The World's Largest Private Yacht – the Eclipse

An Addition to the Abromovich Collection


Russian magnate Roman Abromovich's $300 000 000 commission of the Eclipse will increase his own private yacht collection to four, turning it into the largest collection in the world. Abromovich already owns the Pelorus, Sussurro and Ecstasea, with each having its own unique, remarkable features. Abromovich also previously owned the Le Grand Bleu yacht which used to hold the title of the world's largest privately owned vessel. This yacht was presented to Abromovich's friend Eugene Schivdler in 2006 and is currently for sale again.


The Pelorus is the world's 11th largest yacht and before the commissioning of the Eclipse was the largest yacht in Abromovich's collection. The yacht was originally built for another businessman who sold it to Abromovich after one year. The yacht was then modified to its new Russian owner's specifications, including an additional helipad, increased security and stabilisers. This is Abromovich's yacht of choice to sail the western Mediterranean and travels down the Suez Canal in winter.


Unbelievable Features


Arrive on board the Eclipse by helicopter and choose to disembark on one of the two helipads that are closest to your quarters. A lift then takes you down the nine stories to your desired location, where no doubt a steward will meet you with a crystal flute of champagne. Each of the 24 guests that can be accommodated on board can enjoy the privacy of their own rooms, with each VIP suite having a balcony from where they can enjoy the fresh air and sublime views. Exciting features like a disco, a cinema, an outside pool, hot tubs, a bar, numerous lounges and even a rounded glass room in the stern which allows for panoramic views are all on offer to entertain guests. If cruising at 25 knots is not adventurous enough for you, there are 20 jet skis, numerous pleasure boats and even a submarine to get guests out on the ocean for some adrenalin-pumping action.
Built for Privacy


The Eclipse marks a new trend in yacht design, with the emphasis shifting to focus on privacy and subtlety. Abromovich is extremely private and his emphasis on security and privacy is sure to attract a multitude of high profile guests to the Eclipse. He is known for his generosity, often lending out his yachts to his Chelsea footballers as rewards or as a honeymoon treat. Because of his protective nature over his children and his celebrity guests, privacy was a large directive for the actual design of the yacht. The enormous central foyer is intended to separate guests, owner and the 30-strong crew for optimal privacy. The owner's suite is over 5000 square foot and has its own private garden for when the family needs to escape the pressure of entertaining guests.


The unique asset of the 12-seater submarine also adds to the privacy levels of the yacht as, with the docking port being situated in the hull of the boat, guests can come and go in complete privacy. For added security, the entire yacht is fitted with motion sensors and missile detectors, giving guests complete peace of mind. Flashlight sensors have even been installed against paparazzi cameras ensuring the privacy of all those on board.


Luxury Yachting for the Slightly Less Extravagant


The Eclipse sounds like a fantasy straight out of a James Bond film, but the reality is that yachting the Caribbean or Mediterranean in pure luxury is not as impossible as you might think. Incredible yachts like the 271 foot Omega are extremely safe and secure but do not compromise on luxury. All the comforts of a five star hotel are at your finger tips while floating out on the vast blue ocean.


Various yacht brokerage companies offer a range of yachts for purchase and charter. Chartering a yacht through such a broker eliminates any administration involved in owning your own yacht and all your needs can be instantly taken care of. From matching you with the perfect crew to creating your ideal itinerary and route, a yacht broker is the ideal way to plan a yachting vacation. The type of yachts available for charter ranges from enormous Eclipse-like vessels to smaller more intimate crafts meaning that a luxury yachting trip is actually within reach for most people.


Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/cruising-articles/the-worlds-largest-private-yacht-the-eclipse-530669.html

Read more »

Cruise Ship Tips: How to Avoid Sea Sickness

If you're considering going on a cruise and you're concerned about sea sickness, you might already have received very mixed advice on what type of cabin to book to minimize motion sickness issues.


Many people seem to think that rooms on the upper decks are better for those with motion sickness. Others believe that cabins located towards the front or bow of the ship are better for such passengers. However, in reality, neither the upper decks nor the front of the ship are the best places to be if you tend to get sea sick easily. 


Most large, modern cruise ships are equipped with stabilizers that minimize any swaying and movement of the ship. In general, these stabilizers do an excellent job, and quite often you are not even aware that you are on a ship. Therefore, many people have absolutely no problem with sea sickness no matter where there cabin is located.


However, if you are like me and you have some issues with motion sickness, there are further ways to minimize any possible problems and allow you to enjoy your cruise without getting sick.


The best room location to minimize the ship's motion is actually in the dead center of the ship. On most large cruise ships, this spot is on the lower passenger floors, in the center inside cabins. In general, inside cabins tend to sway less side to side, due to their positioning directly above the line of pivot - the ship's keel. 


Of course, even if you pick the optimal cabin, it is still possible that you will experience some motion sickness if you hit rough seas. In this instance, two natural remedies many people have found helpful are eating a green apples and taking ginger capsules. It might be worth a shot giving either or both of these natural remedies a try, especially if you cannot tolerate traditional motion sickness medication.


If you do prefer to stick with the standard medicinal approach, it is best to start taking Dramamine pills or the patch before you begin to feel ill, as the medications are more effective at preventing motion sickness than stopping it once it you are already experiencing symptoms. 


Of course, should you become ill onboard, most large cruise lines have well-trained onboard physicians and medical staffs. Therefore, even if you should suffer any symptoms of sea sickness, you can be assured that you will receive proper care.


So if you are concerned about sea sickness, your best bet is to choose a cabin near the middle of the ship and to plan ahead, taking your medication before you get ill, or, in the alternative, bringing along alternative treatments to help combat any sea sickness that you may experience.


With proper planning, even those of us who are susceptible to motion sickness can enjoy a cruise largely free of symptoms.

Sourve: http://www.articlesbase.com/cruising-articles/cruise-ship-tips-how-to-avoid-sea-sickness-472397.html

Read more »

World Flags and Their Symbolism

It is always fascinating to study world flags and their symbolism.  There are thousands of flags across the world, and each one has its own history and unique symbolism and meaning.  Below you'll find the meaning behind a few of the world flags for some of the world's largest countries.

Examples of World Flags and Their Symbolism

Afghanistan :  This flag is a unique design featuring a background of three colors - black, red, and green.  The national emblem, in the center of the flag, is Mehrab and Pulpit in white, with a flag on each side of it.  The top of the insignia reads "There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his prophet, and Allah is Great."  The three colors represent various stages of the history of Afghanistan.  Black represents the 19th century, red identifies its fight for independence, and green identifies the country's hard-won independence.

England : The flag of England features a red cross over a white background.  It is also known as the "St. George."  The flag has its origins in the crusades, and most historians believe that the flag was flown in England just before the second crusade.  England was not actually a nation until 1272 under King Edward I, and its earliest reference was in the Welsh War of 1277.  The United Kingdom flag, of course, is the Union Jack, adopted on January 1, 1801.

Finland : The flag of Finland is the "Scandinavian cross".  It is a blue cross against a white background.  The meaning of this flag is interesting; the blue represents the lakes, and the white represents the snow of the great country of Finland.

France : The French flag was adopted in 1794 and it features three vertical colors - blue, white and red.  The history of this flag comes from the colors used during the storming of the Bastille, and the Royal white.  The current flag is the original flag in use during the rule of Napoleon I.

