A Great College Recommendation Letter Template

A Great College Recommendation Letter Template SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips While the best recommendation letters are unique to each student, they all share certain key features that make them effective. This guide provides you with a structure to help you produce an outstanding letter of recommendation. Not only will this recommendation letter template guide you through the writing process, it'll also assist you in determining whether you’re able to truly recommend a student for admission to college. Before outlining the steps, let’s consider what goes into a good letter of recommendation. What Makes for a Good Letter of Recommendation? The best recommendation letters are enthusiastic and highly positive about a student. They’re not just filled with compliments, though. They dive deeply to illuminate a student’s key intellectual and personal qualities. Additionally, these letters give specific examples to back up what they have to say. Rather than tell admissions committees everything they could ever want to know about a student, strong rec letters are focused on a specific narrative. You don't have to covera broad range of qualities, but rather you can focus in on the most significant ones, especially as they relate to your relationship with the student. You should start every recommendation letter by brainstorming the qualities you wish to highlight and examples you want to give. If you find you haven’t come up with much that’s positive or personal, then you might ultimately decide that you’re not the best person to write that student a recommendation letter for college. Let’s look more closely at this first stage in the rec letter writing process: brainstorming. The Brainstorming Stage There are a few main considerations in the brainstorming stage. First, how do you feel about recommending the student and why? Second, what key qualities do you intend to communicate in your letter? And third, what stories can you share to illustrate your points? Read on to consider each of these thoughts individually. How Do You Feel About the Student? Before delving into specifics, you should pause here and ask yourself how you feel about recommending the student. Are you able to genuinely provide a positive endorsement? If you feel relatively neutral, do you need more information from the student? In the case that you feel negatively towards a student, you may suggest that she ask another teacher to provide her with a letter. A lukewarm or negative letter would not be useful, or could even hurt, the student’s application. Admissions officers have a discerning eye when it comes to reading letters. They’ll be able to tell if you wrote your letter with reservations. If this is how you feel, then you may have to do the difficult thing and inform the student that you’re unable to provide a recommendation letter. If the student still wants you to fulfill the requirement, she should know that your letter may not do much to boost her chances of admission. In all three cases, you should root out the reasons behind your evaluation of the student. What qualities of the student have stood out to you? What Qualities Do You Plan to Highlight? Considering the features mentioned above, what intellectual and personal qualities of the student have you noticed or been impressed by? Intellectual qualities you could highlight include problem-solving skills, analysis, curiosity, creativity, communication, collaboration, and foreign language skills. Some personal qualities you could emphasize might be strength of character, honesty, integrity, courage, humor, thoughtfulness, maturity, cultural awareness, and compassion for others. Once you’ve narrowed down the key qualities you want to present, you can think about stories and examples. What Anecdotes Can You Share? After considering what qualities you plan to highlight, you should think about whatspecific anecdotes you can shareto illustrate your assessment and help the student come alive in the eyes of the reader. These stories can be based on your interactions with and observations of the student. They may also be informed by the student herself, through discussions and her â€Å"brag sheet.† The student should provide you with her thoughts on her goals and significant experiences that have shaped who she is today. These reflections can be helpful reminders, but ideally you also know the student well enough to write an insightful letter based on your familiarity with her academic work and personal character. Some potential anecdotes include times when the student you're writing the letter for showed exceptional intelligence, compassion, motivation, tenacity, leadership skills, and/or teamwork abilities. Once you’ve come up with a list of what you want to focus on and how to back up your evaluation, you can begin to draft. Want to build the best possible college application, with the strongest recommendations? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. The Drafting Stage After brainstorming, you can start to shape your thoughts into the typical structure for a recommendation letter. It's usually a full page consisting of four paragraphs: the introduction, body paragraph 1, body paragraph 2, and conclusion. Let's look at what should be included in each paragraph, and how a teacher and counselor might write their first body paragraphs with different ideas in mind. You can choose to start your letter as creatively as you wish, but all introductions should include certain key information, as you'll see in the next section. Introduction What does the reader want to know when she starts reading your letter? One, she wants to know who the letter is about. Just as importantly, she wants to know who you are, along with what makes you qualified to assess this student. Logistically, you should answer the latter question by providing your name, school, and contact information in official letterhead at the top. In your introduction, furthermore, you should explicitly state who you are and how you know the student. If you’ve taught the student in more than one class or gotten to know her in other contexts, like as the advisor of a club, then you should include that as well. The better you know the student, the more weight your recommendation carries. Here are a coupleexamples for starting out your recommendation. Example 1 To Whom It May Concern, It is my pleasure to recommend Judy, whom I taught in my th grade honors English program. Example 2 Dear Admissions Committee, I am delighted to recommend the multi-talented Eduardo for admission to your undergraduate program. As Eduardo’s th grade music teacher, as well as his chorus leader throughout all four years of high school, I've watched him grow into an outstanding and dedicated musician. Your entire introduction should be three to five sentences. After stating who the recommendation is for, who you are, and how you know the student, you may add about two sentences describing the student and introducing what’s to come. If you’re customizing your letter to a specific program or college, then you’ll mention that here too. Once you’ve introduced the student and yourself, you’ll move onto the first body paragraph. If you’re a teacher, you may focus on the student’s intellectual qualities and academic work. If you’re a counselor, you may speak more to a student’s growth throughout high school and role in the school community. Let’s start out by considering the first body paragraphthat a teacher might draft. Body Paragraph 1 (Teacher) Your first body paragraph should consist of four to six sentences. As a teacher, you may use this paragraph to hone in on the student’s key academic strengths and interests. In your brainstorming, you should have come up with the main qualities you want to describe, along with a meaningful anecdote to back up what you’re saying. Make sure to use enthusiastic and vivid language that will make the letter interesting and memorable to an admissions officer, who might be reading through hundreds of teacher rec letters. If the student especially impressed you, you might use a statement of high ranking, calling her, for example,one of the best students you’ve taught. This example uses a statement of high ranking and will go on to focus on Bella’s writing talent. Bella is one of the most talented writers I’ve had the pleasure of teaching