Thursday, October 31, 2019

International relatins - violence, resistance and identity Essay

International relatins - violence, resistance and identity - Essay Example The list of these countries underscores the fact that not only was Occupy Movement an international occurrence, but a movement that took place in democracies and capitalist states, also. The context in which Occupy Movement took place has both anteceding and triggering factors. The anteceding factors to Occupy Movement had been the longstanding culture of unfair power relations in the society and economic structures, the (mis)management of large corporations, multinationals and the entire international system to the point of inordinately benefiting only a minority, undermining democracy and precipitating an absence of financial and social security. Unknown to the casual observer, the triggering factor to Occupy Movement must have been the 2010 Arab Spring and the 2011-2012 Spanish Protests. No sooner had the two protests began in earnest than social online networks started going viral with calls to the effect that America and Britain needed their own Tahrir Squares. It is not in doub t that advancements in IT and liberalisation of information played instrumental roles in sparking Occupy Movement. The stated goals and aims of the Occupy Movement have slight discrepancies since there are country-specific demands that were put across. Nevertheless, it is clear that certain demands cut across all Occupy Movement protests throughout the globe. The goals included the addressing of the corrupting effects that money had on politics, the streamlining of regulations in the banking industry, the implementation of banking reforms, attainment of equality in income distribution, the proscription of high-frequency trading, the abatement of the influences that corporations have on politics, creation of better and more jobs, and the opening and successful completion of investigations and prosecution of those who propagate corruption in politics. (b) The Issue(s) at Stake There are several issues that emanated from the rise of Occupy Movement. One of the issues was the feasibilit y of capitalism and the neoliberal approaches to economics which capitalist persuasions brought about. The crux of the matter herein is that all the countries in which Occupy Movement took place are capitalist and thus adopted socioeconomic and political neo-liberalism. While the UK, America and the West branded capitalism as the pathway to success, 2 decades after the Fall of Communism (or communist USSR), Occupy Movement emerges to decry the ravages that are apparently associated with capitalism. The radical nature of the problem at hand is that, in the event that capitalism and neo-liberalism are found to be inchoate, the most tenable alternative system of production must be considered. Another matter that is at stake in this discussion is the extent to which the UK, America and the rest of the Occupy Movement countries can be said to be democratic. From December 2010, Occupy Movement countries had been cheering on the Arab Spring as a manifestation of a democratic reawakening. T he same countries had piled pressure on the regimes in the Arab world to concede to the demands of the hoi polloi. Thus, the manner in which Occupy Movement regimes responded to the protests and the success of the movements may serve as the litmus tests for