Germany : The origins of the flag of Germany comes after WWII in the late 1940s.  The new government adopted the black-red-gold from the Weimar Republic on May 9, 1949.  The black-red-gold colors originates from 1870 when the German Empire wanted to incorporate the black and white of Prussia with the white and red of the Hanseatic League.  Therefore the post WWII colors actually represent the history of Germany quite well.

China : The Chinese flag consists of a large yellow star in the corner and four stars off to the right side all on a red background.  The red traditionally represents revolution.  The large gold star stands for the Communist Party, and the small gold stars are the four united classes - workers, peasants, rich, and the capitalists.

Japan : The Japanese flag is the well-known red circle, representing the sun, in the center of a white background.  The history of this flag dates back to the early 1600s when the Tokugawa shogunate adopted the flag on its ships.  By the 19th century, all Japanese vessels bore the flag of the rising sun.

Understanding World Flags and their Symbolism

An excellent resource for more information about world flags, and the symbolic meaning of the colors and images on those flags, are the various country guides that you can find at any library or bookstore.  Of course, if you are traveling in any foreign country, many times locals can offer you a much better insight into the history and local legends surrounding the national flag.  Always show respect and reverence to the flag of any foreign country you are visiting.

Read more »

The Major Economic and Social Problems in the Arab World?

Water issues can greatly participate in tense interstate relations in the region. The rapid growth of Arab populations is making water far more valuable than oil"*. The major water resources of the Arab world are jointly shared among different countries inside and outside the region(Turkey and Africa ) and as unused water resources became less and less in recent years led to competition over these resources and in certain cases to conflicts. Nile River, the Tigris and Euphrates, the Jordan River valley (and its tributaries), and groundwater resources in the West Bank and Israel are the main water systems under dispute in the region. A direct result of the water problem is the need for large food imports as Arab world is the least food-self-sufficient region in the world. Many countries in the region are using desalinization plants to increase their water supply by converting sea water to fresh water.However, it is an expensive option, and with the present technology it can only offer a limited solution to the drinking water problem.

Lack of industry is also one of the major problems in the Arab world." It is very clear that Arabs not used their vast resources to at least obtain some of the basic knowledge to be players in the international explosion of Technology and commerce**". With a very small manufacturing and a very week agricultural base, the Arab world depends nearly completely on foreign imports to maintain an increasingly high-tech urban society and that makes the imported food and chemicals critical to survival. Locally produced capital goods almost not exist. Transport, communications, power, water purification and distribution, and construction equipment must all be imported. Building the essential industry in the Arab countries stayed a dream because of the Excessive dependence of the west advanced industrial economies and Inadequate manpower education and rehabilitation. But Some Arab countries such as Tunisia, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon are qualified to take on industries and technology available in Europe and re-export the products to European markets. The best example of such industries is textile and ready-made garments and shoes, mostly in Syria.

"Investments in the Arab world has been disappointing "***.The Arab world of share flows of the total world investment still very low compared to the huge potential possessed to the flow of foreign direct investment received by the Arab countries. Investments in the Arab countries are clashes with many barriers which are the same toward the comprehensive development. The lack of ability to deal with the intractable problems of the country like in many Arab countries there is the case of tribal and political ethnic, sectarian conflicts. As in Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Algeria, Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine as the most important factor for attracting investments is the stability. Capital always looking for a higher degree of profit. Investor could not venture in projects that might be exposed to destruction and failure in any moment, in addition to administrative constraints such as poor management performance and the spread of bureaucracy and rampant corruption and lack of attention to self-censorship, also the low level of feasibility studies comes as one of the most important obstacles facing investors.

Social problems
"The population of the Arab world today is around 325 million people # spanning two continents" **** . Dwelt an area about one and a half times the U.S and women constitute half of the total population. with an estimated average rate of growth by about 2.4%,down from about 2.6%during the period 1985-1995,although this decline is still the highest rate among the major regions in the world(Al Jazeera newspaper 13/10/2007)# #. It projected to increase 400 million in 2020. There is a significant disparity in population size between the Arab states. Egypt and Yemen are considered overpopulated while most Arab countries are relatively under populated. A top UN official warned the authorities in Arab cities of the high growth rate of population as it could lead delay in progress and development and also could lead to social unrest, pressure on public utility services and environmental problems. Also the population growth can lead to poverty, and causing problems like water shortage and traffic jams. This increase problem has not been dealing with as one aspect of comprehensive development. (Al Jazeera newspaper 13/10/2007)
Education is another problem facing the Arab world. Approximately 30% of the people in the Arab World illiterate. Although education is becoming more accessible and the gender gap is being reduced, the region had not witnessed the positive changes seen in Asia and Latin America, particularly in literacy rates and enrolments in secondary schools and universities. The education system is not effective enough as students are being made to learn things but not to taught how to learn .Djibouti, Yemen, Iraq and Morocco were ranked the worst educational reformers. The Arab world does not read according to various reports, even those defined as not illiterate because they completed eight years of schooling they consider illiterate. This problem has to do with the economic situation. Reading books is a privilege for people who have spare time and money. The poverty that sweeps the Arab world leaves the individual struggling for survival his whole life. How is he supposed to read a book?

The human security issue of a global nature is important for people everywhere, rich and poor alike People in the Arab world have become Consider insecurity comes from problems related to daily life rather than a result of fear of a global problems, and for many of them security has become a symbol of protection from the threat of hunger, disease, unemployment, drugs, crime, social conflict, pollution and human rights violations, political oppression and environmental risks. Many have lost their children because they have to work in early age .this leads us to emphasize the idea that neglect of State for human security will be a problem and the threat of danger had seen in the coming years when the numbers of unemployed generates sense of hopelessness and frustration aggravating elements necessary for the region communal violence levels because of the rampant corruption in the public sector. Severity of this problem may differ from country to country, but all these threats remain a growing phenomenon.

Conclusion
Problems in the Arab world are varying and overlapping and that in many areas such as economic, social, politics and even in culture. There will be a large increase in unemployment, housing, schooling and more serious other problems. So what might the future hold? That is really up to the Arabs, their governments and those who care about the region?

Read more »

Eradication of Corruption

Eradication of corruption should be the nation's number-one priority in view of the ever-increasing horizon of political and administrative corruption and its baneful multifarious effects on the society-at-large. It needs to be understood by all that eradication of corruption is only possible if strong political commitment exists. Without strong political commitment, bureaucratic reorientation and a vibrant and effective civil society, checking corruption turns into a very difficult almost impossible task. In the context of Bangladesh only radical and fundamental policy measures initiated and strongly backed by a committed political leadership and supported and implemented by a reoriented bureaucracy and watched and monitored by an organized and vocal civil society can control corruption.

     Given the presence of three crucial variables - committed political leadership, reoriented bureaucracy and an organized and vocal civil society - other policy measures need to be adopted to effectively contain as well as control corruption. What is proposed below are a number of long-term and short-term policy measures placed in wider socio-political and economic contexts to control corruption.

     The public sector employs over a million people in 35 ministries, 50 divisions, 221 departments, 139 directorates and autonomous bodies and 153 state enterprises (World Bank 1996b:57). It may also be added that since independence the number of ministries, departments and public servants has doubled (Khan, 1997). In the context of present reality there is little rationale for maintaining a huge public-sector edifice which contributes to corruption in public dealings. There is now justification for right-sizing the government. Right-sizing of government will, among other things, will discourage creation and maintenance of redundant agencies and units and restrain doling out of public-service jobs as political favours.

