The Location Of An Ecosystem - 1281 Words

Location- The location of an ecosystem affects its functioning. At a global scale, latitude, distance from the sea and altitude play decisive roles in determining climate and ultimately the nature of particular ecosystems. The Great Barrier Reef is found along the Queensland coastline. It stretches as far north as Papa New Guinea, 8o South Latitude, to just above (north) of Fraser Island, 24o South Latitude, (an approximate 2300 Km stretch). There are four main regions along the Great Barrier Reef. These are The Northern, Central, Mackay, and Southern Region. The Great Barrier Reef also has continuity both geographically and temporally. Reef drilling data has proved that the reef in the north is 1km to 2km’s thick and existed about 15 million years ago. However the southern region of the reef is much thinner at only 120 meters thick and younger at only about 2 million years. Due to this location the corals which require a very specific conditions are able to grow due to the ri ght amount of light which is the main food source of the zooxanthellae which are organisms contained in the corals. Corals are limited to areas of the sea where the water temperature does not fall below 17 degrees Celsius and doesn’t exceed 34 degrees Celsius and the coral system prefers to be in a relatively stable saline conditions as elevated levels stunt coral growth and low levels will result in the zooxanthellae dying. Thus creating a very vulnerable ecosystem due to the specifics of the coralShow MoreRelatedDescribe Ecosystem s Location And Ecosystem Significance1237 Words   |  5 PagesField Trip Report Introduction Describe ecosystem’s location and ecosystem significance. (1/2 page) The seagrass ecosystem is one which is very important in the world’s equilibrium. The ecosystem consists of various species of seagrasses, which are a submerged vegetation that are specialised to live under water. The seagrass ecosystem is located throughout the world. They are able to adapt to both tropical and temperate regions, but they are more common in the warmer waters (AIMS, 2016). They areRead MoreThe Burmese Python ( Python Bivittate )1511 Words   |  7 PagesFlorida’s ecosystem. These species all negatively impacted the host environments. The different types of harm caused by these species include overpopulation from no predator in new location cause for invading rural areas that can either be dangerous, disruptive, or both. The species can consume others species to the point of imbalance in natural species population or out eat species food for survival. This paper will include a detailed description of each species including, previous location, specificRead MoreEcologists Study the Interaction of Organisms within Their Environment776 Words   |  4 PagesEcology Ecology is a biology branch which focuses on examining living organisms in their environment. Ecologist study the inactions of organisms within their environment, including ecosystems, communities and populations that influence life on earth. Economist can see the interconnection of animal and plant populations shape physical environments and the interactions of the different species.(N/A, 2014) The biota of earths process of biochemicals is four spheres whichRead MoreAquatic Ecology : The Science Of Ecology1555 Words   |  7 PagesAquatic ecology is the science of ecology which concentrates on the study of aquatic ecosystems. This field can be broken out into two divisions: freshwater and marine ecology. Understanding aquatic ecosystems is critical since water is the building block to the survival of all life on earth. Aquatic ecology includes the study of aquatic environments including oceans, lakes, ponds, wetlands, rivers, and streams. Every organism needs energy to live, grow and reproduce. In aquatic ecology, biologistsRead MoreLab Report Biodiversity1568 Words   |  7 Pagesthey live. By the definition it is â€Å"The degree of variation of  life  forms within a given  species,  ecosystem,  biome, or an entire  planet. It is a measure of the  health of ecosystems and is in part a function of  climate.† (Rutherford) Ecosystem i s on the other hand, â€Å" community and its abiotic environment†( Rutherford). Biodiversity exists in every ecosystem, weather it is big one, or just ecosystem of one garden, it has the same importance because without it nature loses its ability to perform majorRead MoreClimate Plays an Important Environmental Influence on Ecosystems671 Words   |  3 PagesClimate plays an important environmental influence on our ecosystems, and climate changes and the influences of it affect ecosystems in many ways. Ecosystems are already showing negative impacts under current levels of climate change. One of the biggest issues that we are facing nowadays is global warming. With the global warming and the rising of the temperature of sea water, it has great impact on the species in the ocean. More species is facing extinction and with the rising of temperature, itRead MoreRiver Biocosystems1558 Words   |  7 PagesIn recent years, land use practices have increased tremendously, affecti ng river biodiversity and causing negative effects on ecosystems (Fierro, 2017). Different studies have shown that the health of ecosystems correlate to location and the amount of land usage near those locations. The objective of my study was to find how land usage has affected the biodiversity of streams in my own community by studying two different streams, Orange Trail Stream and Lily Branch. The study of the health of streamsRead MoreControl The Wildfires Of Alberta Canada992 Words   |  4 Pages Humans maintain the park and influence mandatory controlled fires as well as control the wildfires. Wildfires are required to burn in order to keep the ecosystem in check. In Banff National Park, these fires burn in old growth areas. Once the fire is burned out it leaves nutrients in the soil to aid in regrowth for future plants. After the fire Grizzly Bears rummage through the now