All the College Ranking Lists You Should Read

All the College Ranking Lists You Should Read SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips People love ranking lists. It seems that the majority of articles posted on social media and television shows on basic cable are ranking something, from the prettiest celebrities to the best songs of the 1980's. The fascination with college ranking lists has been around for over 30 years since the U.S. News World Report debuted its list in 1983. There are quite a few college ranking lists out there, but which ones are the best ones? Which ones should you look at? Honestly, all overall college ranking lists are flawed, and you should spend more time researching and visiting colleges than obsessing over college rankings to determine which college you should attend. However, in this article I will detail the pros and cons of different college ranking lists and of college ranking lists in general. You can obtain some worthwhile information from these lists, so you shouldn't completely dismiss them. The Benefits of Using College Ranking Lists From looking at college ranking lists, you can discover colleges you may not have been familiar with that could be a good fit for you. By looking at these lists, you may find a school that matches what you're looking for in a college. College ranking lists provide extensive data in one place for you to compare schools. In one list, you can see statistics for different colleges like average class size, high school GPA, SAT/ACT scores, and cost. Also, these lists give you a rough idea of the reputations of different colleges. While these lists are subjective, they do tend to reflect how colleges are regarded in the academic and professional worlds. There is probably little difference between a #1 and a #5 school in terms of reputation, but the #1 school in a list is going to have a better reputation than #100. Finally, these lists can give you an idea of what you need to do to make yourself competitive for admission to a specific college. These ranking lists often give you the average GPA, standardized test scores, and the percentage of students who graduate in the top 10% and 25% in their high school classes. From these numbers, you can determine what you should accomplish to make yourself a qualified applicant. Your numbers should compare favorably to those of the average student at a particular collegeif you want to give yourself a realistic shot at gaining admission. Why You Should Avoid Basing Your College Decisions on the Rankings Some of the criteria these lists use to compile their rankings are highly subjective and are based on survey responses. "Quality of life" and "academics" can be major factors for rankings and both are often based on opinions from surveys. The primary problem with these survey results is that they don't seem to be representative; they suffer from voluntary response bias and nonresponse bias. For example, Princeton Review ranks colleges in 62 categories. Often, a college alerts the student body that the Princeton Review surveys are available online and then students choose to complete the surveys. Those students who volunteer to take the surveys are likely to not be representative of the student population as a whole. Typically, those who would volunteer have stronger opinions than those of the average student. Similarly, U.S. News World Report determines the academic quality of an institution based on survey responses from top academics and administrators from other colleges and from high school counselors. Are those who choose to respond to the surveys necessarily representative of all college representatives and high school counselors? Some top academics and knowledgeable high school counselors who are sent surveys choose not to submit responses. Additionally, some colleges, like Reed College, may have their rankings affected because they choose not to submit information because they do not want to participate in college ranking lists. Students can get too focused on the rankings instead of figuring out which school is the best fit for them. There's probably not much difference in the quality of education at a #5 school vs. a #10 school. The #10 school may be a much better fit for a student who could excel academically at both. Furthermore, colleges are motivated and influenced by the rankings. Colleges understand that these rankings are popular and influential. They'll spend money on things the lists consider important or aggressively recruit students who have little chance of gaining admission just to raise their selectivity rating to increase their rank. Finally, and perhaps most disturbingly, schools cheat to improve their rankings. Colleges have lied (and probably do lie) when reporting their numbers to college ranking lists to get a better rank. Colleges have cheated to improve their rank. How Should Reputation Factor Into Your College Decision? As much as some of us like to discount the importance of reputation, it can play a significant role. Colleges that are ranked more highly often have more motivated and academically gifted students, and colleges that do well in the rankings tend to have influential alumni and professional connections that can have a positive impact on your future. Similarly, graduates from well-ranked schools are often favored when they apply to professional or graduate schools. Keep in mind that your work ethic and aptitude will have a far greater influence on your future success than the college you attend. You can be highly successful regardless of the college you go to; however, going to a highly ranked school will offer you undeniable advantages. Now, let's take a look at some of the better and more well-known lists. U.S. News World Report The U.S. News college rankings are viewed as the gold standard of college ranking lists. Its list is the most well-known and referenced. Here is a basic overview of how U.S. News determines its rankings: A total weight of 30% is given to factors related to student retention and graduation rates. It gives a 22.5% weight to a school's academic reputation based on survey responses from peer institutions and high school counselors. The remaining 47.5% is devoted to objective statistics about the school including measures of selectivity, faculty information, financial resources, and alumni giving. Pros U.S. News separates colleges into four categories for its rankings: National Universities, National Liberal Arts Colleges, Regional Universities, and Regional Colleges. The categories allow for more direct comparisons and prevent ranking a large public college with 40,000 undergraduate students against a small liberal arts college with less than 1,000. Because U.S. News surveys top academics and college administrators to determine academic reputation, the rankings do provide a general idea of how well regarded a school is in academia. U.S. News rankings heavily emphasize student retention rates and graduation rates. Both are important factors to consider when choosing a college. They provide some clues about the quality of the support services and the student satisfaction level at different colleges Finally, because the U.S. News rankings are the most prestigious of all the ranking lists, they are the most influential and help shape public opinion. The top-ranked schools in U.S. News are generally considered to be the best schools by employers, academics, and admissions committees. Graduation rate is an important factor in the rankings. Cons Not all colleges are ranked in the U.S. News rankings. For the latest rankings, 148 colleges are listed as "unranked" within the four categories of schools. Schools are unranked because they lack regional accreditation, fewer than 200 students are enrolled, they don't use the SAT or ACT in admissions decisions, or they didn't get enough responses on the U.S. News peer assessment survey. Therefore, if you're interested in a very small school or a college that doesn't use standardized tests in admissions decisions, this rankings list won't be very helpful for you. Also, in the U.S. News rankings, there is little emphasis on quality of life. The most important criteria for the U.S. News rankings are the surveys regarding academic quality and the rates for student retention and graduation. This rankings list is less helpful than others in indicating how much students enjoy their experience at a particular college. While I previously mentioned some of the problems with relying on survey responses in U.S. News to determine academic reputation, there is an additional major problem. Many of those who respond to the surveys may not even be qualified to assess the academics at different colleges. The typical respondent grades about half of the colleges in his or her category. There are 262 National Universities. Are respondents knowledgeable enough to evaluate the academic programs of over 100 colleges, or are they simply relying on reputations generated from earlier rankings? Prominent writer Malcolm Gladwell addresses this point in a New Yorker article: (W)henU.S. Newsasks a university president to perform the impossible task of assessing the relative merits of dozens of institutions he knows nothing about, he relies on the only source of detailed information at his disposal that assesses the relative merits of dozens of institutions he knows nothing about:U.S. News...The U.S. News ratings are a self-fulfilling prophecy. Furthermore, the criteria used in U.S. News rankings seem to favor private colleges almost by default while disadvantaging public schools. Private schools often score higher in selectivity because public schools are more focused on being accessible to qualified in-state applicants. Similarly, because private colleges tend to have significantly lower student populations, they can offer smaller classes and their student-faculty ratio is lower. However, public colleges can offer advantages that are not measured nor reflected in the rankings. Public colleges can have larger and more diverse student bodies, more academic programs and majors, and more extracurricular activities. Finally, U.S. News rankings don't directly consider the salaries of graduates nor the likelihood of getting the job you want after graduating. Many people go to college specifically to prepare for a certain career or to get a well-paying job after they graduate. U.S. News rankings may not be as beneficial in helping you to decide which college is most likely to help you reach your professional goals. U.S. News doesn't consider the salaries of graduates. Forbes The Forbes college rankings list is newer and less prestigious than the U.S. News list, but the Forbes list is still very popular and Forbes is considered to be a reputable publication. Forbes emphasizes student outcomes from colleges to determine its rankings. Rankings are heavily dependent on post-graduation success, freshman retention rates, and graduation rates. Here is a general breakdown of the factors that determine the Forbes rankings: A weight of 25% is given to Student Satisfaction, which is determined from student evaluations from RateMyProfessors.com (7.5%), freshman retention rates (12.5%), predicted freshman retention rates compared to actual rates (2.5%), and a school satisfaction survey conducted by Forbes via Facebook (2.5%). A full 32.5% of the rankings is based on post-graduate success, which is determined from alumni salary statistics gathered from Payscale.com (10%) and rewarding the alma maters of those who are on the Center for College Affordability and Productivity's America's Leaders List (22.5%). America's Leaders List is composed of people who are at the top of their fields, including Nobel and Pulitzer winners, Guggenheim and MacArthur fellows, those elected to the National Academy of Sciences, and winners of an Academy Award, Emmy, Tony, or Grammy. A weight of 25% is given to student debt, which