     Public-sector accountability is weak, fuzzy and tenuous at best. This has resulted in the inability to enforce financial contracts, stop theft in public enterprises and hold officials accountable for improper or delayed judgment (World Bank, 1996a:viii). A number of actions need to taken simultaneously to institutionalize and strengthen accountability to effectively counter corruption. First, a bi-partisan parliamentary task force be established to bolster the standing committees, instituting the practice of questioning ministers and providing members of parliament with adequate office and research facilities and setting up of an office of Ombudsman (World Bank, 1996a:viii). A parliamentary secretariat should be established outside the sphere of civil service and manned by competent personnel recruited separately and controlled by the speaker of the parliament (Khan, 1997). Second, the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) must be reorganized and strengthened by enhancing the capacity of the CAG (World Bank, 1996a:ix). Third, the standards of performance of ministries/divisions and their attached agencies should be made known to the citizens (Rahman, et al., 1993:52). Fourth, complaint procedures should be in place in government agencies for wider use of citizens (Khan, 1997). Fifth, monitoring procedures need to be tightened so that the concerned civil servant knows the extent of compliance by his subordinates to relevant orders and directives as well as services provided to citizens. Sixth, units be established in each ministry and division to develop and apply performance criteria and measures and to develop internal performance audit (UNDP, 1993:106).

     Transparency in public-sector decision making is totally absent. This absence, in turn, contributes to corruption. Civil servants by and large value secrecy and are totally unwilling to share information about decisions with citizens. Openness and transparency are alien concepts in public bureaucracy in Bangladesh (Khan, 1997). A number of actions have been recommended to ensure transparency and thereby considerably empower citizens and consequently contain corruption (World Bank, 1996a:xii). First, the Official Secrets Act of 1923 and Government Service Conduct Rules of 1979 should be suitably modified. Second, a task-force on public-sector transparency should be estabilished with membership from different professional and occupational groups to suggest measures to enhance transparency. Third, necessary steps should be taken to make all contract evaluation reports public, thereby enabling all bidders to see how evaluations are made. Still other steps should be taken to ensure transparency and reduce corruption (Khan, 1997). Fourth, earning and tax payments of all public officials - elected as well as appointed - should be published each year to enable the people to learn about the assets of public officials. Fifth, interested citizens must be allowed access to relevant files and documents. For this to happen the number of files marked secret and top secret should be drastically reduced. Sixth, civil servants long accustomed to transact public business under the veil of secrecy should be appropriately trained and indoctrinated to bring about necessary changes in their attitudes and work habits.

     A number of specific policy measures have been recommended to control corruption in politics and administration (World Bank, 1996a:xii; Rahman, et al.,1993:97 and Khan, 1997). First, a high-powered task force to be established consisting of public officials, parliamentarians and leading citizens to review all relevant issues pertaining to corruption and to suggest a comprehensive eradication programme. Second, an autonomous standing committee to be formed with judges, senior public officials and leading citizens to oversee the activities of the Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC) as well as authorize investigation in ministries, corporations and other agencies by a statutory appointed and protected public prosecutor. Third, salary and benefits of civil servants need to be at par with their counterparts in the private sector. Fourth, provision of severe punishment including long stays in jails and confisation of assets and properties to be instituted for civil servants involved in corruption. Other measures have also been suggested to counter political and administrative corruption (Paul, 1997:288-304). Fifth, a code of conduct should be adopted by the parliament to provide guidelines for the conduct of elected representatives and to take appropriate steps when departures from accepted norms are detected. Sixth, elected representatives must be compensated suitably to enable them to devote their attention only to public welfare and service. Seventh, enactment of a law to regulate the functioning of political parties is needed. This law would require political parties to hold regular organizational elections at different levels; maintain prompt and systematic accounts and submit audited accounts to either the Election Commission or the Comptroller and Auditor General; and comply with income tax regulations and guidelines. Eighth, election expenditure needs to be reduced and closely monitored by a designated body. Ninth, deregulation and debureaucratisation, bounded discretion in decision making, realignment of the government's audit and intelligence are to be encouraged to control corruption. Tenth, existence of free media so that they can investigate and expose corrupt practices. Eleventh, voluntary agencies and religious groups as well as other components of civil society can play significant role in constraining corruption in public delaine.

Read more »

Kidney Stone and a High Sugar Diet

Our kidneys are bean-shaped organs, each about the size of our fists. They are located near the middle of our back, just below the rib cage. The kidneys are sophisticated trash collectors. Every day, our kidneys process about 200 quarts of blood to flush out about 2 quarts (fourth part of gallon, two pints) of waste products and extra water which together become urine that flows to our bladder through tubes called ureters. Our bladder stores urine until we feel urge to go to the bathroom.

The wastes in our blood come from the normal breakdown of active muscle and from the food we eat. Our bodies use the food for energy and self-repair. After our bodies have taken what they need from the food, waste is sent to the blood. If our kidneys do not remove these wastes, the wastes would build up in the blood and damage our bodies. In addition to removing wastes, our kidneys help control blood pressure. They also help to make red blood cells and keep our bones strong.

Many ions circulate in our bloodstream, some combinations of which can precipitate to form kidney stones. Kidney stones, or renal calculi, are solid concretions (crystal aggregations) of dissolved minerals in urine; calculi typically form inside the kidneys or ureters. The terms nephrolithiasis and urolithiasis refer to the presence of calculi in the kidneys and urinary tract, respectively.

There are four major types of kidney stones:


1. The most common type of stone contains calcium that is a normal part of a rich diet. Calcium that is not used by the bones and muscles goes to the kidneys. In most people, the kidneys flush out the extra calcium with the rest of the urine but in some people it is accumulated in their kidneys. The calcium ions that stay behind in kidneys join anionic waste products such as oxalate and phosphate ions to form a stone.

2.  A struvite stone may form after an infection in the urinary system. These stones contain the mineral magnesium and the waste product ammonia.

3.  A uric acid stone may form when there is too much acid in the urine. Those of us, who have acquired tendency to form uric acid stones, should vow to cut back on the amount of meat they eat.

4. Cystine that is a sulfur-containing amino acid produced by digestion or acid hydrolysis of proteins, and sometimes found in the urine and kidneys, and readily reduced to two molecules of cysteine, can build up in the urine to form a stone. Though cystine stones are rare, the disease that causes cystine stones runs in families.

Kidney stones may be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a pearl. Some stones are even as big as golf balls. Stones may be smooth or jagged. They are usually yellow or brown. A stone may stay in the kidney or break loose and travel down the urinary tract. A small stone may pass out of the body without causing much discomfort. A larger stone may get stuck in a ureter, the bladder, or the urethra. Problems arise when stones block the flow of urine and cause great pain. Some stones can become large enough to be extremely painful and even life-threatening, requiring treatment by drugs, lasers, or surgical removal.