in my ten years at Forks High School. She demonstrates a nuanced understanding of literature and is comfortable within spaces of ambiguity and interpretation. She produced a particularly thought-provoking thesis paper on spirituality in Native American literature... This second example focuses more on Dave’s strong interest in the subject of computer science. Dave has developed an avid interest in computer science. Not only was he an excellent student throughout the year, but he also worked on developing an app that would use a school-wide crowdsourcing strategy to clean up the school grounds†¦ As mentioned above, a teacher will draw on her experience with the student from class. A counselor, on the other hand, may speak more clearly on a student’s development over the years and/or participation in the greater community. Body Paragraph 1 (Counselor) While a teacher interacts with a student every day in the classroom, a counselor has a different relationship with the student. Rather than speaking to their work as a student, the counselor may talk about the student’s maturity, development, community service, and interactions with other students and faculty. As with a teacher recommendation, a counselor recommendation should hone in on a few specific qualities and give an insightful example. In the following examples, the counselor touches on one student’s school leadership and on the other'sgrowth throughout high school. Example 1 Rory brings an infectious energy and enthusiasm to her fellow students and teachers. As Class President, she organized fundraisers and events that both raised money for class projects and were enjoyed by all. Last spring, she set up McKinley High’s version of The Sing Off, complete with spinning chairs for the judges to scoop up contestants for their teams. The entire performance was recorded and is available on our new YouTube channel, which Rory and her fellow student council members set up and have added to throughout the year. Example 2 Michael has impressed all of us at Washington High School with the incredible progress he’s made over his four years. While he arrived in 9th grade with limited English, he’s grown his language abilities in leaps and bounds. Now he actively participates in his classes and contributes to the school newspaper. His latest article on college planning for ELL students, in which he shares his personal story and family background, has been shared among faculty and counselors here at the school. While the teacher and counselor may start out their recommendations by focusing on different aspects of the student, their second body paragraph may share more similarities. Here you might discuss the student’s impressive personal qualities. Body Paragraph 2 In the second bodyparagraph, you might focus on revealing the student’s personal strengths and personality. You could talk about traits like integrity, honesty, compassion, courage, and resilience, to name a few. Admissions officers want to know if the student has overcome any particular challenges in life, or if there are any special family circumstances that have affected the student. Apart from shedding light on the student’s personal journey, you also want to consider how you can add to her application. What has she already shared, and how can you both complement and add to her story? Whatever you choose to share, it should be something that you can speak in some depth about. In the following example, the recommender speaks about Jamie’s strong value of integrity. Not only is Jamie an outstanding history student, but he also displays exceptional strength of character. When you speak toany of his teachers aboutJamie, the first word that comes up is "integrity." He’s an honest and caring young person committed to upholding these values in our school community. When administrators revised the school handbook last year, Jamie volunteered to review and give input into the section on academic integrity and plagiarism. He helped promote the ideas throughout the school and stayed after for discussion groups on what leads students to turn to cheating. Once you have two strong body paragraphs, you’ll finish yourletter with a succinct and memorable conclusion. Conclusion In the conclusion of your letter, you should reiterate your support for the student’s application to the college or program. You can add a concluding statement of her strengths and assets, making sure to reinforce the points you made above while still adding fresh language. On top of this, your conclusion may offer a vision of how the student will perform in the future, both in terms of personal achievement and contributions to her college community. Finally, finish up by inviting admissions officers to contact you for any further information. Most letters end with the salutation of â€Å"Sincerely,† followed by your name, position, and school. Outside of this overall four-paragraph structure, there are a few formatting points to keep in mind. Want to build the best possible college application, with the strongest recommendations? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. Format of Your Recommendation Letter Your recommendation should be a full page in length. Any less may look that you didn’t have much to say about the student. Any more is unusual and not necessary apart fromexceptional circumstances. Use official school letterhead and include all the necessary contact information described above. Ultimately, you’ll upload your letter to the Common Application or a college’s individual application portal. In closing, let’s review the structure to follow when brainstorming, drafting, and revising your recommendation letter. Following the Recommendation Letter Template As you brainstorm exactly what you want to communicate in your letter, keep in mind how you can structure your thoughts according to therecommendation letter template described above. To review, let's go over the key elements you should include: Introduction:Here, you'll state your support for the student, describe how you know the student, and touch on her key strengths and achievements. Body Paragraph 1: In your first body paragraph, you may speak about a student's academic strengths and interests, along with an anecdote to back up your assessment. If you're a counselor, you may focus more on the student's community involvement in this first body paragraph. Body Paragraph 2: In the second body paragraph, you can reveal the student's impressive personal qualities, ones that admissions officers may not know about from the rest of her application. Make sure to include a meaningful example to back up your assessment. Conclusion:Restate your support of the student, andprovide a vision of her future success. Invite admissions officers to contact you with any questions. While letters will vary in terms of writing style and emphasis, the best ones will include these key elements. To write an effective letter, as well as to make sure that you can genuinely recommend a student, you should take the time to plan and map out your letter according to this template. You can include meaningful anecdotes based on your interactions with the students and discussions with her about her college plans and application strategy. By gathering thoughts from the student herself and informing yourself about how to structure your rec letter, you'll be poised to write a memorable letter that will both impressadmissions officers and help them get to know the studentbetter.Your letter canreveal meaningful insight into the student's academic and personal strengths and thereby make a significant impact in improving her chances of admission to college. What's Next? Now that you've learned about a template you can use to structure your recommendation letter, check out these sample recommendation letters. Here you can read 4 great teacher recommendation letters, plus 3 examples of bad teacher recs. Beyond this structure, what else do you need to know about writing a letter of recommendation? This complete guide discusses how to write a strong letter of recommendation, from how to choose powerful language to the common traps to avoid. Are you a counselor writing a letter of recommendation?Check out our guide that includes three excellent examples of counselor letters of recto give you some ideas. Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Essay on Gangs-and-guns Wars Reasons and Causes

