Virginia State Local Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Virginia State Local Government - Essay Example The division, however, does not end with the cultural aspect. Statistics also show that those living in the northernmost part of the state earn more and have a higher level of education than those at southern and southwestern counties. The Commonwealth Institute, a liberal thinking organization focused on Virginia, reached more or less the same conclusions, focusing more, however, on the income inequalities in the state. Without saying explicitly that the people up north are better off than their southern and southwestern counterparts, the institute found that there is a higher wage gap between whites and African-Americans in the state and this has not changed significantly since the late 1970's. This claim is supported by findings of experts that wages and salaries in the north are indeed higher than the rest of Virginia, where incidentally more African-Americans can be found. Given the existence of inequity between northern and southern counties, an obvious solution to the problem would actually be for the government to strive to make state of things equal, given the injustices and unfairness present in Virginia nowadays. However, the question is: how do legislators go about doing this For one, legislators can push for the use of other gu

Features of Efficient Market Hypothesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Features of Efficient Market Hypothesis - Essay Example As a result one cannot earn returns over and above the average return of the market provided that the information is available when invested. The following are the underlying assumptions of efficient market hypothesis. The ‘weak form’ of the efficient market hypothesis identifies prices of tradable assets like stocks, property and bonds etc, which reflect all information that was available to the public in the past. In other words, say for example, the past prices of stock A is reflected in its current stock price. The ‘strong form’ of the efficient market hypothesis is the strongest form of efficiency of financial markets. It is of the view that information, public or private in nature, is reflected through the stock prices, in the market. Thus even insider information cannot put the investor in an advantageous position (Fama, 1970, p.383). As already discussed the efficient market hypothesis makes the assertion that asset prices reflect all the information available in the market. Now we shall explain as to why it is not able to adequately explain asset pricing with respect to debt and equity. The efficient market hypothesis is the right platform to start when one is thinking of asset price formation. However evidences have suggested that it has been unable to explain some features of market behaviour. The market prices at times are subjected to misalignments which can exist for a prolonged period of time (Fama, 1991, p.8). The random walk model is one of the versions of efficient market.

