Perceptual Map Marketing Essay

The purpose of this document is to illustrate the information contained within the Perceptual Map Marketing simulation and relate to it’s information as practical and important. Contained in the simulation were three phases, each of significant importance. We will include in this document the situation, the recommended solutions and the results. We will discuss the multiple marketing aspects that were revealed within the simulation and we will attempt to create satisfactory responses to the various questions which arise out of the relationships between differentiation and positioning of products or services and what the impact of the product life cycle on marketing is. It is the hope that after reading this document there will be a clear concept of what the results of this simulation were and how they are applicable to the paper’s mission. All good things have a story and Cruiser Thorr was no exception. We learned about the meaning behind the bike. The simulation showed how to create and use a perceptual map using the bike as a primary example. When using the Perceptual Map it then became clearly more evident which direction the marketing goals should take to carry on it’s back the heart and soul of the Morotcycle brand. In selling thousands of motorcycles a year the Thorr Motocycle company has created a client base capable of supporting their imense variety of choice that is given to the consumer. Everything from the type of engine to how many people can ride the bike. They sell accessories such as protective gear, clothing and even little models for children. The services they offer to their customers are that you would expect from a first rate bike shop. Our task is to set up a positioning strategy, a perceptual map and create the parameters that will become vital to the product as it will be the customers only information before making a major purchase. For decades now the industry of motorized bikes have been on the ries. Even with this evident truth backed by consumer research the top selling item that Thorr Motorcycles is creating seems to be dwindeling. The logical conclusion that we are coming to to is that their target customers are in the decades of their 30s till almost 60s and through the proccess of life seem to have lost interests in what Thorr stands for. No longer are these men rebels or out to â€Å"be wild† as Steppenwolf would say. Any consumers who are younger are simply not capable of affording the high price tag associated with a Thorr bike which ranges in the high 20 to low 30 thousand dollar range. Younger riders are more apt to buy less expensive, quicker riding bikes that are the exact opposite of the image that Thorr stands for. We are going to solidify Cruiser thorr’s postion in the market by creating it’s Perceptual map. There are four basic parameters that are relevant to the entire scheme of biking industry which reflect the highest chances for Cruiser Thorr’s survival. These are the four parameters: lifestyle image, product design and styling, service offerings, and price. The selection of lifestyle image is almost a no brainer as it is the backbone of the Cruiser Thorr’s previous success. The entire bike’s thriving record is built upon a reputation that having their bike is a status symbol. The same reason that people buy Starbucks instead of simply brewing their own coffee at home. Unlike other industries, transportation specfically speaks to the identity of the person who has the item. They will spend much of their time utilizing their vehicle. In no vehicle type is this more relevant than in bikes where people will see the bike and there will be no windows, walls, or doors hiding the rider from the world. Everyone will see who the rder is and that is why Product Design nd Styling are so vital to it’s success. The bike and the rider are one. Man and machine moving along the pavement together. The service offerings are probably the most second important aspect to a vehicle other than the price. Maintanence and such can get very expensive very quickly. Assuring that you are taking care of you customers and looking out for their well being is primary in the grand scheme of all things. At the end of the thought of course is always the most important aspect. Cost and price. The price is affected by many, many things. Among these things is engineering, construction, materials, labor, transport of the bike itself. The whole purpose for this bike’s creation is ot make money. To make money you must have a clear marketing plan. Due to this obvious fact we have restructured Cruiser Thorr and decided to not create a new bike. It is imperative to keep the Cruiser Thorr in production if Thorr is going to keep making motorcycles. It is the bike that has built their empire. It would be as if Levi’s stopped selling 501 Jeans. We instead create a financing option that gives the consumers with less money an opportunity to own a Cruiser Thorr. With increased service options will be able to make rational sense of the high price that we will be able to keep at the same price. For advertising it would probably be a good idea to put some endorsements in race tracks, hook up with a popular drink brand like MONSTER and maybe make a â€Å"Monster Bike† that can ride around. We can also take a page out of the GM book and put our bikes into movies and on television for product placement. The current straegy is based on price, product, location, current pomotions and services offered. With the goal of repositioning the product in an attempt to remove the competions hold on the market because we will move the parameters into concurrent thought forms and proccesses making us and our strategies the same as the competition. We know that there are four key factors that are represented by stages in a products life cycle that are important for the marketing officer to know and understand. The four stages: introduction, growth, maturity and decline. Once a product reaches the stage of it’s full maturity it is time to revisit it with the hope of making improvements. If this is not done the product will very quickly enter the declining stages of it’s life cycle. This is the reason that Cruiser Thorr started to drop it’s sales figure. Their product had reached it’s maturity. Their current customers were old and any knew ones had no idea what Cruiser Thorr, the brand, stood for. For this reason we had to reinven and improve their bikes. It was necessary to compete. It is the hope that we have together reached and addressed the various key points necessary to form a graps of the information that was provided. We have described the three major phases in the simulation. The situation and the recommended solutions have been addressed along with what our results were. We have talked about the different marketing aspects and answered the different question sthat were arisen between the relationships of differentiation and positioning for each of the products and services and it’s impact. It was the desire of I to create a solid understanding of the purpose and use of Perceptual Maps in Marketing. References All information was taken from the Perceptual Map Marketing Simulation provided on the University of Phoenix website.

