Effects of Facebook Usage on the Egyptian Revolution Research Paper

Effects of Facebook Usage on the Egyptian Revolution - Research Paper Example In fact, social networking sites have been the most visited websites in the internet and a lot of news from current events have traversed the connections in these social networking sites. Among the currently existing social networking sites, perhaps the most popular is Facebook. Because of the great advantages and convenience that it offers, Facebook has been part of the ways for people to communicate with each other, from simple personal messages to updates about what is going on with both the local and international communities. As such, this research paper will look into exactly how instrumental Facebook has been in affecting one of the most controversial events of recent times, and that is the Egyptian revolution. This research study and the applied hypotheses are rooted on the Theory of Planned Behavior by Icek Ajzen (1987). The goal of the Theory of Planned Behavior is to provide an explanation as to why people do what they do (Ajzen, 1987). Theorists explain that people do so because they form an INTENTION to carry out the action. Intentions are influenced by the person’s beliefs, the social pressure to conform to the wishes of others, and their perceived ability to carry out the action. These are known as ATTITUDE, SUBJECTIVE NORM and PERCEIVED BEHAVIORAL CONTROL. Thus, the Theory of Planned Behavior is a theory which predicts deliberate behavior, because behavior can be deliberative and planned. According to the theory, the best predictor of behavior is intention. Intention is the cognitive representation of a person's readiness to perform a given behavior, and it is considered to be the immediate antecedent of behavior (Ajzen, 2005). This intention is determined by three things: their attitude toward the specific behavior, their subjective norms and their perceived behavioral control. The theory of planned behavior holds that only specific attitudes toward the behavior in question can be expected to predict that behavior (Manstead & Parker 1995 ; Terry, Hogg and White 1999; Parker, et al 1992). In addition to measuring attitudes toward the behavior, it is necessary to measure people’s subjective norms – their beliefs about how people they care about will view the behavior in question. To predict someone’s intentions, knowing these beliefs can be as important as knowing the person’s attitudes. Finally, perceived behavioral control influences intentions. Perceived behavioral control refers to people's perceptions of their ability to perform a given behavior. These predictors lead to intention. A general rule, the more favorable the attitude and the subjective norm, and the greater the perceived control the stronger should the person’s intention to perform the behavior in question (Aronson, Wilson and Akert 2003). This study is interested in knowing how the actions of people pertaining to using Facebook affected the revolution and partly, the study is also interested in knowing why people re acted as they did and what were the effects after such actions.

U09d2 Project Peer Review Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

U09d2 Project Peer Review - Assignment Example eresting to learn that much of these problems can be attributed to the web-based trainings that are not always as efficient or educational as necessary for all of the trainees. These errors represent interpersonal and well as organizational flaws in the communication process and lead to poor sales performance for the entire company. Although the problems are clearly stated, the effectiveness of the proposed solutions is not as high as it could be. The writer suggests that the management take time to realize the problems and devise other viable solutions to alleviate these issues and increase sales productivity. However, this paper would be more powerful if the writer will propose her own detailed solution to the problem and defend her stance on the solution. The problem is clearly stated, but the solution lacks effectiveness. The paper excels in describing the personal communication competencies specifically in regards to how it impacts performance. The communication and training errors must be resolved in order for productivity and product knowledge to be improved for the sales representatives. The overall format of the paper is excellent. It effectively follows APA formatting for the most part. The final summary paragraph has been accidently centered and should remain left-aligned with the rest of the paper. Also, the citations in the reference page should have all of the lines but the first line in the citation indented. It may also help to support arguments and claims with a few more in-text citations than what is current present in the paper. Other than these few minor issues, the paper looks to be very strong. The author does an excellent job of describing the specific events that occurred between the claims representative and the supervisor. The reader can easily understand the problems that occurred and where the breakdowns in communication were – not only between the two employees but also between the claims representative and the

United States History from 1865 - 1929 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

