Thrinaxodon Facts and Figures

Thrinaxodon Facts and Figures Although it wasnt quite as mammal-like as its close cousin, Cynognathus, Thrinaxodon was still a startlingly advanced reptile by early Triassic standards. Paleontologists believe this cynodont (a subgroup of the therapsids, or mammal-like reptiles, which preceded the dinosaurs and eventually evolved into the first true mammals) may have been covered in fur, and also may have possessed a moist, cat-like nose. Name: Thrinaxodon (Greek for trident tooth); pronounced thrie-NACK-so-donHabitat: Woodlands of southern Africa and AntarcticaHistorical Period: Early Triassic (250-245 million years ago)Size and Weight: About 20 inches long and a few poundsDiet: MeatDistinguishing Characteristics: Cat-like profile; quadrupedal posture; possibly fur and warm-blooded metabolism Completing the resemblance to modern tabbies, its possible that Thrinaxodon sported whiskers as well, which would have evolved in order to sense prey (and for all we know, this 250-million-year-old vertebrate was equipped with orange and black stripes). What paleontologists can say for sure is that Thrinaxodon was among the first vertebrates the body of which was divided into lumbar and thoracic segments (an important anatomical development, evolution-wise), and that it probably breathed with the aid of a diaphragm, yet another feature that didnt come fully into mammalian vogue until tens of millions of years later. Thrinaxodon Lived in Burrows We also have solid evidence that Thrinaxodon lived in burrows, which may have enabled this reptile to survive the Permian-Triassic Extinction Event, which wiped out most of the worlds terrestrial and marine animals and left the earth a smoking, inhospitable wasteland for the first few million years of the Triassic period. (Recently, a Thrinaxodon specimen was discovered curled up in its burrow alongside the prehistoric amphibian Broomistega; apparently, this latter creature crawled into the hole to recover from its wounds, and both occupants then drowned in a flash flood.) For nearly a century, Thrinaxodon was believed to be restricted to early Triassic South Africa, where its fossils have been discovered in abundance, along with those of other mammal-like reptiles (the type specimen was unearthed in 1894). In 1977, however, a nearly identical therapsid species was discovered in Antarctica, which sheds valuable light on the distribution of  the earths land masses at the start of the Mesozoic Era. And finally, heres a bit of showbiz trivia for you: Thrinaxodon, or at least a creature closely resembling Thrinaxodon, was featured in the very first episode of the BBC TV series Walking With Dinosaurs.