is determined by average federal student loan debt (10%), student loan default rates (12.5%), and predicted vs. actual federal student loan debt (2.5%). Graduation rate counts for 7.5% of the rankings. Graduation rate is divided into the four-year graduation rate (5%) and the predicted vs. actual four-year graduation rate (2.5%). Finally, academic success makes up the final 10% of the rankings. Academic success is based on students who receive prestigious academic awards like the Rhodes Scholarship (7.5%) and alumni who get PhDs (2.5%). Pros "Student Satisfaction" is an important component of the rankings.The Forbes listmay be more beneficial than the U.S. News list in determining the quality of life at different colleges. Because you'll probably be spending at least four years at the college you attend, you want to not only choose a school that will educate you well and prepare you for your future, but also you want to be happy during those years. You want to enjoy your living environment, your peers, and the time you spend outside of class. By emphasizing post-graduate success, the Forbes list may give you a better indication of the impact of a specific college on your attaining your future professional goals. Finally, the emphasis on student debt in the Forbes rankings separates it from most of the other college ranking lists. By measuring the average federal student loan debt and the student loan default rate, the Forbes list may give you an idea of the affordability of a school, the generosity of a school's financial aid, and whether students are capable of paying back their loans after they graduate. Cons Unlike U.S. News, Forbes does not separate colleges into categories. There is no distinction between the different types of colleges in the Forbes rankings. It's extremely difficult to effectively compare schools that vary tremendously in size, degree options, and research capabilities. Because some of these colleges are so different from one another, it's impossible to determine which school is "better" for everyone. For example, how can you rank Penn State University, which has over 40,000 undergraduates and more than 160 majors against Wesleyan College, which has fewer than 700 undergraduate students and only 31 majors? Additionally, the Forbes list can favor schools that have wealthy student bodies. A college's student debt grade may not reflect the generosity of the school's financial aid or whether students get high-paying jobs after they graduate. Students from affluent families are less likely to have to take out loans and are more likely to be able to pay back loans. Therefore, schools that have more wealthy students are likely to do well in the "student debt" component of the rankings. There is still only a small emphasis paid to the actual student experience. The student satisfaction survey given to students is only a very small component of the rankings. Additionally, information from Rank My Professors is hardly a reliable source to determine how happy students are with their classes at a particular school. Teacher evaluations from Rank My Professors are not representative because they suffer from nonresponse bias. Most students don't use that website. Furthermore,Forbes rankings provide little information about what life is like on campus. Finally, Forbes has a very narrow definition of success. "Student Success" is based on the salary of alumni and whether students obtain prestigious positions and awards. Schools with pre-professional programs in potentially high-paying fields like accounting and business may get a bump in the rankings. That doesn't mean much to you if you're not interested in pursuing accounting or business. Similarly, colleges who have more alumni who go into less lucrative fields like teaching or non-profit work may score poorly in "Student Success." However, that is no indication that a college isn't good or that its alumni aren't successful. Niche Niche is a website that has been around since 2002. It provides rankings and reviews for neighborhoods, cities, and schools. The Niche college rankings are less well-known than those of U.S. News and Forbes. However, the Niche college rankings list does provide some information and advantages that the other ranking lists don't have. Niche rankings are based on the overall experience at traditional 4-year colleges and universities. How does Niche determine the "overall experience" at a school? The academics grade counts for 35% of a school's ranking. The academics grade is based on objective statistics like acceptance rate, SAT/ACT scores, research expenditures, 6-year graduation rate, professor salary index, admissions yield, freshman retention rate, freshman National Merit Scholars, and faculty awards. Additionally, Niche incorporates survey responses from students regarding the quality of academics at their college and statistics and survey responses about diversity on campus to determine the academics grade. Then, 12% of the rankings are based on student survey responses about the overall experience at the college they currently or recently attended. Additional factors that influence the rankings are statistics and student survey responses based on campus quality (8%), loan default rate (6%), athletics (5%), average net price (5%), diversity (5%), local area (5%), endowment per full-time student (4%), "guys and girls" (4%), health and safety (4%), party scene (4%), and private gifts/grants per full-time student (3%). Niche grades colleges' party scenes. Pros Niche relies on many more factors to determine its rankings. The rankings are based on more than 50 statistics and survey responses on 20 topics from almost 300,000 current students and alumni. Niche tries to incorporate every factor that could possibly influence the college experience, from the acceptance rate to the attractiveness of guys and girls on campus. It seems to be a more well-rounded ranking list instead of just using factors that it