Ursinus College Admissions Data for Potential Students

Are you interested in attending Ursinus College? They accept more than three-quarters of all applicants. See more about their admissions requirements. Located about 25 miles from Philadelphia in the small town of Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Ursinus College has been finding itself moving up in the rankings recently. In fact, in the 2009 issue, U.S. News and World Report ranked Ursinus College #2 for up-and-coming liberal arts colleges. The colleges 170-acre campus boasts an excellent art museum, observatory, and new performing arts facility. Ursinuss academic excellence has earned it membership in Phi Beta Kappa. With a 12 to 1 student/faculty ratio and student-centered curriculum, students at Ursinus can expect a lot of quality interaction with the faculty. In athletics, the Ursinus Bears compete in the NCAA Division III Centennial Conference. The college fields eleven mens and thirteen womens intercollegiate sports. Admissions Data (2016) Ursinus College Acceptance Rate: 82Â  percentGPA, SAT and ACT graph for UrsinusUrsinus has test-optional admissionsTop PA colleges ACT score comparison Enrollment (2016) Total Enrollment: 1,556Â  (all undergraduate)Gender Breakdown: 47 percent Male / 53 percent Female99 percent Full-time Costs (2016-17) Tuition and Fees: $49,370Books: $1,000 (why so much?)Room and Board: $12,320Other Expenses: $2,322Total Cost: $65,012 Ursinus College Financial Aid (2015-16) Percentage of New Students Receiving Aid: 100Â  percentPercentage of New Students Receiving Types of AidGrants: 100 percentLoans: 68 percentAverage Amount of AidGrants: $31,156Loans: $8,160 Academic Programs Most Popular Majors: Biology, Business Administration, Economics, English, Health and Physical Education, International Relations, Media Studies, Psychology Graduation and Retention Rates First Year Student Retention (full-time students): 84Â  percent4-Year Graduation Rate: 73 percent6-Year Graduation Rate: 78 percent Intercollegiate Athletic Programs Mens Sports: Football, Lacrosse, Soccer, Baseball, Swimming, Tennis, Wrestling, Basketball, Track and FieldWomens Sports: Gymnastics, Soccer, Lacrosse, Volleyball, Swimming, Tennis, Basketball, Field Hockey If You Like Ursinus College, You May Also Like These Schools Swarthmore College: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphVillanova University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphLehigh University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphJuniata College: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphUniversity of Pennsylvania: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphIthaca College: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphAmerican University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphAlbright College: ProfilePennsylvania State University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphLafayette College: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphTemple University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphDrexel University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT Graph Ursinus College Mission Statement mission statement from https://www.ursinus.edu/about/basic-facts/mission-statement/ The mission of the College is to enable students to become independent, responsible, and thoughtful individuals through a program of liberal education. That education prepares them to live creatively and usefully, and to provide leadership for their society in an interdependent world. Liberal education is provided through an academic program that empowers the intellect, awakens moral sensitivity, and challenges students to improve society. Students gain intellectual curiosity, the capacity to think analytically, critically, and creatively, and the skill to express thoughts with logic, clarity, and grace. Further, they develop a deepened sense of human history and an understanding of who they are as persons, what they ought to do as citizens, and how they best can appreciate the diversity and ambiguity of contemporary experience. Data Source: National Center for Educational Statistics

A Prize For Poetry, International Ibsen Award You Named....

Nobel prize for literature, Pulitzer prize for poetry, International Ibsen award you named. Langston Hughes is a great poet, his poems are truly inspirational, persuasive. It s almost like he was talking directly to the reader. To begin with, have you ever wondered what impact Langston Hughes poems had on people lives. Well if so then you on the right place. James Mercer Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents were Caroline Mercer Langston and James Nathaniel Hughes. Langston parents divorced when he was a kid, Langston was raised by his grandmother Mary Patterson Langston in Lawrence, Kansas. Meanwhile, his mother was traveling seeking employment. He spent majority of his childhood years†¦show more content†¦His father, however, wanted him to study in a university abroad and pursue a career in engineering. He was ready to support financially only if Langston agreed to study engineering. The two finally came to a compromise where Langston could attend Columbia but as an engineering student. While at Columbia in 1921, Langston maintained a grade average of B+. After leaving Columbia, Langston worked in various jobs. He then worked as a crewman aboard the S.S. Malone in 1923. During this job he traveled six months to Europe and West Africa. While in Europe, he left S.S. Malone and tempor arily stayed in Paris. In his early 1920s stay in England. In November 1924, Langston returned to live with his mother in Washington D.C. Again. In 1925 Langston became the personal assistant to the historian Carter G. Woodson at the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Since the work of personal assistant demanded much worked, he didn t have his time for poetry, he left the job to work as a busboy in a local hotel. He met the poet Vachel Lindsay during this time. Vachel was impressed by Langston’s poetry and publicized him as the new black poet. The next year, Langston took admission in Lincoln University. Hughes received his B.A. degree from Lincoln University in 1929. To begin with, Langston Hughes wrote many poems but the most fascinating