United States History from 1865 - 1929 - Essay Example 1865 marked the death of slavery and birth of racism in US which appalled as decades passed by while the 20th century highlighted the diplomatic side of US. Slavery in US was officially banned after 1865, yet that was the time of birth of racism in US. African Americans, Asian Americans and Chinese were some of the minorities in US between 1865 and 1929. White Americans formed the majority of US. 1865 and onwards was the era when US opened the gates to immigration and people started to pour into US from all parts of the world. That was also the time when slavery was considerably abolished from US after a long struggle of the states and US had been proven indivisible. Nevertheless, the abolition of slavery gave birth to racism because not all Americans were pleased to see the past slaves acquire the right to vote and fill positions in the government. This raised new challenges not only for the African Americans, but also for all other migrants that were in a minority in the US. After the slavery was legally abolished and the rich culture of America was eradicated, African Americans felt uncomfortable while using their right to vote. Although they had physically been released from the chains of slavery, yet they required decades of psychological therapy to break free of the hold of the trauma of slavery. However, things changed for the better as time passed. Many of them introduced the black codes with puts constraints on their freedom. By 1870, a lot of African Americans were allowed entry into politics and the Congress. But a vast majority of the white Southerners was not in the favor of reconstruction. The culmination of the Reconstruction Period in 1877 sanctioned a new constitution. In spite of the guarantees made by the new constitution, African-Americans and the immigrants had the status of second-class citizens in US. With limited civil rights, they made subordinates to the white Americans that were in majority. Racism was omnipresent in schools, off ices, hospitals, recreational spots and public stations. As the 19th century approached its end, racism in US reached its apogee. Strict segregation in public places, sports, theaters, transportation and cemeteries was supported by law. A vast majority of the African Americans had been denied the right to vote as a result of their inability to pay the poll taxes, which had been primarily enforced to keep them from participating in the policy. African Americans were subject to violence by the mobs and they were put into forced labor in jails if they were made complaint against. Although law had declared them free, yet the majority of African Americans had hardly managed to escape slavery. Start of the 20th century brought industrial revolution to the US. In fact, things had started to change in favor of technological advancement right from the last two decades of the 19th century. Industrialization also made more room for the workers. The American Federation of Labor was established in 1882. Workers were dissatisfied with the low wages and long working hours till the end of the 19th century. Immigrants made a significant proportion of the industrial workforce. Almost 25 million immigrants had settled in different cities of America between 1865 and 1910. Although immigrants were offered lower wages than the native Americans and they had to worker more than them, yet the living conditions in America were better than those in their homelands. Immigrants in America had

Asses sociological explanations for ethnic differences in educational achievement Essay Example for Free

Asses sociological explanations for ethnic differences in educational achievement Essay Ethnicity refers to shared cultural practices, perspectives, and distinctions that set apart one group of people from another. That is, ethnicity is a shared cultural heritage. The most common characteristics distinguishing various ethnic groups are ancestry, a sense of history, language and religion. Modern Britain is said to be a multicultural society made up of many different ethnic groups. Achievement within education is very varied across cultures, with some such as Chinese and Indian students performing above the average, and African-Caribbean and Pakistani students performing well below average. There are many factors which can reduce a child from an ethnic backgrounds attainment. For instance, Material deprivation. Material deprivation focuses on income inequality and the material problems that are associated with it. An example of such a study is J. W. B Douglas, The Home and The School (1964). He argued that an interlocking network of inequalities existed which operated against many working class students. This included, differential effects of regional and variations in educational provision and expenditure. Also, housing and environmental factors. Which led to chances of access to good primary schools. Therefore, hindering the chance of access to top streams. As a result, minority ethnic children are more likely to live in low-income households. This means they face the problems that Douglas highlighted, the material factors, such as poor quality housing, no working space and even possibly bad influence of peers. One other reason for differences in educational achievement between ethnicities is the basic family life. African-Caribbean communities have a high level of lone parenthood. Actually, it is estimated 50% of African-Caribbean households have a lone-parent . This can mean that many face financial problems, this can lead to lower achievement in school (Douglas’ material factors). Conversely, single mothers can be a positive role model or influence for many young girls, meaning they perform better in education. Another explanation for ethnic differences is Language. For many children of an ethnic minority English is not their primary language. This can be a disadvantage because they may not understand exams as well as others. Also they might struggle to express themselves with limited English. Finally, some teachers may mistake poor English for a lack of intelligence, when actually this could be completely untrue, meaning that a clever child may be let down by the