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

History of education Essay Example for Free

History of education Essay Tamil Nadu is regarded to be one of India’s star performers in the sector of elementary education. The results of the 2001 Census show that Tamil Nadu has attained third position behind Kerala and Maharashtra both in terms of overall and female literacy. It recorded close to 100 per cent gross enrolment ratio (GER) at primary and upper primary levels based on 2007 estimates. A major legislative effort for the universalisation of education in line with the constitutional mandate has been the introduction of the Tamil Nadu Compulsory Education Act, 1994. Under this Act it is the duty of the government to provide the necessary infrastructure (schools and teachers) for ensuring universalisation of elementary education. Parents are also liable to be fined if they do not send their wards to school, though this rule is not very strictly enforced as most of the children not going to school come from poor backgrounds. Tamil Nadu’s high enrolment statistics are also the result of the number of welfare schemes that the State government has introduced in the elementary education sector. The large number of missionary and private schools are also playing a role in the spread of education. The government provides textbooks, uniforms and noon meals to the pupils making it a State where the per child spending is much higher than in educationally backward States such as Bihar, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and others and is higher than the all-India average. The State is making an endeavor to provide primary schools within a one km radius of human habitations with a population of 300 and above to increase their accessibility. It is also a State that has actually spent most of the funds allocated to it by the Centre under the SSA scheme, in contrast to States like UP, Bihar and Assam that have huge unspent amounts. Tamil Nadu students stood first in the country in mathematics, language and reading comprehension skills according to the national mid-term achievement survey of Class III children commissioned by the NCERT in collaboration with the MHRD and the SCERT and SSA wings of the States recently. But it has come to light that local bodies like corporations and municipalities are not fully utilizing money collected as education tax as a percentage of property tax under the Tamil Nadu Elementary Education Act and this is affecting the quality and quantity of formal education provision at the grassroots level. While the general literacy rate in Tamil Nadu as per 2001 data is 73. 5%, wide disparities exist across districts, gender, and area of residence as well as social grouping. The literacy rate of the SC and ST populations are consistently lower in all the districts. The retention rate within and after the primary school level is also not very impressive and there is a high percentage of repeaters. This is particularly so in the case of the STs and SCs. It is to overcome this discrepancy between education offered in different kinds of schools, between rural and urban schools and to overcome other numerous ills that have crept into the education system—such as arbitrary collection of fees, induction of daily waged, inadequately qualified para teachers, rote learning, examination stress, problems related to the medium of instruction and so on—that the State government constituted the Muthukumaran Committee, which submitted its report in 2007. This committee had the mandate to work out a framework of a uniform pattern of education in Tamil Nadu and to make recommendations for improving its quality. The report of the Committee recommends only one autonomous board, The Tamil Nadu State Secondary School Education Board, instead of the existing four State level boards—Matriculation, Anglo-Indian, Oriental and State Board. Schools coming under this integrated Board would follow a common syllabus ensuring an equitable school education in the State not conferring any undue advantages with regard to admission into higher educational institutions for students completing their school education from one particular Board. Equitable standard education is to be provided by a Common School or Neighbourhood School system, which with uniform syllabi would help to ‘decommercialise’ educational institutions and put an end to many a private management that does not feel sufficiently accountable to society in this crucial sector. The spiraling cost of education starting at the nursery level is cementing caste-class and rural-urban divisions. A common school system using the mother tongue as a medium of instruction would make equal education accessible to all without discrimination. A common school system also means a common examination pattern. The report of the Committee advocates a reasonable teacher-student ratio of not more than 1:30 and doing away with faulty textbooks and a system of rote learning. It emphasizes the promotion of analytical and rational skills that would equip the students to learn by themselves; a testing and evaluation pattern that involves the application of concepts learnt rather than mere reproduction of facts. The school syllabus should not overload students with information but instead kindle their interest in the subject and teach them how to search for more information and conceptualize it. Traditional knowledge should be incorporated and made part of school education. Evaluation should be comprehensive and not just of academic achievements, and that too only marks based. Evaluation should include an assessment of student abilities and performance in academics, the arts, sports and games, values, reading habits, character, conduct and other extra-curricular activities. Schools should not only lay emphasis on academic subjects but also on moral education. Here the Committee suggests that it may be better to have a progress book with entries made from time to time and also periodically sent to the parents so that they may be made aware of their child’s progress. Regular consultation with parents about their wards’ progress and achievements and educational goals is a must. A sheet of paper containing marks obtained in public exams is not enough to understand a student’s development and potential. If the marks obtained in only one exam are going to decide the person’s admission into an institute of higher learning then all stress is on preparing for this exam neglecting other exams and activities. The chance or temptation to indulge in malpractices is also high. Marks obtained in a one-time exam also are no accurate reflection of the student’s actual knowledge and achievement level and