Ohms law Essay Example for Free

Ohms law Essay An electronics factory needs resistors of 5 ohms and 15 ohms for a new electrical device. My task is to investigate how the resistance of a piece of wire depends on length and to find the length of the wire needed to make the required resistors, using only 4 volts. Introduction/Planning A selection of different wires made from constantan and nichrome and the usual laboratory apparatus will be available for me. Wire A Constantan wire of approximate diameter 0. 3mm Wire B Constantan wire of approximate diameter 0. 4mm Wire C Constantan wire of approximate diameter 0. 3mm A constantan is an alloy whose resistance stays fairly constant when it becomes hot. In fact the resistance changes by less than 0. 5% even when the temperature rises by a few hundred degrees. Nichrome, along with other metals, is an alloy whose temperature does change appreciably when it becomes hot. Before starting my coursework, I have to find the variables in the experiment, safety aspects etc. I found that a number of things affect the resistance of a wire. Below is a list of factors and reasons why they affect the resistance of a wire. From this list of factors I have to make sure that these factors remain constant or excluded from the experiment. We are only investigating length but the other variables may change our outcomes. In electricity, resistance is the ratio of the potential difference (p. d. or voltage) across a conductor to the electrical current, which flows through it as a result. The unit of measurement is the ohm (O), this being the resistance of a conductor requiring a potential difference of 1 volt across its ends to produce a current of 1 ampere. For a given metal conductor at constant temperature the value is the same whatever the current (Ohms law), but rises if the temperature rises. Any conductor possessing resistance gives off heat when a current flows through it. Joules law describes this effect. Resistance occurs when the electrons travelling along the wire collide with the atoms of the wire. These collisions slow down the flow of electrons causing resistance. Resistance is a measure of how hard it is to move the electrons through the wire. Ohms law: The current flowing through a metal is proportional to the potential difference across it, provided that the temperature remains constant. We are going to use metals, which obey ohms law, metals which give us a constant value for resistance (gradient). Resistance (? ) = P. d across the wire (V) / Current through the wire (A) Current flows in an electric circuit in accordance with several definite laws. The basic law of current flow is Ohms law, named for its discoverer, the German physicist Georg Ohm. Ohms law states that the amount of current flowing in a circuit made up of pure resistances is directly proportional to the electromotive force impressed on the circuit and inversely proportional to the total resistance of the circuit. The law is usually expressed by the formula I = V/R, where I is the current in amperes, V is the electromotive force in volts, and R is the resistance in ohms Ohms law applies to all electric circuits for both direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC), but additional principles must be invoked for the analysis of complex circuits and for AC circuits also involving inductances and capacitances. A series circuit as on page 5, is one in which the devices or elements of the circuit are arranged in such a way that the entire current (I) passes through each element without division or branching into parallel circuits. When two or more resistances are in series in a circuit, the total resistance may be calculated by adding the values of such resistances. If the resistances are in parallel, the total value of the resistance in the circuit is given by the formula: In a parallel circuit, electrical devices, such as incandescent lamps or the cells of a battery, are arranged to allow all positive (+) poles, electrodes, and terminals to be joined to one conductor, and all negative (-) ones to another conductor, so that each unit is, in effect, on a parallel branch. The value of two equal resistances in parallel is equal to half the value of the component resistances, and in every case the value of resistances in parallel is less than the value of the smallest of the individual resistances involved. In AC circuits, or circuits with varying currents, circuit components other than resistance must be considered. If a circuit has a number of interconnected branches, two other laws are applied in order to find the current flowing in the various branches. These laws, discovered by the German physicist Gustav Robert Kirchhoff, are known as Kirchhoffs laws of networks. The first of Kirchhoffs laws states that at any junction in a circuit through which a steady current is flowing, the sum of the currents flowing to the point is equal to the sum of the currents flowing away from that point. The second law states that, starting at any point in a network and following any closed path back to the starting point, the net sum of the electromotive forces encountered will be equal to the net sum of the products of the resistances encountered and the currents flowing through them. This second law is simply an extension of Ohms law. The application of Ohms law to circuits in which there is an alternating current is complicated by the fact that capacity and inductance are always present. Inductance makes the peak value of an alternating current lag behind the peak value of voltage; capacitance makes the peak value of voltage lag behind the peak value of the current. Capacitance and inductance inhibit the flow of alternating current and must be taken into account in calculating current flow. The current in AC circuits can be determined graphically by means of vectors or by means of the algebraic equation, in which L is inductance, C is capacitance, and f is the frequency of the current. The quantity in the denominator of the fraction is called the impedance of the circuit to alternating current and is sometimes represented by the letter Z; then Ohms law for AC circuits is expressed by the simple equation I = V/Z. We know that all instruments have an error on its measurement, so the way to work out the percentage error is: Percentage error = (error / measured value) i 100 Conduction in metals In metals, atoms contain protons, nucleus and lose electrons which orbit around the nucleus. Below, I have investigated conduction in metals and how they affect resistance. METAL LATTICE (Electrons move in a random direction. ) METAL LATTICE (Electrons with power pack in a particular direction. ) Variables Length: If the length of the wire is increased then the resistance will also increase as the electrons will have a longer distance to travel and so more collisions will occur. Due to this, the length increase should be proportional to the resistance increase. Thickness: If the wires thickness is increased the resistance will decrease. This is because of the increase in the space for the electrons to travel through. Due to this increased space between the atoms, there should be fewer collisions. The number of free electrons changes from one material to another. The size of the ions changes from one material to another, this affects the current and therefore affects the resistance. The arrangement and size of the atoms change from one material to another. So if there is a kink in the wire this will change the thickness of the wire. Temperature: If the wire is heated up the atoms in the wire will start to vibrate because of their increase in energy.