Farhenheit 45

Literary Analysis Could you ever imagine living in a world where books were not allowed, houses were fireproof, and firemen started fires instead of putting them out? Ray Bradbury created this dystopian society of backwards thinking in his novel Fahrenheit 451. When he wrote the book, during the Cold War, the United States was beginning to censor many things and his fear of what it would turn into inspired him to write this novel. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury overly exaggerates a future society from where the United States in the 1950’s was heading through loss of humanity from television and the theme of censorship by; yet, the symbol of rebirth detracts from the overall effect of exaggeration. In Fahrenheit 451 Mildred, Guy Montag’s wife, is a mindless human being. She has a television show that she calls her â€Å"family† and she insists on watching it every time it is on. For example when she is arguing with Montag about reading she says, â€Å"Books aren’t people. You read and I look all around but there isn’t anybody!†¦ Now my family is people. They tell me things: I laugh, they laugh! And the colors!†¦ Why should I read? What for! † (73;ch. 2). This quote illustrates the fact that all she does is sit around and believes to be interacting with people, when in fact she is just talking to a television show. When she wants another television installed she tells Montag â€Å"Its only two thousand dollars and I think you should consider me sometimes. If we had a fourth wall, why it’d just be like this room wasn’t ours at all, but all kinds of exotic people’s rooms† (20;ch. 1). This line spoken by Mildred shows the reality of her mindless television show consuming her life and that she no longer thinks like a human being. Society’s goal in essentially hypnotizing its citizens was successful. Any person with sense such as Montag would know that it is outrageous to buy another screen when they cannot afford it. Mildred is a perfect example of a mindless person who allows the government to control her and thinks books are harmful. People like her make this society achieve its goals in censorship by burning books. In several cases the narrator is just as mindless as Mildred. For example, the book burning process is supported when the book states, â€Å"You were simply cleaning up. Janitorial work essentially,† and â€Å"they pumped rooms full of [kerosene]† it is supporting the book burning process (37-38;ch. 1). These statements are guilty of sustaining book burning. Also when Captain Beatty, the chief of the fire department, says, â€Å"I want you to do this all by your lonesome, Montag. Not with kerosene and a match, but piecework, with a flame thrower. Your house your clean up,† it illustrates how he is asking a horrible task be done (116;ch. ). Burning books, the only source of unchanging knowledge, is a horrific task to take on. Burning books is like taking away freedom and because they are no longer physically available humans have to memorize them. When Montag gets caught for having books he runs away. He does such a good job that even the mechanical hound can’t find him. When the search for him is seeing no hope they kill a random man alone on the street. At this point Granger, one of the traveling book men, says to Montag, â€Å"Welcome back from the dead† (150;ch. 3). This quote resembles the rebirth and final transformation of Montag from a regular in society. It detracts from the exaggeration because it symbolizes the life of memorizing books, which is the total opposite of eradicating them. Another time when rebirth is mentioned is when Granger tells Montag about the phoenix, â€Å"There was a silly damn bird called a phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burnt himself up†¦ but every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again† (163;ch. 3). This example takes away from Bradbury’s effect because it symbolizes new life, which the government does not want; they want it to stay the way it is. Ray Bradbury creates a dystopian society in the novel by expressing loss of humanity, censorship, and rebirth through many examples in the book. Throughout Fahrenheit 451 everyone is trapped under the government’s supervision except for the ones who are smart enough to escape through the knowledge of books, such as Montag. During the entire novel Mildred is an example of an individual consumed by the government’s rules and loss of humanity from TV.