potential. Treating exams and marks as more important than life itself has meant the death of many a student. Finally, children belonging to linguistic minorities should be allowed to gain instruction in their respective mother tongue, while all students in standards 5 or 8 ought to have a specific level of knowledge in Tamil and English so that these languages can be used for communication. No student should be dropped and he/she should be allowed to grow in the chosen field of interest and in accordance with their individual capability. A simple pass or fail should certainly not be a deciding factor in a person’s life. While the government has accepted the notion of one board for school education other major recommendations of the Muthukumaran Committee on education reforms are being sidelined by the State government. In fact, some government run schools are changing the medium of instruction to English and not all schools teach Tamil, though this is compulsory as per current State education law. Moreover, schools with an eye on the results in board exams and aiming at future lucrative career possibilities for their students are introducing modern European languages like French (German is waiting to be introduced on a larger scale on the school level) that are supposedly high scoring subjects in comparison to Tamil, which is seen to be difficult even by those whose mother tongue it is. There is almost everywhere an exodus from government run schools to aided or private schools because of the perceived better quality and the lure of an English medium education, which is regarded by parents to be necessary in today’s world. It is to remain viable and not lose out in this competition for students that government run schools are increasingly offering English medium instruction also, although the English medium sections are permitted only on a self-financing basis. The non-acceptance of important recommendations by the Muthukumaran committee is thus in line with the general pro-globalisation trend in the Tamil Nadu economy as a whole. Current education system Why is India still a developing country and what is stopping it from being a developed country? India’s education system as a stumbling block towards its objectives of achieving inclusive growth. India is going to experience a paradox of nearly 90 million people joining the workforce but most of them will lack requiste skills and the mindset for productiveemployment according to a report in DNA. India has about 550 million people under the age of 25 years out of which only 11% are enrolled in tertiary institutions compared to the world average of 23%. . I will be focussing on how the education system’s failure is leading to another social issue of income inequality and hence, suggest certain policies to improve India’s education system and reduce inequality. Problems and drawbacks The really critical aspect of Indian public education system is its low quality. The actual quantity of schooling that children experience and the quality of teaching they receive are extremely insufficient ingovernment schools. A common feature in all government schools is the poor quality of education, with weak infrastructure and inadequate pedagogic attention. What the government is not realising right now is that education which is a source of human capital can create wide income inequalities. It will be surprising to see how income inequalities are created within the same group of educated peopleSo if the government does not improve education system particularly in rural areas the rich will become richer and the poor will get poorer. Hence, it is imperative for the government to correct the blemishes in India’s education system which will also be a step towards reducing income inequality. Another reason for poor quality of education is the poor quality of teachers in government schools . Government schools are unable to attract good quality teachers due to inadequate teaching facilities and low salaries. The government currently spends only 3% of its GDP on education which is inadequate and insufficient. To improve the quality of education , the government needs to spend more money from its coffers on education. Most economists feel that the only panacea to the ills of the public schooling system is the voucher scheme. Under the voucher system, parents are allowed to choose a school for their children and they get full or partial reimbursement for the expenses from the government. But however, the voucher system will further aggravate the problem of poor quality of education in government schools. Such a system will shift resources from government schools to private schools. This will worsen the situation of government schools which are already under-funded. Moreover, if the same amount given as vouchers can be used to build infrastructure in schools then the government can realize economies of scale. For example- The centre for civil society is providing vouchers worth Rs 4000 per annum to 308 girls. This means that the total amount of money given as vouchers is Rs 1232000. If the same amount can be used to construct a school and employ high quality teachers who are paid well then a larger section of the society will enjoy the benefit of education. A school can definitely accommodate a minimum of 1000 students. I hope government takes certain appropriate policy measures to improve the education system otherwise inequalities are going to be widespread and India’s basic capabilities will remain stunted. Let us strengthen the case for a stronger education system. Conclusion Certain policy measures need to be taken by the government. The basic thrust of government education spending today must surely be to ensure that all children have access to government schools and to raise the quality of education in those schools. One of the ways in which the problem of poor quality of education can be tackled is through common schooling. This essentially means sharing of resources between private and public schools. Shift system is one of the ways through which common schooling can be achieved. The private school can use the resources during the first half of the day and the government school can use it during the second half. It is important to remember that the quality of education is directly linked to the resources available and it is important for the government to improve resource allocation to bring about qualitative changes in the field of education. Common schooling is one of the ways in which government can use limited resources in an efficient way and thus improve resource allocation.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Animation In Live Action Movies Film Studies Essay