Techniques and Study Skills Free Essays

| Identify and describe techniques and study skills that may enhance your own learning| | 856 words | Effective study skills must be practiced in order to improve. It is not enough to simply â€Å"think about† studying; we have to actually do it, and in the process use information from what we do to get better. In this essay we will identify and describe study skills and techniques which may enhance the learning ability of the person. We will write a custom essay sample on Techniques and Study Skills or any similar topic only for you Order Now The essay will include a description of study habits and preferred learning styles. And finally identification and description of techniques and study skills that may be helpful for a tertiary student’s study plan. Better study skills lead to better test-taking skill and of course better grades. The study habits and skills, that personally help me succeed are many. Before starting, there should always be an appropriate study environment. Personally that includes limited noise, a lot of sunlight, hard surface to write and a comfortable furniture. The first step is to make summary notes, choosing the most important ideas from my text book or lecture notes. Then organize these ideas in to a summary. Divide the information in to ideas, spreading them all over the page and then finding the relationship between them, to achieve this flashcards, mind maps, flow charts or tables. Studding by using summary notes can help you memorize, develop problem solving strategies and acquire more knowledge. Having quiet music playing in the background is very useful for memorizing information to me. Physically touching objects helps me focus my state of mind when performing a task e. g. spinning the pen. Each of us is an individual, and we all learn and think in different ways. There are few learning styles that fit every personality and benefit in their own way. There are many ways that an individual can approach and find which style works best for them. According to Ward and Daley (1993, p. 59) V. A. R. K. is a simple test that consists of many question, which at the end can determine which learning style best suits your personality. V. A. R. K. simply stands for Visual, Auditory, Read/Write and Kinaesthetic. The one learning style that mostly stands out and best suits me is kinaesthetic. Ward and Daley state hat kinaesthetic learners, learn best by doing hands on activities, in which they can physically manipulate something in order to learn about it. For example to teach someone something kinaesthetic people will demonstrate then let them have a go or when listening to a band they move in time with the music. According to Gilakjani (2012)people who use this style tend to lose concentration if there is little or no movement. When listening to lectures th ey may want to take notes for the sake of moving their hands. When reading, they like to scan the material first, and then focus in on the details. They take notes by drawing pictures, diagrams, or doodling. Although kinaesthetic is my main learning style, there are other styles that benefit me in remembering and understanding things. Visual and Interpersonal are the second and third highest styles that help with my learning process. Visual learners remember best when colour, charts, diagrams or mind maps are involved in the study session. While interpersonal learners are highly social and love to be around people and participate in group activities. Interpersonal learners can understand someone by their mood, the way they stand or their intentions. Every person has different study skills and techniques that they use to help them with processing and learning new information. The amount of study skills is immense from hand writing to setting goals. The following techniques and study skills are useful to my learning: 1. Do something while studying: Tap a pencil or do something that occupies my hands without decoming distracted. 2. Play music, when appropriate, during activities: Tend to be less distracted by music while studying than other people. 3. Give frequent stretch breaks (brain breaks): break my study up into shorter periods, but also take shorter breaks. Regular 5 minute breaks can often be helpful to study far more, because by getting enough rest helps my concentration and thinking quality to improve. 4. Use flashcard: simply write a question or topic suggestion on one side of a card, and the answer or a list of details they should remember on the other side 5. Study with other people: enjoy discussion, talking with others is often a great way to consolidate what is learnt. In conclusion the learning style is the way we tend to learn best. It involves our preferred method of taking in, organizing, and making sense of information. Learning styles do not tell us bout a person’s abilities or intelligence, but they can help us understand why some tasks seem easier for us than others. There are several benefits of thinking about and trying to understand the learning preferences: learning most effectively when the strategies used are closely matched with the preferred learning style; we can improve learning by knowing what strength s and weaknesses are and then doing more of what is needed to achieve the goal; different situations and learning environments require different learning strategies, so it’s best to have a large variety of techniques and study skills. REFERENCE: Gilakjani, A. (2012, Vol. 2, No. 1). Visual, auditory, kinaesthetic learning styles and their impacts on English language teaching. Journal of Studies and Education. Ward, C. W. Daley, J. D. (1993), pp. 59. Learning to learn. Christchurch, New Zealand: A H Consultants Ltd. How to cite Techniques and Study Skills, Essay examples

Book Analysis on Undercover free essay sample

As the days grow shorter, Elisa worries that the increasingly urgent letters she sends her father wont bring him home. Like the undercover agent she feels she has become, Elisa retreats to a pond in the woods, where her talent for ice-skating gives her the confidence to come out from under cover and take centre stage. But when Lila becomes jealous of Theos friendship with Elisa, her revenge nearly destroys Elisas ice-skating dreams and her plan to reunite her family. A. Book 1. Author Beth Kephart was nominated for the National Book Award for her book A SLANT OF SUN. In 2000, she received a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and she also won Pew Fellowships in Arts grant in 2005. At the age of nine, Beth Kephart began to skate on a pond in Boston, where she taught herself the every moves Elisa teaches herself in this story. Beth won her first competitive freestyle competition at a Wilmington, Delaware, rink. Today she ballroom dances and is an avid gardener. She lives in Pennsylvania with her family. 2. Title The main character in the story fits the title under cover, the fact that the main character hides her skill of skiing to her friends and family. B. Characters Protagonist: Elisa Cantor- she is a father’s daughter and doesn’t really relate well with her mother and sister. Antagonist: Lisa- Theo’s girlfriend; known for her beauty and popularity. Supporting Characters: Tina Cantor- Elisa and Jilly’s Mother. Jilly- Elisa’s Sister, she is a very fashionable teenager like her mother. Mr. Cantor- Elisa’s Father, he understands Elisa. Theo- Elisa’s classmate in Honors English, a special friend and one of the boys who ask love notes from Elisa. Margie- Elisa’s past best friend in eighth grade and classmate in Honors English. Dr. Charmin- an Honors English teacher and believed and supports Elisa’s talent in writing. Mr. Marcoroon- a strict Math teacher. Mrs. Garland- a friend of Tina. Stuart little- a client of Mr. Cantor in San Francisco. Sarah- an Honour English student. II. Plot A. Exposition 1. Setting The story takes place in a pond in the woods where she always find herself at ease and thinking she could be herself there alone while skating. B. Complication When her father has to go away for work it makes their life complicated. To make it even more complicated, Elisa starts to fall on a boy who she is providing with poetry to woo another girl. C. Climax Lila tore the dress of Elisa before the start of the skating competition. D. Denouement Elisa never let herself be defeated by wearing the torn dress made by the antagonist, Lila, while skating gracefully. E. Resolution Yes it’s a happy ending because finally her family was once again reunited and everyone accepted the real her. III. Analysis 1. Did you admire the author for writing this book? Why? Yes. A teenager who reads this book would really understand the feelings and thinking’s of the main character of the story. Many teenagers can relate of how it feels to be a loner or to be bullied. 2. Tell something about the cover, did it spark your interest? Does it fit the story? It did spark my interest because it makes me wonder what story it will give me. Yes it does fit in the story because the covers do tell the story. 3. Who is your most favourite character? Why? My favourite character in the story is Elisa Cantor. For being brave enough to uncover her great skill to everybody even when she herself has no confidence that everyone would accept her and gain their respect. 4. Who is your least favourite character? Why? My least favourite character in the story is Lisa, because of her jealousy of Theo’s friendship with Elisa; her revenge nearly destroys Elisa’s ice-skating dreams and her plan to reunite her family. . What is your favourite part of the story? Why? My favourite part of the story is when Elisa got sick during the last days of Christmas season, which was the time that her sister and mother took care of her and after her sickness they finally become close to each other. 6. What is your least favourite part of the story? Why? My lea st favourite part of the story is when Lisa and her friends destroyed Elisa’s dress that was made by her mother and sister for the ice-skating competition. 7. Discuss your favourite quote from the story. â€Å"You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain Are moving across the landscape, Over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, Are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, The world offers itself to your imagination, Calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting Over and over announcing your place in the family of things. † It tells about a person who doesn’t have to be perfect just to meet their expectations. Being yourself is a lot more happy and easy than pretending or trying to be someone you are not. 8. What is your realization about life after reading the novel? After reading the story I realize in life that you shouldn’t hide yourself from others, don’t be scared of letting them know your true self and don’t give up on something that you haven’t tried yet.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using the Internet free essay sample