P-39 Airacobra - Bell Aircraft - World War II

P-39 Airacobra - Bell Aircraft - World War II P-39Q Airacobra - Specifications General Length: 30 ft. 2 in.Wingspan: 34 ft.Height: 12 ft. 5 in.Wing Area: 213 sq. ft.Empty Weight: 5,347 lbs.Loaded Weight: 7,379 lbs.Maximum Takeoff Weight: 8,400 lbs.Crew: 1 Performance Maximum Speed: 376 mphCombat Radius: 525 milesRate of Climb: 3,750 ft./min.Service Ceiling: 35,000 ft.Power Plant: 1 Ãâ€" Allison V-1710-85 liquid-cooled V-12, 1,200 hp Armament 1 x 37 mm M4 cannon2 x .50 cal. machine guns4 x .30 cal machine gunsup to 500 lbs. of bombs Design Development In early 1937, Lieutenant Benjamin S. Kelsey, the US Army Air Corps Project Officer for Fighters, began to express his frustration over the services armament limitations for pursuit aircraft. Joining with Captain Gordon Saville, a fighter tactics instructor at the Air Corps Tactical School, the two men wrote two circular proposals for a pair of new interceptors which would possess a heavier armament that would allow American aircraft to dominate aerial battles. The first, X-608, called for a twin-engine fighter and would ultimately lead to the development of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. The second, X-609, requested designs for a single-engine fighter capable of dealing with enemy aircraft at high altitude. Also included in X-609 was a requirement for a turbo-supercharged, liquid-cooled Allison engine as well as a level speed of 360 mph and an ability to reach 20,000 feet within six minutes. Responding to X-609, Bell Aircraft began work on a new fighter that was designed around the Oldsmobile T9 37mm cannon. To accommodate this weapon system, which was intended to fire through the propeller hub, Bell employed the unorthodox approach of mounting the aircrafts engine in the fuselage behind the pilot. This turned a shaft beneath the pilots feet which in turn powered the propeller. Due to this arrangement, the cockpit sat higher which gave the pilot an excellent field of view. It also allowed for a more streamlined design which Bell hoped would aid in achieving the required speed. In another difference from its contemporaries, pilots entered the new aircraft through side doors that were similar to those employed on automobiles rather than sliding canopy. To supplement the T9 cannon, Bell mounted twin .50 cal. machine guns in the aircrafts nose. Later models would also incorporate two to four .30 cal. machine guns mounted in the wings. A Fateful Choice First flying on April 6, 1939, with test pilot James Taylor at the controls, the XP-39 proved disappointing as its performance at altitude failed to meet the specifications set forth in Bells proposal. Attached to the design, Kelsey had hoped to guide the XP-39 through the development process but was thwarted when he received orders that sent him abroad. In June, Major General Henry Hap Arnold directed that the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics conduct wind tunnel tests on the design in an effort to improve performance. Following this testing, NACA recommended that the turbo-supercharger, which was cooled with scoop on the left side of the fuselage, be enclosed within the aircraft. Such a change would improve the XP-39s speed by 16 percent. Examining the design, Bells team was unable to find space within the XP-39s small fuselage for the turbo-supercharger. In August 1939, Larry Bell met with the USAAC and NACA to discuss the issue. At the meeting, Bell argued in favor of eliminating the turbo-supercharger altogether. This approach, much to Kelseys later dismay, was adopted and subsequent prototypes of the aircraft moved forward utilizing only a single-stage, single-speed supercharger. While this alteration provided the desired performance improvements at low altitude, the elimination of the turbo effectively made the type useless as a front-line fighter at heights above 12,000 feet. Unfortunately, the drop-off in performance at medium and high altitude was not immediately noticed and the USAAC ordered 80 P-39s in August 1939. Early Problems Initially introduced as the P-45 Airacobra, the type was soon re-designated P-39C. The initial twenty aircraft were built without armor or self-sealing fuel tanks. As World War II had begun in Europe, the USAAC began to assess combat conditions and realized that these were needed to ensure survivability. As a result, the remaining 60 aircraft of the order, designated P-39D, were built with armor, self-sealing tanks, and an enhanced armament. This added weight further hampered the aircrafts performance. In September 1940, the British Direct Purchase Commission ordered 675 of the aircraft under the name Bell Model 14 Caribou. This order was placed based on the performance of the unarmored and unarmed XP-39 prototype. Receiving their first aircraft in September 1941, the Royal Air Force soon found the production P-39 to be inferior to variants of the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. In the Pacific As a result, the P-39 flew one combat mission with the British before the RAF shipped 200 aircraft to the Soviet Union for use with the Red Air Force. With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the US Army Air Forces purchased 200 P-39s from the British order for use in the Pacific. First engaging Japanese in April 1942 over New Guinea, the P-39 saw extensive use throughout the Southwest Pacific and flew with American and Australian forces. The Airacobra also served in the Cactus Air Force which operated from Henderson Field during the Battle of Guadalcanal. Engaging at lower altitudes, the P-39, with its heavy armament, frequently proved a tough opponent for the famed Mitsubishi A6M Zero. Also used in the Aleutians, pilots found that the P-39 had a variety of handling problems including a tendency to enter a flat spin. This often was the result of the aircrafts center of gravity shifting as ammunition was expended. As distances in the Pacific war increased, the sh ort-range P-39 was withdrawn in favor of increasing numbers of P-38s. In the Pacific Though found unsuitable for use in Western Europe by the RAF, the P-39 saw service in North Africa and the Mediterranean with the USAAF in 1943 and early 1944. Among those to briefly fly the type was the famed 99th Fighter Squadron (Tuskegee Airmen) who had transitioned from the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk. Flying in support of Allied forces during the Battle of Anzio and maritime patrols, P-39 units found the type to be particularly effective at strafing. By early 1944, most American units transitioned to the newer Republic P-47 Thunderbolt or North American P-51 Mustang. The P-39 was also employed with the Free French and Italian Co-Belligerent Air Forces. While the former was less than pleased with the type, the latter effectively employed the P-39 as a ground-attack aircraft in Albania. Soviet Union Exiled by the RAF and disliked by the USAAF, the P-39 found its home flying for the Soviet Union. Employed by that nations tactical air arm, the P-39 was able to play to its strengths as most of its combat occurred at lower altitudes. In that arena, it proved capable against German fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190. In addition, its heavy armament allowed it to make quick work of Junkers Ju 87 Stukas and other German bombers. A total of 4,719 P-39s were sent to the Soviet Union through the Lend-Lease Program. These were transported to the front via the Alaska-Siberia ferry route. During the course of the war, five of the top ten Soviet aces scored the majority of their kills in the P-39. Of those P-39s flown by the Soviets, 1,030 were lost in combat. The P-39 remained in use with the Soviets until 1949. Selected Sources Military Factory: P-39 AiracobraNational Museum of the US Air Force: P-39 AiracobraAce Pilots: P-39 Airacobra