Essay on Gangs-and-guns Wars Reasons and Causes Essay on Gangs-and-guns Wars: Reasons and Causes Essay on Gangs-and-guns Wars: Reasons and CausesViolence is a serious problem of the contemporary society. Every year so called gang wars take away lives of thousands of people.   Unfortunately, innocent people often become victims in these wars. Despite the fact that the government puts much effort trying to solve the problem of the high-crime level and the criminal war, the number of victims is still high. Dan Gardner in his article The Missing Piece to the Gang-Violence Debate states that drugs play an important role in the gang wars and it is hard to resolve the problem without taking this component into consideration. Drug distribution is a very profitable â€Å"business†, and members of the gangs often die during wars for the influence in drug sphere.   I believe that selling   and taking drugs is an important problem of the contemporary society and it may be the root of other serious problems, such as high crime rate and violence. In addition, drugs bring enormous money to those who sell them and that is the reason they may have big influence in gangs-and-guns wars.In his article The Missing Piece to the Gang-Violence Dan Gardner speaks about possible reasons of the murders related to the gang wars. Garnder used to work as a policy adviser for the Minister of Education and Premier of Ontario. He knows the topic he discusses and shares his finding with his readers. He states that despite big effort dedicated to reduce the crime level gang wars take away a lot of lives every year. Dan Gardner traces certain correlations in the number of victims of these wars and he states that his findings bring him to the idea that drugs are the missing components in the gang wars. Each time police imprisoned drug lords or the leader of the drug dealing network the sudden increase of murders emerged. Gardner explains it by the gang wars for the leadership in the drug networks.   After his analyses Gardner comes to the conclusions that in reality drug wars b ecome the reason of big quantity of victims during the gangs-and-guns wars. â€Å"Yes, drugs are the missing piece in Canada’s guns-and-gangs debate. It’s true that gang culture, fatherless homes, poverty and other factors people are talking about may play a role. But in almost every case, the drug trade is the reason the trigger is squeezed. If the black market didn’t exist, neither would most of the bloodshed† (Gardner 235). Drug industry brings millions to its owners and that is why battle for the place in this industry is so fierce.  A lot of authors trace correlation between gang wars and drugs distribution.   The story repeats in different countries and sad statistics of homicides proves that drugs play a very important role in the gang wars. Police report Drugs, Gangs, and Crime: Urban Violence and the War on Drugs also names drugs as one of the main reasons of victims during criminal wars. â€Å"Chicago police believe that about one-third of the city’s homicides and shootings are drug and gang related. This would suggest that gang violence is responsible for 300 or more deaths and several thousands of aggravated batteries per year in the city alone† (Drugs, Gangs, and Crime: Urban Violence and the War on Drugs).     The data from other sources also proves correlation between gang wars and drugs.   Specialists state that drug use is one of risk factors of joining gangs. The Rochester Youth Survey names negative life events, making friends with gang members and drugs as main risk factors of possible gang membership (Thornberry 174).   Similar results were achieved by the Seattle Social Development Project.   According to their report risk factors include bad study results, inclination to drugs, demonstrative behavior and â€Å"bad† friends (Thornberry 174). In contrast, good socialization, conventional surrounding and strong personal system of beliefs minimize risk of joining the gang.   Th ese facts prove strong correlation between drug dealers and victims of the gang wars. National surveys also prove influence of drugs trade on the gang wars. The National Drug Intelligence Center reports that â€Å"gangs (including street gangs, prison gangs, and outlaw motorcycle gangs) are the primary retail distributors of drugs in the country† (NDIC 2005). These facts prove close correlation between drugs and gang wars. Gang members control drug distribution and a lot of cases of homicide are connected with so called â€Å"drug wars†.   Criminal authorities turn to violence when they share the fields of drug distribution.   The National Alliance of Gang Investigators Associations also gives facts that prove drugs to be one of the reasons of the gang wars. The research made by these associations contains data from 455 agencies and most of them prove information about the close connection between drug dealing network, gang wars and victims of these wars (NAGIA 200 5).Since drug distribution has such great influence on gang wars and criminal levels, it would be logical to look for the ways out in order to resolve this problem. Unfortunately, the level of homicide and constant gang wars show that state policies are not very effective at the present moment. Despite the enormous effort put in, the attempts to resolve this problem is ineffective.   Gardner states that law enforcement does not give expected results. Moreover, statistic states that enforcement results in the increase of the homicide. Prohibition has negative effect on the level of violence. Trying to fight with the results of the problem we cannot solve it. In order to influence the problem of gang crimes we should try to influence its roots. As proved earlier, drugs are among the essential components of the gang violence. As states Gardner: â€Å"Wipe out the drug trade and the violence goes with it† (Gardner   235). This effective method also seems to be unachievable at the present moment. In order to understand the situation better we must get a better understanding of the drug dealing system and drug addiction. As states Gardner, drug dealing network will not disappear even if the police throws all drug dealers to prison. The problem is not in drug dealers but in people who consume drugs. They create a demand and in response drug traders sell drugs to satisfy it. So, the problem lies on the deeper level than ordinary drug network. It deals with people who create the demand for drugs and, thus, influence drug distribution.   That is the reason old methods to fight gang crimes are not effective.   Politicians have to change the entire approach to the problem, otherwise the problem will not be solved. As Gardner points out: â€Å"Of course politicians don’t like to admit they aren’t omnipotent. And they really don’t want to say unpopular things in public, particularly during an election. And so both the Liberals and the Co nservatives have promised to deal with gang crime by, yet again, increasing law enforcement and boosting sentences. This will fail† (Gardner 235). The problems of gang crimes and drug dealing need new approaches but in order to solve them it is necessary to know the nature of drug addiction.The problem of drug addiction is complex and multi-dimensioned. Despite the great effort put into the study of the problem of drug addiction there is no one defined explanation of its nature. Science and medicine fail, when the subject comes to addiction.   Ã‚  Medicine cannot give definite answer concerning the nature of drug addiction.   Different policies aiming to reduce drug use have rather political than medial or scientific background. These policies are aimed to show to the society that government puts effort in order to resolve this problem, but in reality effectiveness of such programs is very low and we can notice it by studying the rates of drug addiction. Psychology profess or Bruce Alexander made a series of experiments, exploring the nature of drug addiction and came to unexpected and innovative conclusions. He   proves that the surrounding and conditions of life have major impact on the nature of   addiction. During his famous experiment Alexander placed addicted rats into two surroundings. One surrounding of usual cages and another contained real paradise for rats – complex structure with plenty of space for life and entertainment. The results of the experiment became unexpected. Rats which dwelled in very good conditions soon left their addiction and turned to normal life. He states that scientists and medical workers who look for the   reasons of drug addiction cannot find the right answer because we should look for it in sociology. As he states: â€Å"Addiction is neither a disease nor a moral failure, but a narrowly focused lifestyle with an intensity that partially compensates for a lack of adequate psychosocial integration. The function of addiction to drugs is no different from the function of addiction to any other habit or pursuit†   (Alexander 125). Alexander speaks about problems of the contemporary society which deprived people of their roots, of their usual way of life and meaning of life in general. Alexander gives social and economical reasons for these changes. He states that we cannot fight the problem of drug addiction until we solve social problems.   Money spent to fight the crimes connected with drugs or caused by their use could have brought more use if spent on different social problems. People use drugs not because they have such born characteristics. They turn to drugs because they are unhappy and lack sense in their lives. Social status and material factors also contribute to possible reasons of drug addiction. That is why authorities should pay attention to the level of life of the most unprotected social layers as one of the ways to deal with the drug problem.Jason Ziedenber g’s research on the gang crime Ganging up on communities? Putting gang crime in context also underlines the correlation between the activity of different gangs and the level of life.   According to his research gang crime does not happen everywhere. There are certain areas where the rates of gang crime are higher. After research it was found out that gang crime is higher in the poorer regions. This proves the idea that gang crime is connected with the income level and employment. Similar conclusions can   be found in Kyriacou’s study of relationship between socioeconomic factors and gang violence in Los Angeles. According to the research results, â€Å"the strongest correlations with gang violence were employment and income† (Kyriacou et al 346). The correlation between gang crime, drug addiction and level of life is evident.   It is impossible to solve the problem of drug addiction and, thus, reduce crime rates until social are solved. If authorities and politicians take these facts into consideration we will get an opportunity to approach the solution of the problem of the gang crime.