It has been discovered that kidney stones generally consist of insoluble calcium and magnesium compounds such as calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, magnesium ammonium phosphate, or a mixture of these. For calcium oxalate kidney stones, the following equilibrium applies:

CaC2O4(s)           Ca2+ (aq) +C2O42-(aq)

High intake of foods rich in calcium or oxalate can cause a rise in the urinary concentration of either ion or both, sufficient to shift the equilibrium to the left and cause the ionic product to become greater than the solubility product that is the product of concentrations of ions in a saturated solution of a highly soluble salt, each raised to the power of the coefficient in a balanced equation. The result is precipitation of calcium oxalate as a kidney stone. Thus, foods rich in calcium, such as milk, ice cream, and cheese etc., or high in oxalate ions, such as chocolate, spinach, and black tea, and likes, can trigger the onset of a kidney stone through the common ion effect (A common ion is an ion that is produced by more than one solute and the shift in an existing ionic equilibrium caused by the addition of common ions is called the common ion effect). Such foods are restricted in the diets of individuals prone to developing kidney stones. A high sugar diet may also create kidney stones because excessive sugar promotes excretion of calcium and magnesium ions, which increase the concentration of these ions while passing through the kidneys.

In order to avoid both the onset of kidney stone and formation of more stones one should drink more water. In fact we should try to drink 12 full glasses of water a day as drinking lots of water helps us flush out the substances that form stones in the kidneys. We can also drink ginger ale, lemon-lime sodas, and fruit juices. But water is the best. We should limit our coffee, tea, and cola to one or two cups a day because the caffeine may cause us lose fluid too quickly. Generally doctors ask patients to eat more of some foods and to cut back on other foods. For example, if one has a uric acid stone, the doctor may ask him/her to eat less meat, because meat breaks down to make uric acid. Besides, a doctor may give the patient some medicines to prevent formation/aggravation of calcium and uric acid stones.

Read more »

Celtic Symbols Druids and the Spirals of Life

Some of the oldest symbols associated with the Celts are Celtic spirals. Prominently displayed on ancient artifacts dating long before the written word in Ireland, Celtic spirals are second only to Knotwork designs as the symbols most associated with Celtic art. These mythical spirals are among the oldest symbols associated with Celtic art. They are believed to represent the spiritual balance between inner and outer consciousness. People from many lands herald Celtic designs as the emblem of their heritage because the people known as "Celts" lived in many areas of modern-day Europe.

The Triskele, or the Triskelion
The triskele, otherwise known as the triskelion, is a three-pronged spiral, and is often used as a basis for more complex spirals. Some suggest ancient Celtic triskeles represented the Triple Goddess of the three ages of womanhood. It later came to represent the Holy Trinity in Christianity - God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Whatever its' meaning, it is interesting that the motif is based around The Number 3 - regarded as a highly sacred number in many ancient cultures, not least The Druids.

Three is a Magic Number
The Druids believed in three worlds and in transmigration from one to the other: in a world above this one, in which happiness predominated; a world below, of misery; and this present state. This transmigration was to punish and reward, and also to purify the soul. In the present world, said the Druids, good and evil are so exactly balanced that man has the utmost freedom and is able to choose or reject either.Then there are three objects of metempyschosis: to collect into the soul the properties of all being, to acquire a knowledge of all things, and to get power to conquer all evil. They are also, the Celtic Druids say, three kinds of knowledge; knowledge of the name of each thing, of its cause, and its influence. Three things that continually grow less; darkness, falsehood, and death. And three things that constantly increase; light, life, and truth.The Number Three is a sacred symbol in many cultures all over the world.

The Spiral of Life
The Triple Spiral, otherwise known as the "Spiral of Life", is found on many ancient Irish stone carvings - the most famous of which is Newgrange, found in County Meath, Ireland, which dates back to 2500 BC. Most scholars believe the spiral of life represents the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Others say this deeply mystical symbol represents the male, female, and child on the path of life. Another interpretation is that it also represents the Triple Goddess.

Trinity Celtic Knot or Triquetra
The Triquetra, commonly known as the Trinity knot, takes an individual strand and wraps it into and onto itself, such that it becomes a three-lobed, yet singular design. This design symbolized the connection of the three planes of existence: mind, body, and spirit. To Christians, it illustrated the essential core of Christian belief wherein one God was Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For both beliefs, the Trinity knot symbolized the way in which three separate essences were vitally interconnected.

Read more »

Peace and Harmony

The most essential thing in any country for its people is to live in peace and harmony. However, beautiful and wealthy a country may be if there is no peace in that country, the people who live in those countries are always in tear and sadness. Some of the countries like Bangladesh that has floods very often, Japan that suffers terribly when there are earthquakes, also there are countries like America, Africa that have many high mountains and they have earth slips that ruin many buildings, houses and the people. These are very, very unfortunate countries. When we compare our Sri Lanka with those countries, we will feel how fortunate we are to be always protected with the coziness of our motherland.

Our beautiful country is known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. Although we are not that much unlucky to face those terrible natural disasters, as the citizens of Sri Lanka, we are unfortunate to suffer from WAR.

Even though we are still suffering by the war which has started 20 years back by LTTE, we are a safe made country. Even with the war causing much trouble in North province and some other rural areas, we are not affected by food. We grow our own rice, vegetables, fruits and we make our own milk products. We even supply some of our primary industry products like Tea, Coconut, Rubber and Gems as our own exports.

As we are affected more and more by the war, our forces become much more stronger. There are thousands of noble sons and daughters who are always ready to give up their lives on be half of our Motherland. They are divided as Army, Navy, Air force and Police. They are always ready to go to the front without any fear at any moment.

If we expect to have peace, then we should try to achieve peace as a family, a society and finally the whole country. Then automatically the country will achieve peace and harmony. Greed and Selfishness always start a war. Some are not satisfied with what they have, they just wants to grab others properties. So, as the LTTE becomes drunk with greed in grabbing a part of our beautiful Motherland, this unfortunate war started.

Pease is something that every human being would like to enjoy. If all human beings love each other and contented with what they have, there will be no space for war. War ruins a country and its people. Once a war comes to an end that country would lose its beauty and for people, it will take years and years to come back to its earlier position which was so beautiful with all its splendor. It's in the hands of all human beings to live a religious, unselfishness and take life to care for others.

Keeping the Full stop for the war will not just depend on praying god. Hold my hand, we will do it…

Read more »

Education in the Middle Ages

Education In The Middle Ages
To test and create the writing spirit among the 4th or 5th graders, medieval era can be of great inspiration. As among the fourth and fifth graders in Chandler, Arizona activities given underneath provided the students with enough information on Middle Ages and also came out to be a great topic to test their personal researching and writing skills.

The activity began as the kids read Marguerite de Angeli's award winning book "The Door in the Wall" that explains a story of a boy who grew up in medieval Europe. As the reading session was over children picked appropriate topics for them selves and started their personal research upon it, using library and web resources.

After the researching was over then came the time for writing. Kids chose whatever writing style they were comfortable with, however, their teacher still asked them to pay attention as they go through their lead. She was of the view that she worked pretty hard to teach the kids of her class of how they can make their leads interesting. http://www.360career.com The techniques she used for teaching them of how to make their leads more appealing started of with the study of first page of the book that the researched and gathered their info from. Then she showed them the file that she had compiled of previous students who wrote short yet appealing leads, to show them the potential that kids of their ages can have.

As the writing session was over, learning process still proceeded as the teacher required of the students to publish their research on a web page by giving them the know how of HTML tagging, let them selecting the backgrounds of their pages and search images for their pages. Hence children created their very own web pages except the main page which was made by the teacher.