The United Nations In The Cold War Era Politics Essay

The United Nations In The Cold War Era Politics Essay After the end of world war two the world called for the revision of the League of Nations especially after it had been casted in a negative light by the Soviet Union after they were evicted for attacking Finland in 1940 (Chung TK).The new international order became known as the United Nations and the Charter was signed in 1945 and allowed five states to be given veto power in the upper chamber of the UN known as the Security Council. The five states were China, US, the Soviet Union, France and Great Britain. Following world war two, the Security Council was given the task of determining if there is a breach of peace, a threat to peace or an act of aggression towards another country and to decide what course of action to take (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). However, with mounting tensions between the US and the Soviet Union, the UN would face an uphill battle as it attempted to establish itself through the Cold war era. The Cold war era refers to the time period in which the Cold War took place. This era began in 1947 after the introduction of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshal Plan by President Truman (Chung TK). This was a time of tremendous turmoil between the communist nations lead by the Soviet Union and the democratic nations lead by the United States. The Cold War did not imply the same notions that previous wars had in terms of battles; this was a time of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition (Chung TK). The Cold War is marked by several different events of conflict such as the nuclear arms race, the space race and the rise of the Berlin Wall. The conflicts are deep rooted in conflicting ideology in terms of government, economy and the existence of a rivalry that is derived from those conflicting ideologies. The United States and the Soviet Union had two utterly different governments (Chung TK). The US which is democratic believes in free press, the right to assembl e and the right to elect government officials. The Soviet Union which is Communist, believes in a totalitarian form of government in which there is no election of officials, there is no right to assemble or freedom of press. They also had conflicting ideas about the global economy. The US wanted to open up trade to all nations however the Soviets wanted to shield themselves from international commerce. They felt the influence of the West would topple their totalitarian government (Chung TK). The Soviet Nation was ravaged after the Second World War and needed aid, however the Marshall plan required that nations applying for aid turn over their economic records and the Soviet Nation saw that as a threat to their privacy (Chung TK). The world was divided on two sides and the world began to see the need for a peacekeeping body. The founders of the UN had envisioned that the organization would act to prevent conflicts between nations and make future wars impossible. However, the outbreak of the Cold War made peacekeeping agreements extremely difficult because it divided the world into hostile camps (Peace: The Role of the United Nations). Up until the end of the Cold War, the UN only intervened in the majority of cases if the conflict involved two or more Nations. This is known as the principle of non-interference. The principle of State sovereignty was adhered to more than it is today which meant that individual nations were independent and could handle their own conflicts with other nations without the UNs intrusion (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). With the onset of the Cold war, the seat on the UNs Security Council was more or less used as another power cushion. The purpose of the Security Council was to keep peace and because they were not able to do that amongst their own seat holding states, the UN was rendered insignificant or irrelevant (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). The issue is that under this model of appointing five seats to the Security Council with decision making power- it assumes that all of those Nations are peaceful or peace loving nations and war is caused by occasional outbursts by a bad nation that is ill-advised (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). If this were true it would imply that the world will always be more or less, a peaceful place because the superpowers could keep everything in cooperation. The dark side of this which was demonstrated through irony by the Cold war era is that if the superpowers cannot agree, there is no hope for conflict resoluti on (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). This opens up the door to a difficult question: what can the world do in that situation? During the Cold war era, a separate incident regarding the Korean