International Business Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International Business Economics - Essay Example The figures show labour cost in hours for producing one unit of good David Ricardo formulated the theory of comparative advantage and argued that even if a one country is more productive in both lines of production it would be still profitable to trade. Country A is more productive in both lines of production but it will still be profitable to trade with country B, this is shown by first stating that country A is more advantaged in production of good X, therefore when wee calculate the comparative advantage country A will specialise in the production of good X and country B will produce good Y and they will gain by trading. (Hardwick, 1997) The Hecksher-ohlin trade model states that trade is based on the difference in factor endowment, a labour rich country will produce and export labour intensive good, and it will also import capital intensive goods. A capital rich country will produce and export capital intensive goods; it will also import labour intensive goods. According to the factor equalization theory, if we have a situation where factors of production cannot move from one country to another but there is free movement of goods, then the free movement of goods will eventually equalize factor prices. Point Q is the equilibrium point of producing both goods for country one, point P is the point of equilibrium for country two in producing both goods. The movement of goods will cause a shift in equilibrium points and case price equalization. Equilibrium shift as shown by the arrow. According to the Rybczynski theory an increase in factor of production and the other factor remains constant in a country , then the output of the good using the factor of production intensively increase while the output of the other good will decrease in absolute amount provided factor and output prices remain constant. (Jagdish, 1987) The countries original equilibrium is at point P, after increase in labour the new equilibrium is at point P'. According to the Stolper Samuelson theory, he argues that a tariff imposed on import goods causes an income distribution. He argues that a tariff on an import causes domestic prices to rise; this causes an increase in domestic production as firms emerge to capture the profits caused by the price in this goods. This effect is

Synthesis paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Synthesis paper - Essay Example Parent involvement in the learning process, though largely untapped is a viable resource for schools struggling to offer its students quality instructions while suffering the limitations of diminishing funds. In addition, parent involvement in a child’s learning increases student achievement and enhances a sense of involvement in the child’s education (Coleman and Hoffer, 1987). Parent involvement typically means different forms of participation in the education of a child. Some of these forms include attending school functions and responding to schooling obligations such as parent-teacher conferences. In addition, parents can become more involved in helping their children’s schooling through tutoring, modeling desired behavior and monitoring homework. Perhaps one of the most important schooling practices is parents’ work in the classroom. There are literally hundreds of journal articles, books and stand-alone reports on the subject of parent involvement in the classroom. These writings give expert opinions, offering sufficient information on the topic of parent involvement as a schooling practice. It is apparent that parent involvement in the class and individual student learning is positively linked to achievement. Interestingly, the more a parent is involved in a student’s learning process, the more beneficial the achievement effects are. This holds true for all the aforementioned types of parent involvement in the schooling process regardless of the age of the student. However, the most effectual modes of parent participation are those that involve parents working candidly with their children in learning activities at school. For instance, programs that involve a parent reading with the child, supporting the child’s class work and homework assignments, tutoring the child using materials and instructi ons provided by teachers show exemplarily impressive results in