Alice Malsenior Walker Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Alice Malsenior Walker - Essay Example She went on to attend Spelman College and then transferred to Sarah Lawrence College to which she received a scholarship. Her life as a child was steeped in poverty. Her parents were sharecroppers, and her father's main work involved dairy farming, for which he was paid approximately $300 per year. Her mother supplemented this by offering her services as a maid (Clark). Walker's home was very small, and she and her family lived a huddled life in it, often suffering extremes of temperature in the winters and summers. She spent her time watching people or playing tomboyish games with her older brothers (Danielle). She was a precocious child, who tackled the first grade at only four years old. Her self-perception was very good, and she enjoyed performing in front of crowds at church and other functions. This changed after she was shot in the eye by her brothers. When that incident occurred, her parents delayed taking her to the doctor as they had underestimated the extent of the injury, and instead attempted to treat it with home remedies. However, subsequent infection of the eye which led to a fever caused them to take her to a physician (after they tried curing the fever by strategically placed lily leaves around her head). The doctor was able to cause the eye to heal, but the scar that developed was also a scar to her psyche that she carried with her many years (Danielle). Her scar led to her bei... She was cured while visiting her brother in Boston by visiting a hospital where surgery was done to remove the scar from her eye. At the age of 17 she left home for Spelman College in Atlanta, for which she had received a scholarship for handicapped students. In college she participated much in political activism. She met Coretta King, wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. and participated in the March on Washington, at which King gave his speech "I Have a Dream." She also traveled abroad to the World Youth Peace Festival held in Helsinki, Finland. However, she became unhappy at Spelman because the administrators were disapproving of her activism. So in 1963 she transferred to Sarah Lawrence College in New York. During her final year of college, Walker discovered herself pregnant and subsequently resorted to abortion (Clark). The decision drove her to depression, and in that time she wrote to clear her mind. She produced several pieces of poetry, with which her professor became impressed and which formed the basis of her first published work, a collection of poetry entitled Once (Danielle). She later met and married the lawyer Melvyn Leventhal, who was also active in the civil rights world. She gave birth to a daughter named Rebecca (Clark). For three years she worked in New York in the department of welfare. She later taught for two years as Jackson State University and then at Tougaloo College. It is during this time that her literary career really took flight, with the publication of her second work The Third Life of George Copeland. Many of her works and themes reflect the nuances of her life. Her story "Everyday Use" reflects the anguish of a childhood spent in

Geology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Geology - Essay Example aconic Orogeny or the building activity of a chain of mountains which is presently recognized as the Manhattan Formation mainly consisting of a metamorphic rock called schist derived from the former event of layered sedimentation. Umpire Rock is composed principally of Manhattan schist, making 90 percent of the Manhattan bedrock. The schist is found to be a mica-flecked stone hat with high durability, closely underlying the entire Central Park, dabbled with rock outcrops. Being a huge part of the Manhattan Formation made of schist, Umpire Rock is mostly a metamorphosed, highly deformed rock with great amount of folding. Physically, it appears as a sparkling rock once hit by sunlight, characteristic of mica flakes comprising much of the rock unit. The surface of the rock’s slope possesses five glacial grooves and these massive grooves had been carved by glaciers during the last ice age when glacial erosion brought about classic landforms. A fairly straight layer of granite approximately 2 to 3 inches wide is designated three feet from the base of the slope, bearing a band of pegmatite underneath. The pegmatite curves up along the slope following the schist’s pattern of folded layers and occurs to cut across the granite at the spot where two layers converge. The cliff’s intricate sculptural folds are such an admirable sight. Central Park Rocks are wholly evident of ancient bedrock upon which epochal events had transpired. Across the grain, light-colored veins of granite and coarser granite pegmatite may be detected visibly. Schimmrich, Steven. â€Å"Umpire (Rat) Rock in Central Park.† Hudson Valley Geologist. 27 Mar 2011. Web. 21 Jan 2012.