teacher who might not push the student to their full potential. However, you could argue that Chinese and Indian students first language isn’t English, on the other hand in these two cultures it is the norm to learn English as a strong second language. Therefore, they are not hindered by the second language barrier, as opposed to Bangladeshi’s for example. Language was such a big issue that Bernstein (1973) categorised students into two groups. Elaborated and restricted. In the case of an elaborated code, the speaker will select from a relatively extensive range of alternatives. However in the case of a restricted code the number of these alternatives is often severely limited. Bernstein’s work was not always praised. For instance, Labov (1974) argued that young blacks in the United States, although using language which certainly seems an example of the restricted code, nevertheless display a clear ability to argue logically. Their lack of knowledge concerning the subject may reach further than just the exams they have to take. For instance, due to the large amount of failing black Caribbean’s and Bangladeshi’s (a combined total of 41% managed to get 5 A* C grades), teachers may be subconsciously prejudiced against ethnic minorities. This can lower the students attainments in many ways, one is that the teachers give the student lower grades. Another way is that the teacher negatively labels a student of ethnic minority which can lead to self-fulfilling prophecy. Racism can also lead to conflict between students and teachers, making learning a much harder task. Lastly, racism can lead to low-self esteem among ethnic minorities. A researcher who studies this was Howard Becker (1971). Becker Interviewed 60 Chicago high school teachers. He found that they judged pupils according to how closely they fitted image of â€Å"ideal pupil†. Their conduct appearance influenced judgement. Middle class was closest to ideal, working class furthest away labelled as badly behaved. As a result you can see, if teachers labelled students on how they look, you can imagine how they would label a whole ethnic race. Another factor for ethnic differences in educational achievement is the ethnocentric curriculum. There are several reasons why ethnic minorities may struggle due to this curriculum. One is that the subjects often focus on British culture; naturally White British students will have grown up with this culture, so they might have a greater understanding of the content than students who grew up in a different culture. Another reason is that the content of the curriculum could lower ethnic minorities self-esteem, this is because often the white character is seen as â€Å"good† and superior whilst the ethnic minorities are seen as â€Å"not as academic†. However, it is crucial not to forget that every ethnic minority underachieves at this level. In fact, in the UK, Chinese and Indian pupils score better grades than the â€Å"White† ethnic race. One of the main reasons for this is the support of the parents. Research has shown that some parents of ethnic minority, such as Chinese and Indian, take more interest in their child’s education, they also encourage their child more than other in other cultures. This obviously leads to higher achievement for the child. Not only the parents play a part. Some teachers may stereotype some ethnic minorities to be intelligent and hard-working. This encouragement and sort of support can aid a student in raising their grades. To conclude, there are many sociological explanations for the ethnic differences in educational achievement, from language barriers to family life at home. However, it is important to remember not all ethnic minorities to underachieve. Rafi Kentafi Lindill 12P.

Benefits and Compensation in Human Resources

Benefits and Compensation in Human Resources What are your benefits is the first thing many applicants ask. Benefits indirect financial and nonfinancial payments employees receive for continuing their employment with the company are an important part of just about everyones compensation. They include things like health and life insurance, pensions, time off with pay, and child-care assistance. Most full-time employees in the United States receive benefits. Virtually all employers offer some health insurance coverage. Employee benefits account for between 33% 40% of wages and salaries (or about 28% of total payrolls). Pay for time not worked is the most costly benefits, because of the large amount of time off employees. Compensation is a primary motivator for employees. People look for jobs that not only suit their creativity and talents, but compensate them-both in terms of salary and other benefits-accordingly. Compensation is also one of the fastest changing fields in Human Resources, as companies continue to investigate various ways of rewarding employees for performance. It is important for small business owners to understand the difference between wages and salaries. A wage is based on hours worked. Employees who receive a wage are often called non-exempt. A salary is an amount paid for a particular job, regardless of hours worked, and these employees are called exempt. The difference between the two is carefully defined by the type of position and the kinds of tasks that employees perform. In general, exempt employees include executives, administrative and professional employees, and others as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. These groups are not covered by minimum wage provisions. Non-exempt employees are covered by minimum wage as well as other provisions. It is important to pay careful attention to these definitions when determining whether an individual is to receive a wage or a salary. Improper classification of a position can not