loose and nutrient rich soil for certain roots that are apart of their diets. These roots are only acces sible to theRead MoreClimate Change And Its Effect On The Environment Essay1348 Words   |  6 Pages If the plants cannot adapt they will need to move locations. The only way for these plants to move locations would be to be physically transported by predators such as birds. With the ingestion and digestion of these plants, the birds would be able to ingest them at their current sit and fly to a new location. Once they have arrived at a new location, when they have completely digested the plant, the plants will be excreted into a new location and planted to begin a new distribution of the populationRead MoreCase Study Of Brazil : The World s Largest Estuary Of Their Ocean Fishier Yields From The Southernmost Subtropical1655 Words   |  7 Pagesthousand tons of fish per year (Brandini, 2013). Even with the low nutrient filled waters, Brazil boasts coasts with diverse ecosystems due to the length of the coastline. This lengthy coastline incudes’ â€Å"the world’s largest estuary in the Amazon River Plume; the longest beach, Cassino Beach†¦ and the largest coastal lagoon, Patos Lagoon† to list some examples of the different ecosystems found in this area (Brandini, 2013, p2127). Brazil is seen as a maritime country due to the numerous marine resources

The Ghetto Underwent A Beautification Ghetto - 1044 Words

May 10, 1933 emboldened by the momentum of the movement, Goebbels organized and staged the first, infamous public book burning. German university students were incited to burn books with â€Å"un-German ideas. A century before, German-Jewish poet, Heinrich Hein seems to have predicted the coming events when he wrote, That was but a prelude; where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people. In a dramatic propaganda hoax, the International Red Cross was permitted to inspect the Theresienstadt ghetto, the exercise disguised the vile treatment of the Jews. The ghetto underwent a beautification project. A film was produced to prove the benevolent treatment of the Jews. Soon after, the â€Å"cast/prisoners† were sent to the death camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Deceptive euphemisms were freely used to mask deportations of Jews to gas chambers. Germans stamped â€Å"evacuated and resettled† on their passports, in actuality they were being sent to their death. Quarantine signs were posted at Jewish Ghettos, warning of disease. With a lack of sanitation and starvation rations, the warnings proved to be self-fulfilling prophecies. Nazi propaganda utilized these man-made epidemics to warrant isolating the â€Å"filthy† Jews. During the Final Solution, to maintain the deception and keep order, prisoners, were forced to send postcards home, stating that they were being treated well. Authorities used this to cover-up the true unimaginable horror. Heinrich Himmler was the cold ruthless leader of the

Obesity Epidemic Fed Up, By Stephanie Soechtig - 994 Words

Obesity Epidemic Thousands of children around America are increasingly joining the obesity epidemic and are struggling to get out of it. In the documentary, Fed Up, by Stephanie Soechtig, she creates a documentary that targets young teenagers and parents to uncover the truth of the epidemic and reveal how the food industry is hurting the children s diet by making them become addicted to sugar. It explains how it is beyond people s willpower and exercise alone that solves the epidemic, rather it is the food industries fault for the nfood they produce. Soechtig uses pathos, ethos and logos by documenting personal stories from young obese teenagers, providing a numerous amount of credible sources from a wide range of experts, and having evidence for the epidemic. The documentary uses pathos by having young teenagers share their personal struggles with obesity and documenting their lives with their daily diet. Sochetig uses pathos successfully by allowing the teenagers to document them selves, which adds more of a personal touch to it. Watching the obese teenagers grapple through the obesity brings out sympathy for them and makes the people feel compassionate and understanding. One particular teenager, named Joe Lopez, documents his life who is nearly four hundred pounds and is heading down a dangerous path due to his alarming weight gain. The film maker heightens the emotions by adding slow, melancholy music in the background as they film him walking home from theShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Too Much Sugar On The Body1197 Words   |  5 Pageshigh-fructose corn syrup, maltose, honey, glucose, and sucrose (Fed Up). In grocery stores, around 80% of processed foods have sugar added to them (Fed Up). Although it is obvious that overeating foods with too much sugar in them can cause weight gain, there are many underlying drastic effects of consuming too much sugar as well. Overconsumption of sugar has been linked to Type 2 Diabetes, obesity, cancer, heart disease, and many other illnesses (Fed Up). These illnesses do not come about by merely eating sugarRead MoreFed Up And Forks Over Knives1639 Words   |  7 PagesJorge Camacho Professor Marshall English 116-601 3 November 2015 Fed Up v. Forks over Knives For the previous couple decades, Americans have been misled by the government and health professionals, who were implementing inaccurate dietary standards that led to the promotion of certain items as â€Å"healthy†, has actually resulted in a nationwide obesity epidemic of vast proportions. This unprecedented surge in obesity has affected everybody from children in elementary schools, to retired seniors, andRead MoreAmerican Food Industry : Needs Government Regulation Essay1599 Words   |  7 Pagesissue is the ever growing food industry. Kind of taboo to blame food for the severe and skyrocketing obesity rate in America right? Have you ever checked your labels? Know what’s really in your food? Looked at and researched health programs controlled by politicians and bought and paid for health officials? The American food industry needs to have government regulation to prevent further obesity and malnutrition that is devastating our public health on a national scale. Why does the American foodRead MoreHealthy Food1441 Words   |  6 PagesBittman, Mark. â€Å"Bad Food? Tax It, and Subsidize Vegetables.† New York Times 23 July 2011, late ed.: Sunday Review Brody, Jane E. â€Å"Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause.† New York Times 12 Sept. 2011: D7(L). Print. Waters, Alice and Katrina Heron. â€Å"No Lunch Left Behind.† New York Times 19 Feb. 2009: A31. Print Soechtig, Stephanie. â€Å" Fed Up† USA Times 9 May. 2014; print t