Vocabulary: global village, a plethora of options, services, dissemination of information, silver bullet, Babel, rambling, reliability, veracity, ascertain the reliability, rapid pace of change, information overload, landmines, at the click of a mouse, maligned, comfort of home, assimilated, indispensable, pervasive, rife, program vs programme, having access to, beyond reproach, estranged, Be careful of one/you/we/I Linking words Brainstorm Information: (be careful that you must explain and not assume the reader knows online terms) Advantages: 1) Information on almost every subject imaginable. 2) Powerful search engines 3) Ability to do research from your home versus research libraries. 4) Information at various levels of study. Everything from scholarly articles to ones directed at children. 5) Message boards where people can discuss ideas on any topic. Ability to get wide range of opinions. People can find others that have a similar interest in whatever they are interested in. 6) The internet provides the ability of emails. Free mail service to anyone in the country. We will write a custom essay sample on The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using the Internet or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 7) Platform for products like SKYPE, which allow for holding a video conference with anyone in the world who also has access. 8) Friendships and love connections have been made over the internet by people involved in love/passion over similar interests. 9) Things such as Yahoo Answers and other sites where kids can have readily available help for homework. 10) News, of all kinds is available almost instantaneously. Commentary, on that news, from every conceivable viewpoint is also available. 11) online shopping 12) online courses Disadvantages: 1) There is a lot of wrong information on the internet. Anyone can post anything, and much of it is garbage. 2) There are predators that hang out on the internet waiting to get unsuspecting people in dangerous situations. 3) Some people are getting addicted to the internet and thus causing problems with their interactions of friends and loved ones. 4) Pornography that can get in the hands of young children too easily. 5) Easy to waste a lot of time on the internet. You can start surfing, and then realize far more time has passed than you realized. Internet and television together of added to the more sedentary lifestyles of people which further exacerbates the obesity problem. 6) Internet has a lot of cheater sites. People can buy essays and pass them off as their own far more easily than they used to be able to do. 7) There are a lot of unscrupulous businesses that have sprung up on the internet to take advantage of people. 8) Hackers can create viruses that can get into your personal computer and ruin valuable data. 9) Hackers can use the internet for identity theft. 10) It can be quite depressing to be on the internet and realize just how uneducated so many people have become in todays society. 11) a lack of human touch and customisation of learning e. g.in teaching, facebook 12) identity theft 13) online addiction; waste of time Plan: (You must group the information from the brainstorm and ensure the information can be used to support your TOPIC SENTENCE) Intro: Internet is everywhere. Teenagers think its indispensable. Para 2: An Advantage of the Internet is that it grants us a lot of convenience online shopping, gambling, easier to perform research, forum groups for discussion Para 3: An Advantage of the Internet is that it allows us better understanding of the world the world is but a click away, google search, translation tool, youtube, coursera  Para 4: A disadvantage of the Internet is that it increases crime of various forms scams in purchases, funds transfer, identity theft, hacking of computer systems, password collection Para 5: A disadvantage of the Internet is that it reduces human contact with the convenience of purchases and communication from ones desktop, one may not even travel out of the comfort of home. facebook, purchases, research Conclusion: the internet is much maligned but the truth is that it has both adv and disadvantages. We need to be sensible. (a piece of advice) Sample There are certain things in life which are essential: sunlight, food, water and oxygen. However, if you ask a naive teenager what is crucial for him to lead his life, it would be no surprise if he told you that it is the Internet. (The preceding sentence is in the past tense as it is hypothetical. ) This is really not surprising as the Internet and its use have pervaded so much of our lives. Like all other inventions, the Internet brings with it advantages and disadvantages. (It is up to you whether you want to list the adv and disadv in the intro. If you do, list them in the order that you write to show ORGANIZATION.  ) Perhaps the most obvious advantage of the Internet is the convenience it gives. For just about anything that we need to do in life, the Internet offers an alternative way of doing it. In fact, often with the Internet, we can perform activities faster and cheaper. For example, previously, when we needed to perform research for school projects, the traditional method was that we marched to the library, ploughed through reference books that weigh a tonne. We then made photocopies of the relevant materials before compiling all the information using a typewriter or by hand. Today, Google is a researchers best friend, and with a few keystrokes of the keyboard and clicks of the mouse, voila — we have found the information! Discussions among project members can even be done via forum groups online or simply over messaging programs such as Whatsapp. The convenience of the Internet is boundless! (You may want to write more on other convenience e. g. online entertainment. Notice how the L in PEEL is rephrased. ) Another benefit of having access to and using the Internet is that we gain a better understanding of the world. Many scholars proclaim that the world is now a global village; perhaps they are right — the world is vast but today everyone and everything feels so close and intimate. And why not? We have unimpeded access to any and every piece of information that we desire to know. We can just as easily learn the laws of Singapore as we can find out how to purchase illicit drugs! This in fact is true of any topic that we choose to discover. Even when the information is a foreign language, there are online tools for translation! Do we have any excuse for not having a deeper knowledge of everything? Without doubt, the Internet is not beyond reproach. Crime is a persistent streak of mankind and the Internet is not spared from it either. In fact, weekly, for every Internet success story we read, we read an equivalent internet crime. Scams are a dime a dozen. Who can forget the litany of Nigerian emails claiming to sell potent drugs or cheap mobile phones? Perhaps rarer but more criminal is identity theft. As much as we enjoy the joys of the Internet, we need to tread carefully in the land of minefields. Another downside of using the internet is that we may gradually lose the human touch. In years past, we socialised by spending time at shopping malls with friends, lazing on the couch while watching television programmes with our family. Today, we socialise by updating our status on Facebook, while many families do not gather in front of the television set as each one of us watch our preferred shows via a laptop or a mobile phone. Even when we are on an outing, often, we are transfixed on the phone! So even if physically we are side by side, mentally we are estranged. There is no doubt that the Internet has brought with it a myriad of benefits. (you may want to re-list the adv and disadv if you don’t have enough words. ) Yet, it is inevitable that the cons co-exist with the pros. Hopefully, most of us — especially teenagers — have the sensibility to reap the benefits of using the Internet while mitigating their disadvantages by making responsible and sounds decisions. (don’t end with new info or new adv or disadv; here we end with a simple, short piece of advice. The reason for adding in â€Å"teenagers† is to link to the introduction. )