Computer Assisted Audit Technique Essay Example for Free

Computer Assisted Audit Technique Essay The test data technique is primarily designed to test the effectiveness of the internal control procedures which are incorporated in the client’s computer program. The objective of the test data technique is to determine whether the client’s computer programs can correctly handle valid and invalid conditions as they arise. To accomplish this objective the auditor prepares test data (fictitious transactions) that consist of valid and invalid conditions. The auditor enters the test data into the system and have the data processed by the entity’s computer programs. Since the auditor is the one who crates the test data, the auditor knows what the output should look like assuming the client’s computer programs is functioning effectively. The auditor then compares the processing results with his predetermined output. If the output generated by the client’s program is the same as the auditor’s expected output, the auditor may conclude that the client’s program is reliable. A disadvantage of the test data technique is that the auditor does not have an assurance that the program tested is the same program used by the client throughout the accounting process. . In order to overcome this disadvantage, the test data technique can be extended to an integrated test facility (ITF) An integrated test facility (ITF) creates a fictitious entity in a database to process test transactions simultaneously with live input. It can be used to incorporate test transactions into a normal production run of a system. Its advantage is that periodic testing does not require separate test processes. However, careful planning is necessary, and test data must be isolated from production data. Integrated test facility is considered a useful audit tool during an IT audit because it uses the same programs to compare processing using independently calculated data. This involves setting up dummy entities on an application system and processing test or production data against the entity as a means of verifying processing accuracy. When using ITF, the auditor must be alert to the danger of contaminating the client’s master file. Thus, care must be taken to reverse or eliminates the effects of all audit test transactions in order to avoid contamination of client’s computer files. Parallel Simulation The test data and ITF methods both process test data through real programs. With parallel simulation, the auditor processes real client data on an audit program similar to some aspect of the client’s program. The auditor compares the results of this processing with the results of the processing done by the client’s program.

My Challenged Friend :: Friendship Essay

Learning from My Mentally Challenged Friend From the time I was two years old until I was about seven Steve had been my best friend. He and I went over to each other's houses all the time. At that age I was very friendly and loving to everyone but very over-active. I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) so I was boisterous and restless. Everything was great until second grade when Steve's parents began to dislike my behavior because I was so "hyper." That's when they wouldn't let Steve be my friend anymore and eventually he was forced to cut off contact with me. This broke my heart and I would have been able to get over it without too many scars; if the rest of the kids had liked me. But they didn't. No one would play with me at recess and no one would ever come to my house. I began to get very depressed. My teachers were not aware of ADHD and were extremely critical of me and insensitive to my disability. It was then I was approached to help Freddie, who is mentally challenged, prepare for the upcoming "Challenger Little League." In the league disabled children play, and "normal" kids act as their "buddies" to help move the game along. Freddie's mom and mine thought it would be a good idea because I would be helping Freddie get ready for the league, and doing something for Freddie might make me feel better about myself. Since then we have been playing ball each fall and spring at his house once a week. In that time I have grown to know him as a person, his likes and dislikes. He has a strong personality that contradicts the image I had of kids with mental disabilities. I had imagined that they were essentially passive showing only faint recognition and response to anything happening in the world around them. And while this may be true for some severe disabilities, Freddie interacts with his environment just like I do. We just have different obstacles to face, different disabilities to overcome. While Freddie and I threw the ball around in the backyard, I developed a genuine friendship with him like I would have with any other kid I knew. That is why I enjoyed going over to his house.

Implement Customer Service Standards Essay

According to the survey recently performed on ABC Bank, it has been found that there has been a big decrease in the number of customers over the past six months. This is due to poor customer service. Therefore, Peter Sellers, as the Manager of the bank, needs to confirm the same and make a report about the issue as soon as possible. In order for Peter to be able to identify the customer service satisfaction or problems, he will use different methods to gather information from both internal and external customers. Suggestion boxes or comment cards will be available, to gather information, complaints and feedback, internally. There will be one-on-one questioning, observation as well as being able to do online surveys and/or fill survey forms, at their convenience. For external customers, feedback will be collected through emails, surveys, questionnaires and/or complete online surveys. Peter has decided to use the brainstorming method so as to able to undertake solutions to the problems identified. According to him, brainstorming will be a useful way of generating radical solutions to the problems. Since brainstorming combines a relaxed, informal approach to problem-solving with lateral thinking, it asks that people come up with crazy and creative ideas and thoughts that can be crafted into original, creative solutions to the problem that needs to be solved, while others can still come up with more ideas. As brainstorming can be divided into two types: individual and group brainstorming; Peter has decided to go with individual brainstorming. He feels that when his staff brainstorm on their own, they come up with more ideas (and often better quality ideas) than groups of people who brainstorm together. Eventually he will place his staff members into group brainstorming, as group brainstorming can develop ideas in more depth than individual brainstorming. It also helps everyone to feel that they have contributed to the solution and it reminds people that other people have creative ideas to offer. Most of the time, brainstorming is fun and it can be a great way for team building. Afterwards, he will combine the individual and group brainstorming, in order to get the best results out of all the ideas generated from the brainstorming sessions. Changes will be transmitted to employees via emails, letters, memos, reports, bulletins, and electronic mail and will be communicated to the external environment through electronic mail, internet web sites, letters, advertisements, brochures, as well as news releases will be used. Sending messages through mobile phones will be used, since nowadays Mobile SMS has become a popular type of informal written communication. Meetings, conferences or conventions will also be convened internally. Quality management can be considered to have four main components: quality planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement. It does not aim to assure ‘good quality’ by the general definition, but rather to ensure that an organisation or product is consistent. It is focused not only on product/service quality, but also the means to achieve it. Quality management therefore uses quality assurance and control of processes as well as products to achieve more consistent quality. According to Peter, International Organisational Standards (ISO) will be the best quality management system to ensure establishing quality organisational service standards.