Operates In Industry Of Fashion Retailing †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Operates In Industry Of Fashion Retailing? Answer: Introducation Hennes Mauritz is a Swedish company that operates in the industry of fashion retailing, currently the brand is operational worldwide, they have 4,500 stores all around the word and they are operational in 62 countries. The total number of employees in HM is 132,000. The company is ranked second largest company in the field of fashion retailing after Inditex, owned by Zara. The brand has online stores as well and it is further planning to expand its online stores. The global presence of the company makes it a very popular and well-known brand. The company currently is in a very good position. There are certain threats that are faced by the country though that is affecting the business of the company. The company is forced to sell its product at low cost because the shipping cost is very low, that indicates there is too much of stocks for which the company is forced to put its garments in sale (Hansson, Wrangmo Solberg Silen, 2013). A very high cost is involved in the distribution of the garments. The report below will show all the details of the market situation of HM. According to the CEO Karl-Johan, the year was very significant in terms of financial performance and it was eventful too (Thompson McLarney, 2017). In the same year, there was a shift in the industry, online market was in the trend and many companies were choosing digital marketing. The digital marketing and online marketing proved profitable to the firm as well because they have to target many customers at a very less cost (Hammoudeh, 2014). However, there are lot of competition in this industry as there are many companies in the fashion retail industry like Zara and Inc. The online market of HM is one of the factors that makes the company strong, a lot of customers prefer the online retail because it is convenient for the customers. The present situation of the company is very favorable and the retail chain has a very good position in the mark et with a very good market share. The future expansion of the organization ensures that the company will have a sound growth and will continue to hold the position in future as well (Regnr Yildiz, 2014). Situation Analysis Report Executive Summary The following report is a Situational analysis report on the company HM that is a Swedish multinational brand operational all around the world. The company is operational in 62 countries and has 4,500 stores. The report focuses on the situation of the market in which the company. The topics of the report include Market size and trends, SWOT analysis, financial performance, strategic options and recommendations are given for the company in the end of the report. The CEO of the company is Karl-Johan. Market size and trends Four big global companies that are Zara, HM, GAP, Inc dominate the market in the field of fashion retailing. HM is operational in 62 countries with their 4,500 stores. The brand offers its fashion garment for men, women and children. In august 2017 HM opened online stores in 18 European markets that included Copenhagen, Brussels, London and Munich ("HM group | About", 2017). The company ensures that its store portfolio is right so they have closed around 100 stores and opened 400 new stores. They are further planning to open its Online Market in India, Uruguay and Ukraine. Australia is one of the most profitable market segment for the company their sales is surging around 50 percent even in the highly competitive market (Regnr Yildiz, 2014). Market trends The market has changed a lot in the field of fashion retailing; the shift in the patter of buying behavior of people has changed in the last three for years. The change in trend is mainly because of digitalization, in the last few years the concept of online markets has emerged. Online stores are very convenient for the people they do not have to walk down to the stores to buy things. This particular trend is very popular in fashion retailing. The customers prefer to buy apparels from the online stores, because they get items at cheaper rates because often the shipping cost is not involved, but that is not the only reason, in order to save their time people prefer to buy products from the online markets (Hansson, Wrangmo Solberg Silen, 2013). Financial and Corporate performance From December 2015 to November 30 2016 the sales of the retail inclusive of vat has increased by percent in the local currency of financial year. The gross profit was SEK 106,177 m which is equivalent to gross margin of 55.2 percent. After including the financial item the profit amounts to SEK 24,039 m. The profit after the tax was around 18,363 m which amounted to 11.26 SEK per share. The profit in that financial year was shown adversely affected by the mark downs and the increased purchasing due to the strong dollar rates. In that year 427 new stores were opened and 11 new online markets were also opened. In total there were 35 online markets and stores that summing up to 4,351 in overall 64 markets. In the year 2016 HM created new employment opportunities, around 13,000 new jobs. The total number of employees recorded in that year was 161,000 (Regnr Yildiz, 2014). SWOT Analysis Strengths HM is