only pose legal problems, but often results in employee dissatisfaction, especially if the employee believes that execution of the responsibilities and duties of the position warrant greater compensation than is currently awarded. When setting the level of an employees monetary compensation, several factors must be considered. First and foremost, wages must be set high enough to motivate and attract good employees. They must also be equitable-that is, the wage must accurately reflect the value of the labor performed. In order to determine salaries or wages that are both equitable for employees and sustainable for companies, businesses must first make certain that they understand the responsibilities and requirements of the position under review. The next step is to review prevailing rates and classifications for similar jobs. This process requires research of the competitive rate for a particular job within a given geographical area. Wage surveys can be helpful in defining wage and salary structures, but these should be undertaken by a professional (when possible) to achieve the most accurate results. In addition, professional wage surveys can sometimes be found through local employment bureaus or in the pages of trade publications. Job analysis not only helps to set wages and salaries, but ties into several other Human Resource functions such as hiring, training, and performance appraisal. As the job is defined, a wage can be determined and the needs for hiring and training can be evaluated. The evaluation criteria for performance appraisal can also be constructed as the specific responsibilities of a position are defined. Other factors to consider when settling on a salary for a position include Availability of people capable of fulfilling the obligations and responsibilities of the job, Level of demand elsewhere in the community and/or industry for prospective employees, Cost of living in the area, Attractiveness of the community in which the company operates, Compensation levels already in existence elsewhere in the company. There are many federal, state, and local employment and tax laws that impact compensation. These laws define certain aspects of pay, influence how much pay a person may receive, and shape general benefits plans. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is probably the most important piece of compensation legislation. Small business owners should be thoroughly familiar with it. This act contains five major compensation laws governing minimum wage, overtime pay, equal pay, recordkeeping requirement, and child labor, and it has been amended on several occasions over the years. Most of the regulations set out in the FLSA impact non-exempt employees, but this is not true across the board. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is an amendment to FLSA, which prohibits differences in compensation based on sex for men and women in the same workplace whose jobs are similar. It does not prohibit seniority systems, merit systems, or systems that pay for performance, and it does not consider exempt or non-exempt status. In addition, the United States government has passed several other laws that have had an impact, in one way or another, on compensation issues. These include the Consumer Credit Protection Act of 1968, which deals with wage garnishments; the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), which regulates pension programs; the Old Age, Survivors, Disability and Health Insurance Program (OASDHI), which forms the basis for most benefits programs; and implementation of unemployment insurance, equal employment, workers comp, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs and laws. For the most part, traditional methods of compensation involve set pay levels (wage or salary) with regular increases. Increases can be given for a variety of reasons, but are typically given for promotions, merit increases, or cost of living increases. The Hay Group points out that there is less distinction today between merit increases and cost of living increases: Because of the low levels (3 to 4 percent) of salary budget funding, most merit raises are perceived as little more than cost of living increases. Employees have come to expect them. This base pay system is one that most people are familiar with. Often, it includes a set salary or wage, a set schedule for merit increases, and a set benefits package. Benefits are an important part of an employees total compensation package. Benefits packages became popular after World War II, when wage controls made it more difficult to give competitive salaries. Benefits were added to monetary compensation to attract, retain, and motivate employees, and they still perform that function today. They are not cash rewards, but they do have monetary value (for example, spiraling health care costs make health benefits particularly essential to todays families). Many of these benefits are nontaxable to the employee and deductible by the employer. Many benefits are not required by law, but are nonetheless common in total compensation packages. These include health insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, some form of retirement plan (including profit-sharing, stock option programs, 401(k) and employee stock ownership plans), vacation and holiday pay, and sick leave. Companies may also offer various services, such as day care, to employees, either free or at a reduced cost. It is also common to provide employees with discounted services or products offered by the company itself. In addition, there are also certain benefits that are required by either state or federal law. Federal law, for example, requires the employer to pay into Social Security, and unemployment insurance is mandated under OASDHI. State laws