Animation In Live Action Movies Film Studies Essay Live action animation movies are the movies in which CG characters interact with live-action character/environment which will be interlinked and will be playing their respective role in the movies. The first live action animation movie was Gertie the Dinosaur by Winsor McCay. This started in the silent film era. Unlike the common belief, mickey mouse was not Disneys 1st success .With Alice comedies Disney has hit success which worked on the concept of incorporating animation in live action environment. Disney has also tried various movies using Donal duck. Classic example of a live action animation movie was Space Jam where the real life character(micheal jordan) accidentally enters a toon world and joins the Looney toons characters in a basketball match. Another record breaking live action animation movie was Who framed Roger Rabbit which was based on a novel written by Gary wolf. Combining real life character with CG character was not an easy job. It took much time to interlink and to get a realistic effect with CG character in a live action environment. Live action animations in earlier stage was done in different ways. Animated characters and real life characters have been positioned precisely to get better output using an optical printer or an aerial image animation cameras and the negatives would be printed twice on the same release print. Alice in Wonderland CG characters like rabbit, butterflies , rabbit and real life characters were done with much complicated methods. The interacting of both CG character and real life character were done that much good that normal people cant find which one is cg chracter and which one is normal character. To animate a action sequence of kicking a ball by real life character and it is falling somewhere that can not been seen by our naked eye. For that sequence 1st we have to shoot the person who is kicking the ball with action then with the help of softwares we will place that ball where ever we want. It is extermely difficult and biggest challenge to get that realistic feel. Advanced special effects were used in interaction of animated characters and real life chracter to make the film more realistic in the movie Who framed Roger Rabbit. No other live action animation movies were able to achieve successful stories like who framed roger rabbit. Who framed roger rabbit was the movie happened during 1988,but present software technology and features make the movie more realistic. India is still far from perfection when it comes to animation in live action. All the live action animated projects tries and uses animation to the fullest but we are just not there yet. One of the examples of animation in live action in Indian films would be Taare Zameen par by Aamir Khan. 1.2 billion is expected to reach india by 2010 though animation industry . India has a massive growth of 27% rise since 2008. Principles of classical animation was trained to indian people by Disney Studios aniamtor Clair weeks during the period of industry evolution in 1950. King Kong, the legendary giant gorilla is one of the most famous and iconic characters in the history of motion pictures developed by the Hollywood film industry. He would be the first ape who fell love with the beauty. The whole world stunned by watching the god of Skull island fought with the Tyrannosaurus Rex and and Pterodactyl to save the life of the beauty. King Kong is a character created by Merian C Cooper and later released as a stunning special effects movie in 1933, which gross a huge amount from the box office at the time of the great depression. The story is about a gigantic gorilla named Kong and how he is involved with the young lady Ann Darrow. The film was directed by Merian C Cooper and Ernest B Schoedsack. This film is notable for Wills O Briens stop motion animation. Technically this film was a revolution and it helps to make 1930s as the golden era of motion pictures. A nine year old boy, living in the Pukerua Bay town of New Zealand bust in to tears when Kong slipped off the Empire State Building. When he was 12, he tried to recreate the film by using his parents super-8 camera and a model of Kong made of wire and rubber, but eventually gave up on the project. Inspired by this film he become a film director. This boy is none other than the Academy award winner peter Jackson. In 2005 he had fulfilled his dream by making the remake of the 1933s King Kong. It was full of ground breaking visual effects and CGI animation and won three academy awards including for best visual effects. Both the films used advanced technologies of that time and had influenced the future films. The old King Kong movie was a milestone in special effects and sop motion animation, in place the new King Kong movie was all about visual effects and computer generated animation. In this paper, I will first describe King Kong(1933) and King Kong(2005), then I will point out similarities and differences between the two films, and finally I will discuss how both of these film influence the future. About King Kong 1933 Origin of the concept Merien C Cooper was searching for a natural drama type story for his next film after done his works Grass (1925), Chang (1927) and The Four Feathers (1929) successfully for the Paramount pictures. He had an interest in exotic animals and he observed a lot about animals while the location shooting in Africa for Paramount pictures The Four Feathers. He inspired by the film The Lost World, an adaptation of Conan Doyles novel, which told a story of a modern day journey to a remote Amazonian plateau where living dinosaurs still roam. While reading the book The Dragon Lizards of Komodo he thought about making a fictional natural drama film. Komodo is about Dragons which were caught by humans and brought to city. Later they caught some diseases and dead. Instead of dragons Cooper thought about gorilla and he decided to bring his gorilla in to New York City. He want to kill his gorilla in a tragic way more than any kind of diseases. Even his previous films was huge success the exhibitors still complained that the film would have done better if it had a love story. So Cooper included a lady into this concept. In 1931, Cooper was offered a job by Radio Keith Orphium pictures as executive assistant to the vice president of production, David O Selznick. Upon arriving at RKO Cooper immediately started a new film project The Most Dangerous Game. To direct this picture he hired his friend and former partner Ernest Shoedsack. Same time RKO had canceled on big budget project Creation. The crew had been working for one year for the project. Cooper was really impressed with the special effects, especially the stop motion animation created for the film by an Irishman Willis O Brien. Cooper thought that it might be p ossible to bring his gorilla story in to screen in an economical manner, instead of costly and lengthy location trip, by using this stop motion technique. Cooper had discussed his concept with O Brien. O Brien painted a portrait of an explorer and a woman being attacked by a gorilla. In order to make it more dramatic O Brien increased the size of the gorilla in to ten foot. Cooper had not yet decided the size of his character. O Briens painting impressed Cooper to consider increasing the size of ape in to 20 foot. Cooper reworked on his concept to focus on the adventures of a 20- foot tall ape. The models of large dinosaurs and jungle sets had been made for creation. Cooper thought it would decrease the production expense if they use these models and sets. Cooper thought increasing size of the gorilla would increase the possibilities for mayhem it could create in the New York city. Knowing all this excitement require an equally exiting end, Cooper began to looking for a spectacular way to end his story. The idea came to him was to have the gorilla climb to the top of a tall building and battle with many airplanes before it was finally gunned down. Cooper want his gorilla climb the tallest building of that time, the Empire State Building. Cooper discussed his idea with the RKO board but except Selznick nobody liked it. They thought the idea was far too weired and the film would be much too expensive to make , especially in the time of great depression. Cooper and O Brien had made ten concept art and they shoot two sequences in order to present to the board. They had shoot the log seen in which Kong was shaking a log which placed between a cliff while some sailors were trying to cross the log. For this they used the set and actors of The Most Dangerous Game, which were shooting in the same time. They had also used a finished seen of Creation in which a dinosaur w as hunting a sailor. After seeing this clips, board of RKO approved the project and set budget