Ethical Problems and Managerial Decision Making Research Paper

Ethical Problems and Managerial Decision Making - Research Paper Example Sometimes, making the right decision conflicts with the organization's goals. Conversely, resolving in favor of the organization may conflict with one's personal values. In recent years, both the Academy of Human Resource Development and the Academy of Management dedicated entire volumes of their journals to ethics and integrity (Veiga, 2004). The journals contain case studies about the ethical dilemmas professionals face and present guidelines for solutions. People in occupations without a formal set of ethical standards must rely on their own instincts, backgrounds, experience, and judgment to handle ethical dilemmas that arise in the course of their work lives. Leaders at various levels of organizations, large and small, face ethical dilemmas daily and must be prepared to make the right decisions for the organization and for themselves (Bass & Steidlmeier, 1999). There is a void in the empirical literature with respect to ethical decision-making because the literature on ethical decision-making has been based on hypothetical dilemmas instead of on actual situations. Decision Making Models When managers are faced with ethical dilemmas in their employing organizations, they are not always in control of the situation and often must consider other factors (e.g., employees, organizational risks, organizational pressure) in their decisions. Most of the ethical decision-making models have stemmed from the cognitive moral development theory of Kohlberg (1973). Two models that were introduced around the same time are those of Rest (1986) (Four-Component Model) and Trevino (1986) (Person-Situation Interactionist Model). Both Rest and Trevino expanded on the work of Kohlberg, and their models have been tested multiple times. Kohlberg, a social psychologist, was the first to expand Piaget's concept of stage development to include moral judgment. Moral judgment is a process of reflecting on one's values and choosing among them. Piaget, a Swiss biologist, was interested in how children reason. From his qualitative studies, he concluded that the ability to reason is age-related, and he identified cognitive stages ranging from infancy through adolescence. He studied moral judgment only in children under the age of 12 and held that cognition and affect develop separately, but in parallel ways, and that moral judgment is a cognitive process. Kohlberg's (1968) theory focuses on the moral reasoning process - how people decide which course of action to take when faced with an ethical dilemma. Using a research instrument that he developed, Kohlberg conducted a longitudinal study of 84 boys ages 10 to 16, following up at four-year intervals from 1956 to 1976. In the moral judgment interviews, Kohlberg presented the subjects with three dilemmas and asked the boys to tell what the resolution should be and why. The "why" is the determining factor for stage identification. People at different stages might reach the same conclusion, but Kohlberg was interested in the reasoning process. He was looking for consistency of reasoning across the issues. From his research, Kohlberg (1968) classified moral development into three levels, within which there are six stages, and concluded that there is a relationship between maturity of moral values and maturity of action in ethical dilemmas. He also concluded, like Piaget, that moral

Human Capital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Capital - Essay Example This is a case analysis of the Riordan Manufacturing, a global plastics producer employing 550 people with projected annual earnings of $46 million. The company is wholly owned by Riordan Industries, a Fortune 1000 enterprise with revenues in excess of $1 billion. Production is divided among three plants: plastic beverage containers in Albany, Georgia; custom plastic parts in Pontiac, Michigan; and plastic fan parts in Hangzhou, China. Research and Development is conducted at corporate headquarters in San Jose, California. Riordans major customers are automotive parts manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, the Department of Defense, beverage makers and bottlers, and appliance manufacturers. The cause of the problem that Riordan Manufacturing is facing is rooted from several strategic changes in the way it manufactures and markets its products. The declining sales and uneven profits over the past two years not only forced the company to change its sales processes, but prompted them to adopt a customer-relationship management (CRM) system. So now customers are serviced primarily by sales teams rather than single salespeople, with each team focusing on a particular customer segment. Teams typically include a sales person, product engineering specialist and customer service representatives. The company is hoping that the team approach will improve sales. With some work being redirected to a new manufacturing facility in China, and plants have been restructured into self-directed work teams, the changes implemented have caused the employee retention numbers to decline. An employee survey showed a decrease in overall job satisfaction, particularly in the areas of compensatio n and benefits. Riordan’s employees comprise three major demographic groups. Baby boomers make up the bulk of the managerial and about half of the manufacturing