Apart from the creation of HTML tags and web pages. The topic of Middle Ages can provide the students with lots of other activities that can test their reading, writing and researching skills. That could easily be done by reading them a book regarding Middle Ages and assigning them with some topics for which they would have to do their own personal research and then later on compile their research's raw material into an organized form.

From the study of middle ages, students can also be organized in groups to study for the history of technologies that were there and what have they turned out to be in the modern ages. They can go throw the small inventions like horse and a wheel up to the massive inventions like blast furnace and arrange some of the major inventions on the time line starting from 500 A.D to 2000 A.D.

Study of middle ages and history can also help planning out the future. Kids can also be arranged in the activity of studying the history of kingdoms and how they used to predict future, by observing their resources and interests and all other factors, and how they used to plan for future accordingly.

Read more »

Pros and Cons of ADHD Medication

Introduction
As a parent of a child who has Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) you are faced with deciding how to manage your child's ADHD symptoms. One options for treating the symptoms of ADHD that is highly debated is medication; some people strongly believe it is the best options and other believe medication shouldn't be used on children. Determining the best option for your child is an important decision that shouldn't be made without sufficient information. Before you make this decision, you should know that there are pros and cons to ADHD medication and that medication may be right for one child but not another. This article may help you as a parent or caregiver decide if medication is the right treatment method for your child.

Cause of ADHD
When treating ADHD, it is important to look at the cause. "Scientists now believe that the impulsivity, short attention span and other symptoms associated with ADHD are caused by a specific dysfunction in the brain that is often inherited" (Wilens, 2004, p10). ADHD is a medical diagnosis with a medical cause, and many times medication offers a "straight forward solution" (Wilsen, 2004, p12). Members of the medical community often compare the treatment of ADHD with medication to that of seizures or other health problems with a medical cause and believe that these medical symptoms can be managed with medication.

Symptoms of ADHD
The cause of ADHD is a dysfunction in the brain (Wilens, 2004) but parents and caregivers seek treatment to manage the hyperactivity, impulsivity, short attention span and other behaviors associated with ADHD. The symptoms of ADHD are behavioral and many think they should be treated in the same manner as other behavior problems. Stephen Flora writes in his book Taking America Off Drugs " The best way to improve behavior is with behavior modification techniques" (Flora, 2007)

Overview of Treatment Options
As mentioned earlier, one treatment method for ADHD symptoms is medication; these medications are prescribed to "diminish the inattention, distractibility, over activity, and impulsivity" caused by ADHD. These medications ideally allow students to perform to their fullest potential such as focus on their homework and listen to directions. For individuals who do not have ADHD and can focus on their work these medications may seen like performance enhancing drugs that are not necessary. As you know ADHD is more than just a little distractibility.

            Along with medication, there are other ways to treat ADHD symptoms such as behavior therapy. Behavior therapy is a form of psychological treatment method that stems from behaviorism and focuses on observable and measurable behaviors. When applying behavior therapy to students who have ADHD the family works with the counselor to increase the occurrence of positive behaviors through routines and a better understanding of what the student needs. Some students can be treated with behavior therapy but for many children their symptoms are severe enough that behavior therapy isn't enough. Behavior therapy may not be enough because it treats the symptoms of ADHD not the cause of the problem. Students who have ADHD have aspects of their brains that are malfunctioning, these malfunctions cause the hyperactivity, inattention and other symptoms that behavior therapy attempts to control. For these students medication can help supplement the therapy or other forms of treatment being used.


Common Medications and Routines For Taking Medication

There are a wide variety of medications that are prescribed for the treatment of ADHD symptoms and you should discuss the specifics with your health care provider. Briefly, three of the top brands of medication are Ritalin, Concerta and Adderall.

Depending on the type of medication your child is taking they will have to take the medication anywhere from once a day to three or four times a day. Some medications are longer lasting and only need to be taken once a day while others are short term and must be taken more frequently. Both are safe and effective options.

Pros of Medication
The most important pro to ADHD medication is the reduction or elimination of the behavioral symptoms associated with ADHD.  By reducing students hyperactivity and giving them the ability to focus, medication gives many students the ability to perform better in school, make friends and participate in extra curricular activities.

Many parents worry that their children will become addicted to the ADHD medication. However, there is no physical way for children to become addicted to ADHD medication because addiction comes from a high or state of euphoria and the medications used to manage ADHD symptoms do not cause students to have a high.

There have been numerous studies indicating that psychotropic drugs are safe, tolerable and useful for children. As of 2004 there have been "over 250 scientifically controlled studies of the stimulant medications for ADHD" (Wilen, 2004, p 91) These studies suggest that if children take the prescribed dosage indicated by their doctor, then the medication is safe and that the majority of the side effects are mild.

Cons of Medication
Now that we have looked at some of the pros of ADHD medication lets examine some of the cons. One aspect of ADHD medication that should be of concern to parents is that there are very few studies done on the long-term affects of the medication. So, while we know that these medications are safe in the short term the prospect of giving students medication without knowing the long-term effects bring cause for hesitation.

There are also mild side effects associated with many of the medications including loss of appetite, difficulty falling asleep, dizziness, moodiness and growth problems. These side effects should be monitored but for the most part are easily managed. For specific side effects consult your health care provider.

And even though students cannot become physically addicted to these forms of medication, they can form a psychological dependency. This dependency can develop when students feel they need medication for everything or when they are afraid to go off their medication.

Decision Making
When deciding whether medication is right for your child there are 4 things to consider; side effects, the severity of your child's symptoms, if your child's symptoms are being managed with other forms of treatment how your child feel about medication. Before you make this decision talk, with your child's teacher, the school counselor or psychologist, your health care provider and most importantly your child. While this may seem overwhelming now, the more information you can gather the easier this decision will be.

Conclusion:


As you can see there are pros and cons to ADHD medication and what is right for one child and family will not necessarily be right for another. When choosing whether to try medication as a way to manage the symptoms of your child's ADHD make sure to consider the pros and cons along with your child's characteristics and the attitude of the school.

References:
Flora, Stephen Ray. Taking America Off Drugs (2007) State University of New York Press, Albany

Wilens, Timothy E. Straight Talk About Psychiatric Medication For Kids, (2004) TheGuilford Press, New York

Appendix

Resources For Parents To Get More Information

    Straight Talk About Psychiatric Medication For Kids- This book was written for parents who have questions about the affects and risks of psychiatric medication on children. It is a basic guide for what parents need to know about a wide variety of psychiatric medications including ADHD medications.
        Wilens, Timothy E. Straight Talk About Psychiatric Medication For Kids, (2004) TheGuilford Press, New York
    Taking America Off Drugs; Why Behavior Therapy is More Effeftive for Treating ADHD, OCD, Depression, And Other Psychological Problems- This books presents behavior therapy as an alternative treatment method for ADHD instead of medication. The book does a good job of showing the other side of treating psychological problems.
        Flora, Stephen Ray. Taking America Off Drugs (2007) State University of New York Press, Albany
    CHADD- this website is a support system for parents of children with Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.

Read more »

Free Social Stories For Autistic Children - What Are Social Stories?