Importance of Couseling Essay

The study was limited to only sixteen secondary schools: thirteen government secondary schools and three mission secondary schools in Benin City with practicing school counsellor(s). In all, there were four hundred and twenty respondents (420). Sex was not a factor in the study. Two four-point Likert type scale questionnaires were used to obtain data for the study. These are: Secondary School Counsellors’ Questionnaire (SSCQ); and Secondary School Students’ Questionnaire (SSSQ). The reliabilities of 0.69 and 0.80 were obtained respectively SSCQ and SSSQ using the Cronbach Alpha Internal Consistency reliability. The findings show that there are insufficient counsellors in schools; inadequate availability of counselling facilities; and that the qualification of guidance and counselling personnel has impact on the quality of guidance services they provide to secondary school students in Nigeria. These findings suggest that these variables will help to promote students’ adjustment in the school and the society at large. Paradoxically, the absence of these variables could precipitate students’ maladjustment. Recommendations on ways of improving guidance and counselling services to promote students adjustment were proffered. Keywords: Counselling Qualities; Guidance and Counselling; Students adjustment;; Nigeria 1. Introduction Guidance and Counselling happens to be one of the developments in the field of Education in Nigeria. It became popular with the introduction of the 6-3-3-4 educational system. It is generally accepted that in Nigeria, the organized/formal guidance started in 1959 at St. Theresa’s College, Oke-Ado in Ibadan by some Reverend Sisters, out of concern for the products of their school. They felt that there was need to offer vocational guidance to their outgoing final year students. As a result, the Rev. Sisters invited twenty educated people from Ibadan community who were in different professions and therefore knew more about the emerging world of work than the students and the Rev. Sisters. Fifty-four out of the sixty students benefited from the experts’ advice and were placed in various jobs. The innovation was highly accepted by the society because in later years this group of people, though not trained counsellors, organized career talks, seminars, guidance workshops and lectures for the class five students. Later on, the vocational guidance services spread to other secondary schools outside Ibadan and across the entire federation. The ministry officials became so interested in these organized services that this group of â€Å"Career Advisers† was invited to provide career workshops for teachers and career masters. Eventually the term â€Å"Career Advisers† became a national issue. In an attempt to overhaul the old educational system, towards the needs of the nation, the Nigerian Educational Research Council (NERC) in September 1969 organized a conference on curriculum development. The curriculum conference was followed by a government sponsored National Seminar in 1973 under the chairmanship of Chief S.O. Adebo to deliberate on all aspects of a National Policy on Education using the report of the 1969 curriculum conference as the working document. The conference came up with recommendations for a New National Policy on Education, which the Federal Government accepted and published in 1977 and revised in 1981, 1989 and 2004. With the highlighted changes in the Nation’s educational system, the need for guidance and counselling services in Nigerian secondary schools became more glaring. Consequently, Guidance and Counselling Services became an integral and essential component of the educational process for all students as they progress through the educational system. According to Egbochuku (2008), the aims of school guidance and counselling services, which are based on a developmental hierarchy, are to provide students with: 1. Opportunities to develop knowledge and appreciation of themselves and others; 2. Opportunities to develop relationship skills, ethical standards and a sense of responsibility; 3. Opportunities to acquire skills and attitudes necessary to develop educational goals which are suited to their needs, interests and abilities; 4. Information that would enable them to make decisions about life and career opportunities (: 15). Today, guidance and counselling has gained prominence in t he Nigerian educational system and many people are getting interested in the guidance of youth in making wise educational, vocational and personal/social decisions. Consequent upon the expansion of counselling activities in Nigeria and the need to form a larger association to embrace both counsellors and career masters, the Counselling Association of Nigeria (CAN) was launched on the 11th November 1976. To facilitate efficient management of guidance and counselling services in Nigeria secondary schools, guidance and counselling personnel are being trained in the tertiary institutions and sent to schools to deliver these services. Also, basic courses in guidance and counselling feature in all teachers-education programmes. Prominent among the services rendered by guidance and counselling personnel in secondary schools are Information, Appraisal, Referral, Guidance, Counselling and Planning, Placement and follow-up services for the proper guidance of students. Against this background therefore, the focus of the study is to assess the realities of guidance and counselling services in providing adequate guidance for Nigerian secondary school students. 1.1. Statement of the problem It is assumed that with the increasing complexities in the society, industrial and technological development all going hand-in-hand, the succeeding generation will find it difficult to adjust themselves both to the society, work, family and schools. Failures in proper adjustment to all the facets mentioned could affect the education of young people and expose them to environmental as well as personal problems in development. Guidance and Counselling, as a delivery service, should not be misconstrued as the traditional type that is based on the principles of â€Å"to guide, to direct on a course, to enlighten, or to assist†. This traditional type of counselling was principally carried out in African setting by heads of families, Priests, and church leaders (Olayinka and Omoegun, 2001). Because of the complex nature of Nigerian society, the counselling profession has assumed a wider role. Present day Guidance and counselling is based on the process of helping individuals understand themselves which will lead to the better understanding of the other aspect of their lives (Egbochuku, 2008).   