govern workers compensation. As businesses change their focus, their approach to compensation must change as well. Traditional compensation methods may hold a company back from adequately rewarding its best workers. When compensation is tied to a base salary and a position, there is little flexibility in the reward system. Some new compensation systems, on the other hand, focus on reward for skills and performance, with the work force sharing in company profit or loss. One core belief of new compensation policies is that as employees become employee owners, they are likely to work harder to ensure the success of the company. Indeed, programs that promote employee ownership-and thus employee responsibility and emotional investment-are becoming increasingly popular. Examples of these types of programs include gain sharing, in which employees earn bonuses by finding ways to save the company money; pay for knowledge, in which compensation is based on job knowledge and skill rather than on position (and in which empl oyees can increase base pay by learning a variety of jobs); and incentive plans such as employee stock options plans (ESOPs). Compensation programs and policies must be communicated clearly and thoroughly to employees. Employees naturally want to have a clear understanding of what they can reasonably expect in terms of compensation (both in terms of monetary compensation and benefits) and performance appraisal. To ensure that this takes place, consultants urge business owners to detail all aspects of their compensation programs in writing. Taking this step not only helps reassure employees, but also provides the owner with additional legal protection from unfair labor practices accusations. Todays competitive business environment is forcing companies to rethink how to attract and retain top talent without sacrificing business goals. Employee compensation and benefits are an employers primary tools to attract and retain talented employees, but they are facing more scrutiny now than ever. Plan fiduciaries are under increased pressure to adhere to rigid standards in light of recent corporate scandals. Waves of employee benefits legislation and regulation threaten to swamp employee benefit plan administration. Many companies are faced with unmotivated employees whose poor attitude can greatly affect the growth of the company. By introducing incentives, companies can boost employee morale tremendously. A few examples of employee incentives are paid vacations, company sponsored social activities, stock options, and bonuses or pay increases based on performance. These are just a few activities that can lead to a more productive work environment. HR is usually faced with suggestions but is unable to put them into company policy. The most challenge Human Resources department facing is employees turnover. Meeting the demands of todays changing business environment requires building and retaining a loyal and motivated staff. Therefore, finding and keeping quality employees so as to reducing turnover is one of the key challenges of HR department. Employees who feel theyre underpaid will also feel theyre undervalued and are more open to potential offers from outside firms. To a firm, the effects of turnover can be costly. The time and money it takes to recruit, rehire and retain can quickly cut into a firms bottom line. Besides the costs, especially for the high-technology companies, employees turnover means high risks of losing its important technologies and clients. To develop a loyal, motivated workforce and keeping turnover at a minimum, the first step is finding and hiring good people. Therefore, Its crucial to have a recruiting strategy in place. Secondly, it certainly takes more than money alone to attract and retain skilled professionals, its helpful to offer competitive compensation packages, for example: to be flexible and tailor compensation to individual employees; pay a little more than prevailing salaries at other firms; acknowledge your employees contributions as frequently as possible; offer staff members opportunity and reward them when they succeed. Thirdly, creating an employee-friendly work environment also play a role. The implication is clear: The more enriching your work environment, the more likely you are to retain a staff of satisfied, productive employees. The single most challenging issue facing HR executives today is the benefits package a company offers to its employees. Such benefits as retirement plans, healthcare, family leave plans and vacation time are becoming increasingly important to employees. However, such benefits are costing companies a tremendous amount of money each year and its on the rise. Human Resource executives must find a middle ground that will not only please its employees, but also be affordable to the company. The most challenging HR issue facing companies today is the ability to offer a competitive incentive package. Employees today want to work for a company that offers reasonable salaries, excellent health benefits, a pension plan and comprehensive 401k plans. Not to mention tuition reimbursement, child care centers, fitness centers, life insurance, and the all-important paid time off. Each of these perks is very costly to the company, but without them the quality of their workforce would be sacrificed. Companies seem to be adding more benefits to attract and retain employees, but with the increases in the cost of these benefits who know how long they will last. HR executives need to understand their company and be able to offer as many benefits as possible without hurting the profitability of the company. If you own your own business, your employee compensation and benefits package can be the deciding factor for many potential employees. And its