Islamic credit cards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Islamic credit cards - Essay Example Worthington has defined these cards as â€Å"Pay Later Cardsâ€Å", which facilitates the user to purchase any product or service without paying cash money. Fowler explains the credit cards as any coupon, single credit device, card or plate that can be used to get labor, services, goods or cash on credit. Such a card allows the user to make the required financial transaction without paying any money. The current technological development has given more powers to the buyer for purchasing goods and services on line. However, this requires an instrument that can facilitate payment to the seller at the time of such purchase. The credit card issued by a bank comes handy for this purpose as the buyer pays seller the required money through this card. Credit cards are secure as they replace cash which most of the people do not find safe to carry. In addition, carrying cash requires deep pockets and may create hassles. There are several reasons for the people to use credit cards. These include purchasing of foods and services, making necessary recharges, getting cash advances and enhancing the self-prestige. Credit cards have a long history as they have been in use since several decades. Their use started from United States in 1920s. Ritzer has named these cards as â€Å"American Icon†. During the early 20th century, credit cards were used for the first time in oil, automobile companies and general stores. Many writers have given credit to John Beggins of Flatbush National Bank in New York for inventing the first bank-issued credit card. The Banking Review’s Paper, FDIG informs that the idea of providing cash through a card goes back to 1800s era. However, the use of a bank issued credit card at different merchant outlets started only after 1950s. Bank Americard issued first VISA card in mid 1970s, while created the reputed credit card operation, called â€Å"VISA†. The scope of credit card use has widened now largely as

The Functions of the Financial System | Economics Essay

The Functions of the Financial System | Economics Essay Introduction The objective of this chapter is to provide a theoretical and empirical literature review of the relationship between financial development and economic growth in general and more narrowly at sectoral growth analysis. Therefore, it is important to determine what financial development relates to, how the financial sector and overall economy are related to each other, and the implications of such a relationship for other sectors of the economy. In the following of this chapter, the study will first review the theory of financial development, whereby explaining the framework of financial system and how they affect growth of the real sector. The next section will focus on those authors who believe that economic growth is a good predictor of financial sector development. Further, effects of financial development on various sectors growth will be discussed. The next section will review the existing empirical studies examining the relationship of FD and growth. Theoretical Background Financial System A financial system is a network of markets and institutions that bring savers and borrowers together (Hubbard, 1997). Financial systems have become the keystone of most economies around the world. This field is of great interest to economists, who research mainly the causes and impacts of its development. Through years, economists has changed their perceptive has about the nature of the relationship between financial systems and economic growth. Bagehot (1873) established the pioneering theory on the relation between financial system and economic growth in his book Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market (1873). He found that financial markets facilitate the accumulation of capital and these markets manage the risk from relative investments and business strategies. Later, Schumpeter (1911) identified that financial intermediaries facilitate technological innovation by gathering savings, evaluating investment projects, monitoring managers and facilitating transactions. The main argument of Schumpeter was that financial development affects economic growth through technological changes and this is done by banking institutions than stock markets. According to the Schumpeterian model, banks create entrepreneurs who carry out new investment projects that lead to economic growth as these rise in investment opportunities are available due to new combinations of providing finance to entrepreneurs. Following, there were Goldsmith (1969), McKinnon (1973) and Shaw (1973) who emphasised on the role of capital accumulation in economic growth. In the McKinnon-Shaw model, a well developed financial system mobilises savings by channeling small valued savings into profitable large scale investments. According to them, without a proper participation of financial system, these savings might not be available for further investment because a financial institution mobilises savings from various savers in an efficient and effective way by avoiding information asymmetries and lowering transaction costs. Unlike Schumpeter, they did not distinguish between the banking sector and the stock market. For them, both of markets are important in the process of economic growth. Although Schumpeter (1911), McKinnon (1973), Shaw (1973) and other economists emphasised on the positive role of financial development on economic growth, they failed to explain clearly how channeling of those funds affects growth. Then came Levine (1997, 1999), who has first depicted this link clearly. Levine demonstrated five main functions of the financial markets that affect the economic growth. More specifically, Levine pointed out that financial system Facilitate the trading, hedging, diversifying, and pooling of risk, Monitor managers and apply corporate control, Allocate resources, Mobililize savings, and Facilitate the exchange of goods and services. Functions of Financial System Unlike other economists, Levine (1999) produced a comprehensive way of showing the significant role for financial markets. The impact on economic growth occurs through the following channels according to Levine. As discussed above, financial markets play a significant role in economic growth through their role of allocation capital, monitoring managers, mobilizing of savings and promoting technological changes among others. Economists had held the view that the development of the financial sector is a crucial element for stimulating economic growth. Financial development can be defined as the ability of a financial sector acquire effectively information, enforce contracts, facilitate transactions and create incentives for the emergence of particular types of financial contracts, markets and intermediaries, and all should be at a low cost.  [1]  Financial development occurs when financial instruments, markets and intermediaries ameliorate through the basis of information, enforcement and transaction costs, and therefore better provide financial services. The financial functions or services may influence saving and investment decisions of an economy through capital accumulation and technol ogical innovation and hence economic growth. Capital accumulation can either be modeled through capital externalities or capital goods produced using constant returns to scale but without the use of any reproducible factors to generate steady-state per capita growth.  [2]  Through capital accumulation, the functions performed by the financial system affect the steady growth rate thereby influencing the rate of capital formation. The financial system affects capital accumulation either by altering the savings rate or by reallocating savings among different capital producing levels. Through technological innovation, the focus is on the invention of new production processes and goods.  [3]   As market frictions and laws, regulations and policies differs to a greater extent across economies and over time, the impact of financial development on growth may have different implications for resource allocation and welfare in the economy. Relationship between Financial Development and Economic Growth (i) Link of financial development and real sectors of the economy The theoretical evidence that financial sector development fosters economic growth has been accumulating over many decades. Schumpeter (1911), McKinnon (1973), Shaw (1973) Goldsmith (1969), Levine (1999) and other proponents came with a clear understanding of the role of financial development on economic growth. However, these theories do not provide a clear explanation of the transmission of financial development to the real sector of the economy thats lead to growth. Recently, some researchers have translated these abstract links between financial development and economic growth into concrete channels, such as household consumption, investment, trade (exports and imports) and government spending. Consequently, any increase from household consumption, investment, trade and government spending will have a positive impact on the real sector of the economy, and on the growth of economies. This link is illustrated below: Yt= Ct+ It+ (Xt-Mt) + Gt, where Yt is the gross domestic product, Ct is household consumption, It is domestic investment Xt is exports, Mt for the imports and Gt is government spending. Financial development and household expenditure are highly correlated, as discussed in Claessens and Feijen (2006). They argued that despite the causal relationship between financial development and household consumption is less clear than in the case of income, there is evidence that financial development is a leading indicator for increases in household consumption. Apart from increasing the household welfare, financial development also increases investment through the allocation of capital to private sector. The World Business Environment Survey (WBES), recent research concludes that finance is the most important constraint on firm growth. Other studies such as, Rajan and Zingales (1998), Perotti and Volpin (2005) have found that the number of firms in an industry grew faster in counties that have better financial development. Claessens and Feijen (2006) also highlighted that the presence of financial intermediaries with their products such as credit cards, debit cards facilitate domestic and international payment service whereby facilitating trade. The Claessens and Feijen framework hence has demonstrated the link between financial development and economic growth through concrete channels. (ii) Finance- Growth Nexus In the traditional development economics, there exist two distinct views of the finance-growth nexus. The first view was first proposed by Schumpeter (1911) who argues that services provided by financial intermediaries are essential drivers of innovation and growth. Thus, well-developed financial systems channel financial resources to their most productive use. The Schumpeters view was later formalised by Goldsmith (1969); McKinnon (1973); Shaw (1973); King and Levine (1993); Pagano (1993); Fry (1995); Zervos and Levine (1996, 1999); Christopoulos (2004); Manoj and Kamat (2007) and Hasan, Watchel and Zhou (2008) where all believed that financial development is a catalyst for economic growth. The second view suggests that economic growth is the major driving force behind the development of the financial sector. This idea is very much stressed in the work of Robinson (1952). According to him, as an economy grows, more financial institutions, financial products and services emerge in markets in response to a higher demand for financial services. Further, the Patricks hypothesis (1966) was introduced with the supply leading and demand following, which is important to determine the relationship between financial development and economic growth. The demand following view explains the demand for financial services as dependent upon the growth of real output and the modernization of subsistence sectors. Thus, the creation of modern financial institutions, their financial assets and liabilities, related to financial services are a response to the demand for these services by investors and savers in the real economy. Therefore, the more rapid growth of real national income, the gr eater will be the demand by enterprises for external funds (the savings of others) and therefore financial intermediation. Also, with a given aggregate growth rate, the greater the variance in the growth rates among different sectors or industries, the greater will be the need for financial intermediation to transfer saving from slow-growing industries to fast-growing industries. In this case, an expansion of the financial system is induced because of real economic growth. The second causal relationship between financial development and economic growth is termed the supply leading by Patrick (1966). Supply leading has two functions. Firstly, is to transfer resources from the traditional low-growth sector to the modern high-growth sector and secondly, to promote and stimulate an entrepreneurial response in these modern sectors. Thus, the availability of financial services stimulates the demand for these services by the entrepreneurs in the modern, growth-inducing sectors. However, previous empirical studies have produced mixed and conflicting results on the nature and direction of the causal relationship between finance and economic growth