Social policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Social policy - Essay Example aissez-faire, i.e., be completely inactive whether in positive or negative way, or it can be highly interventionist having a well defined pattern of action or may have just a supervisory role. A Welfare state is a channel of expression of power – â€Å"through politics and administration† (Pierson and Francis, 2006, p.16). Depending upon the existing market structure, the state decides its welfare policy. This means that welfare policy is based on the problem caused by market power, so, there is a high correlation between the prevailing market power and welfare policy of the state. Keeping this fact in mind, we will study the changing welfare policy scenario in UK corresponding to its rapidly transforming economic and social conditions between the early 1940’s to the 20th century. The journey of UK from the 18-19th century to its current stature has been immense. In the early 18th century, UK was largely an agricultural economy in which the laborers had complete decision making powers regarding work. Market power was non-existent and thus, so was state welfare. It all started with the â€Å"Industrial Revolution† (Mokyr, 1985, p.39) in the 18th century. The agricultural economy started gradually to turn into an industrial giant. The immediate consequences were â€Å"rapid migration from rural to suburban areas in search of employment, a drastic increase in population in the urban areas and thus, a total upside down juggling of existing condition.† (Pierson and Francis, 2006, pp. 20-22).Due to this rise in population, a need for proper sanitation, housing, and healthcare was felt as these were in deplorable state. Along with these, the state wanted to protect these factory workers from being exploited by the industrialists as well as from the clu tches of abject poverty. So, it decided to make its presence more emphatic. The political scenario in this period is also of immense importance as it can explain why the state implemented respective measures. During this

Tour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tour - Essay Example Nowadays money is flowing into this business. To promote tours and travels, government and private companies are delivering different types of packages. Objectives like Festivals, Meeting and Events (FME) are playing an important role to promote tourism. London is the capital city of England. Because of its geographical structure travellers and business persons are coming to this place regularly. London is good for business like travel and tourism. Festivals are delivering high entertainment to people. I would like to organize festivals to promote tourism business in London. Generally, festivals and events attract people. As the major stakeholders in such activities realise the significant economic benefits of holding festivals, meetings and events. Tourism is a long term business. So stakeholders have to take enough responsibility when organizing and managing FME's. London is the safe bet for the stake holders. Why do we invest money to organise festivals or events to promote tourism business The reason is that it is totally a business programme. As far as I am concerned Travel and tourism industry is one of the world's largest foreign exchange earners. It is a very wide industry linked with so many areas which include government tourism department, travel agencies, hotels etc. Government tourism departments are associated with immigration and customs service. Many other departments are linked with travel agencies. Airlines, tour operators, hotels etc. are depending on travel agencies. This industry provides large number of employment directly and indirectly. Travel can be of different types. It can be leisure, pilgrim, adventure or purely business trips. In London, there are lot of things to see like London Eye, London Pass, and Madame Tussauds etc. London Eye is a giant wheel which provides you to see every tall building in London at once. This is one of the most attractions in London. M adame Tussauds is a wax museum where all cult figures like (Charlie Chaplin, Amithab Bachan, Tom cruise etc.) made by wax materials are exhibited. Travellers are coming to visit this place regularly. (Visit Britain direct). With the increase in visitors most travel promoters and companies are earning good revenue. This is a booming industry which offers good returns to the investors. With the increase of travellers, lots of people are investing their money in travel and tourism Industry. London is known as multicultural city. There are so many cultural and social programmes conducted in London. People of London gather together and celebrate social programmes like New-year Day, Good Friday, Easter Day, May Day, Christmas, Boxing Day etc. There are numerous festivals and events in London. Events like Wimbledon, FA cup football, Chelsea flower show, London Marathon, the queen's birthday parade, Europe's biggest and gay and lesbian festival, Notting hill carnival, Thames festivals, are attracting visitors to London. People of London celebrate plenty of bonfire festivals. Guy Hawks Night, Lord Mayor's show and Trafalgar Square are celebrated with bands and fireworks. Now we are planning to conduct festival