Demonstrating Speech Description Essay Example

Demonstrating Speech Description Essay Example Demonstrating Speech Description Essay Demonstrating Speech Description Essay HOW-TO SPEECH ASSIGNMENT This demonstration speech gives students the opportunity to develop and present a how to speech. Students should present a 4 -5 minute speech demonstrating how to do something. Students can choose to demonstrate how to cook something or pick one of the topics covered in their kitchen classes such as the examples below: * How to sharpen a knife * Mise en place * How to Concasse a tomato * Different Cuts a Knife can make * How to make different stocks * How to make different sauces How to make fresh pasta * How to wash your hands * How to set a table * How to prep food: cooling and reheating * How to fold do a napkin fold * Fruit Carvings This speech should be 4 – 5 minutes in length. You will show us step by step how to complete the task you are demonstrating for us. You may not have time to do the whole project in the minutes given. So you show us how to begin each step, and then, if applicable, have a pre-completed example of how that step will look w hen the project is complete. Just like Martha Stewart] If you are demonstrating how to make something edible, you may bring enough of the finished product to share with the class. When you present to the class you need to submit your TYPED outline to the professor based on the informative speech outline guide. * Typed Delivery Outline. Outline on Portal as DEMONSTRATION Outline Template. There is a sample guideline on portal also. * Note-cards * Presentation Aids: Props (Remember these are worth 10 points) * Food Samples for Class (voluntary) DEMONSTRATION SPEECH OUTLINE NAME: Neysha Figueroa I. Introduction A. Attention-Getter B. Thesis Statement: Today I will be showing you how to make a famous Puerto Rican sandwich spread also known La Mezcla. C. Preview Statement: I will be telling you the ingredients needed, how to mix them together and how to cut the sandwich. TRANSITION: I’m going to start by telling you the ingredients that you need to make La Mezcla. II. Main Point #1- La mezcla is made with different types of ingredients depending on who is making. I’m going to tell you the way my husband taught me. A. Spam B. Cheese wiz C. Red Peppers in a can TRANSITION: Now I’m going to tell you how to mix it all together. III. Main Point #2- Some mix it by hand, the lazy ones use a blender. A. It all depends on what ingredients you use whether you use a blender or not. B. Take the spam out of the can and cut into small pieces. Throw in blender. C. Add cheese. Mix together. D. Add the red peppers. (Optional add a little bit of the pepper juice. ) E. Blend until mixed together well and spam is not in chunks. TRANSITION: All done, now to spread and cut. IV. Main Point #3- There’s a special way to cut the bread. A. First off make sure you put enough spread on the bread. B. Then you cut the edges off. (Optional) C. Then you cut into triangle shapes. TRANSITION: Now eat. V. Conclusion- It doesn’t take much to make mezcla. It’s easy, fast and a convenient snack for parties. A. Summary- La mezcla is made differently by all people. Some don’t use spam, they use potted meat instead, and some add mayo to it. This is a famous sandwich snack that Puerto Ricans have for their parties. b. Concluding Memorable Remarks: â€Å"It’s not a Spanish party if you don’t have La mezcla. †

The Effect Pollution Has On the Planet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Effect Pollution Has On the Planet - Essay Example In addition, many of these waters ultimately find their way to ocean waters which has cause large areas of the seas to be barren of life. Air pollution causes respiratory problems and, more importantly, is causing the Earth’s climate to change, the consequences of which are far-ranging and potentially catastrophic. Lawmakers have focused their efforts to address the pollution of America’s waterways by passing legislation intended to reduce the amount of contaminants discharged from factories but the American fresh water systems remain polluted. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, roughly 40 percent of the country’s lakes, rivers and streams still are unsafe for fishing or swimming because they are overburdened with silt and chemicals from thousands of small sources, a circumstance known as â€Å"non-point† pollution. This phrase refers to polluting the waterways other than by dumping chemicals directly into the water such as improperly discarded motor oil, pesticides, lawn chemicals, fertilizers or animal waste from commercial farms. Fertilizers and pesticides from agricultural sources, point of contact, cause more of the pollutants affecting the fragile water systems than commercial pollutants. These systems run across the â€Å"Breadbasket† areas of A merica then are deposited in ocean waters of the East Coast and oxygen-depleted Gulf of Mexico. Large areas of these seas have been designated as ‘dead zones.’ Vast areas of East Coast waters and the Gulf of Mexico can no longer support life such as crabs and shrimp. These dead zones are constantly expanding. â€Å"The dead zone fluctuates in size each year, extending a record 8,500 square miles during the summer of 2002 and stretching over 7,700 square miles during the summer of 2010.† (â€Å"Facts,† 2010) Ammonia, a lethal gaseous form of nitrogen released during waste removal, can travel hundreds of miles through the air before falling back to Earth either on the ground or in the water, where it produces algal blooms which kills fish. â€Å"Fertilizers and animal waste from factory livestock farms have helped trigger an unprecedented number of algal blooms, destructive growth spurts that clog waterways and suffocate fish.† (Warrick, 2001). Most i nfamous were outbreaks of deadly algae, including Pfiesteria piscicida, an organism blamed for the deaths of a billion fish along the coast of North Carolina. The quantity of fresh water for drinking continues to be significantly reduced because of chemical pollutants. This regretful circumstance is especially difficult for drought-stricken areas. This critical situation is reversible but must involve educating small and large-scale farmers to more environment friendly means of growing crops and requiring its implementation. A water restoration program initiated by the federal Clean Water Act of 1972 determines the maximum quantity of a pollutant that a body of water can have and still meet federal quality standards by using a calculation named The Total Maximum Daily Load. This is the primary legal remedy for government intervention concerning non-point water pollution. Federal regulations require state administrative bodies to take into consideration all sources of pollution acros s the watershed (drainage basin) of a river. â€Å"Watershed is the term used to describe the geographic area of land that drains water to a shared destination† (â€Å"Report,† 2011). Water, in the form of melting snow or rain, drains toward the lowest point in a