The Downgrading Demise of Love :: English Literature

The Downgrading Demise of Love â€Å"North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street.† (198). Ignorance is a harmful state of mind, which gives a false sense of happiness to those consumed by it. Ignorance does not allow one to mature by experience of actual events. It shelters one’s perception of actual events by giving illusions of hope. It allows the imagination to instill more meaning into an incident, where there is none. In â€Å"Araby,† James Joyce illustrates how the boy overcomes his oblivious state through irony, epiphany, and symbolism. An obvious example found in the story is the immense amount of irony used throughout â€Å"Araby.† The boy has the idea that love is always perfect and the love he holds for Mangan’s sister is perfect. In the real world, however, he has an aunt and uncle that show what love really is like. When his uncle arrives home late to take him to the bazarre, his aunt begins to argue and demand that he give the boy some money to go to the bazarre (989). The boy completely ignores this glimpse at real life. The boy realizes how life is not perfect and that love is full of compromises. He begins his trip to the bazarre and is excited on the train to arrive at this electrifying event. His idea of the bazarre is that it will be a wonderful place that will make Mangan’s sister fall in love with him. However, when he arrives, he witnesses a dark, dismal place with a grim surrounding (990). Through all the irony in his life, he realizes that he is that opposite of what he is trying to be. Perhaps one of the greatest credentials, which illustrate how the boy is oblivious to the world, is that he realizes his ignorance. All throughout the story, there are innuendoes that he is â€Å"missing something.† Some of these hints range from the symbolic blind houses to his own mental absence at the gathering before he finally gets to go to the fair. His proceeding into the dark, half-closed fair, rather than face the truth that he missed it initially, shows he simply â€Å"does not get it.† Then, however, his realization occurs. In a moment of epiphany, the boy is enlightened to how he has missed even the most obvious fact. On his determination to have his life, as he wants it, he does not realize until the epiphany that Mangan’s sister never likes him. The boy becomes conscious to the fact that he has missed his opportunity from the start. The boy sees for himself that he has