A non- Profit organization name SOLVE INC. Business plan on improving Term Paper

A non- Profit organization name SOLVE INC. Business plan on improving the Poor Performing elementary school in dallas, Texas ISD - Term Paper Example This has allowed us to proffer services that appeal to the customers, essentially to avoid mistakes. The services that we have offered to the market measure our strength and weaknesses. This has answered the needs of customers in a timely manner and provided return trade off. Price Price entails the charge of the services that we are offering; this has been tricky since it determines customer base of our company. We are offering low priced services and products to allow customers afford. In addition, we are non profit Non Governmental Organization thus our services are public oriented. We have been able to observe market environment and competitors’ price strategies to ensure we are relevant. Place Business location is a critical ingredient in success and expansion since it increases convenience between suppliers and the organization. Our location has been strategic especially in residential areas, highly traffic and main roads that are easily accessible. In essence, the strat egy is focused on the commuting families and individuals. In addition, the company aims at supplying their products and services to local businesses, offices and schools. On the other hand, location of business should be close to processing facilities, market and source of supply. Promotion We have committed in advertising our products and services through internet Web site, which has proven to be effective. Notably, internet is fast turning into a major promotional avenue, and the institution believes it will advance with regards to the importance over time. Furthermore, it is the most convenient means for us to wide presence from the onset. 6.1 Target (s) – List major customer now and expected in the future Our major customer at the moment is the S.S Conner Elementary School. After we are successful with the school we will extend our services to other poor performing elementary schools within the area before we expand to other institutions of learning within and outside the state. 6.2 Image The image of our institution is very vital because it finds out the relationship with our customers in the education sector. Having a good image will attract customers and clients to our table. We intend to do what we do best. By being the best in the education industry, we will become a respectable leader in the field. The level of education in Texas should be top-notch. We also seek to promote and offer quality services. This way, clients and prospects will acknowledge our services. 6.3 Promotion Our promotion will center on several key strategies Internet Web site – the internet is fast turning into a major promotional avenue, and the institution believes it will advance with regards to the importance over time. Furthermore, it is the most convenient means for us to wide presence from the onset. Public relations – we will put some amount of effort towards preparing and spreading a constant flow of press releases – they will be based on tales about our activities, destinations, our staff, and corporate clients. The institution will employ a public relations adviser to aid in writing, copying, and locating publications educators. 6.3.1 Image We intend to find a nice logo for out institution, which should explain what we do. Image means a lot especially for small institutions which are ready to face competition in their market. Our image will be

Nintendo Wii Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nintendo Wii - Research Paper Example For sometime now, Nintendo has been a strong market force, having bigger companies like Sony and Microsoft as closest competitor. This performance is however not global as in parts of the world such as Japan, were â€Å"sales were falling below those of Sony's PlayStation 3 during March 2009† (Harding, 2009) SWOT ANALYSIS Strength Rank (2008) observes that Nintendo has four major strengths which have to do with â€Å"a strong brand name, high returns, high employee efficiency, and debt free status.† This means that the company the potential of building a very formidable market base in many parts of the world since it is globally known and free from financial constraints. Weakness Nintendo’s greatest weakness has to do with its inability to meet demand of its products, especially the Wii. Rank (2008) laments that â€Å"the new Nintendo Wii console is under such high demand that the manufacturers are not able to supply the key components.† Opportunities Nint endo can take opportunity from two major areas, which are â€Å"Growing US games software market and increasing demand for online gaming† (You Sigma, 2009). The company is therefore challenged to take up the opportunity to grow its stake in the video game industry. Threat The company is threatened with the general slowdown of the Japanese, American and European markets (You Sigma, 2009) as a result of the global economic crisis. Analysis via Porter’s Five Forces Model Threat of new entrants The technology industry is a fast growing one with new entrance seen every now and then. Because of the seemingly lucrative nature of the industry, Nintendo risks stiffer opposition from new entrants who may not be new to technology but to the video game industry. In such a situation, such entrants are likely to cause a commercial stir with their existing name. Bargaining Power of Buyers Global economic hardships result in increased bargaining power by buyers (Konadu, 2004). Because the world is yet to recover fully from the global economic crisis, Nintendo risks buyer opting for lesser fee of products and services. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Nintendo’s suppliers raised their bargaining power due to offset of stricter opposition and competition in the video game market. Nintendo had to face competition from Microsoft and Sony and so had no other option than to give in to the bargain of suppliers. Substitute Products/Services Currently, Nintendo have shown lesser power to substitute its products as services. This is because for a very long time, the company’s focus has remained video game. Intense Rivalry Microsoft as one of the rivals of Ninendo will continue to offer intense rivalry because Microsoft is faced with stiff competition in other areas of its production such as software and computer production. For this reason, Microsoft is likely to pay more attention to the video game section of its company. Strategy used Nintendo’s strate gy can be seen in two major areas. First, taking advatange of technology where by the company’s â€Å"innovative approach to videogame technology is evinced through the Wii’s controller system† (Roccols, 2008). Such use of technology was perhaps neglected by competitiors. Secondly and closely linked to the first, the Nintendo Wii is able to target a larger user base as it targets consumers of all ages. With this strategy, â€Å"The Wii has allowed Nintendo to not only compete with Sony and Microsoft, but to experience the incredible success it remembers