deems important. Also, the Niche rankings place a much higher emphasis on factors that are related to quality of life. Student survey responses about the quality of the overall experience at the college count for 12% of the rankings. Additionally, Niche gives scores for "campus quality," "athletics," and "party scene." Besides overall college rankings, Niche also provides college rankings in 54 different categories. Some of those ranking lists include "best campus food," "best academics," "best party schools," and "safest campus." You can focus on the ranking lists in categories that are important to you instead of just looking at the overall rankings that may utilize criteria that don't matter to you. Another positive of the Niche rankings is that they incorporate average net price. Net price is the average cost of a school after financial aid for students receiving grants or scholarship aid. Unlike metrics such as average amount of federal loans and loan default rate, net price doesn't favor schools with more wealthy students. Finally, Niche is one of the few ranking lists that factors in diversity in its rankings. Diversity doesn't just refer to the ethnic and racial breakdown of the student body. Niche uses "diversity" to mean that a school "fosters a community that accepts and promotes a diversity of viewpoints, backgrounds, religious beliefs, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic statuses." Also, a diverse school has a significant percentage of international students and students that represent every geographic region of the United States, and the faculty is diverse in terms of gender and ethnicity. Cons Niche is not as well-known asU.S. News or Forbes. Because its rankings are not as prestigious or referenced, they have much less of an impact on the reputations of different colleges. Additionally, because Niche uses many more factors in its rankings, it's likely to use criteria that don't matter to you in a college. You may not be very concerned about a school's party scene, the athletics, or how the girls rank. Those are all factors in the Niche rankings. Final Thoughts Use college ranking lists to determine the reputations of different colleges. The ranking lists do tend to reflect and shape public opinion. While the exact ranking of a school will vary from list to list, the colleges that are consistently ranked highly do offer advantages while you're in college and after you graduate. Browse college ranking lists to discover new colleges that may be a good fit for you. You may not be familiar with Amherst College, Bowdoin College, or Pomona College, but Forbes ranks all three of them within their top 20 colleges. There are literally thousands of colleges, and ranking lists can introduce you to excellent schools that may match what you're looking for in a college. Instead of just looking at overall college ranking lists, pay attention to lists that focus on criteria that matter to you. You can look at lists from Niche that rank schools based on "best technology" or "best food" if you care about those things. Overall college rankings vary from list to list because there are so many factors that go into the college experience, and there is no exact science to determine if one school is better than another. U.S. News ranks the University of Chicago as the #3 National University while Forbes ranks it as the #18 college. Don't get too caught up in the specific ranking of a school. Each list focuses on the criteria that it deems important. When you're looking at a college rankings list, you should also be familiar with how the rankings are determined. Finally, college rankings should only be one small tool you use to help determine your college decision. More important than a college's ranking is figuring out whether or not the school is a good fit for you. Does it have the extracurricular activities you want to pursue? Does the school excel in the academic areas that most interest you? Are there appropriate support services that will allow you to be successful? How's the social climate? Make sure you know how to choose a college. What's Next? Instead of solely relying on ranking lists, use the best college search websites to help you find the right college for you. Also, learn more about the differences between public and private colleges. If you need to improve your grades to help get into the college of your choice, check out this post on how to raise your GPA in high school. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Critically discuss why the teachings of the Quality Gurus are Essay

Critically discuss why the teachings of the Quality Gurus are important - Essay Example Quality gurus have played a considerable role in setting the dimensions of success for all companies and organizations. It is due to the teachings of quality gurus that the companies pay special attention towards improving and maintaining quality of the products and services. The mutual belief of all quality gurus was that quality management is a continuous process, which helps the companies build and maintain profitable relationships with the customers. Some of most famous quality gurus include Armand Feigenbaum, Edwards Deming, Philip Crosby, Kaoru Ishikawa, Genichi Taguchi, and Masaaki Imai. All of these gurus brought different concepts of quality which not only helped the companies achieve competitive advantage in the past but also provide appropriate directions towards success to the companies belonging to the present world. We can take example of Masaaki Imai who came up with the concept of Kaizen in 1986, which led Japan’s way to huge success in the field of technologic al development. Kaizen is an umbrella, which includes all Japanese practices related to quality management. Imai focused on continuous improvement in all departments of a company. One of the main teachings of all quality gurus was quality control, which means to ensure quality in all stages of a product development.