on the leading fashion retail store in Australia they have a huge market size because there are many customers of the retail store HM across Australia. The customer service of the fashion retail is very efficient that attracts the customers to purchase from the store. The retail store has a wide range of fashion clothing, apparels, footwear, accessories and jewelries. They have expanded their online stores, which will help in increasing the customer base. Celebrity endorsement is also one of the strengths of the fashion retail. The brand organizes many runway shows that display the latest designs from new and young designers. They post their events and fashion runaways shows in you tube and other social networking sites like facebook and twitter. Weakness There is weakness in the consumer standpoint of the company. They treat all the customers similar, they offer high fashion clothes even in the areas where the customers do not like it. The shipping time that means that they have huge stock of clothing, if not all of the stocks are not sold in the premiere season they will have to sell some of the high fashion expensive clothes in sale, this will be big disadvantage for the organization. Some of the product ranges are so high that is very difficult for the customers to afford it, therefore making selective premium clients of the company. The research and development of the company is not very good this is evident from the the same designs available all around the world, the brand is not much innovative in this context. Opportunities They are becoming sustainable, so they have an opportunity to become responsible and care about the animal welfare. They also have chance to become health conscious brand and represent themselves to its customers (Diallo, 2013). Threats HM is facing huge competition from the customers from brands like Zara and Inc. Other online portals also pose a huge threat on the fashion retail (Gremme, 2014). Competitive advantage ; The unique designs and the latest fashion trends that are sold by the brand help them in gaining competitive advantage over other brands in the market. Their online website is helping the organization increasing the customer base thus creating a competitive advantage. Their expansion strategies to serve globally have helped a lot in beating the competition and gaining advantage over the local players (Ancona, 2016). Strategic options The brand has great opportunity in opening their stores in the countries they have not yet covered. They have options to make alliances with big fashion houses so that they can offer good high fashion garments for their customers. They can include a wide range of clothes that are made of fabrics that are most used by the customers and are comfortable. The company has a very bright opportunity to expand its online presence by opening more online markets. In countries like France they can offer high fashion garments to the premium clients apart from that they can organize more fashion events (Borja de Mozota, Valentine Nelson, 2016). Possible Recommendations The company should collaborate with the fashion designers and offer latest fashion garments for its customers. The company needs to expand more in the Asian countries and African countries. They should improve their online website so that it attracts more customers and is user friendly. HM should improve their customer service. They can expand their target market and enter the market of high fashion by offering fashion garments for the premium clients as well. There needs to be improvement in the way the brand communicates its values to its customers, the advertising and promotional activities needs to be more aggressive. They should use both print and digital media for advertising, billboards and newspapers should be used more. More promotional activities needs to be done. For promotions, they can launch their own fashion channel (Wong Yazdanifard, 2014) References Ancona, A. (2016). Sizable Subject: The Plus Side of Fashion. Borja de Mozota, B., Valentine, L., Nelson, J. (2016). The Value of Design Research. Diallo, I. A. (2013). The application of Marketing within a company-case study of HM. Gremme, M. (2014). Zara. Global Fashion at Local Prices. HM group | About. (2017).About.hm.com. Retrieved 25 August 2017, from https://about.hm.com/en/about-us.html Hammoudeh, R. (2014). Zara, from Spain to the big wide world. Company analysis, markets and competition. Hansson, L., Wrangmo, A., Solberg Silen, K. (2013). Optimal ways for companies to use Facebook as a marketing channel.Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society,11(2), 112-126. Regnr, P., Yildiz, H. E. (2014). HM in Fast Fashion: continued success?. Thompson, J., McLarney, C. (2017). What Effects will the Strategy Changes Undertaken by Next Plc Have on themselves and their Competition in the UK Clothing Retail Market?.Journal of Commerce and Management Thought,8(2), 234. Wong, K., Yazdanifard, R. (2014). How Fast-Fashion Apparel Stores are able to Operate Sustainably in New Global Economy.Journal of Research in Marketing,3(2), 274-278

The relationship between God and human beings, use the example of Rabia al-Adawiyya and al-Hallaj Essay Example