Importance of Communication Essay

First, in order to communicate effectively, a person needs to know what barriers there are, and there are many. I will do my best to explain the barriers of effective communication and how to overcome them. These barriers include Language, defensiveness, misreading of body language, noisy transmission, receiver distortion, power struggles, self-fulfilling assumptions, supervisors hesitation to be candid, assumptions, distrusted source, perceptual biases, interpersonal relationships, and cultural differences1. So now, let us break these barriers down, starting with language barriers. Language barriers include using words that could imply another message than the one that the sender wants to send. Moreover, the reason for this is that each person will interpret some words differently. So, in order to transmit the message that you want to send make sure that the words you use to send the message cannot imply anything that you do not want sent. The next barrier is defensiveness. Most of the time when trying to conduct a face-to-face meeting with someone to communicate some flaws in a persons work performance or just to ask them a question on what they have done make sure the message is concise and clear. Most people will get defensive when the person being Importance of Communication SPC Eric J. Seiberling – 3 counseled has a distorted perception on what is being covered, or a feeling of implied guilt of wrongdoing without having a chance to explain ones actions. A person will also get very defensive when any anger or a feeling of negativity is being transferred to them from an issue the sender has at home or with another co-worker. In addition, a person will get extremely defensive when there has been a trend of negative distortions of counseling in the past; a person would feel as if the sender is still beating an issue that was resolved prior to this session. Noisy transmission is another barrier to effective communication. Noisy transmission happens when the messages being convoluted with erroneous information or a common inconsistency in relaying the message from bouncing around the subject or hitting numerous subjects when wanting to convey a message about one, certain subject. Another sticking point is receiver distortion. This happens when the receiver subconsciously has selective hearing and hears what they want to hear and completely miss the intended message. This also happens when the receiver and sender ignore the non-verbal cues each other is not noticing or taking into account the way each other is acting or feeling, by not noticing a subtle thing like body language. Power struggles is something that a superior needs to watch out for, this will kill any attempt to communicate a plan to a group. For instance if a subordinate has the superior’s job in their crosshairs that person will have a distorted view of the message that is trying to be conveyed. People who have not had a vast majority of the same experiences will not understand or even be able to decode what the manager is trying to say. Assumptions are a major killer of effective communication. Most people will assume that everyone understands the problem the same way that they do. When in most cases, that is not the case. Some people will see a problem in a different perspective. When that happens the receiver will wonder what the sender is complaining about because they do not see the same problem and will refuse to see the problem in the same light. When a supervisor is basing his counseling on a certain source that some subordinates do not trust the supervisor is accomplishing nothing in the counseling. The supervisor might want to make sure there is more than one source of information. When there is more than one source of information then it will not become a value judgment against the supervisor or the subordinate. When conveying a message a person must make sure, they are not portraying any perceptual biases in the message. In saying that do not go into a meeting with any stereotypes of the people that attend. Basic communication requires that the receiver can decode the senders meaning and if the sender is convoluting the meaning in their own experiences, background, values, aspirations, or assumptions, the receiver might not understand because they did not have the same experiences, background, values, aspirations, or assumptions. This is a major issue in communicating with people from different geographical areas, and different generations. So, after explaining all the major barriers of communication, now will be the time to defeat these barriers and start communicating effectively. Moreover, if someone is not communicating effectively, the messenger is not communicating at all. In addition, if they are not communicating at all, the receiver will have no clue on what is going on and what needs to happen. The army says since leadership is about getting other people to do what you want them to do, it follows that communicating—transmitting information so that it’s clearly understood—is an important skill. 2 In order to communicate effectively a person must understand the different forms of communication.

French Expressions Using Chose

French Expressions Using Chose The French word une chose literally means thing and is also used in many idiomatic expressions. Learn how to say above all, at best, to take bad news well, and more with this list of expressions with chose. French Expressions with Chose la chose en questionthe matter at hand la chose imprimà ©eprinted word la chose jugà ©e (law)final decision, res judicata la chose publique (politics)nation, state avant toute choseabove all else peu de chosenot much, very little toutes choses à ©galesall things being equal, all things considered Cest bien peu de chose.Its nothing really. Cest une chose admise que...Its a known/accepted fact that... Cest la chose ne pas faire.Thats the one thing not to do. Cest chose faite.Its done. Ce nest pas chose aisà ©e de...Its not easy to... Ce nest pas chose facile de...Its not easy to... Chose curieuse, il...Curiously enough, he... La chose est dimportance.Its a matter of some importance. Chose à ©trange, il...Strangely, he... Chose promise, chose due. (proverb)Promises are made to be kept. De deux choses lune : soit ..., soit ....There are two possibilities: either ..., or .... (Infinitive) est une chose, (infinitive) en est une autre.(Doing something) is one thing, (doing something) is another. Il ny a pas une seule chose vraie l-dedans.There isnt a single word of truth in it. Il va vous expliquer la chose.Hell tell you all about it, Hell explain it to you. Je viens de penser une chose.I just thought of something. Tu lui diras / Vous lui direz bien des choses de ma part.Give him my regards. Voil une bonne chose de faite.Thats one thing done / out of the way. à ªtre la chose de quelquunto be someones plaything à ªtre portà © sur la chose (informal)to have a one-track mind à ªtre tout choseto feel a little strange, out of sorts, under the weather prendre bien la choseto take it (e.g., bad news) well se sentir tout choseto feel a little strange, out of sorts, under the weather les chosesthings Au point oà ¹ en sont les chosesThe way things are at the moment. Ce sont des choses qui arrivent.Its just one of those things, These things happen. Cest dans lordre des choses.Its in the nature/order of things. Les choses se sont passà ©es ainsi.It happened like this. Les choses vont mal.Things are going badly. Dans là ©tat actuel des chosesAs matters/things stand right now En mettant les choses au mieux.At best. En mettant les choses au pire.At worst. Mettons les choses au point.Lets get things straight/clear. par la force des chosesby force of circumstance, inevitably avoir un tas de choses faireto have a ton/bunch of things to do faire bien les chosesto do things well/properly faire de grandes chosesto do great things ne pas faire les choses demi/moitià ©to do things well, (UK) to not do things by halves parler de choses et dautresto talk about this and that prendre les choses cÅ“urto take things to heart regarder les choses en faceto face up to things le chose (informal)thingie, contraption quelque chosesomething quelque chose de (bizarre, intà ©ressant...)something (strange, interesting...) Monsieur ChoseMr. Whats-his-name Eh! Chose!Hey, you! Pauvre chose!Poor thing! le petit choseyoung whats-his-name grand-choseThis indefinite pronoun is always used in the negative pas grand-chosenot much, nothing much sans changer grand-chosewithout changing much