Social stories are one of the techniques the are used in children with Autism. Although such is completed in a structured way for children with Autism it is a technique that has been spent for centuries. Parents own constantly talked and illustrated imminent situations in an endeavor to ease the children's fears. Free Social Stories For Autistic Children

Many times social stories are written with the childs' name as the name of the person in the story. For some children this seems to be an easier way to talk about themselves. It is almost like talking about a child like they are someone else. On some level a child with Autism does seem to understand that the story is about them.

A social story to describe future behavior will help a child with Autism calm their fears as well. More importantly it can help shape their behavior. The story does not have to be long or complex but it does need to show the child what a parent expects to happen and what a parent expects the child to do. Free Social Stories For Autistic Children

Many non-verbal children like to listen to stories. One of the suggestions is to write the story. Try to keep it to one page. Read the story to your child and give a copy to them. It may well surprise a parent that the non-verbal child wants a copy.

Keep in mind that we do not always know how much non-verbal children understand. They may be able to read some or part of the story. The only caution in this process is to be careful with children who eat paper. Free Social Stories For Autistic Children

Social stories can also be used to go over past behavior. The twist with this type of social story is that you can change what your child did in the past in this new story. Of course in this way you can supply information about behavior in a way the child can 'get it'. Don't let your love ones suffer anymore! Lead them out through Free Social Stories For Autistic Children program now!

Read more »

More Than a Handful: Identifying Adhd Symptoms in Your Baby

Children would always behave like---well, children. Hence, instances whereby parents like you find yourselves struggling to cope with your child's innate rambunctiousness and inattention are nothing short of ordinary, explaining why such scenes have been woven into the daily tapestry comprising common family life.

Especially during the stages of infancy up to childhood, as a parent you are expected to be at your most patient, most tolerant, and most understanding self. What with an innocent baby waking the entire neighborhood in the middle of the night or tearing the house down as he begins to explore his new world, you are given no choice but to obtain the necessary strength and tolerance from your unconditional love for your baby. Despite the inevitable annoyance and chagrin brought about by episodes of hyperactivity and public tantrums, you could surely depend on your unfaltering attentiveness to your child's welfare to help tide you over until your child matures and outgrows such tendencies.

Facing the Probable Tendencies
However, during those times when your baby exhibits behavior beyond innocent rowdiness, losing your patience or becoming agitated is a typical response. Setting aside your learned personal expectation of how your child should behave, you must open your eyes and become observant of any excessive behavior he may be exhibiting. Although a tendency to be active and uncontrollable are typical among infants and toddlers, there are certain aspects whereby such behaviors are already considered too much, oftentimes leaving parents exhausted, lost, and powerless in the quandary.

And such behaviors could already be hinting at a possible emergence of ADHD in your child. As difficult as it is to accept, it is a must for parents such as you to be very observant of your child's behavior. Attention Deficiency Hyperactivity Disorder, more popularly known as ADHD, is a recognized psychological disorder commonly associated with children, which usually begins during the early years of their childhood and often continuing into adulthood. Being a medical condition, ADHD directly affects the ability of a person to stay focused on particular activities for any length of time.

Determining the Signs
As differentiated from other people, aspects of an ADHD individual's brain, especially those concerned with attention and the manner in which it can be controlled given certain activities, function in a unique way. Consequently, this would be reflected in his seemingly rambunctious behavior characterized by an incapacity to hold concentration for prolonged periods. If it is not addressed, ADHD can adversely affect great areas of a person's life, impacting psychological, emotional, and social aspects.

In order to help you assess your child's behavior, whether they are bordering on ADHD tendencies or not, here are typical traits identified among infants and toddlers that could be indicative of ADHD.

    Children with ADHD experience trouble sleeping. As such, they are likely to have trouble dozing off and staying asleep. As is often the case, they always awaken in a bad mood.

Infants tend to have colic and are either hard to nurse or is having trouble accepting infant formulas.

Babies are easily vexed and cry excessively.

Infants can manifest health troubles such as asthma, allergies, colds, or having ear fluids.

Babies tend to exhibit unusual infant behavior like frequently thumping his foot/feet, too much rocking, or even banging his head against his crib.

As toddlers, they are hyperactive, always up and about.

Toddlers are nonconformists and can be a real handful.

They are susceptible to reckless behaviors and are accident-prone because of their clumsiness borne of their hyperactive nature.

Toddlers fight physically by biting, pushing, or pinching when controlled or apprehended by caregivers or parents.

They are always breaking things either accidentally(due to recklessness and curiosity) or deliberately(due to hyperactivity level).

Toddlers have a hard time playing by themselves and may always insist to have their parents'/caregivers' attention.

Read more »

Medieval Education

Medieval education is about education that was conducted in the medieval period. Medieval education is seen as quite an unusual form of education. However, by the 15th century, there were options for a student to be educated further. Some schools even housed both genders, but this was during the day only. Children were taught their basics, such as how to read and write. This is because these were the basic requirements if they wanted to be accepted under apprenticeship in any guild.

Medieval education also consisted of peasant children going to school. However, they made up a very small number. They were taught how to read and write, and also studied basic math. This education for peasants was usually conducted at a monastery.

As part of medieval education, noble girls and even boys were sent to learn at nunneries. There, they would receive their basic education. The nuns taught these students how to read and write too. They would also teach them how to pray. Girls were additionally taught how to spin and do needlework amid other domestic skills.

If a child took his or her education seriously at a monastery, he or she would have a monastic life. However, this was quite rare for an average townsman or peasant. Also, these individuals would be carefully selected for these ranks. If they were deemed suitable according to their demeanour, they would be brought up by the monks.

Today, medieval education practices are still visible. The same monastery education students are given is a clear reflection of it. The education that children receive at missionary schools in various parts of the world also reflects similar forms of education. A major difference that is seen is the widespread existence of books. In medieval times, there were many schools that operated without the use of books. Students were taught by skilled masters, and were often educated for dubious benefits. The rich or others that did provide education in medieval times did so for their personal gain. There were very few that really wanted to educate people in the true spirit of enlightening more minds.

As time has passed by, some aspects of medieval education have faded while others have remained. It can be argued that the aspects of medieval education that were useful for the purpose of education have remained. Regardless of some characteristics remaining, the overall process has changed a great deal. This is because education could not have the same face as it did hundreds of years ago. Today's education is different from medieval education in so many ways. For example, you have the inclusion of group work and activity based learning. You also have the inclusion of computers for education in this modern age. No one in the medieval period would have ever contemplated the use of such items.

Another important development to mention, and one that is used almost throughout the world is the Montessori method. This is something that did not exist in the medieval period, and it took many years for it to be popularized since Maria Montessori first used it. Indeed, the Montessori Method cannot be likened to any medieval method of education. It was developed independently as an innovative teaching method. In addition to the Montessori Method, there are other teaching areas today that have been developed without any medieval education influence.

Though medieval education has provided the fundamentals for formal education, some people prefer to deny medieval education methods the credit it is given. They believe that the formal method of students being seated in classrooms would have developed later anyway, whether medieval education used this arrangement or not. This does make sense because it is unthinkable for any other arrangement to be used. It is further argued that it is more likely that this would have been the case in modern education because student interaction is encouraged. For better student interaction, a classroom of a suitable number of students would have been recommended. Regardless of these arguments, we still find many traces of medieval education in our modern setups today.

Read more »

What Makes a Good President?