According to the literature, these services are the formalized actions taken by the school to make guidance operational and available to students. These formalized actions typically consist of a set of processes, techniques and functions that serve to carry out the guidance and counselling goals of a particular educational level. For students to be properly informed, they need the assistance of trained guidance and counselling personnel. Hence, the government made it a policy that guidance and counselling should feature in teacher-education programmes because teachers are closer to the students. Furthermore, the department of Guidance and Counselling has been established in most Nigeria Universities to train counsellors at the B.Sc., Master and PhD levels, to equip them with the appropriate counselling techniques to carry out guidance and counselling services in secondary schools. There is need therefore to assess the guidance and counselling services rendered by school counsellors to find out if these services actually provide adequate guidance for students’ development. It is therefore hypothesized that Qualification of guidance and counselling personnel, availability of guidance and counselling facilities, quality of guidance and counselling services will not significantly predict students’ adjustment 1.2. Purpose of the study This study assessed the quality of guidance and counselling services in secondary schools with practicing school counsellors in Edo state. To achieve this, the researcher examined the qualification of personnel providing guidance and counselling services, availability of materials for the successful execution of Nigerian secondary school guidance and counselling services and the impact of guidance programs on students’ adjustment. 1.3. Significance of the study Guidance and counselling is the bedrock for achieving self-actualisation. It is a process of helping individuals to understand themselves by discovering their own needs, interests and capabilities in order to formulate their own goals and make plans for realizing those goals. An analysis of guidance and counselling services in providing adequate guidance for secondary school students is of paramount importance; hence the this study. The result from the study will help in throwing more light on how guidance and counselling services is being implemented in secondary schools in Nigeria and the quality of guidance services received by secondary school students. In addition, it provides information to education planners and school administrators on their responsibility in providing adequate facilities for guidance and counselling services in order for students to receive quality guidance. It also reveals the extent to which guidance and counselling services influence the total development of the potentials and proper adjustment of secondary school students. 2. Methodology This is a survey study using correlational research design. The scope of the study covers some selected government and mission secondary schools with practicing school counsellors in Benin City of Edo State Nigeria. This is because Benin City is a metropolitan city and consists of three well-populated Local Government Areas (Egor, Oredo, Ikpoba Okha LGA) in Edo –South Senatorial District, out of the 18 LGAs in the 3 Senatorial Districts of Edo State. Purposive sampling techniques and simple random sampling techniques were employed in selecting the sample for the study. This study was limited to only sixteen (16) secondary schools thirteen (13) government secondary schools and three mission secondary schools in Benin City because only these schools had practicing school counsellor(s) as at the time the study was carried out. In all, there were four hundred and twenty respondents (420). Sex was not a factor in the study. 2.1. Instrumentation Two different four-point Likert type scale questionnaires were designed by the researcher to obtain data for the study. These are: (1) Secondary School Counsellors’ Questionnaire (SSCQ); (2) Secondary School Students’ Questionnaire (SSSQ) The SSCQ consisted of two main sections viz: Section ‘A’: This consisted of three items requesting information about the level of qualification in guidance and counselling from the respondents. Section ‘B’: This consisted of five items requesting information about the availability of guidance and counselling facilitiesmaterials in the school. The SSSQ also consisted of two sections viz: Section ‘A’: This consisted of eleven items eliciting information about the quality of guidance services rend by counsellors in the school from the respondents. Section ‘B’: This consisted of twelve items requesting information about the impact of guidance and counselling services on Nigerian secondary school students’ adjustment. The respondents in each case were requested to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed to each item. Items one to three in section â€Å"A† of the SSCQ and items one to eleven in section â€Å"A† of the SSSQ were used to test hypothesis one. Items one to five in section â€Å"B† of the SSCQ and items one to eleven in section â€Å"A† of the SSSQ were used to test hypothesis two. Items one to eleven in section â€Å"A† of the SSSQ and items one to twelve in section â€Å"B† of the SSSQ were used to test hypothesis three. The scoring of the instruments was as follow: Strongly Agree (SA)-4 Agree (A)-3 Disagree (D)-2 Strongly Disagree (SD)-1 For all positive worded items the above was the case, while the reverse was the case for all negative worded items in the questionnaire. 2.1.1. Validity and Reliability of the instruments Both construct and face validity was established. The reliability of 0.69 and 0.67 were obtained respectively for sections A and B of the instrument for Counsellors (SSCQ) using the Cronbach Alpha Internal Consistency reliability test. The Students’ Questionnaire (SSSQ) yielded an alpha coefficient of reliability 0.80. 2.1.2. Administration of the instruments Permission was obtained from the school before administering the questionnaires, which were personally administered by the investigator to the respondents in the various secondary schools selected for the study. 2.2. Analysis of Data Descriptive Statistics and Pearson Product Correlation were used were used for analysis. 3. Results Variables Qualification of guidance and counselling personnel Quality of guidance services The table 1 shows an r. value of .169 testing at an alpha level of .05 and a p< .001. The p. value is less than .05 (p