War brought forth the same situation. Communist North Korea, aided by the Soviet Union and China behind closed doors launched a blatant attack on democratic South Korea (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). The UN condemned North Korea at the persuasion of the US and UN and US soldiers were sent to Korea to fight. Basically, South Korea was supported in the name of the United Nations. In essence, the Security Council Resolution on Korea gave the United States international authority on decision making (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). This compromised the symbol and reputation of the United Nations. The Soviet Union was initially boycotting the Security Council because of the Korean Resolution but then it returned to its seat once they realized the United States was using the United Nations as a platform for to show the world that since the UN was agreeing with them, they were correct (The United Nations and the Cold War Collective Security). Once they returned, the ability for the Security Council to make a decision was virtually impossible because even the Council was used and split in to two sides. Also because the Secretary- General actively sided with South Korea on the issue, as he is legally allowed to do, he committed political suicide because he lost all credibility in the eyes of Moscow and the Soviet Union (Mingst and Karns). The United Nations is supposed to be neutral and act as a negotiating body of power through the collective efforts of world nations. All of the Secretary Generals have been careful to not take an outright side on an issue anymore so that the United Nations is not weakened (Mingst and Karns). The conflicts of the Cold war continued until about 1991 when the Soviet Union was dissolved and became Russia and the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. In the early years following the establishment of the United Nations, it struggled tremendously to gain credibility and become a true international diplomatic body of power (Mingst and Karns). The failure of the League of Nations did not do much to help it. The United Nations has evolved significantly to face the growing obstacles in the world and adapt to changing times (Weiss et al). The peacekeeping aspect of the UN was born at the time when Cold War rivalries paralyzed the Security Council regularly (The United Nations Peacekeeping). They were limited to maintaining ceasefires and stabilizing situations on the ground so that the governments could resolve the conflict through talks and negotiation efforts. By the end of the Cold war, the UN peacekeeping task force was changed dramatically (United Nations Peacekeeping). They expanded in the peacekeeping approach by making sure complex peace plans were implemented and followed through on. They also began to focus on human rights by monitoring and disarmament (The United Nations Peacekeeping). Over the next few decades, the United Nations created many different programs that are supposed to reduce all factors leading to outbreaks of conflict, as much as possible. These programs did not only focus on peace keepers, who intervene after a conflict has erupted, but also on economic and social development, human rights, and the struggle to end world poverty and hunger (Mingst and Karns). All of these United Nations programs contribute directly or indirectly to the prevention of conflicts and thus to peace on earth (Mingst and Karns). It is certainly true that, in the last 50 years, not everyone in the world has known peace, but it is gradually gaining ground. The dream of peace in the world is becoming less and less utopian and more and more attainable (Peace: The Role of the United Nations). In conclusion, since the failure of the League of Nations after world war two, the world saw the dire need for an international peacekeeping body as it attempted to rebuild whole nations devastated by the war. Thus, the United Nations was formed. However, in the infant stages of the United Nations, it was thrown into the spotlight because of the increasing hostility between the democratic United States and the communist Soviet Union. It was used as a political tactic by the United States to further its agenda and began to cause more conflict and strife between the sides. As a result, the realization that occurred was that if the worlds superpowers are not at peace, there is essentially no hope for peace. As a result of that, the UN evolved after the cold war and has begun laying the foundation for peace in different nations and attempts to keep the superpowers out of major problems to avoid another cold war type situation and maintain peace (Weiss et al). The battle was uphill to sin ce the creation of the UN charter and still continues to be today as well with all of the political strife and religious conflict that exists.