Business in Focus & Research Skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business in Focus & Research Skills - Essay Example Globalisation of businesses on the one hand, and the extensive spread of the Internet on the other, facilitated the phenomenon of global manpower outsourcing. The growth of usage of computers in all walks of life created enormous demand for English speaking and trained manpower for working as programmers. The economic rationale for using foreign nationals in low-end application programmes was the significantly lower wage costs and sheer manpower resource availability. This trend has rapidly spread to many other areas such as call centre operations, legal, accounting and auditing, engineering, manufacturing processes etc. generally termed as business process outsourcing (BPO), and gave rise to two types of employment of foreign nationals - onshore or off-shore services and in each case there have been corresponding loss of job opportunities for locals. In the onshore format, the foreign national is In the US, which is the major promoter of outsourcing as a model for competitive global business operations, there is a growing public resentment on the jobs lost to foreign nationals. The volume of jobs lost can be gauged by the fact that in each of the cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore in India, there are hundreds of companies employing thousands of men and women, providing back office services on 24x7 basis, to the US and European companies (BPO India, 2009). In the past most of these jobs in areas such as customer services, credit card operations, medical transcription, data entry, telemarketing etc. were being performed locally in the US itself by US nationals. The high hourly wage costs and the opening up of the world markets for services led to the outsourcing trends. In addition, the major Indian IT firms place thousands of their employees at the clients' premises for operations such as programming, installation, maintenance and training. Further, major US firms like Microsoft, IBM, Dell, Accenture, and Deloitte have established subsidiary companies in India i.e., they have effectively shipped jobs abroad. While economising on manpower costs is one reason for outsourcing, avoiding payment of taxes in the US is another aspect. Some business houses establish overseas operations in tax haven countries because the corporate income tax in the US is relatively higher, thus encouraging firms to establish operations abroad where either there is no tax or the tax rates are much lesser. Under the double taxation agreements, which the US has with a host of countries, if US firms pay taxes abroad on the income generated fromBusiness in focus 3 their foreign operations, then there is no need to pay taxes again on such income in the US, meaning consolidation of global income for tax purposes is not required. There is a growing criticism of such tax breaks for firms, which ship jobs abroad. The current economic down turn has only accentuated the demands for discouraging firms from outsourcing. During the 2004 presidential elections, Mr. John Kerry

Theorem of Pythagoras in Mathematics Math Problem

Theorem of Pythagoras in Mathematics - Math Problem Example When I talk about the diagonal of the square, or the nine-point circle, or the Euler line, I am not talking about the often rather sketchy and highly imperfect drawing on the blackboard, but about something which underlies all particular exemplifications of squares and diagonals, nine-point circles, or Euler lines, and is independent of each of them" 2. The very fact that we use the definite article, and talk of the square, the nine-point circle, etc., bears witness to this; and by the same token, it would be absurd to ask where the square was, or to ask when the nine-point center came to be on the Euler line, or to suggest that Pythagoras' theorem might hold for you but not for me. So Plato's answer to the question "What is mathematics about" is that it is about something timeless, spaceless and objective 3. Among the five postulates which Euclid wanted us to grant the fifth one is "If a straight line falling on two straight lines makes the interior angles on the same side less than two right angles, the two straight lines, if produced indefinitely, meet on that side on which are the angles less than two right angles. ... aight lines makes the interior angles on the same side less than two right angles, the two straight lines, if produced indefinitely, meet on that side on which are the angles less than two right angles. "These were generally taken to express self-evident truths. This is somewhat surprising, in that the first three are not really propositions at all, but instructions expressed in the infinitive, and the last too complex to be self-evident no finite man can see it to be true, because no finite man can see indefinitely far to make sure that the two lines actually do meet in every case. Many other formulations of the fifth postulate have been offered, both in the ancient and in the modern world, in the hope of their being more self-evidently true"4 . Among them the most notable was "In a right-angled triangle, the square on the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares on the other two sides" 5. Fig 1.1 6 The alternative formulations of the fifth postulate of the theorem are less cumbersome and may be more acceptable than Euclid's own version, but none of them are so self-evident that they cannot be questioned. The importance of Pythagoras proposed theorem can be seen from the fact that Pythagoras' theorem is far from being obviously true, something that should be granted without more ado, it does not need any further justifications. "In fact, none of the other alternative formulations was felt to be completely obvious, and they all seemed in need of some kind of further justification. The philosophers Wallis and Saccheri in search of a better justification, devoted years to trying to prove the fifth postulate by a reductio ad absurdum, assuming it to be false and trying to derive a contradiction. The attempt failed, but in the course of it he unwittingly discovered