How Globalisation Complicates the Process of Business Management and Essay

How Globalisation Complicates the Process of Business Management and Yet Increases Profitability - Essay Example On the other hand, globalisation is inevitably associated with the changes in competitive dynamics, which necessitate the creation and implementation of new business strategies and lead to profound shifts in management consciousness at a global scale. How globalisation drives profitability and complicates business management in international banking is a difficult question. The current state of research into the effects and implications of globalisation for business management and profitability is rather scarce. The main goal of this research is to analyse primary and secondary information in regards to the changes in profitability and business practices as a result of globalisation and internationalisation in the banking sector. Research aims and objectives The main research question is â€Å"how globalisation complicates global banking business and yet increases overall profitability for stakeholders and promoters for global banking enterprises†. ... of globalisation on business management practices; Understand how globalisation raises profitability; Estimate the mechanisms behind globalisation, profitability, and management practices in the banking sector. Literature review The current state of research provides a wealth of information about globalisation and its implications for various economic processes. Much of what was written and said about globalisation revolves around the topic of macroeconomic policies, financial internationalisation, and the shifts in competitive dynamics. However, contemporary scholars display increased interest toward the issues of globalisation and its effects on profitability and business management in organisations. Recent studies and research findings provide useful information about how globalisation affects businesses and decision-making processes in the new, global reality. The significance of the relationship between globalisation and management practices cannot be underestimated. More often than not, globalisation in management reflects through the development and implementation of the universal global standards of professional decision-making. In this context, international accounting and financial standards are among the most frequently discussed topics in professional literature. Beke (2010) suggests that the adoption of international financial standards by firms leads to better profitability and improved quality of accounting practices and decisions in organisations. Furthermore, harmonisation and standardisation of management practices are the most regular consequences of using international financial standards by firms (Beke 2010). Ultimately, it is due to the use of international financial/ accounting standards that businesses spend less time and money managing their