Each election year, the people of the United States of America are faced with the difficult decision of choosing the next President. Sometimes the selection is obvious. Other times it seems like there's no good option, and it comes down to selecting the lesser of two or more evils. Whatever the case may be, Americans as a group who patriotically believes in the core principles and values, on which this nation was founded, generally look for particular core characteristics for what makes a good president. These characteristics are described here.

The Born Leader
Throughout society, there are people who fit into the role of leadership with ease. Whether it's a corporate executive, a university President, or a Wall Street financial expert, these leaders are recognized by their ability to jump to the occasion, their flexibility and adaptability to overcome any obstacle, and their ability to encourage others to follow them. Finally, a good leader has the courage to stand up and make decisions without flinching, and then lead the way in that direction without hesitation. These are the traits that make a person a born leader.

Responsible
Some people follow the rules because someone is watching. Other people follow the rules because it's the right thing to do. But a third class of people follow only the rules that are moral and just, and they work to change the rules that are not. This third group of people are the ones who stand above the majority of society with their ability to recognize injustice within communities and government that have become socially acceptable even though they are wrong. A person's ability to recognize injustice and immorality despite the general consensus of the day makes them truly responsible.

Courage
True courage is often difficult to spot. Most often it requires that a person is tested in battle. In those critical moments of life and death, this is when that trait either shines, or it becomes apparent that it never existed in the first place. Many soldiers will report that courage shows up in people who they never would have expected. While other people who they would have thought would be the most courageous, become whimpering fools under fire. It is for this reason that so many former military men became president in their later years. Once a person has been tested on the battlefield, there is no question whether or not they have the critical trait of courage that makes for such a great leader and President.

Merciful and Wise
While a good leader must be brave and courageous, a much more critical trait of a true leader is mercy and wisdom. This mercy should be reflected in an individual's ability to see the humanity in every human being, regardless of race, creed, or nationality. And the wisdom is reflected in understanding the deeper cause of hatred and fear, and knowing the course of action that serves the greater good, even if it is not the best solution in the short term. Ultimately, when a leader has this kind of wisdom, the outcome of his or her decisions are always for the best, and the nation with such a leader will greatly prosper.

Read more »

Excuse Letters for School

Today there is a new phenomenon that is going around and becoming quite popular with students and employees of businesses- the ability to download fake doctors notes. For example the excuses to miss school and excuse letters for school .

These excuse letters for school are being very commonly used today and these doctors notes printable allow people to get out of a variety of different events. However, if you decide to download fake doctors notes for excuse letters for school or work, it is important that you get a good one that won't get you in trouble. Many people are using these fake notes for a variety of reasons, including to get out of school and work, and many of them actually have legitimate reasons for using them. 

Get Out of Class With Excuse Letters For School For kids you are in college, actually paying to go to the doctor can be out of the question, since most college students are not loaded down with excess money. However, miss a class, and many teachers require that you have a note from a doctor in order to make up the work and get a decent grade. This is a difficult problem for college students to face. Many students are now deciding to download fake excuse letters for school in order to make up their work and get out of school when they are sick without actually having to go to the doctor. 

Take That Day Off Work With Doctors Notes Printable excuse letters for school excuse letters for school excuses to miss school excuse letters for school.

Of course it is not just students that are deciding to download fake doctors notes today. Many people who work are also finding that these notes are helpful as well. There are many people who work hard at their job, but when they get sick, they don't always have the money available to pay for that doctors' visit. You can get a very good excuse for missing school. So, they either have to lose pay at work, possibility get fired, or figure out a way to get an excuse from a doctor. 

It is easy to see why many of them are choosing to download fake doctors notes so that they can keep their job without having to spend a huge amount of money on a doctor or on a visit to the emergency room. Use Excuse Letters For School And Work Cautiously If you do decide to download fake doctors notes, there is something that you need to keep in mind. 

You really need to make sure that you use these notes cautiously. Of course you may get away with it a few times when you are trying to avoid going to a doctor, but you probably won't want to use them just to get a free day off work. So, make sure that you use these doctors notes printable with caution and try to use them when you really need them.

Read more »

Best Universities of France

An assessment carried out by AllAboutUni reveals that France has a relatively low density of the World's Top universities compared to other countries in the world. AllAboutUni is an independent, global and interactive websites where visitors can obtain information about universities (global rankings, student reviews, university news and campus pictures).

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) is produced by the Institute of Higher Education at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Several indicators of academic or research performance are used to establish the ranking, these include highly cited researchers, articles indexed in major citation indices and staff winning Nobel Prizes.

The World’s Top-500 universities (2008) are mainly located in Europe (n=210; 40%), the Americas (n=190; 40%) and the Asian/Pacific region (n=100; 20%) There are 23 universities located in France, representing 11% of the European universities in the ARWU ranking.

France has a population of 64 million inhabitants and the eighth largest economy in the world and fourth third in Western Europe (in terms of Gross Domestic Product), after USA, China, Japan, India, Germany, United Kingdom and Russia.

Universities in France are predominantly public institutions. Interestingly, the best students attend the ‘Grandes Ecoles’ ['Grand Schools'] (a higher education establishment outside the mainstream framework of the public universities system). Whilst the universities are open to all students who finish their high school education (with a ‘Baccalauréat’), the ‘Grandes Ecoles’ require an additional entrance exam which is highly competitive.

In comparison to French universities, the ‘Grandes Ecoles’ are relatively small institutions. For example, the University of Paris 06 (ranked 42rd in the world) has 30,000 students and the Ecole Normale Superieure Paris (ranked 73rd in the world) has 2,000 students.

The Top-5 universities in France are: 1. University of Paris 06 (ranked 42nd in the world), 2. University of Paris 11 (49th), 3. Ecole Normale Superieure Paris (73rd), 4. University of Paris 07 (101-151) and University of Strasbourg (101-151). Overall, the ‘Grandes Ecoles’ only represent 5 of the top-23 universities in France and there is a very high representation of universities located in Paris (9 out of 23).

In order to make inter-country comparisons, AllAboutUni.com calculates the number of universities in the World’s Top-500 per million inhabitants. The overall number of universities per million inhabitants is 0.5 for industrialised countries. An earlier assessment found that small countries in Western Europe (Sweden (1.2), Finland (1.1) and Switzerland (1.0)) and New Zealand (1.2) have the highest number of universities per million inhabitants.

The number of universities in the World’s Top-500 universities that are located in France is 0.4 per million inhabitants. Other large industrialized countries have the following figures: Australia (0.7), the Netherlands (0.7), United Kingdom (0.7), Canada (0.6), United States (0.5), Germany (0.5), France (0.4), Italy (0.4), Japan (0.2), South Korea (0.2) and Spain (0.2). This means that France performance is relatively low compared to other industrialised countries.

At the top of the ARWU ranking, there are only three French universities in the World’s Top-100 universities. This compares to 54 for the US, 11 for the UK, 6 for Germany, 4 each for Canada, Japan and Sweden, and 3 for Australia and Switzerland. All other countries have fewer than 3 universities in the World’s Top-100 universities.

In conclusion, France performs poorly when its universities are compared to other industrialised countries in the world. Its best university is only ranked 42nd in the world and there are only three universities in the World’s Top-100 universities. Looking at the density of top universities per million inhabitants also reveals a poor performance compared to other industrialised countries.