The relationship between God and human beings, use the example of Rabia al-Adawiyya and al-Hallaj Paper Mysticism, according to Evelyn Underhill is The great spiritual current that goes through all religions1. Mysticism seeks to understand the nature and relationship of the human soul and God. The mystical aspect of Islam is known as Sufism (tasawwuf) and in practice is the seeking of an intimate relationship with God through meditative practice or the behaviour of self-denial, the ultimate aim, to achieve union with God. Sufis want to know God in the heart, as a lover and a friend and, as God is an immaterial entity the union can only be achieved emotionally. In the mystical idea, humans gain knowledge of God not through rational thought or religion but with the fusing of the soul to the divine world. Thirteenth century prophet, Jalal al-Din Rumi explains, All the hopes, desires, loves, and affections that people have for different things fathers, mothers, friends, heavens, the earth, gardens, palaces, sciences, works, food, drink he saint knows that these are desires for God and all those things are veils. When men leave this world and see the King without these veils, then they will know that all were veils and coverings, that the object of their desire was in reality that One Thing They will see all things face to face. 2 In order to embrace the love of God, Sufis must disregard the material world that the rest of us so readily and unquestioningly inhabit. We will write a custom essay sample on The relationship between God and human beings, use the example of Rabia al-Adawiyya and al-Hallaj specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The relationship between God and human beings, use the example of Rabia al-Adawiyya and al-Hallaj specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The relationship between God and human beings, use the example of Rabia al-Adawiyya and al-Hallaj specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The Sufi mystical path has several stages and is open to each and every Muslim who wishes to connect their soul with the divine. The whole of life is spiritually one in its source, goal, beginning and end, with the divine manifest in all our souls (though the soul was created before, and is separated from the body). The attempt to attain unity with God is all the more desirable when earthly matter is deemed evil; no incentive is left, other than for anything other than mystical behaviour. Sufis take the For man was created weak3 aspect of the Quran seriously; scripture like it proves to Sufis the evil status of matter. There are contradictions though in other parts of the Quran: Thy Lord said to the angels: I will create a vicegerent on earth4. Although this is an inconsistency within the Quran, rather than within Sufism itself, it doesnt give Sufis a clear textual backing. We might bear in mind though that if this is the case for Sufis then it will be the case for the Orthodox Muslims too. So, bearing this in mind, a key understanding for the mystics may be that We are nearer to him than the jugular vein5 Such revelations are of great importance to Sufis in giving them an insight into their relationship with God, though they too are also good at expressing themselves: thirteenth century mystic Jalal al-Din Rumi explains that, All the hopes, desires, loves, and affections that people have for different things fathers, mothers, friends, heavens, the earth, gardens, palaces, sciences, works, food, drink the saint knows that these are desires for God and all those things are veils. When men leave this world and see the King without these veils, then they will know that all were veils and coverings, that the object of their desire was in reality that One Thing They will see all things face to face. Our earthly desires are fanciful yet are always seeking a truth that is God. Sufi mystics are highly regarded and specially remembered and revered long after their deaths. Rabia Al-Adawiyya and Al-Hallaj provide us with very interesting examples of how mystical experience had so overcome them that to Sufisms logical extent, existence came to have no meaning for them. Their experience explains a lot about the ideas and ideology of the mystical tradition. Commentaries on Rabbia and her works have been passed down through devotees, historians, translators and commentators for almost thirteen centuries. Our picture of her is created by these scholars and coupled with the passage of thirteen centuries; the picture may well be an accordingly anachronistic one. Her work that was not already poetry seems, through these mediums and the refinement of re-telling 6 to have become such. In this instance however, we might suggest that the accounts of how talented or prolific she was as a writer are greater affected than our understanding of the mystical path which she followed, it being easier to alter what she left us than what she did. Our understanding of Rabbia doesnt suffer through our appreciation of her relative poetic merits but it does if she didnt write them. For our purposes it is necessary to take what we know of Rabbia subjectively and in doing this, we might come to recognise her as a brilliant proponent of Sufi mysticism. Through her poetry, ethic of self-discipline and emotional devotion to Allah she created in herself an icon of Sufi devotion, highly regarded throughout Islam. Islam has embraced Rabia, despite frowning on, not so much the fact that she was a woman, but unmarried life and withdrawal from society as a path to God. Rabbia was a slave who, was seen by her master praying one night (after a hard days work, at the expense of her sleep) and who saw a bright light above her head, so the story goes. He released her immediately and she, in turn, moved to the desert. As people became aware of her and her holiness, they began beating a path to her door in search of spiritual direction. She was the recipient of numerous marriage proposals. Upon receiving one of them she replied, Im not interested, really, in possessing all you own, Nor in making you my slave, Nor in having my attention distracted from God even for a split second. 