Perceptions of Different Cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Perceptions of Different Cultures - Essay Example Globalization and civilization have made each community more aware of itself, its image, its reputation and its attitude towards its culture and the risk of trust or distrust in other people’s cultures. Some communicative behavior is comprehensive, others specific to a given society just as much as words that only have a much significant in a specific language. Different cultures have distinctive ways of assigning intention to common behaviors within informal verbal exchange such as the use of gaze and head –gestures (Saunders 118). Like in the Kazakhs culture they believe that the most powerful healer received the power from a tattoo that was not colored but it was a sign that she is one of the community healers while others believe tattoos are meant for beauty and body decorations. In the Kazakhs feast, Molina stares at Huston in a long unsmiling gaze to say that she was welcomed while she expected a jovial facial expression to show that she is accepted and welcomed i n the feast (Zaleski 101). The perceptions of the two cultures on the facial expressions vary in the sense that they have different concepts of the informal verbal communication. There are distinct opinions of the gender roles and cultures differ in setting the accepted roles of both females and males. More civilized cultures believe in gender equality and have the attitude that both male and female have the same capability of doing any given task. There is a clear picture of how the Kazakhs culture views the idea of gender equality... There are distinct opinions of the gender roles and cultures differ in setting the accepted roles of both females and males. More civilized cultures believe in gender equality and have the attitude that both male and female have the same capability of doing any given task. there is a clear picture of how the Kazakhs culture views the idea of gender equality and they still believe there are certain roles that should only be done by men thus they don’t approve that there can be equal states for both male and female . When the car breaks down on their way, Alina is unconcerned of what happened and says that Ivan will just think and fix the problem while on the other hand Huston has a different opinion and thinks that she can be of good help in trying to fix the problem (Zaleski 92). These acts as an important example that shows the disparity of ideas where the Kazakhs culture does not advocate nor promote gender equality and they still believe that there are separate roles for ea ch gender. It is clear that there is a vast number of spirits as it is in different cultures that believe in good and bad spirits as well as those who believe in only one supreme god. There are communities where people believe in darkness powers that bring harm and bad things to them. The cultures mostly rely on witch crafts and magicians who give them protection through charms, spiritual prayers and instructions that should be followed to stop the evil spirits that come to destroy or bring problems to them. On the other hand there are those who believe in only one god and justify that it is only the creator who can protect you. Huston and Alina seem to differ in this because Alina wants her to buy a charm that will protect his son so that

Organizational Cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organizational Cultures - Essay Example To begin with, organizational culture is the personality or a face of an organization. Organizational culture consists of the assumptions, stereotypes, believes, values, norms, and artifacts of the members of taken organization (McNamara). The corporate culture of organization can be easily seen simply by the way people relate to each other, the way they communicate, whether they possess esprit de corps, etc. Briefly, it can be said that the basic functions of organizational culture are to give the staff a sense of identity, to promote commitment, and to enhance stability in the corporation. There are different types of organizational cultures just like there are different types of personal cultures. Herein I would like to present the following four types of cultures. Academy Culture is a culture in which employees are highly trained and tend to stay in the organization, while working their way up the hierarchical pyramid. Examples of such organizations are universities, hospitals, and large corporations. Baseball Team Culture is the culture where each employee is in high demand and can easily get employment elsewhere. Good examples of organizations with such cultures are fast-paced, risky companies, such as investment banking, advertising, PR agencies, etc (Curry). Club Culture is a culture which is comprised of employees who are trained to work in closely-knit groups. Examples of organizations possessing this type of culture are the military, as well as law and notary firms. Fortress Culture, is the most unstable culture from the mentioned above, because in its framew ork employees do not know whether they should expect to be laid off or not (Curry). Examples of organizations possessing fortress culture are savings and loans companies and car manufacturing companies (McNamara). Organizational culture can also be described in regard to three levels that were first introduced by Edgar Schein, a professor who has left a notable mark in the field of organizational culture. The fist and most visible level is behaviors and artifacts. This evident level consists of behavior patterns and external expression of culture. Artifacts and behavior usually tell us what the group of people is doing, though when observing behaviors it is impossible to understand the reasons behind the particular actions (National Defense University). At the next level of culture are values. Values bring about and determine behavior, they give us explanations that are behind the actions of staff, however, they are not directly observable, as behaviors are. The last and deepest level of culture is the level of assumptions and beliefs. Once understanding

Mass Media In A Liberal Democratic Society

Mass Media In A Liberal Democratic Society What is the proper role of the mass media in a liberal democratic society? In the contemporary world, the use of mass media has been on the increase and thus this has not exempted its use in the political arena. In connection to this point, there is a vital role that is played by mass media especially in the liberal democratic society. As such, a liberal democratic society is the one in which elections are fair and free while encouraging competition in the political process. This kind of democracy is a representative of the American, Brazilian and Canada among other such like democracies. In particular, a liberal democratic society seeks to bring developments in the political arena, social and economic sectors. In this sense, the government is used as a tool of making developments where they are needed. On the other hand, democracy brings about vesting of authority on the citizens. In this context, the proper role of mass media in such a society may be not understood. Therefore, the undertaking of this work will cover the proper role played by mass media in a liberal democratic society. Following this point, democracy involves a set of measures followed in the making choice of the state elite. It actually requires meaningful electoral choice that which can be made possible by the mass media which is important in any large democratic polity. In this sense, there have been ongoing arguments regarding the autonomy granted to the mass media as far as politics are concerned. Arguably, the success of any liberal democratic society is direct connected to the free flow of both ideas and arguments. This is necessitated by the mass media which should in fact maintain a deliberative exchange of such ideas and arguments. From a general point of view, mass media plays a pivotal role in a liberal democratic society which is termed as a role of being a guardian of the democracy along with the defending of the interest of the public  [1]  . In actual sense, mass media plays the role of correcting the arms of the government which involve the executive, judiciary and in the large r perspective the legislative. In other words, the mass media plays a major role as the major player in the theatre of elections  [2]  . It was also noted that democracy requires inhibited public debates along with free speeches and along with this point, citizens should be equipped with the ability to make informed decisions of which this is accomplished by the use of mass media  [3]  . In addition, a liberal democratic society should actually provide sufficient information along with transparency in the matters of political decisions. As well, it should provide competition in terms of ideas and arguments which encourage participation from the members of the society and thus meet the demands of a democratic society. According to research, mass media has a great role to play in the context of a liberal democratic society. As such, it has been pointed that there are three major roles that media plays in the given society  [4]  . The most important one has been pointed out as the media acting in the capacity of a regulator against the state. In the same line of thought, the media is given to the role and responsibility of ensuring that accurate as well as sufficient information is provided to the society from the larger point of view. Accordingly, the mass media has another major role to play which cannot be underrated. As a matter of fact, it should work hard to ensure that it represents people in the sense of sufficiently reflecting the range of public opinions together with the aspect of political competition  [5]  . It is important at this point to note that media has a major communication role to play in the context of a liberal democratic society. So to speak, communication entails the facilitation of the public dialogues, representation of the public, making the public to live being informed, and acting as a regulator or rather a watchdog of the structures of power which affect the wellbeing of the public. As well, media is used as a tool of social unity and thus it is important to bring into view the major types of media systems in use to accomplish roles assigned within a democratic society. In line with this point, media covers the instruments of communication employed in order to accomplish the roles of communication in a democratic society. As such, these instruments of communication involve books, internet, films, newspapers and TVs among others as such. In essence, democracy advocates for freedom of speech to be granted to the members of the society. In this sense, media works to represent the members within the given society of which due to the limited space, they use some members of the society to speak for the citizens and as well representatives of particular groups and communities together with other such like organization representatives. Therefore, through the use of media, the ideas and arguments along with the information of the given people in the society is brought into public view for the necessary actions to be taken. Basically, the media is expected play the role of a watchdog for the public. This is to suggest that it should take the responsibility to protect the very citizens or rather the society it is mandated to serve. So to articulate, the public is always out to see that the media is regulating the power structures of the society by exploring their functioning and then notify the public when there has arisen some issues in the structures  [6]  . This is also accompanied by the media pointing out to the interests of the people and where they want to act. Another point to note is that a liberal democratic society as it has been highlighted requires a good flow of information. This is to suggest that the public requires to get information and to stay informed. In such as society, citizens are inclined towards making collective decisions for the societal benefit altogether. In the light of this point, democratic societies grow when there is flow of the shared information among the society members and thus it is imperative for the media to inform the society regarding the contemporary issues that need attention and the public stance in regard to them. As far as social unity is concerned, the media acts as a tool that works to bring together the members of the society by making use of a common culture which is only achieved when the media gives the society an experience of culture that is shared. According to research findings together with arguments from various scholars, media as a key player in the flow of information in the society has failed in most of its roles. This is what has brought about the misconception of the proper role of the mass media in a liberal democratic society. However, pointing out to what should be done so that the media can play its proper role, will help to alleviate the burden of the media abuse in a democratic context. As such, the mass media should not accept the manipulation by the political leaders who use it for selfish interest  [7]  . In the light of this point, the media should seek to ensure a universal access in that members should be given room to the right of entry to the mass media to contribute as well as gain from the public. The role of the mass media in the democratic society will be realized again when the mass media works independent from the structures of power present in the society. In all the undertakings of the media, influential leaders should be presented separately from the titles so that there may be no bias. Owing to the manipulation of the mass media by influential leaders, mostly the media may ignore the interests along with the concerns of the public and as such, this should not be done but rather the media should respond to the public interests and concerns altogether. From a more practical point of view, the media is expected to provide truthful and honest information if the development of the democracy is to be achieved. It has been argued that media is central to a democratic society as it leads to information accessibility at all social levels and geographical locations of a society  [8]  . Equally, mass media works as a critic essential to the government along with the investigations of wrong doing. In essence, mass media has its proper role as that of acting as an advocate for good along with bad causes. It is the responsibility of the mass media again to state the different constituencies of the democracy. So to speak, it works towards the creation of common experiences to the society while offering shared public symbols. Needless to say, it is through media that the public gets to interact with the leaders and as such solicit information from them. Accordingly, mass media plays the role of constantly reminding the society the essence of their national identity  [9]  . Following this point, the instruments of media have experienced developments which are closely linked to the technological development. This is to suggest that it is not only though books, newspapers and TVs among others that the mass media operates, but rather internet has come into the scene. Thus, it is possible for the political leaders to use the internet to influence the citizens and as well interact with them  [10]  . Of importance to note in this case is the abuse of mass media by the leaders in order to serve their self driven interest. Therefore, regulation of the mass media should be carried out so that no cases of abuse can be reported. Arguably, contemporary democracy has been pointed out as not to be working. This is given to the reason that the media has engaged in politics with the citizens engaging in the internet citizenship and thus the point of contact and development has been lost  [11]  . Besides this point, mass media has developed to a point whereby it has thus constrained leadership and leaders in the democratic society and thus on the other hand mass media has worked to drag back the democratic societyà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s growth  [12]  . More to this point, arbitrated political communication in the public specialty can smooth the progress of deliberative legalizing of the processes in multifarious societies only if an autonomous media system gains self-government from its social situation and if unidentified audiences grant a criticism between a knowledgeable leader conversation and a reactive civil society  [13]  . Although there have been many challenges limiting the media from achieving its objective, it is essential to note that mediaà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s role in the liberal democratic society is paramount. As such, it serves the role of being the watchdog by regulating and criticizing the operations of the government. It provides a platform whereby the leaders of the society interact with the citizens and thus serve their needs. Debates concerning the political and social matters are carried out in the media and thus it serves the interests of the public. It further corrects the wrongs of the government and thus it keeps the government on check so as to ensure freedom and fairness in the society altogether.