Friday, October 25, 2019

Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises :: Hemingway Sun Also Rises Essays

THE SUN ALSO RISES The book THE SUN ALSO RISES By ERNEST HEMINGWAY contains 251 pages filled with sadness, devastation and lost love. The plot is based on real people the Hemingway knew and that angered a lot of his friends, if any. Robert Cohn, the main character, is feeling inferior because he is Jewish and starts a boxing career to feel better about himself. He married the first girl he meets out of college. Then, he meets a new woman in CA and then takes her to Europe with him while he is working on his novel. He returns to the U.S. to get it published. His friend, Jake Barnes, who lives in Paris, is asked by Cohn to travel to South America with him to watch bull fights and meet women to "fall in love with". Jake, not interested, stays close to home. "Listen Robert, going to another country doesn't make any difference. I've tried all that. You can't get away from yourself by moving from one place to another. There's nothing to that."(11). However, by staying home, Jake finds trouble. Jake goes to a cafe and meets Georgette, a beautiful woman with an awful smile whom Jake finds boring. Jake takes Georgette to BAL, a dance club and while there, he meets Lady Brett Ashley, the "love of his life" and she is also an alcoholic nymphomaniac. Cohn shows up and also gets infatuated with Brett. However, Brett leave with Jake and Cohn is now extremely jealous, while Georgette is left alone but later leaves with someone. Jake and Brett ride around Paris talking about how they want to be together but can not. Jake goes home later that night, thinks about Brett and ends up crying himself to sleep. "This was Brett that I had felt like crying about. Then I thought of her walking up the street and stepping into the car, as I had last seen her, and of course in a little while I felt like hell again." (34). He wakes up at 4 am to the sound of a drunken Brett arguing with the landlord of Jake's building. She gets up to his apartment but soon leaves and instead, asks Jake to meet her the next day.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Relationship of a Father and Son Essay