7 Even love on earth was incomparable to the love she shared with God. The love expressed in her verse, whether it existed or not (why should we be disinclined to believe her? ) is the essence of this mysticism. If I die for love, before completing satisfaction, Alas, for my anxiety in the world, alas for my distress, O Healer (of souls) the heart feeds upon its desire, The striving after union with Thee has healed my soul8 The love and devotion expressed in this verse is the essence of the mystical. There is no rational or formal relationship with God, just love. Love rarely reconciles itself with rational thought and interestingly, in his incomprehensible nature, neither does God. It is romantic for us to think of this (unconventional female) mystic completely absorbed in her love for God, and expressing this through beautiful poetry. Poetry is one of the most highly esteemed vehicles for expressing emotion, what better way for Rabia to get her message across? Rabia helps us see that the Sufi tradition is not about the regularity with which Muslims pray or how closely they follow the rules extracted from the Quran, but is about the raw emotion Sufis feel for God. Al-Hallaj, another prominent Sufi was killed for his devotion to the mystic quest. Louis Massignon gives us an authoritative account of Al-Hallaj in his book of the same name. He was one of Islams most controversial writers and teachers. Because he was the embodiment of the Muslim experience, Mansurs life and death represent to many, a reference point in Islamic history. Al-Hallaj was fascinated with the ascetic way of life, in his teens he memorized the Quran and began retreating from the world to gather with other like minds to study Islamic mysticism. He travelled and soon apprentices began to follow him. The situation in which al-Hallaj taught and wrote was shaped by social, economic, political, and religious stress, which eventually led to his arrest. Sufism was new at the time, and provoked extensive opposition from the Muslim orthodoxy. Sufi masters considered his sharing the beauty of mystical experience with the masses undisciplined at best, disobedient at worst. It wasnt long before the political leaders made a case against him. Al-Hallaj was considered an intoxicated Sufi, who became so enraptured in ecstasy by the presence of the Divine that he was prone to losing his personal identity, blurring the lines between the Divine and the Man. During his arrest he experienced one of these breaks and uttered: Ana al-haqq, or I am the Truth (or God). An inappropriate statement to make in the Islamic tradition. He spent 11 years in confinement in Baghdad, before being brutally tortured and crucified. Witnesses were believed to have stated that al-Hallaj was strangely serene while being tortured, and sincerely forgave his persecutors. He is referred to as Loves Prophet. Al-Hallaj is one of the most influential Sufi writers and an important character in Islamic history. I saw my Lord with the eye of the heart. I said: Who art Thou? He answered: Thou. 9 By proclaiming, I am the truth he had achieved the Sufi goal in that he felt himself to be God incarnate in the world10. He was so overcome with his mystical existence that he felt, to the logical Sufi extreme that he was God. There has been a certain tendency for Christians to view Sufism as an Islamic derivative of Christian mysticism. Islam appears to be sensual, physical an d practical these aspects all being manifest in Islamic law. How can Sufism reconcile itself with this? The Christians seemed to think that it couldnt and mysticism within Islam could trace itself back to the sophisticated Christian tradition and the Holy Ghost. 11 This may be true in certain instances, Al-Muhasibi, for example, has been shown to have borrowed heavily on the new testament for various sayings and commendations of the Sufi life the practice of wearing woollen garments is said to have been done in imitation of Christian hermits, though how recognition and borrowing of ideas can make a religion inferior to the lender is odd. The examples we have looked at of Rabbia and al-Hallaj serve to discredit this idea, in fact the Sufi idea stands up very well on its own: In a human being is such a love, a pain, an itch, a desire that, even if he were to possess a hundred thousand worlds, he would not rest or find peace. People work variously at all sorts of callings, crafts, and professions, and they learn astrology and medicine, and so forth, but they are not at peace because what they are seeking cannot be found. The beloved is called dilaram because the heart finds peace through the beloved. How then can it find peace through anything else? 12 To treat Sufism as a derivative of Christianity deprives Islam of an integral part of its spiritual nature. Sufi practice seeks to achieve a goal of oneness and absorption into God. They seek to attain the state humanity was in before creation13. To achieve this as Rabbia and Al-Hallaj claimed they did, it is necessary to regard emotion, love and spirituality as all-important and all else irrelevant. Few, if any people will deny the existence of emotion despite its un-quantifiable nature and its defiance of physical definition. Many people, regardless of their religion believe that God is emotion or our collective spirit, in that idea and especially in the examples we have looked at, the heart and love are the keys to understanding, despite their un physical nature For the reality that is the goal of the mystic, and is ineffable, cannot be understood or explained by any normal mode of perception; neither philosophy nor reason can reveal it. Only the wisdom of the heart, gnosis, may give insight into some of its aspects. 14 To share in the love of God and to attain existence on a spiritual plane where it is possible to interact with him, the role of the heart is obviously crucial. Another important point to remember is that in the world, of evil matter, all that is then not evil, is emotion. Perhaps the legacy that Rabia and Al Halaj have left us with, is of love and emotion. They did not teach us practical lessons or how to do our best, but simply, how to feel; perhaps this is why they are still so well regarded. Our hearts and souls are individually and collectively the sources of our love. By feeling their relationship with God emotionally, at the expense of all else, the Sufis are quite radical in their approach to him. It is a kind of religious anarchism; the only necessities are the heart and the soul, whilst nothing else matters. Sufis use their hearts to direct their emotions towards God; its importance is not partial but total.