Origins Of Economic Order Quantity Formula Engineering Essay

Origins Of Economic Order Quantity Formula Engineering Essay The Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) is the amount of units that a business should put in to the inventory to reduce the total costs of inventory. For instance, ordering costs, holding costs and shortage costs. The model was developed by F. W. Harris in 1913, but R. H. Wilson, a consultant who applied it extensively, is given credit for his early in-depth analysis of it. The outline used to determine EOQ is known as the Wilson Formula or the Wilson EOQ Model. The EOQ is used to monitor the level of inventory at all times; it can be called as an inventory review system. In addition, a fixed quantity of units is ordered each time the level of inventory gets to a specific reorder point. The EOQ is a model of evaluating the suitable reorder point and the most favorable reorder quantity to ensure the immediate refilling of stock without any shortages. This model is important for small company owners who need to know how much stock to keep, how many units to order when ordering parts, the amo unt of units to order each time, and frequently to reorder to get the lowest costs. Moreover, ordering a big amount of units a time will increase the holding costs of a small business, while making more often orders of smaller amount of units will decrease the holding costs and increase the order costs. The EOQ model will find the amount to be ordered to minimize these costs and ordering the most cost effective quantity. The EOQ model takes the demand as constant, and the stock is decreased at a fixed rate to reach zero. When the level gets to zero, a particular amount of units and bring the stock level to its initial level. Other reviews have been discussed in early EOQ papers but much of the history of this model has been left untouched. For example, Raymond 1931, Whitin 1954 and Mennell 1961. All the citations given to Harriss paper was incorrect, it seems that nobody has been able to find the paper. The inaccurate citation given by Raymond 1931 shows the misplacement of the original model. The first proper citation of Harriss model was by Whitin 1954 who references Harris via a citation given in Raymonds work. A search of the Social Sciences Citation Index from 1966 through 1987 yielded 15 references to Harriss paper, and every citation resembled that given by Raymond. The variables used in the EOQ formula analysis The costs of inventory Reorder cost (RC) Unit cost (UC) Holding cost (HC) Shortage cost (SC) Demand (D) Order quantity (Q) Cycle time (T) The three steps taken in the derivation of EOQ formula: First evaluate the total cost of a stock cycle Then divide the value by the cycle length which will result in cost per unit time. Minimizing the cost per unit time Derivation of EOQ formula Amount of stock entering the cycle = amount of stock leaving the cycle à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Q = D ÃÆ'- T Total cost per cycle = unit cost + reorder cost + holding cost (component) Total cost per cycle = UC + RC + HC (component) Now calculate each element of the total cost separately Unit cost component = Unit cost (UC) ÃÆ'- Number of parts ordered (Q) Unit cost component = UC ÃÆ'- Q Reorder cost component = Reorder cost (RC) ÃÆ'- Number of orders made (1) Reorder cost component = RC Holding cost component = Holding cost (HC) ÃÆ'- Average inventory () ÃÆ'- Time taken (T) Holding cost component = Now add these components together to get the total cost per cycle: Total cost per cycle = UC + RC + HC (component) Total cost per cycle = + RC + Finding the total cost per cycle is the first step of the derivation. Now divide the total cost by the cycle time (T) to get the total cost per unit time (TC). Total cost per unit time (TC) = + + But Q = D ÃÆ'- T à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ D = or T = Substituting this in the total cost per unit time (TC) Total cost per unit time (TC) = UC ÃÆ'- D + + The third step is to minimize the total cost per unit time. The derivative of the total cost per unit time (TC) with respect to Q and make the result equal to zero. = + = 0 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ = à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ = à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ EOQ = Limitations to EOQ Formula Assumes that ordering and carrying costs are accurately known. It takes the Storage space as unlimited. Ignores the delivery quantities and discounts given. Assumes that the seller controls the delivery scheduling. The results are always carrying a number of stocks. Cost structures have changed. For instance, the ordering costs have been decreased by e-commerce. Part b The literature on using economic order quantity (EOQ) and just-in-time (JIT) purchasing have chosen JIT in the last few years, in particular when companies are purchasing to meet high and constant levels of demand, where the JIT method have the advantage of reducing the inventory space (Per square meter) of the firm. On the other hand, even if JIT method can reduce the inventory space of the company, EOQ can be more cost effective. Mainly, JIT is used when the ratio of holding costs to ordering costs becomes so high that it becomes valuable to order as needed. This happens if the holding costs of inventory are high (Computer industry) that the ratio becomes high which leads to the use of JIT. In addition, when the ordering costs is cheap which results in high ratio and the use of JIT is more efficient. In both cases the EOQ makes companies use JIT since the quantity that is most cost-effective is so little that money savings can be achieved by ordering small batches using JIT method. The implementation of JIT method have improved many firms that still use EOQ purchasing system to consider switching to JIT purchasing method. Just-in-time method JIT (also known as stockless production or lean production) means producing only what is needed, when is needed and in the amount is needed. JIT companies store only enough stock to manufacture the goods they want to produce in the near future. Units are ordered on a continuous basis, which are transferred straight into the assembly line. The benefits of JIT method is to reduce inventory levels, reduced leadtime, improve quality and reduced waste and rework. The main objective of this method is to eliminate waste and continuous improvement of productivity. Waste outcome as a result from any activity which adds cost without increasing value. JIT purchasing of parts is completely different than traditional purchasing of parts. Traditional purchasing is by spreading purchases around and trying to maintain a high level of inventory in case of any rise in demand or quality of supplier decreased unexpectedly. However, JIT purchasing enables the supplier to deliver high quality products dep ending on demand and in a timely fashion. Quality is hardest standard for suppliers to meet, where the JIT purchaser should deal with companies that give statistical analysis to confirm the high quality of products. On the other hand, for the supplier to produce on-time deliveries, it is easier for the supplier to be in the same geographic region as the customer. In this way the supplier can easily react to any unexpected change in demand and it costs less to make frequent deliveries if required. JIT operates on 3 things: Continuous flow Takt time Pull system Takt time is the time to produce a single component or entire product, based on sales. In other words it sets the speed of production to meet the speed of sales. The kanban or pull system is a method to manage the just-in-time production process. The just-in-time method is achieved using kanban system. It is an information system to control the production amount in each process. The following processes go to preceding processes and take what is needed. However, preceding processes must restock what is taken away. Figure 2 (Kanban system) There are 2 main types of kanban system (shown in figure 2): Production kanban: Signals to produce more components. Withdrawal kanban (move kanban): Signals to take components from one work center and send them to the next work center. Advantages of JIT method The quality of products is improved. Quality is the responsibility of all the staff not only the quality control workers. Cycle times are reduced. Scrap and rework are reduced. Set up times are decreased. Cost savings. Less inventory level of raw materials and finished goods which decrease cost of holding them. More skilled workers who are able to switch tasks. Productivity is increased. Higher workers involvement Less space requirements Smoother production flow Better relationships with suppliers. Benefits of using the kanban system: Better managed inventory levels: Having too much inventory levels can cause cash flow problems by increasing the expenses on insurance, storage and security. The kanban system eliminates all these costs by lowering the level of inventory. Smoother manufacturing flow: The kanban system focuses on the current condition of the system. The production levels are determined to take into account scrap, downtime and the change of equipment overtime to make sure that the production schedule is achieved. Overproduction elimination: kanban is less expected to cause overproduction this because the need to make buffer inventory to address unexpected delays. Decreasing the risk of Inventory obsolescence: Products have a shelf life where it can expire if it is not delivered on time. Responsiveness to demand: One of the main advantages of kanban system is that it improves responsiveness in relationship to change in demand. Empowerment: Another advantage of kanban system that it places the control in the hands of workers that can view the production process. Empowerment is an efficient managerial tool which reinforces training and education among employees. Quality control and self discipline: The last advantage to kanban system is its purpose to create an environment with quality management. Kanban system uses small lot sizes which allow quality control issues to be pointed at the source. All in all, the concept of JIT is not only everything must be done fast, but the most significant thing is that the company have an organized resource allocation. It is true that the implementation on JIT is expensive process, but the company can solve its problems and difficulties to achieve high levels of workflow. EOQ system is better for larger companies where the inventory ordering cost cant be split. However, smaller and medium size companies it is better to use JIT system. In other words, JIT system is more advantageous than EOQ for companies whose annual demand levels are low. EOQ can be one of the tools used to achieve JIT method. EOQ is used to find out which elements fit into JIT model and which level of JIT