The moment where everything changed was the day Manning finally won his first arm wrestling match, his father gained some respect towards him and they both learned valuable lessons. One was manning learned that his father was a great parent in his own way and his father learned that being rough isn’t the only way you can show affection to your son. On the other hand, in â€Å"Shooting Dad†, Sarah Vowell describes the political differences her and he father have. In the house she states that one was a republican and the other was a democratic (171). Every time they would try to start a normal conversation they would end up arguing, and having discussions of who beat who. In the end she matures and realizes that they both are actually very alike. Communication is not as easy as it seems but if you take the time to listen and pay attention to details in life you’ll find that your parents’ views aren’t so far off of yours. The fathers’ competitive side was his way of showing his communicative relationship with his son. Manning used to be able to enjoy a relaxed game of arm wrestling with his father before but as time passed everything became more real and competitive. He states, â€Å"I always had to lose ‘ Want to try it again? ‘ he would ask, grinning†¦. and with squinting eyes he would laugh at me, a high laugh, through his perfect white teeth† (163). The relationship between the father and son was a physical rough relationship. The attitude of the father impedes the communication to surpass the bond of strength that they have now. The father was seen as the protector of the family. He was the tough guy, who wouldn’t show emotions. The son realized that his father has been the person he was for them. He guided them and helped them in the toughest situations in life. The age difference impeded the positive communication between them. This all started when he was a teen. The mental state of a son differs from the mental state of a father. The awareness, attitude, and strength all change as he matures over the years. As he grew he started working out more and became stronger while the dad was aging. The moment he realized he had matured and now viewed life different was when his dad challenged him to what was his last arm wrestling challenge between them. He felt sorry but the power that he was gaining was too exciting to let go of. When he was small the dad was the one with the power, he was the man of the house but now that he won he has now taken the responsibility to take that next challenge and soon be the adult, the head of household the one to take care of the family. He learned a lesson that changed the communication between him and his father. In my life as I’ve grown I’ve noticed a difference between the communication of my father and I. Before we would talk about dolls and makeup and now we communicate by being rough. We have competitions about the smallest things like what’s that color to who will win the wrestling match or soccer game. At first to me all that was boring and bland, but as he started to get older he distanced himself from me. What stopped us from being able to communicate was the fact that we both had different views in life. I was focused on school and focused on achieving my goal to graduate and his focus was on his work and sports. We would spend limited time together that we had so much to talk about yet we would stay quiet for hours. He slowly became more involved in my school and studies and I would get pointers from him on how to play the sport correctly. Now during weekends we go to baseball games, basketball games, or to the library. Our bond has grown to be a strong relationship. The love between families is always there, it’s just that people choose to show their affection in many different ways. Manning and Vowell explain how they struggled to communicate with their father’s but overall they ended up figuring out that they are similar in many way to their father’s. The form that Manning was able to communicate or interact with his father was through a physical tough relation and the Vowell was through nature as she took photos and as he killed it. Learning to communicate can be the key to life; it’s just the matter of finding happiness between the people.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Free Essays on Working And Non-working Students

Working and Non-working Students â€Å"Working and not working†¦ Very different or not really?† This is one example of the questions we ask ourselves when referring to one of the many discussed subjects related with education: the difference between working and non-working students to finance their own education. Though, I’ll limit myself on focusing only on three differences. Students who work to finance their education differ from the ones who don’t in studying, when it comes to availability, concentration, and economic situation. Students who work to finance their education don’t have as much time to study as students who don’t. Working students have more limited free hours. For example, back in Portugal where I used to live, I had a friend who worked many hours so she’d always be late for classes; consequently, besides not having all the notes, it was difficult for her to catch up because of the lack of time. Another example of the way working limits the time availability is how whenever I called this friend of mine to go out and spend some time with her, by going to the movies, walk on the park or even just go to the coffee shop in the same street in front of her five floors building where she lived to have some â€Å"girl talk† and the chocolate round and with sprinkles cake that she loved so much or ice-cream, she could never go. On the phone by the sound of her low, tired, and calm voice, I could perceive how much she really wanted to go out with me, but couldn’t becaus e she had to study or was possibly working at the time. On the other hand, students who don’t work to finance their education have more and enough time to study. For instance, I don’t work to finance my education and that gives me enough time to organize my study material, clarify my questions that I might have and be well prepared for tests. Furthermore, I remember when I was in Portugal last year I used to have classes every day from 8:00 a.m... Free Essays on Working And Non-working Students Free Essays on Working And Non-working Students Working and Non-working Students â€Å"Working and not working†¦ Very different or not really?† This is one example of the questions we ask ourselves when referring to one of the many discussed subjects related with education: the difference between working and non-working students to finance their own education. Though, I’ll limit myself on focusing only on three differences. Students who work to finance their education differ from the ones who don’t in studying, when it comes to availability, concentration, and economic situation. Students who work to finance their education don’t have as much time to study as students who don’t. Working students have more limited free hours. For example, back in Portugal where I used to live, I had a friend who worked many hours so she’d always be late for classes; consequently, besides not having all the notes, it was difficult for her to catch up because of the lack of time. Another example of the way working limits the time availability is how whenever I called this friend of mine to go out and spend some time with her, by going to the movies, walk on the park or even just go to the coffee shop in the same street in front of her five floors building where she lived to have some â€Å"girl talk† and the chocolate round and with sprinkles cake that she loved so much or ice-cream, she could never go. On the phone by the sound of her low, tired, and calm voice, I could perceive how much she really wanted to go out with me, but couldn’t becaus e she had to study or was possibly working at the time. On the other hand, students who don’t work to finance their education have more and enough time to study. For instance, I don’t work to finance my education and that gives me enough time to organize my study material, clarify my questions that I might have and be well prepared for tests. Furthermore, I remember when I was in Portugal last year I used to have classes every day from 8:00 a.m...