Texting While Driving Essay Example for Free

Texting While Driving Essay How many people text behind the wheel of their vehicle? Can we relate to the following story? Jaci Lemons* is driving down the street, headed to school. The 17 year old driver is texting another friend. As she looks down to read the incoming text, Jaci veers off to the right and crashes head-on into the back of a parked vehicle. She is taken to the hospital, but after brief examination by the attending ER doctor, Jaci is released. Thankfully, the only thing bruised is her pride, and her pocketbook. Missouri should make texting while driving illegal for all drivers, not just the drivers aged 21 and under. Missouri has passed a state law, on Aug. 28, 2009, that prohibits drivers 21 years of age or younger from sending or reading a text while driving. While that is a great start, it isnt enough. Drivers across the country have been seen in their vehicles doing all sorts of dangerous, weird, and downright strange things while driving. Watching a DVD movie (really), dressing, putting on makeup, eating, texting, etc; but texting is what is causing legislatures some concern here in Missouri. The problem is we spend so many hours behind the wheel that seemingly, we are driving on auto pilot. (Have you ever driven a while and then could not remember any of it?) Young people will be forced to at least keep their fingers off their keyboards while they drive,said Leanna Depue, director of Highway Safety or the Missouri Department of Transportation. The law is a small step toward counteracting some of the distracted driving that causes crashes in Missouri. And, according to a recent study by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, texting while driving is the leading cause of traffic crashes in Missouri, as well as across the country. 80% of crashes involve driver distraction; mainly that texting is the number one thing that distracts motorists attention while driving. Half of all teen drivers say they text while driving. HALF. Its almost unthinkable to realize so many drivers dont have their eyes on the road. Couple that with the sobering fact that most cars on Americas roadways are traveling approximately 65 to 70 miles  per hour. According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, statistics show that teenagers have the most problems texting while they are driving, probably because they text more than anyone else and send longer texts than their adult contemporaries. Some teens can very easily burn through a thousand minutes of texting in no time. Twenty-three other states, along with Missouri, have already made texting while driving illegal. While texting while driving a car should not be legal in any case, the law in Missouri allows drivers over the age of 21 to text while they are driving. Motorists in some states are allowed to use a cell phone while they drive, as long as its hands-free. Most states already have laws against talking on the cellphone and driving; however, what doesnt make any common sense at all is allowing those over the age of 21 to text and drive while banning those under 21 to do so. Take for instance, 38 year-old Donald Rios*. One afternoon, while traveling to another town, he was texting a co-worker about picking up some 4 by 6s for their job site. In the meantime, traffic was slowing because a farmer was burning his fields next to the interstate. Donald Rios looked up to see that traffic was nearly at a standstill, and he could not stop in time. He rear-ended the back of another vehicle, and in turn, a semi rear-ended him, causing his truck to cave in like an accordion. Subsequently, Rios lost his life in the accidentall because of his inattentiveness to the road ahead. Legislation encouraging laws which ban texting have also been encouraged at the federal level with proposals suggesting that any state who didnt ban texting could risk losing federal highway funding. Missouri is the 23rd state to ban texting while driving, but is 1 of 9 to single out a particular age group. The fine for texting while driving under Missouris new law is $200. Senator Ryan McKenna sponsored the bill. An insurance industry study has revealed that accidents increased in 3 of 4 states that has laws prohibiting texting while driving. The study, prepared by Highway Loss Data Institute, says it looked at accident statistics from insurance claims in four states that have made it illegal for motorists of any age to text while driving, as well as nine states with no, or limited  bans; in three states, accidents increased dramatically after the bans passed. Those were California, Louisiana and Minnesota . So, how does law enforcement actually catch you texting while driving? How can they tell if you were texting if you dont have the phone in plain view? Heres how: If your phone is destroyed in an accident, the phone company has a log of all texts and calls, which are also logged with the exact date and time. Phone companies keep a log of text histories just like a computer does of websites and pages. Please dont text (or do other distracted hazards) and drive. Your life, as well as others lives depends on it.