A rasin in the sun essays

A rasin in the sun essays Being black in the 1960's was hard no matter where you lived. The Younger family is a typical black family living in the 1960's. There is great historical significance in this play about the North and the South's differences in segregation. The North is not as segregated as the South. The North was still segregated in the 1960's. People in white neighborhoods had things called blacklists. Blacklists are a list of persons who are under suspicion, disfavor of censure, or who are not to be hired, served or otherwise, accepted. When the Younger's try to buy a house, the neighborhood at first won't let them. Redlining was another form of segregation in the North. Banks use redlining. It means the withholding of home loan funding and insurance from low-income families. Steering is also another form of segregation and is often used in the 1960's. Steering is used by real estate agencies. Black families, such as the Youngers, are often steered away from white areas and shown black or mixed neighborhoods. Even though steering was illegal it is hard to prove. The North deals more with whites not living with blacks. The South is greatly segregated. White people really hated black people in the South. Jim Crow Laws? or segregation laws were a name given to former laws of the Southern United States. They provided for separation of blacks and whites. Blacks were not allowed to drink from the same water fountains, or even use the same bathrooms. Segregation separated them in streetcars, trains, schools and even theaters. The Ku Klux Klan played a big part in the segregation between blacks and whites. They were a terrorist organization who threatened violence against blacks that challenged the established order. One of the main forms of violence was lynching. Lynching was when mobs executed blacks or others whom they believed to be criminals or who challenged segregation. ...

Africa for Investors Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Africa for Investors - Speech or Presentation Example This paper is an informative speech about Africa. Since time in memorial we have had a perception that Africa is the darkest continent. But has anyone of you taken an initiative to research more about Africa? As I stand here I hope there is no one amongst you branding me an African ambassador. It’s just that I have visited one of the African countries and done more research about other African countries.   I have been to South Africa. Do not ask me whether I saw the lions and the monkeys because there are more to that than you can imagine. From the profound glades and mountains, the flowers, the rivers, hills and the valleys, the seas and the deserts delineate the phase of the Dark Continent.   From the beaches which thaw the coldness we experience during the winter. The heavy equatorial rainfalls and the rumbling of the summer thunders are enough to shake hell out of you. Africa is defined by unique sceneries and dramatic structures that shape out the landscape. Their str ict culture and love for visitors, is enough to send an eternal happiness down ones’ spinal cord. The quiet and calm forests bring a sense of restoration from our rather noisy environment. With all the beauty described, I still wonder why some of us have a negative attitude towards Africa! Sometimes in fear, I have been left flagger basted whether one should concede to the war-torn nations. Fear is the biggest enemy for development. In particular fear for the unknown.  Sometimes in fear, I have been left flagger basted whether one should concede to the war-torn nations. Fear is the biggest enemy for development. In particular fear for the unknown. Africa is beautiful, it is amazing and it is a good ground for investments. From my research it is true that there are some countries which suffer pain of aggressive conflict. These include; Libya, Somali, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Algeria and democratic republic of Congo. Let us now turn to the hard facts. There are about 54 nations in Africa. The countries with related conflicts do not exceed 10 in number. We are left with approximately 46 peaceful African countries. It should not be forgotten that the causes of the conflicts are simple, which might need our intervention in a more noble way. Poverty, leadership wrangles, the vast rich resources and human degradation are some of the things that leave Africans in persistent shadow of despair. For those who read the bible we are told to be our brother’s keeper. How can we be termed as children of God if we cannot empathize with the plight of our fellow people? Ladies and gentlemen, as we are gathered here facts must be told! Though it may sound implausible to the skeptics, Africa is ordained to prosper! Let us have a closer look at the some of the countries that were war-torn but peace now reigns within the nations. Despite having some few issues here and there, peace is being restored in Sudan.

Definition of Surveillance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Definition of Surveillance - Assignment Example The device is ideal for longer ranges detection. The parabolic dish aids intelligent officers to increase the sound for 40 decibels. It comes with an amplifier with connected earphones to enhance the quality. Intelligence officer finds it ideal for amplification of sounds that the naked ear cannot hear. The voice changer aids intelligent officers for masked voices. The changer is battery powered and connected to the phone with 8 voice settings. The sound amplifier is a high-tech microphone ideal for sound amplification (Brakel & Hert, 2009). Implied surveillance plays an important role is providing controlled information growth. The advantage is in the process of ensuring security first identifies the critical information of the company that will be important to plan. The disadvantage is in executing the security measures during critical times. Overt surveillance process is the analysis of threats; the company should be able to assess its ability to collect, process and analyze information, this will ensure the company knows exactly to what extent it is likely to suffer from possible threats. Covert surveillance process is to ensure that vulnerabilities are also analyzed; this should involve ranging them in terms of high, medium and low to help identify the weaknesses that can easily be used to exploit the security system. The clandestine surveillance process should also be able to analyze the type of information that the company offers. The disadvantage lies in the analysis of risks; here the threats and vulnerabilities are put on the comparison and help determine the potential risk that is posted. Extraluminal surveillance plays a role in maintaining vigilance. The advantage is in the assessment if the assessment shows that the level of vulnerability is high and the threat is evident, then exploitation is expected and the risk is assessed to be high and protective measures are  put in place.