The Incas :: Pre-Columbian History Culture

The Incas The Inca were South American Indian people who ruled one of the largest and richest empires in the America's. The Inca Empire began to expand about 1438 and occupied a vast region that centered on the capital, Cusco, in southern Peru. The Empire extended more than 2,500 miles (4,020 kilometers) along the western coast of South America. It included parts of Present - Day Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The Inca Empire was conquered by Spanish Forces soon after their arrival in 1532. Inca emperors ruled their far - reaching territory through a complex political system. The Inca took over many areas by military force. Their political system kept a balance between the central authority of the emperor and local rulers. The name Inca was originally the title of the emperor. The peoples he governed had many names. But after the Spanish conquest, all people under the emperor's rule were called the Inca. Inca is a group name which covers a large numbers of tribes. The original Incas were Quechua speakers who lived in South - Eastern Peruvian highlands. Tribes later conquered by the Incas tended to assimulate Inca culture, to the exclusion of their own. In the 15century, led by Pachacuti Inca Yupaqui and his son Topa Inca, the Inca Empire exploded over the Andes. Both leaders claimed to be descendents of the sun, the most important symbol in Inca religious life. When Topa Inca died in 1493 Pachacuti's Andean domain ran nearly 2,500 miles from North Ecuador into Chile and covered some 350,000 square miles. The Incas are famous for their intricate gold work and elaborate weaving. For subsistence they relied on terraced and irrigated cultivation, and very little on hunting and fishing. In the mountain areas the main crop was quinoa, and in lower areas maize, beans, peanuts, and squash. They kept llamas, alpacas, dogs, guinea pigs, and dogs. Men worked copper and gold and women made fabrics and pots. Inca towns had massive public buildings. Most of their technological achievements were grand - scale copies of ideas from earlier civilizations. The skilful farmers who preceded the Inca, harnessing the melting snows of the Andes, dug irrigation ditches across the desert; they also deflected rivers for the same purpose. Nothing which the Minoans, Egyptians, and Sumerians did, agriculturally, equalled this achievement. They also demesticated animals. From the Native American camal the guanaco, they bred the llama and the alpaca for their wool, and guinea - pigs for food.

Effects of TV viewing on children Essay

Children are to be considered as the hope of the tomorrow. They are the one who make our world beautiful and meaningful because of their innocence and simplicity. But are these facts still true nowadays? Or it will be just a â€Å"dream† for us now? Children’s characters, personalities and their totality as individual first develop and mold inside the home where parents are oblige and responsible to teach their children the good values and morals. But the irony for this issue is that, parents tend to forget their responsibilities as parents in supervising their kids, due to their hectic schedules and demands of their work, especially in watching television where children are expose to different kinds of indecent advertisements and commercials. Parents should allot time in spending quality moments and be on the side of their children in order for them to explain the advertisements and commercials which have an adult content. This paper argues the negative effects of television viewing on children. Television is a very powerful tool to the learning of the children and it can educate them in many ways whether it is profitable or destructive to their morals and values. It contributes much most especially when parents let their children watch indecent television shows anytime of the day without their supervision. There are also shows on TV that create fear to the hearts of these children because they are able to internalize what they have seen. In a researched entitled â€Å"Television† and conducted by the University of Michigan Health System stated that â€Å"in a usual American household, there are about 7 hours spend by children in watching television everyday and there are about tens of thousands of commercials observed by the kids on TV which the public relations mark. And not only that, every year the range of 1,000 to 2,000 children watched TV ads for alcohol and the fears attributed by the television can create sleep problems. A survey showed that there was about 37 percent of the kids stated that they were terrified by a TV story and the symptoms for this included anxious feelings, withdrawing from friends, nightmares†¦(see â€Å"Television† University of Michigan Health System). There are also commercials that speak about sex. It is called sex in advertising. The use of sexual attraction as a tool of persuasion by drawing attention, interest to a particular product for the purpose of promotion and increase in sales had been a part of marketing and advertising industry for quite some time. The method generally uses attractive models, usually in a suggestive or provocative scene. The past two decades have witnessed an increasing use of explicit sexual appeal in consumer-oriented print advertising and particularly of women as the object of sexual desire that it has reached to the point of being common. The use of sex in advertising on television can range from being highly overt to extremely subtle; from explicit displays of sexual acts or nudity, down to the use of basic cosmetic products to enhance