not just the money. To make your company competitive and attractive to job candidates, you have to offer an exceptional total benefits package. That makes it a very important part of your business planning and management process if you hope to hire (and keep) top employees. Of all the disciplines in the human resources field, compensation is one of the most complex. Handling compensation issues requires knowledge of employment trends, the value of experience and credentials for various positions and industries, negotiation skills, company budget and the organizations bottom line. Economic conditions also play an important role in compensation and benefits issues. Addressing compensation issues can range from developing competitive wage scales to weighing the advantage of bonus and incentive payments. The term compensation means financial payments such as wages and salary paid to employees. Compensation also includes bonus and incentive payments, raises and company stock awarded to employees. Compensation specialists often have knowledge of both compensation and employee benefits. This is one reason why human resources departments sometimes combine compensation and benefits into one departmental function. HRs efforts to integrate compensation strategies and practices are a key component of successful mergers and acquisitions. In todays whirlwind of mergers and acquisitions (MAs), everyday HR issues such as employee compensation may get blown aside as countless financial and legal priorities take center stage. However, recent research suggests that HR could play a greater role in successful MAs, and, the earlier HR gets involved, the better. Depending on the circumstances of the deal-and the compensation policies of the merging companies-HR may be called on to splice disparate payment plans into a program that fits the new organization, or HR may have to discard the original plans and then create a program from scratch that complements the merged entities. Either way, old and new employees will be concerned about what is happening with their pay, so HR also must develop an effective communications plan to inform and reassure them. Compensation represents the largest of all expenses in most organizations, and it is in turmoil. The Federal governments statements are inconsistent and have resulted in much uncertainty. Executive Compensation is a global issue, including who is an executive, CERP implications, and long and short-term incentives. While some employers are reducing hiring and merit budgets, freezing salaries, decreasing bonuses and pay, passing on of benefit costs, and gasp cutting out 401k contributions they should also remain concerned about holding on to their most talented employees when the economy recovers. With decreasing revenues, sales compensation structures are being revised, such as the trend away from a revenue basis to a profit basis. Then there are the changes in 401(k) and other plans Companies are cutting their match, and the IRS is providing guidance. It is the biggest pain of Compensation and Benefits how to introduce the fair and transparent compensation policy to the organization. In the public sector, this issue is quite easy to solve as their compensation scheme are pretty rigid and people get used to them. But in the large corporations the transparency and fairness of the compensation policy can be a real issue to the employees. The organizations usually know what it means to have a fair and transparent compensation policy. But the pressure of the business and the constant need to change makes almost impossible to make the compensation policy transparent and fair to all the employees. It needs a lot of time and effort. Fair Compensation Policy needs a clear definition of job descriptions and job profiles in the organization. The value of each job must be evaluated and the organization must develop a clear system of jobs within the organization. In this stage the HRM is under a big pressure as the managers know about the impact of the job evaluation to the real salaries and bonuses. The whole system must be clearly supported by the Top Management of the company. When the organization has a clear system of job evaluation and all the job positions are put in the correct order, the organization can develop the Fair Compensation Policy. The fair compensation policy takes the following inputs, job, evaluation, job market situation, business strategy, preferences of the organization. Based on the inputs the HRM can prepare the fair compensation policy, which enables the company to reach better performance. The HRM is responsible for the correct setting and keeping the rules during the procedure of creation of the fair compensation policy. The fair compensation policy means the fair value of each job in the organization and clear process of reaching this fair value. Transparent Compensation Policy is about opening the rules for the compensation policy to employees. When the employees have a chance to understand the principles of the compensation policy and they can take them as fair to them, you are successful in the implementation of the Transparent Compensation Policy. The Transparent Compensation Policy is about the courage to open the rules and the compensation policy must be ready to be open. In case, the compensation policy is not fully implemented and the employees are not fully in the compensation range, it is very dangerous to make compensation policy transparent. Honestly, these basic rules about the Fair and Transparent Compensation Policy are easy to write, but very hard to follow in the real business life. But every HRM should implement Fair and Transparent Compensation Policy to support the performance of the business and to increase satisfaction of employees.