The Fifty-fourth Regiment of the Cival War Essay Example

The Fifty The Fifty-fourth Regiment of the Cival War Essay The Fifty-fourth Regiment of the Cival War Essay The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment of the Union army was thefirst Negro regiment in the Civil War.They were formed in March of 1863, and were organized at Camp Meigs in Readville, Massachusetts, right outside of Boston.The fifty fourth regiment proved that the Negro man could fight and was willing to fight contrary to popular demand. On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves of the rebelling territories in the south.Then In January 1863 the War Department authorized Governor John Andrew of Massachusetts to raise a regiment of Negro soldiers in his state (McPherson 173).During thefirst six weeks only one hundred men from Massachusetts volunteered.After the poor turn out Governor Andrew made up a committee to raise money for the recruitment of Negro soldiers.Then in February of 1863, Governor Andrew appointed Shaw as the colonel of the fifty-fourth Massachusetts.All of the offi cers of the fifty-fourth were also white. Shaw was a twenty-six year old member of a Boston abolitionist family.All of Shaws officers were white abolitionists. After the recruiting process was over all of the Negroes were sent to Camp Meigs.The fifty-fourth started their training on February 21, 1863.Soon after the men of the fifty-fourth started their training they were told that they would get paid ten dollars per month instead of the thirteen dollars they were promised during recruitment.Shaw then wrote Governor Andrew insisting that his, entire regiment including white officers, would refuse pay until his soldiers were given the same payment as all the other Massachusetts troops. Yet Congress did not enact legislation granting equal pay to black soldiers until June 15, 1864. (Kashatus American History)After the Negroes had started their training the Confederate Cong