is economically beneficial for the company. Question 2 Introduction It is quite exceptional for an accident to be related to one single cause. Almost every disaster is the consequence of a chain of events and accident reports usually make a distinction between the main cause and a number of contributing factors. The main root cause is human factors. In order to prevent this source of accidents, the workers are requested to regularly train. Next comes the aircraft failures, but this cause is less likely to happen with modern aircrafts. Human factors included 12 as the most critical factors leading to accidents: Lack of communication Complacency Lack of knowledge Lack of assertiveness Lack of team work Distractions Fatigue Lack of resources Pressure Stress Lack of awareness Norms The circumstances of the accident discussed are caused by plenty of the human factors mentioned above. Brief of the accident The March 27, 1977, a disaster happened at Tenerife were two 747s were destroyed leaving the highest number of airliner passenger fatalities. The accident killed 583 people when a KLM Boeing 747 was trying to take-off which collided with another 747 for the Pan Am airlines at the Los Rodeos airport. This accident remains the deadliest disaster in aviation history with 583 fatalities. The KLM Flight 4805 was fully-fuelled and had 248 aboard who were all killed in this accident. On the other hand, the Pan Am Flight 1736 had 335 deaths and 61 survivors, which was hit along its backbone by the KLMs landing gear, 4 engines and the under belly of the aircraft. Because of the heavy fog and the division of the damaged aircraft after collision, the rescue crew didnt know over 20 minutes that the Pan Am aircraft was involved in the collision. Later investigations show that there were many factors lead to this disaster: Pilot error Air Traffic Control error Communications difficulty Fog, and airfield obstruction where diversion of air traffic to Los Rodeos airport because of a bombing and a threat for another bomb in another airport which lead to shut the airport. All of the mentioned reasons or can be called as the key factors contributed to this catastrophe. Disaster Events and Related Human Factors For both planes, Tenerife was an unscheduled stop, and the whole events started with a terrorist bomb planted at Las Palmas airport. Bombing at Las Palmas (Caused distraction and pressure) All the occasions of both planes was routine until they reached the islands, where the civil aviation authorities shut the airport because of a bomb explosion and diverted all the flights to Los Rodeos airport, as well as the 2 Boeing 747 aircraft which took part in this accident. When the Pan Am Flight contacted the Gran Canaria airport, it was notified of the temporary closure. Even though the Pam Am aircrafts crew said that they would like to move around the airport in a holding pattern until the airport give them the landing clearance, the aircraft was ordered to switch to Los Rodeos airport, the same as the KLM aircraft. The bomb explosion at the airport caused distraction and pressure and this is concluded because the air traffic controllers were forcing the Pan AM crew to divert to Los Rodeos airport without realizing that there will be two large B747 together with some other aircrafts at a small airport having small and close taxi ways and this lead to the second event. Congestion at Los Rodeos (lack of resources) It was known that Los Rodeos airport is small to accommodate large aircrafts and even though the air traffic controllers were forcing all the aircrafts to divert there. At least five large aircrafts changed direction to Los Rodeos airport. The airport had one runway and one taxiway which are parallel to each other; also it has few taxiways which connect the runway with the main taxiway. During the period of waiting for the Gran Canaria airport to open, the aircrafts occupied so much space which were parked on the main taxiway, which means that the taxiway cant be used for taxiing anymore. Instead, all the departing aircrafts would taxi on the runway and position themselves for takeoff, which is known as runway backtrack. Refuelling (Lack of Knowledge from the KLM Captain) The Pan Am Captain had decided to fully refuel at Los Rodeos instead of Las Palmas, apparently to save time, but by doing so he added extra weight, greatly retarding liftoff (and accident escape) ability, which proved fatal. After the bomb threat at Gran Canaria Airport had been controlled, civil aviation authorities reopened the airport. The Pan Am aircraft was all set for take-off, but it was obstructed by the KLM aircraft and a refuelling vehicle and couldnt reach the runway. Due to lack of clearance, the Pan Am couldnt maneuver around the KLM aircraft to each the runway and take-off. Taxiing and weather conditions In this event there were more than one factor involved. Started with complacency from the KLM crew concluded from the following events. Subsequent to the towers instructions, the KLM aircraft was cleared to backtaxi and prepare the aircraft for take-off position; which was a hard maneuver to complete with a small runway. During the backtaxiing of the KLM aircraft, the ATC controller asked the aircrafts crew to report when it was all set to copy the ATC clearance. Since the crew was completing the checklist, copying of the ATC clearance delayed until the aircraft was already in take-off position. During taxiing, the weather conditions got worse where low clouds and fog limited the visual range. Lack of communication The lack of communication occurred between the Pan Am crew and the ATC to start taxiing and this showed when the Pan Am aircraft was instructed to also backtaxi, to follow the KLM aircraft down the same runway, and then leave the runway by taking the third exit on the left of the aircraft and then using the main taxiway parallel to the runway. Firstly, the Pan Am aircraft crew was unclear as to whether the controller had told them to leave from the first or third exit. For this reason, the crew requested for clarification where the controller replied by saying: The third one, sir; one, two, three; third, third one. The aircraft started to taxi and carried on to recognize the unmarked taxiways using an airport diagram as they reached them. Based on the use of the cockpit voice recorder and the space between the taxiways and the position of the aircraft at the moment of collision, the crew successfully identified taxiways number 1 and 2, but according to the discussion in the cockpit they had not seen the third taxiway, which they had been told to take, and this is obvious that there were again a lack of resources inside the airport because it appears that there were no markings or signs to identify the runway exits. And this is followed by another factor which is lack of awareness from the Pan Am crew who were taxiing at a very slow speed because they were appeared to remain unsure of their position on the runway until the collision. Based on an official report from the Spanish authorities appears that there was a lack of knowledge from the ATC who could not explain why the controller had instructed the Pan Am aircraft to use the third taxiway, rather than the sensible and easier fourth taxiway. Communication misunderstandings (lack of communication) The event briefed below shows a lack of communication between the KLM crew and the ATC and this was almost the turn point of the accident. Straight away after lining up, the KLM captain advanced the throttles which is known as spin-up, this is done to confirm that the engines are functioning correctly for takeoff. The co-pilot was shocked by the maneuver, rapidly advised the captain that ATC clearance was not given it. Captain responded, I know that. Go ahead, ask.After that the co-pilot then contacted the tower that the aircraft is ready for takeoff and waiting for our ATC clearance. Due to this, the KLM crew then got instructions which stated the route that the aircraft was to take after takeoff. The instructions given used the word takeoff, but did not contain a clear statement saying that the aircraft is clear to take off. The co-pilot read the flight clearance back to the controller, finishing the readback with a statement saying were now at takeoff, showing the controller that the aircraft was beginning the takeoff roll. The captain disrupted the co-pilots readback with the comment Were going. As seen here, the co-pilot chose not to embarrass his superior (the pilot) a second time by saying that the aircraft did not have the proper clearance to take off, which created a new factor which is a lack of assertiveness, since the co-pilot failed to express his opinion and failed to take a forceful stand on the issue. The Collision After spotting the landing gear lights of the KLM aircraft, the Pan Am crew applied full power and took a sharp turn to the left towards the exit to avoid the collision. The KLM captain also attempted to avoid collision by climbing away which scrapped the tail along the runway for 20 meters. As the KLM aircraft left the ground, its steep angle of attack allowed the nose gear not to hit the Pan Am aircraft. But the lower fuselage and the main landing gear of KLMs aircraft hit the upper side of the Pan Ams fuselage which ripped it apart directly above the wing. In addition, the right engines of KLMs aircraft hit the Pan AMS passenger cabin behind the cockpit. Due to the thick fog, the firefighters were unaware of the 2 aircrafts involved in this accident focusing on the KLM wreck. Conclusion The culture of the organization can be described as the things we do things here. It is a group or company norm. Ultimately, safety culture is an amalgamation of the attitude, beliefs and actions of all the individuals working for the organization and each person should take responsibility for their own contribution towards this culture, ensuring that it is a positive contribution rather than a negative one. Avoiding such an accident in the future can be done by avoiding human factors and this will require a lot of cautious and following of procedures under the flag of safety first. Suggestions to avoid accidents or any type of incidents can be given based on the human factors mentioned before: Discuss work before and after completion. Use effective communication. Never work from memory, use procedures no matter how often you performed the task. Understand what are you doing and use updated references. Express your opinion and disagree with opposite. Take a forceful stand on an issue without being abusive. Dont compromise your standards and when in doubt ask questions. Function smoothly and have a good relation with your team. Do not work under fatigue and have another colleague to check your work. Use the right references, equipments and tools. Know your limits and be assertive. Learn when to say NO. Exercise and sleep regularly.