Effects of Atmospheric Instability on the Anthrosphere :: Geology

EFFECTS OF ATMOSPHERIC INSTABILITY ON THE ANTHROSPHERE INTRODUCTION The atmosphere rises to 500 km above Earth's surface. The atmosphere is divided into four parts based on temperature change in relation to change in altitude. The four parts are the: Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, and Thermosphere. This paper will be discussing instability in the Troposphere, the lowest level, since it is where the Earth's weather takes place. Tropospheric instability often times yields severe weather, such as tornadoes. A Tornado is a violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and pendent from a cumulonimbus cloud. A tornado's fierce winds have the ability to severely impact the lives of humans by: turning innocent stationary objects into flying missiles, collapsing buildings, and even throwing people hundreds of yards. One researcher summarized tornadoes well when he said "Tornadoes are one of the World's strongest forces, and they will not stop at anything that will get in their way!"(Elias Demakes). FORMATION OF SEVERE WEATHER HOW: Atmospheric instability is the result of air rising in a cloud that is warmer than its surroundings. The heat released by the condensation within the cloud allows the rising air to maintain its relative warmth in comparison to its surroundings. This is characteristic of a supercell, the strongest type of thunderstorm (Supercell). Supercells occur when the warm updraft moves through an overlying stable layer and continues upward into a zone of cool dry air. This process produces fierce vortex motions, a pre-requisite for tornadoes. WHERE: Tornadoes can occur anywhere as long as the conditions are favorable. However, the United States is host to more tornadoes than any other country. And within the United States, geographically, the western plains has the highest frequency of tornado occurences. The western plains has so many that it has become known as "Tornado Valley". One reason that this area receives so much tornadic activity is because here, the warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico converges with the cool dry air from the north. This creates the unstable atmosphere necessary for the formation of a tornado. WHEN: Tornadoes can occur on any day of the year at any hour. However, tornadoes occur most frequently in the spring.

Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg Conner Mahan Period 5 Presented to Stephen Dame February 24, 2013 Table of Contents Cover Page : Page 1 Table of Contents : Page 2 Biography Page : Page 3 Films Page : Page 4 Songs Page : Page 5 The Letter to the Famous Person : Page 6 Gallery : Page 7 Works Cited : Page 8 Mark Wahlberg Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an actor, movie and television producer, and also a former rapper. He was known for being called Marky Mark in his earlier years of fame but then became more famous in 1991 with his debut of being the frontman of the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.He was named number one of VH1’s 40 Hottest Hotties of the 90’s. Wahlberg has been in several movies, one of the most famous for him was Fear because it was the first film that he had a good roll in. Mark believes in the religion of Catholicism. He is married and has four children. He married Rhea Durham in 2009 and they are still married to this day. He has two brothers, Donnie Wahlberg and Ro bert Wahlberg. Mark was born in Boston, Massachusetts, U. S. on June 5, 1971. He is 41 now and still making movies. His current occupations are being an Actor and a Producer. His most recent production that will be coming out very soon is Pain and Gain.In this movie he had to go on a rigorous diet and workout a lot. If you take a look at two different images before and after the movie was made you can tell a large difference in his muscle mass. In this movie they corrupt a company man that happens to sell an illegal substance. They blackmail him about what he has done and get him to give them all of their money and runs of. Movies That He Starred In —- The Substitute : 1993 Renaissance Man : 1994 The Basketball Diaries : 1995 Fear : 1996 Traveller : 1997 Boogie Nights : 1997 The Big Hit : 1998 The Corruptor : 1999 Three Kings : 1999 The Yards : 2000The Perfect Storm : 2000 Planet of the Apes : 2001 Rock Star : 2001 The Truth About Charlie : 2002 The Italian Job : 2003 Entoura ge : 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010. I Heart Huckabees : 2004 Four Brothers : 2005 Invincible : 2006 The Departed : 2006 Shooter : 2007 We Own the Night : 2007 Saturday Night Live : 2008 The Happening : 2008 Max Payne : 2008 The Lovely Bones : 2009 Date Night : 2010 The Other Guys : 2010 Cubed : 2010 The Fighter : 2010 Contraband : 2012 Ted : 2012 Broken City : 2013 Pain & Gain : 2013 2 Guns : 2013 Transformers 4 : 2014 Ted 2 : 2014 Movies That He was Producer/Executive Producer In –Entourage – Executive Producer. We Own the Night – Producer. In Treatment – Executive Producer. How to Make It in America – Executive Producer. The Fighter – Producer. Contraband – Producer. This is Mark Wahlberg on the Red Carpet. (2005-2007) This is Mark Wahlberg on the Red Carpet again. (2010-2011) Letter to Mark Wahlberg : Hello Mr. Mark Wahlberg. I would like to inform you of me being a big fan of yours. I would someday like to meet you. I don’t have m uch to talk about. Sincerely, Conner Mahan Works Cited : â€Å"Mark Wahlberg. † Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 26 Feb. 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.