Liberty in Education Historical Analysis

Liberty in Education Historical Analysis Sepideh Pourmanzourinejad Introduction The curriculum in American higher education has always been under debate and reform since the beginning. Prescribed curriculum in which the students had to study certain pre-defined courses was the basis of colonial colleges for many years. Later, the emergence of elective system proposed by Charles Eliot became a creative educational development in higher education in the U.S, and broadly substituted the old prescribed curriculum. Liberty in Education written by Eliot, in defense of elective system, is one of the most important historical documents in the history of American higher education. This report provides a brief analysis of the document by focusing on different aspects and putting it in its historical context to get to a better understanding of its significance. Date, origin and the author of the document Liberty in Education is a historical document originally written by Charles William Eliot in 1885. Eliot was a highly successful leader in the field of higher education. He was the president of Harvard University for forty years (1869-1909). His significant talents and experience both as a teacher and administrator as well as his observations of European universities provided him with insights toward proposing an effective elective system instead of a classical curriculum. He originally outlined the idea of elective system in an 1885 speech. In fact, it was a debate with McCosh, president of Princeton, on the topic of curriculum. Later, he published it in a book named Educational reform: Essays and addresses (Eliot ,1898). However, the copy that we have at hand is a reprint of the primary source in a book which collected a series of primaries; The History of Higher Education: second edition, edited by Lester Goodchild and Harold Wechsler (1997). Summary of the document Charles Eliot proposed the concept of elective system and found it an inevitable step in transforming a college into a university. In colonial colleges, a uniform prescribed curriculum was offered which finally gave the same degree to all of the students. Eliot argued against this classical curriculum as providing superficial and elementary knowledge and maintained that three things should be added to a college to make it a successful university in which the students can flourish the most: Election of studies: Due to the natural differences in human minds and bodies, each student should have the freedom to choose his own courses of studies based on his individual interests, natural inclinations and intellectual capacities. According to Eliots observations and experience, the best age to start giving the students liberty in education is eighteen. Academic distinction in special lines of studies: The university must provide the students with opportunities to win distinction in special subjects and also offer honors through an effective elective system. This can lead to advanced instruction and creates enthusiasm both in instructors and students. Promote a sense of self-governing instead of imposing strict prohibitive disciplines on the students: A universitys moral purpose should be to teach students to self-control through a sense of personal freedom. Context Eliot took office at Harvard University in 1869, which was a favorable time to transformation and reform as the Civil War was a real catastrophe in American life. On the other hand, the cumulative industrialization in the United States after the Civil War required the American college to solve the problem of preparing students to become engineers, physicians, businessmen, chemists, and administrators. Many insightful Americans realized that the old-style American college required basic modernization with a quite different curriculum. Consequently, Eliot responded to the needs of the people and the demands of the society and introduced elective system to the higher education. The immediate and the historical significance During the time of Eliots presidency, Harvard became one of the greatest universities of the world under the elective system and it finally surpassed well-known universities such as Johns Hopkins in the field of graduate work. The elective principle helped transform the American college into university and moved the student-professor relationship from an adversarial to a collaborative learning one (Rudolph, 1962). A major historical impact of the elective system was the formation of new curricular expansions in the twentieth century. It inspired the innovation of majors, tutorials, honors, independent study, general education, field studies and comprehensive exams. Furthermore, it resulted in a considerable amount of knowledge advancement as it established opportunities for both students and professors to delve in their interests in greater depth. Language and tone The document is a kind of argumentative writing and the author has a defensive and persuasive attitude toward the work as he tries to defend the advantages of the elective system over a classical curriculum and aims to convince the audience to believe in that. It is written in a language that is clear enough to comprehend. Eliot avoided using complicated specialized words which need to be defined. He proposed the principle in a totally confident and purposeful tone by providing reasons for his claims. Publisher or sponsor and alterations The document does not seem to reflect any publisher or sponsors point of view as it only reflects Eliots point of view regarding the necessity to shift toward an elective system. The current document does not contain any alterations or editions since it is a reprint of the original source. Missing information and triangulation The document does not include any information regarding regulations for the freedom in choices of studies. Here is a list of some other resources which can help the reader make a more comprehensive sense of the existing document: Carpenter, H. C. (1951). Emerson, Eliot, and the elective system. New England Quarterly, 13-34. Denham, T. J. (2002). A Historical Review of Curriculum in American Higher Education: 1636-1900. Denham, T. J. (2002). The Elective System or Prescribed Curriculum: The Controversy in American Higher Education. Eliot, C. W. (1898). Liberty in education. Educational reform: Essays and addresses, 125-48. Eliot, C. W. (1907). Academic freedom. Science, 1-12. Phillips, D. E. (1901). The elective system in American education. The Pedagogical Seminary, 8(2), 206-230. Conclusion The development of elective system has been such an important event in the history of American higher education that facilitated the transformation of the college into university. It shaped a new form of studies to the students and attracted a lot of attention in the past and even in todays educational world. The analysis of the document and the historical research about that reveal a true significance made by Eliots elective system. However, there still exist debates and discussions over the supremacy of prescribed curriculum or elective system which continue to create new horizons. References Eliot, C. W. (1898). Liberty in education. Educational reform: Essays and addresses, 125-48. Goodchild, L. F., Wechsler, H. S. (1997). The History of Higher Education. ASHE Reader Series. Pearson Custom Publishing, 200 Old Tappan Rd., Old Tappan, NJ 07675. Rudolph, F. (1962). The American college and university: A history. University of Georgia Press.