attractiveness. The more subtle forms of this spectrum have seeped into other types of media. One such example is the criteria in the selection of DJs and announcers, which is based on the â€Å"sexiness† of their voice. The use of sexual imagery in advertising has received a barrage of criticisms on various grounds. Moral and religious groups oppose it for being obscene. Feminist groups raise the issue of women’s rights, that it reduces women as mere ‘objects’. Others believe that it only reinforces sexism. Sex in marketing through the years has become raunchier and raunchier, with each advertisement trying to outdo the last. Since it has become a powerful force in the marketing industry, we see the market being saturated with signs of glamorous blond women and muscle-rippling playboys. However, recent studies indicate that such a tool is no longer the sure-way answer to every marketing officer’s prayer. Although most companies utilize sex as their largest promoter of their product(s), negative results may never be far behind. Sexual ads do not always appeal to all consumers and accept sex as an acceptable marketing tool. A study done by Susan Cummings for the American Demographics Magazine, quoted that â€Å"75 percent of women and 53 percent of men aged 35 to 54 said that sex in advertising can be offensive† (Cited in â€Å"Sex Sells†¦No, Really! †). Other concerns being raised is how the youth react to this and how they perceive sex in advertising. There are many different opinions on how sexual appeal in advertising is defined. A slight difference had been found between young men and women. Sexual appeal for young women did not depend on how people looked in the advertisement. Focus is more on movement. It does not even have to include nudity, and models need not be exceptionally good looking for the ad to be even considered sexual. Young men also believe that the movement and the appearance of the models are of great importance. Both genders perceive an ad as sexual through words and images, even without images of nudity among the characters. Therefore, this study came to the following conclusions: that advertisement do not have to contain nudity to be perceived by young men and women as sexual in character; even movement and appearance of the models in the advertisement can make it sexual in nature; young men differ from their women counterparts in the sense that they believe that exceptional good looks among models require an ad campaign to be so. They also believe that there is too much sex in advertising, even observing that there are companies who make use of sexual appeal even if their product is discordant with the sexual image. These young men also see advertisements as discriminating to both men and women. This research also came to the same conclusion that buying behavior does not change, since nudity in advertisement has become so common. Young female respondents also believe that there is too much sex in advertising and these failed to elicit responses. Reaction of tension came only if the image is tasteless. However, for young women, attitude and buying behavior might change if an advertisement based on sexual appeal is too sexual. A favorable response comes only if the sexual appeal is done tastefully and the appeal has any connection towards the brand. Their self-image and confidence is affected when it showed attractive models. Corporations are then urged to make considerations in aiming advertising towards youth in using sexual appeals in their advertisement campaigns. This means that children are prone to adapt thwarted values and morals which will affect sooner to their development as individuals and contribute in the later part of their lives. Being TV addicts is more treacherous and hazardous than taking a drug because it disseminates violence, spoils people’s intellects, and ruins not only the individual but as well as our nation and culture. In conclusion, it cannot deny that children are great imitators and that is one of their natures. They really follow and imitate what they have seen and observed from other people especially when they realize that these people involve manifests excitement in doing such acts. Present television’s advertisements, commercials, shows and movies already content indecent acts such as violence, sensual actions or sex, drinking and taking drugs which have great impact to the minds of the younger generations. These kinds of entertainments will create curiosity and puzzlements to their young minds that will push them to try it by themselves. The advertisers really put an effort to convey their audiences-whether young or old-whom the actions perform on TV, those actions are worth emulating for and because of this, children are motivated to imitate it. The University of Michigan Health System further discussed that â€Å"TV shows usually speak about the use of alcohol. The existence of alcohol on TV resorts the gamut from prime-time programs†¦In addition, the researched informed us that those who are TV addicts are more similarly to smoke cigarettes and marijuana. However, parents are not open in discussing issues such as birth control, sexually transmitted disease and sex and even schools are lacking to give information about sex education programs and due to such reasons, children are able to acquire sex information through watching TV. In a survey disclosed the fact that there were about 76 percent of teenagers attested that one intuition why young people indulge in sex because TV movies and programs make such thing as common and ordinary for their age group (see â€Å"Television† University of Michigan Health System).