degree. f For the non college-educated population, unfortunately, the marriage situation remains gloomy. Marriage rates are continuing to decline, and the percentage of out-of-wedlock births is rising. In the year 2000, fully forty percent of high-school drop-out mothers were living without husbands, compared with just twelve percent of college-grad mothers. g Because of the many statistically well-documented benefits of marriage in such areas as income, health, and longevity, this gap is generating a society of greater inequality. America is becoming a nation divided not only by educational and income levels, but by unequal family structures. a Joshua R. Goldstein and Catherine T. Kenney, â€Å"Marriage Delayed or Marriage Foregone? New Cohort Forecasts of First Marriages for U. S. Women,† American Sociological Review 66-4 (2001): 506-519. b Steven P. Martin and Sangeeta Parashar, â€Å"Women’s Changing Attitudes Toward Divorce: 1974-2002: Evidence for an Educational Crossover,† Journal of Marriage and Family 68-1 (2006): 29-40. c Steven P. Martin, â€Å"Reassessing Delayed and Forgone Marriage in the United States,† unpublished manuscript (2004), Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD. Robert Schoen and Yen-Hsin Alice Cheng, â€Å"Partner Choice and the Differential Retreat from Marriage,† Journal of Marriage Family 68-1 (2006): 1-10; Arland Thornton and Linda Young-DeMarco, â€Å"Four Decades of Trends in Attitudes Toward Family Issues in the United States: the 1960s Through the 1990s,† Journal of Marriage and Family 63-4 (2001): 1009-1037. e Calculation by the Na tional Marriage Project of data from The General Social Survey, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago. f Jane Lawler Dye, Fertility of American Women: June 2004, Current Population Report, P20-555, Washington, DC: U. S. Census Bureau (2005): Table 7. g David T. Ellwood and Christopher Jencks, â€Å"The Uneven Spread of Single-Parent Families,† in Kathryn M. Neckerman (ed. ) Social Inequality (New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 2004), 3-77. |   | |Figure 1. Number of Marriages per 1,000 Unmarried Women Age 15 and Older, by Year, United States (a) | | |Year |Number | | | |1960 |73. |(b) | | |1970 |76. 5 | | | |1975 |66. 9 | | | |1980 |61. 4 | | | |1985 |56. | | | |1990 |54. 5 | | | |1995 |50. 8 | | | |2000 |46. 5 | | | |2005 |40. | | |a We have used the number of marriages per 1,000 unmarried women age 15 and older, rather than the Crude Marriage Rate of | |marriages per 1,000 population to help avoid the problem of compositional changes in the population, that is, changes which stem| |merely from there being more or less people in the marriageable ages. Even this more refined measure is somewhat susceptible to | |compositional changes. |b Per 1,000 unmarried women age 14 and older. | |S ource: U. S. Department of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2001, Page 87, Table 117; and Statistical | |Abstract of the United States, 1986, Page 79, Table 124. Figure for 2004 was obtained using data from the Current Population | |Surveys, March 2004 Supplement, as well as Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths: Provisional Data for 2005, National Vital | |Statistics Report 54:20, July 21, 2006, Table 3. http://www. cdc. gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_20. pdf) The CPS, March | |Supplement, is based on a sample of the U. S. population, rather than an actual count such as those available from the decennial | |census. See sampling and weighting notes at http://www. bls. census. gov:80/cps/ads/2002/ssampwgt. htm | |Figure 2. Percentage of All Persons Age 15 and Older Who Were Married, by Sex and Race, 1960-2005 United Statesa | | |Total Males |Black Males |White Males |Total Females |Black Females |White Females | | | | | | | | | |1960 |69. 3 |60. 9 |70. 2 |65. 9 |59. 8 |66. 6 | |1970 |66. 7 |56. 9 |68. |61. 9 |54. 1 |62. 8 | |1980 |63. 2 |48. 8 |65. 0 |58. 9 |44. 6 |60. 7 | |1990 |60. 7 |45. 1 |62. 8 |56. 9 |40. 2 |59. 1 | |2000 |57. 9 |42. 8 |60. 0 |54. 7 |36. 2 |57. 4 | |2006 |56. 3 |40. 9 |58. 5 |53. |34. 3 |56. 3 | |a Includes races other than Black and White. | |b In 2003, the U. S. Census Bureau expanded its racial categories to permit respondents to identify themselves as belonging to more than | |one race. This means that racial data computations beginning in 2004 may not be strictly comparable to those of prior years. | |Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P20-506; America's Families and Living Arrangements: March 2000 and| |earlier reports; and data calculate d from the Current Population Surveys, March 2006 Supplement. | |Figure 3. Percentage of Persons Age 35 through 44 Who Were Married by Sex, 1960-2005, United States | | | | | | | |Year |Males |Females | | |1960 |88. 0 |87. | | |1970 |89. 3 |86. 9 | | |1980 |84. 2 |81. 4 | | |1990 |74. 1 |73. 0 | | |2000 |69. 0 |71. | | |2006 |67. 9 |69. 5 | |Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1961, Page 34, Table 27; Statistical Abstract of | |the United States, 1971, Page 32, Table 38; Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1981, Page 38, Table 49; and U. S. Bureau | |of the Census, General Population Characteristics, 1990, Page 45, Table 34; and Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2001,| |Page 48, Table 51; internet tables (http://www. ensus. gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2005/tabA1-all. pdf) and data calculated | |from the Current Population Surveys, March 2006 Supplement. Figure for 2006 was obtained using data from the Current Population | |Surveys rather than data from the census. The C PS, March Supplement, is based on a sample of the U. S. population, rather than an| |actual count such as those available from the decennial census. See sampling and weighting notes at | |http://www. bls. ensus. gov:80/cps/ads/2002/ssampwgt. htm | |Figure 4. Percentage of Married Persons Age 18 and Older Who Said Their Marriages Were â€Å"Very Happy,† by Period, United States | | | | | |Period |Men |Women | |1973-1976 |69. |68. 6 | |1977-1981 |68. 3 |64. 2 | |1982-1986 |62. 9 |61. 7 | |1987-1991 |66. 4 |59. | |1993-1996 |63. 2 |59. 7 | |1998-2004 |64. 4 |60. 4 | |Source: The General Social Survey, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago. The trend for| |both men and women is statistically significant (p