Agricultural Subsidies: Their Original Purpose and Impact Today Essay

Agricultural Subsidies: Their Original Purpose and Impact Today Contents Introduction: What are Farm Subsidies? 3 Government Intervention in Agribusiness 7 The Reality 9 Works Cited 12 â€Æ' Introduction: What are Farm Subsidies? The Agriculture sector has changed monumentally over the past century in response to vast economic change and technological advancements. Farm subsidies are various forms of payments from the federal government put in place in an effort to stabilize prices, keep farmers in business, and ensure quality of crops. The federal government currently pays $20 billion in cash each year to US farmers and spent an estimated $250 billion between 1995-2005. Presently, a new farm bill is passed every five years with the most recent being in 2013 . Although there are small changes with each preceding Farm Bill the permanent pieces of legislation requiring US Department of Agriculture to control pricing and regulate supplies date back to the 19th century. The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) finances subsidies and buys surplus food to regulate and steady farm income. There are presently eights various subsidies: Direct Payments, Countercyclical Payments, Export Subsidies, Conservation Subsidies, Marketing Loans, Agricultural Research and Assistance, Disaster Aid, and Insurance. 1) Direct Payments: 5 billion annually The federal government pays cash subsidies to landowners who produce: wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, oats, cotton, rice, soybean, minor oil seeds and peanuts. This combination of crops are considered to be the top ten crucial commodities. A direct payment is equal to the product of the payment rate for the specific crop, the historical payment acres, and the historical payment yield fo... ...z2yiN9IUsy>. Nathaniel, Jeroime. "Farm Bill 2013: An Inside Look At the Most Important Bill You've Never Heard Of." PolicyMic. Oct. 2013. 13 Apr. 2014 . Peterson, E. Wesley F. A billion dollars a day: The economics and politics of agricultural subsidies. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. "U.S. Department of Agriculture." U.S. Department of Agriculture. 11 Apr. 2014 . "U.S. Farmers During the Great Depression." Farm Collector. 13 Apr. 2014 . White, Deborah. "What Are U.S. Farm Subsidies?" About.com US Liberal Politics. 11 Apr. 2014 . Agricultural Subsidies: Their Original Purpose and Impact Today Essay Agricultural Subsidies: Their Original Purpose and Impact Today Contents Introduction: What are Farm Subsidies? 3 Government Intervention in Agribusiness 7 The Reality 9 Works Cited 12 â€Æ' Introduction: What are Farm Subsidies? The Agriculture sector has changed monumentally over the past century in response to vast economic change and technological advancements. Farm subsidies are various forms of payments from the federal government put in place in an effort to stabilize prices, keep farmers in business, and ensure quality of crops. The federal government currently pays $20 billion in cash each year to US farmers and spent an estimated $250 billion between 1995-2005. Presently, a new farm bill is passed every five years with the most recent being in 2013 . Although there are small changes with each preceding Farm Bill the permanent pieces of legislation requiring US Department of Agriculture to control pricing and regulate supplies date back to the 19th century. The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) finances subsidies and buys surplus food to regulate and steady farm income. There are presently eights various subsidies: Direct Payments, Countercyclical Payments, Export Subsidies, Conservation Subsidies, Marketing Loans, Agricultural Research and Assistance, Disaster Aid, and Insurance. 1) Direct Payments: 5 billion annually The federal government pays cash subsidies to landowners who produce: wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, oats, cotton, rice, soybean, minor oil seeds and peanuts. This combination of crops are considered to be the top ten crucial commodities. A direct payment is equal to the product of the payment rate for the specific crop, the historical payment acres, and the historical payment yield fo... ...z2yiN9IUsy>. Nathaniel, Jeroime. "Farm Bill 2013: An Inside Look At the Most Important Bill You've Never Heard Of." PolicyMic. Oct. 2013. 13 Apr. 2014 . Peterson, E. Wesley F. A billion dollars a day: The economics and politics of agricultural subsidies. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. "U.S. Department of Agriculture." U.S. Department of Agriculture. 11 Apr. 2014 . "U.S. Farmers During the Great Depression." Farm Collector. 13 Apr. 2014 . White, Deborah. "What Are U.S. Farm Subsidies?" About.com US Liberal Politics. 11 Apr. 2014 .