Modern Sculpture Americanoom Essay -- Modern Art Artwork

The Artistic High: Selfish Salvation Escape. It’s worth any given amount of time, money, and sacrifice. A haven; a distraction from the ordinary; an oasis of idylls. But from what exactly? A high instructs for a quick perceptual blur; an interrelated pleasure of detachment, obeyed by a climatic crash, which adds further weight to a reality somehow less livable. The trip is understood; it creates room for addiction; an insatiable thirst for an ironically cleansed state, reminiscent of an oblivious feeling associated with childhood innocence. Yet no matter the depth of any high, what one seeks to escape most is --â€Å"illogically†-- eerily present in the vicinity. Along with this acknowledgment comes the climatic crash; the end of leisure; the closing act in a play, character role left in the costume room; the fading of a blasting song. Our sought escape is logically –and even illogically (imagination does not detach from this reality)—impossible. This is because what every person seeks to esc ape is an unbearable environment; an unbearable self. Throughout history, generations have introduced various forms of escapism: drugs, yoga, exercise, meditation, induced sleep, even tea. But an escape whose consistent efficiency prevails throughout time resorts back to an almost instinctive skill, requiring the minimum provisions: pencil and paper. Through this blissful childhood skill, the body is engulfed in a soothing lake of endorphins, which neither ignores nor fully acknowledges pain, but molds it into a malleable attitude reflected in the beauty of art. Throughout what may perhaps have been the most historically-active decade, the 1960s stirred significant social transformation in the United States and abroad. Among infinite socia... ...th artists were able to pass their troubles and experiences onto a work, which would be shared with the world and hence numb their personal worries, knowing their message would reach millions, therefore exploring a new definition of selfish escapism through selfish salvation. Works Cited â€Å"Argentina.† Microsoft Encarta Reference Library. CD-ROM. Microsoft. 2005. â€Å"Chryssa.† Microsoft Encarta Reference Library. CD-ROM. Microsoft. 2005. Florou, Katerina. â€Å"Chryssa.† Astir Magazine. 26 Sept. 2006. Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2005. â€Å"Greece.† Microsoft Encarta Reference Library. CD-ROM. Microsoft. 2005. â€Å"Kennedy.† Microsoft Encarta Reference Library. CD-ROM. Microsoft. 2005.

Significance of Social and Economic Change in the USA Between 1898 and 1921 :: American America History

Significance of Social and Economic Change in the USA Between 1898 and 1921 Sweeping social and economic reforms that occur in any country at any time are always very significant. In relation to the United States of America (USA) during the period of 1898-1921, it is even more so. This period of time saw remarkable changes occurring both inside the USA, and in relation to the USA and the outside world as it became a global force. After the Spanish-American War, led by President McKinley, American ideologies, basically ignorant, capitalist and isolationist at heart, seemed to shift and do a 180 degree turn. This can be said as being signified by the accession of the political dogma of Progressivism, advocated by the next President Theodore Roosevelt, who believed in a 'Dirigisme' style of government. With Roosevelt came swift economical and business reforms, the Roosevelt coined 'Square Deal' is an example of the reforms he implemented, and the advent of the 'muckrakers', with their campaigns against malpractice in the corporate world and big business monopol istic power. William Howard Taft, the successor of Roosevelt, tried to follow this road with his attempts at reforming tariff protection, but inner party disagreements, and a split, in the Republican camp denied him the chance to do so. As the world, and America, edged closer to the First World War, we see that the United States had significantly revolutionised both socially and economically, especially assisted with the Democrat Woodrow Wilson as President, who reformed the country more than any other. However, as the Great War progressed and after its completion, we see a drastic reversal. A new US stepped out of the war, one where its people wore blinkers for thinking caps. As the era of Communist take-over fears, suffrage for women, prohibition and the 'roaring 20's' neared, isolationism, restricted immigration, and social, civil, and racial unrest had come to the forefront of American society's priorities. This period ended with the introduction of 'laissez-faire' economics, a swift turn-around from usual government methods used in the last 20 years. American society had once again done a 180-degree turn, back to 'normalcy', under the guidance of President Warren Harding. This original form of control and regulation in the country was a way in which the people repudiated all the years of hard work done by the progressives and others in the past in their attempts to make the USA a more friendly, safe, prosperous and free place to live in.