The Role of Reading Fluency Tables in Comprehension

The Role of Reading Fluency Tables in Comprehension Listening to a student read, even for a minute, can be one of the ways a teacher determines a students ability to comprehend text through fluency. Improving reading fluency has been identified by the National Reading Panel as one of the five critical components of reading. A student’s oral reading fluency score is measured by the number of words in a  text that a student reads correctly in a minute. Measuring a students fluency is easy. The teacher listens to a student read independently for one minute in order to hear how well a  student reads accurately, quickly, and with expression (prosody). When a student can read aloud with these three qualities, the student is demonstrating to the listener a level of fluency, that there is a bridge or connection between his or her ability to recognize words and the ability  to comprehend  the text: â€Å"Fluency is defined as reasonably accurate reading with suitable expression that leads to accurate and deep comprehension and motivation to read† (Hasbrouck and Glaser, 2012). In other words, a student who is a fluent reader  can focus on what the text means because he or she does not have to concentrate on decoding the words. A fluent reader can monitor and adjust his or her reading and notice when comprehension breaks down.   Fluency Testing A fluency test is simple to administer. All you need is a selection of text and a stopwatch.   An initial test for fluency is a screening where passages are selected from a text at the students grade level that the student has not pre-read, called a cold read.  If the student is not reading at grade level, then the instructor should select passages at a lower level in order to diagnose weaknesses.   The student is asked to read aloud for one minute. As the student reads, the teacher notes errors in reading. A student’s fluency level can be calculated following these three steps: The instructor determines how many words the reader actually attempted during the 1-minute reading sample. Total # of words read ____.Next, the instructor counts up the number of errors made by the reader. Total # of errors ___.The instructor deducts the number of errors from the total words attempted, the examiner arrives at the number of correctly read words per minute (WCPM). Fluency formula: Total # of words read __- (subtract) errors______words (WCPM) read correctly For example, if the student read 52 words and had 8 errors in one minute, the student had 44 WCPM. By deducting the errors (8) from total words attempted (52), the score for the student would be 44 correct words in one minute. This 44 WCPM number serves as an estimate of reading fluency, combining the students speed and accuracy in reading. All educators should be aware that an oral reading fluency score is not the same measure as a student’s reading level. To determine what that fluency score means in relation to grade level, teachers should use a grade level fluency score chart. Fluency data charts   There are a number of reading fluency charts such as the one developed from the research of Albert Josiah Harris and Edward R. Sipay  (1990) which set fluency rates that were organized by grade level bands with words per minute scores. For example, the table shows the recommendations for fluency bands for three different grade levels: grade 1, grade 5, and grade 8.   Harris and Sipay Fluency Chart Grade Words per minute Band Grade 1 60-90 WPM Grade 5 170-195 WPM Grade 8 235-270 WPM Harris and  Sipays  research guided them to make recommendations in their book  How to Increase Reading Ability: A Guide to Developmental Remedial Methods  as to the general speed for reading a text  such as a book from the  Magic Tree House Series  (Osborne). For example, a book from this series is leveled at M (grade 3) with 6000 words.   A student who could read 100 WCPM fluently could finish  A Magic Tree House  book in one hour while a student who could read at 200 WCPM fluently could complete reading the book in 30 minutes. The fluency chart most referenced today was developed by researchers Jan Hasbrouck and Gerald Tindal in 2006. They wrote about their findings in the International Reading Association Journal in the article â€Å"Oral Reading Fluency Norms: A Valuable Assessment Tool for Reading Teachers.† The major point in their article was on the connection between fluency and comprehension: â€Å"Fluency measures such as words correct per minute has been shown, in both theoretical and empirical research, to serve as an accurate and powerful indicator of overall reading competence, especially in its strong correlation with comprehension. In coming to this conclusion, Hasbrouck and Tindal completed an extensive study of oral reading fluency using data obtained from over 3,500 students in 15 schools in seven cities located in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and New York.† According to Hasbrouck and Tindal, the review of student data  allowed them to organize the results in average performance and percentile bands for fall, winter, and spring for grades 1 through grade 8. The scores on the chart are considered  normative  data scores because of the large sampling.   The results of their study were published in a technical report entitled, â€Å"Oral Reading Fluency: 90 Years of Measurement,† which is available on the  website for Behavioral Research and Teaching, University of Oregon. Contained in this study are their grade level fluency score tables  designed  to help instructors to assess the oral reading fluency of their students relative to their peers. How to read a fluency table Only three-grade level data selections from their research are in a table below. The table below shows fluency scores for grade 1 when students are first tested on fluency, for grade 5 as a midpoint fluency measure, and for grade 8 after students have been practicing fluency for years. Grade Percentile Fall WCPM* Winter WCPM* Spring WCPM* Avg Weekly Improvement* First 90 - 81 111 1.9 First 50 - 23 53 1.9 First 10 - 6 15 .6 Fifth 90 110 127 139 0.9 Fifth 50 110 127 139 0.9 Fifth 10 61 74 83 0.7 Eighth 90 185 199 199 0.4 Eighth 50 133 151 151 0.6 Eighth 10 77 97 97 0.6 *WCPMwords correct per minute The first column of the table shows the grade level. The second column of the table shows the percentile.  Teachers should remember that in fluency testing, percentile is different from  percentage. The percentile on this table is a measurement is based on a grade level peer group of 100 students. Therefore, a 90th percentile does not mean the student answered 90% of the questions correctly; a fluency score is not like a grade. Instead, a 90th percentile  score for a student means that there are nine (9) grade level peers who have performed better.   