Quotes From Napoleon Dynamite

Quotes From Napoleon Dynamite Quotes from Napoleon Dynamite have been hugely liked by many quotation lovers. If you do not follow the sense of humor, you need to watch the movie and then read these quotes. It is quite likely that you will not only find them stupid, but very likable. Deb Uncle Rico (Deb, while taking a picture of Uncle Rico) Deb: Okay, turn your head on more of a slant... (heads turn in a slant) Deb: Now, make a fist. Slowly ease it up underneath your chin. (three of them slowly put fists under their chins) Deb: This is looking really good. Kip: You can say that again. (Uncle Rico acknowledges) Deb: Kay, hold still right there. Now, just imagine youre weightless, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by tiny little seahorses. (Uncle Rico looks at the camera) Deb: (takes the picture) That was one that I think is gonna come out really nice. Uncle Rico: Ah, how you did it... wow... well I felt really relaxed. Thanks, Deb. (Uncle Rico puts his fist down and swats a fly) Napoleon Dynamite Napoleon Dynamite:Â  (drinks a glass of milk) The defect in that one is bleach. FFA Judge No. 1: Thats right. Napoleon Dynamite: Yes! Napoleon Dynamite: (drinks another glass of milk) This tastes like the cow got into an onion patch. FFA Judge No. 2: Correct! Napoleon Dynamite: Yes!!. Napoleon Dynamite Deb (Napoleon and Deb are dancing) Napoleon Dynamite: I like your sleeves. Theyre real big. Deb: Thank you. I made them myself. Napoleon Dynamite: So you and Pedro getting really serious now? Kip Kip:Â  (singing while typing a poem) Your sandy hair floats in the air... To me its like a lullaby... Im just flying by... Oh so high... like a kite... tied to a skate... Uncle Rico Kip Uncle Rico: What about your girlfriend? Kip: Well, things are getting pretty serious right now. I mean, we chat online for like two hours every day so I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious. Napoleon Dynamite Napoleon Dynamite: You know, like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills. Uncle Rico Kip Kip: So how long are we talking about working? Uncle Rico: What are you, already losing your steam? Kip: No, I just... I have a chat room meeting at 4. I gotta be back here by then. Uncle Rico: All right, you just start a little earlier, thats all. Or else work afterwards. How long is the chat room? Kip: Jeez, sometimes up to 3-4 hours maybe... Maybe not... Uncle Rico: You pay the bills for that? Does that cost money every time youre on, like for minutes on the phone? Kip: Yeah, grandmas still paying per minute. She gets kinda pissed at me sometimes cause Im on there so long. Uncle Rico: I bet she does. Ill tell you something, Id be throwing you out the window. Kip, Uncle Rico Napoleon Dynamite Kip: So whens grandma coming back? Uncle Rico: I dont know. Not sure. Napoleon Dynamite: You dont have to stay here with us, were not babies! Uncle Rico: Ha ha! Talk to your Auntie Carolyn. Napoleon Dynamite: Kip is like thirty-two years old. Kip: I dont mind if you stay.

Importance of Being a Learned Person in a 21st Century Socioeconomic Essay

Importance of Being a Learned Person in a 21st Century Socioeconomic Society - Essay Example an society today, it has become the culture to work for a salary to pay for the expenses of living and the increasing unemployment rates in the country, however means that there is going to be a lot of hardship for the unemployed individuals, and their families. Most of the people who end up being unemployed are those who have not gone to college and therefore cannot be considered to be learned. This has created a situation where whenever there are any economic problems, then these people do not have the necessary skills either to move to another sector of the economy, or move into another country where there are more opportunities for their own advancement. Being a learned person is a fact which ensures that an individual has the best options in life since they can be able to have flexibility not only within their societies, but also at the international level (Boardman and Sandomir 36). There have developed quite a number of reasons why there is a high unemployment rate in the coun try and most of these are related to the low number of individuals who can be considered to be learned. In many instances, this comes as a surprise and people are hardly ever prepared for them and when these newly unemployed individuals attempt to get other jobs, their potential employers are often exceedingly wary because of the fact that they do not meet the necessary academic qualifications to take on new jobs when their previous ones come to an end (Dash 10). Another cause of the high rates of unemployment in the United States are instances where individuals get laid off their work because their positions are no longer needed by their employers and this is largely because of the introduction of new technology and without the necessary skills that can only be acquired from a good... This essay specifies numerous advantages, that obtainment of quality education brings to a person`s life. In the modern world, one of the most important aspects that define individuals is based on the level of education that an individual has achieved and because of this, many individuals often strive to achieve academic excellence. Education is a basic human right that nobody in the whole world should be denied and it is necessary for it to be made universal. Education is necessary when dealing with almost all aspects of life, because individuals have to make the most educated decisions about all that they do. It is a well known fact that people have to study to a certain level in order to get the kind of job that is equivalent to that level of education. Quite a number of individuals all over the world, however, tend to start businesses without having to study. Most of the people who end up being unemployed are those who have not gone to college and therefore cannot be considered to be learned. In fact, an individuals who is learned can be able to work anywhere in the entire world as their knowledge and skills are universal and can be used by many different countries. The importance of individuals being learned has to be taken seriously because this is the only way through which they can be able to survive in an increasingly globalised world. Individuals, who acquire an education, are the best suited to succeed in the current world, because being learned ensure the breaking of all the possible constraints