Mirror: Sylvia Plath Essay

Sylvia Plath is the author of the poem â€Å"Mirror†, written in the early 1960s. Plath had a history of severe depression due to her father’s death when she was a child and her failed attempts of suicide throughout her life. Many of her poems reflect her emotions, whether they are sad, angry or depressing, and â€Å"Mirror† is one of those poems. â€Å"Mirror† deals with the topic of a woman’s self-consciousness and her vanity in a way that is unusual, yet very effective to the reader. Part of the unusual aspect of this poem is that the entire piece is written from the perspective of the mirror. This is just one example of the personification used in â€Å"Mirror†. Another example is â€Å"The eye of a little god† which contains the woman’s vanity in the way that it is almost a self-worshipping and the fact that the mirror is a very powerful item. This one line depicts the woman’s view of what the mirror is to her and her image. The mirror is given many different actions throughout the poem. For example, â€Å"I meditate on the opposite wall† and â€Å"I have looked at it so long† both describe the mirror performing very human actions and this gives the mirror a personality. The impact on the reader is one of interest and curiosity and this continues throughout â€Å"Mirror† when the theme of personification is explored even further. The mirror is claimed to be â€Å"exact† and â€Å"truthful† in this piece. There is a word in almost every line that continues this theme until the reader gets to line 14: â€Å"She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands†. There are a few interesting techniques used in this to make the reader question the truthfulness of the mirror. For example it is an oxymoron as tears are usually regarded as a bad thing and to be rewarded is usually something good. Just those five words make the reader think that the mirror could potentially have emotions, and a dark side. The impact on the reader at this point is huge as the mirror’s personality is not only one of cruelty but it had been lying and saying it was fair. The words â€Å"I am† are repeated several times in the poem and is another example of personification as the mirror is not a being yet it is still calling itself â€Å"I†. This shows that the mirror is very important and thinks highly of itself, yet further continuing the personification. A woman appears in this poem and is similar to Narcissus, who stared at his reflection in a river and didn’t dare touch the water or go away in fear of losing his image. He eventually died of thirst due to his own vanity. The woman clearly treasures the mirror and the mirror knows this: â€Å"I am important to her† and she is said to repeatedly use the mirror many times a day for quite a while, as shown by the references to a great passing of time in â€Å"she comes and goes† and â€Å"day after day†. Plath uses this form of repetition very well in describing a passing of time and making it seem as if no time had passed at all for the reader which leaves an impact. The woman isn’t mentioned until the middle of â€Å"Mirror†, when the mirror personifies itself as a lake and that the woman was â€Å"bent over it†, which is yet another link to the Narcissus myth. Shortly thereafter, the poem describes the candles and the moon as â€Å"liars† as they only shed a little light upon her features and don’t show every little detail as the mirror does. When the woman observes her own reflection in the mirror she was very distraught and started crying which shows the reader that she didn’t like the way that she looked and went back every day to try and discover what she really was on the inside. However, the line that has the largest impact on the reader are the very last lines of the poem: â€Å"In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish. † These lines – especially the final one – make the reader shocked and horrified at the woman’s horrible self image. For someone to think of themselves as a terrible fish is almost unimaginable yet the woman feels so strongly about this image that she is openly admitting that she looks like one. Additionally, these two lines continue on with the original themes of the poem to counteract that phrase. â€Å"In me she has drowned† is an extended metaphor of the lake description and â€Å"day after day† continues the theme of time passing by quickly. As previously explored, Plath has used many powerful poetic techniques to have a huge impact on the reader. Although it is a short poem – only 18 lines – it perfectly outlines the themes of vanity and superficiality and the pain this can cause a person. The unusual narrator in this poem gives the reader an entirely different viewpoint on vanity: what it actually looks like from an unbiased source. The poem outlines many aspects of vanity and all of its cruel components that makes the reader contemplate what it really means to be vain. An obvious effective technique used was personification; of the mirror and the candles and the moon. This gives the reader a sensation that an animate object is narrating when it is only a mirror: something so simple and ordinary that it completely changes the perspective of the poem. To conclude, â€Å"Mirror† is a very powerful piece of literature that was written with great expertise. Plath successfully used many poetic techniques and utilised them effectively. Both the style in which it was written and the narrator deal with the topic of self-image very well and gives the reader a great impact. Secondly, the use of the surprising language in the poem had a great effect. The word â€Å"fish† at the end is completely different to the rest of the poem which makes it stand out greatly. The reader doesn’t expect such a vulgar description of the woman and that impact is also huge. Finally, the message portrayed in â€Å"Mirror† was delivered very well. It says that we should look beyond the superficial and value what we are on the inside, something that Plath had struggled with over her life.