Another way to look at the rating is to understand that a student who is in the 90th percentile performs better than 89th percentile of his grade level peers or that the student is in the top 10% of his peer group. Similarly, a student in the 50th percentile means the student performs better than 50 of his or her peers with 49% of his or her peers performing higher, while a student performing at the low 10th percentile for fluency has still performed better than 9 of his or her grade level peers. An average fluency score is between 25th percentile to 75th percentile Therefore, a student with a   fluency score of 50th percentile is perfectly average, squarely in the middle of the average band. The third, fourth, and fifth columns on the chart indicate into which percentile a students score is rated at different times of the school year. These scores are based on normative data. The last column, average weekly improvement, shows the average words per week growth that student should  develop to stay on grade level. The average weekly improvement can be calculated by subtracting the fall score from the spring score and dividing the difference by 32 or the number of weeks between the fall and spring assessments. In grade 1, there is no fall assessment, and so the average weekly improvement is calculated by subtracting the winter score from the spring score and then dividing the difference by 16 which is the number of weeks between the winter and spring assessments. Using the fluency data   Hasbrouck and Tindal   recommended that: â€Å"Students scoring 10 or more words below the 50th percentile using the average score of two unpracticed readings from grade-level materials need a fluency-building program. Teachers can also use the table to set long-term fluency goals for struggling readers.† For example, a beginning fifth grade student with a reading rate of 145 WCPM should be assessed using fifth grade level texts. However, a beginning grade 5 student with a reading rate of 55 WCPM will need to be assessed with materials from grade 3 in order to determine what additional instructional support would be needed to increase his or her reading rate. Instructors should use progress monitoring with any student who may be reading six to 12 months below grade level every two to three weeks to determine if additional instruction is needed. For students who are reading more than one year below grade level, this kind of progress monitoring should be done frequently. If the student is receiving intervention services through special education or English Learner support, continued monitoring will provide the teacher the information on whether the intervention is working or not.   Practicing fluency For progress monitoring on fluency, passages are selected at a students individually determined goal level. For example, if the instructional level of a 7th grade student is at the 3rd grade level, the teacher may conduct the progress monitoring assessments by using passages at the 4th grade level. To provide students the opportunity to practice, fluency instruction should be with a text that a student can read at an independent level.   Independent reading level is one of three reading levels described below: Independent level is relatively easy for the student to read with 95% word accuracy.Instructional level is challenging but manageable for the reader with 90% word accuracy.Frustration level means the text is too difficult for the student to read which results in less than 90% word accuracy. Students will better practice on speed and expression by reading at an independent level text. Instructional or frustration level texts will require students to decode. Reading comprehension is the combination of numerous skills that are performed instantaneously, and fluency is one of these skills. While practicing fluency requires time, a test for a students fluency takes only one minute and perhaps two minutes to read a fluency table and to record the results. These few minutes with a fluency table can be one of the best tools a teacher can use to monitor how well a student understands what he or she is reading.

Budget Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Budget Law - Essay Example The case of South Africa and Sweden are especially noted. According to Lienert(2005) many countries have adopted comprehensive and deep reforms as well new and amended laws to transform the role of the state and the budgeting processes that are involved in the working of the state. The issues that have been highlighted include fiscal transparency and political polarization, performance oriented budgeting and financial accountability. Modifications in the legal framework that have changed the role of the state and the budget processes involved or supporting it could be highlighted yet these modifications seem to have been strongest in countries that rely on laws and decrees to introduce changes The emphasis is on performance oriented budgeting and fiscal transparency and considering that the legal framework does help in shifting emphases to the process of budgeting and methodology, the central role of the legal aspect could be well documented and examined. However there are many obstacles to the proper working of the legal framework and its implementation to enhance budgeting and these could be differences between countries in terms of political systems and administrative arrangements or even legal cultures that could prevent the budgeting process from being efficient and transparent. ... Such cycles are usually thought to be present in weak or new democracies although Alt James et al (2006) prove that such electoral cycles could be present in advanced and more industrialized economies as well. The focus on fiscal transparency along with budgeting transparency would bring about questions on the nature of the economy and the kind of legal framework such economies have. Fiscal Transparency If the legal frameworks are strong enough, fiscal transparency could be expected. Fiscal transparency has become one of the most important aspects of governance and financial reporting A definition of fiscal transparency is given by Kopits and Craig: "Fiscal transparency is defined ... as openness toward the public at large about government structure and functions, fiscal policy intentions, public sector accounts, and projections. It involves ready access to reliable, comprehensive, timely, understandable, and internationally comparable information on government activities ... so that the electorate and financial markets can accurately assess the government's financial position and the true costs and benefits of government activities, including their present and future economic and social implications" (1998, p. 1). The authors use a sample of data from 19 OECD countries in the 1990s, to identify a persistent pattern of electoral cycles both in the low transparency, and largely developing countries, although such cycles could not be observed in high transparency countries. Thus the authors suggest that electoral cycles in fiscal balance could be a feature of many advanced economies but not found in high transparency countries. This highlights the fact that not all advanced and developed economies would have very transparencies although some advanced