Read more »

10 Things to Include in your Personal Statement - Undergraduate, Graduate & Beyond

Whether you are applying to enter undergraduate school, graduate school, or applying for a job, you may be asked to include a personal statement with your application. A personal statement is a supplement to your application that allows you to elaborate on your skills, experience, etc. Some personal statements ask you to respond to a very specific question, while other personal statements may ask a general question, which gives you a little more leeway on what should be included.

Writing your personal statement is your opportunity to shine. It is your opportunity to describe yourself, list the reasons you are interested in becoming part of the institution you are applying for, and the goals that you have set for yourself to achieve. The personal statement is also your platform for elaborating on the abilities that you possess that are not reflected in the standard form questions that you complete on an application. Finally, by completing your personal statement, you are showing the review board that you have the ability to organize your thoughts and that you can write clearly and effectively.

10 Things you should include in a personal statement:

1. List and thoroughly explain your personal experiences and qualifications. Be as specific as possible. Your experiences may be related to school, extracurricular activities, community service, or work experience.

2. Explain what makes you special, unique or impressive. Set yourself apart from your competition. Explain why you should be chosen over the other applicants that are volleying for your position in the institution.

3. List and fully explain the specific reasons that you are interested in attending this institution. It may be that they offer a course of study that no other institution does. It may be that they have the top medical school in the country and you want to me the top brain surgeon in the country. Also include how you came to know of the institution and/or field of study that you are interested in pursuing.

4. Explain and describe any work experience that you may have as it applies to your interest in your course of study. Relevant work experience may be what sparked your interest in pursuing this line of study or the line of work that you would eventually like to take on as a career. For example, maybe you volunteered in a battered women's shelter and this has sparked your interest in becoming a social worker. You feel that studying social work will prepare you for a career in social work, which will allow you to help try and change or better certain aspects of society.

5. Describe your career goals. Be as specific as possible. For example, don't just say that you want to be a doctor, when what you really want to be is a pediatric researcher. Explain the rationale behind you choosing to set these career goals for yourself. Maybe what sparked your goal was that your baby cousin died of a rare disease and you want to be able to conduct medical research, specifically for children, to try and find new and innovative cures for certain diseases that affect kids.

6. List the skills and achievements that you have accomplished. Provide supporting evidence as to how you accomplished the achievements or why you received the awards that you have listed.

7. Describe your most prominent characteristics and attributes. Again, provide supporting evidence to show how these attributes are beneficial to your growth and to their organization.

8. Fully describe some responsibilities that have you taken on and what you learned from them.

9. Describe some difficulties in life that you managed to overcome. Describe how you were able to overcome these difficulties and what you learned from these difficult times or incidents.

10. Make sure that you have written a complete personal statement that includes a strong and attention grabbing opening paragraph. This should be followed by the main section of your personal statement, spelling out all of the details that are listed above. Finally, you should have a strong conclusion which ties the entire essay together. Also be sure to reiterate your interest on becoming part of their institution.

Remember that having to write a personal statement is your opportunity to shine like the sun. Be sure to include these 10 items to ensure that you submit a complete personal statement. And most importantly, be sure to put a positive spin on everything that is on your list to include. You are painting a picture of yourself with words and you need them to impress the reader enough to see you in the positive light that you are standing in!

Read more »

How to Write the Perfect Personal Statement for your University of Choice

"This is your chance to tell the universities and colleges you have chosen why you are applying, and why they should want you as a student." This is what the official UCAS website says about a personal statement. It also promises "In many cases, applicants are not interviewed, so this may be your only chance to make the case for your admission." The last academic year has seen a record rise in applications, despite a fee hike of £3,000. Given the emphasis laid by UCAS on the personal statement and the pivotal role it plays in granting admissions, thousands of students would be scouring the internet in search of a perfect personal statement once again as their sixth form exams get over. Many of them will not pay attention to the fact that this ‘perfect' and tailor-made statement does not exist, despite what the sites may say to lure them in. The very purpose of the personal statement is to grant a voice to the individual, and it fails if it is reduced to a matter of copy and paste.

The Ingredients
What should go into a personal statement to make it sound, sincere and set it apart from a false one? The first factor is, of course, originality. If the admission officer recognises a set pattern or can see evidence of copy-paste, the application would be rejected. So if you really want to get in there, you will have to say so, and sound like yourself. As a UCAS spokesman pointed out recently, while speaking on this issue, they are not on the look-out for brilliant students, but rather those who seem to have a genuine passion for their subject matter. This is something that varies from person to person because all of us have different ways of expressing ourselves.

The next requirement is clarity. UCAS officers are not on the look-out for Shakespeare. But they would appreciate it if the statement is purposeful, direct and written in simple, crisp English. To achieve this, the purpose should first be clear in the mind of the applicant himself, and then communication will not be a bar anymore.


There is also the matter of grammar. A student about to enter higher education is really not expected to make the kind of mistakes that a school kid would. Grammatical, syntactical and spelling errors are not digested well by admission officers anywhere.

The fourth important factor is that elusive thing known as a personal touch. It is a better idea to illustrate the statement with incidents from your life than Sir Isaac Newton's, even if you are deeply interested in studying about gravity. This is where the personal statement begins to stand out, and an honestly interested student stands apart from the rest.

After all these, comes the style. It is a fact that the officer has to read a lot of entries and probably gets bored by his job. A statement with an eye-catching style would almost unfailingly work. Short, idiomatic sentences with a bit of humour are usually a good combination. Too many quotes are not welcomed; the university prefers to hear you rather than the most famous novelist of your time or the greatest scientist.

One can read up samples from the net, and it is actually suggested, but please do not copy these - you are calling in more trouble in the hope of saving yourself the trouble of writing the statement. Anything that does not play on these lines is a bad statement and will not work out.

Specificity
Just like each person needs a separate statement, so does each subject. And in the case of certain universities, the same customisation is needed. Oxford, East England, and Glasgow are very different as universities. They have different foci, and their policies aren't the same either. It is best to design separate approaches for the top Oxbridge group, since each university has made the effort to stand apart and create its own identity.
As for subjects, needless to say, a chemistry student and a fine arts student cannot possibly sound the same. Within a specialisation, a veterinary surgeon and a student of medicine would also have separate statements. Even if you do share your friend's interests, hobbies and inspirations, it is best not to share the personal statement. A specific approach towards a subject, with a justifiable interest in specialisation, but the ability and openness to change one's decision as part of the learning process – this is a summary of what an admission officer is looking for. This part of the statement is tricky and has to be handled with a sense of balance.

A Warning
UCAS had commissioned CFL Software Development to do a survey of personal statements before the 15th October deadline in medicine, dentistry and veterinary science applications for Oxbridge universities. The findings – one-twentieth had copied from a free website and the same sample statement. Since they had blithely used the same sentences, they were easily caught. As the deadline drew nearer, the number of these copied applications increased. Most of it came as a conclusion to the statement or in the section where the candidate needs to state the reasons for taking up the subject. The warning – UCAS has decided to double the size of its fraudulent applications verification unit.

So, if you are on the look-out for that perfect personal statement, search your own mind first.

Read more »

Australia University Ranking- Comparing Top 10 Australian Universities

What are the top ten Australian Universities? There is no official government ranking of universities in Australia. However there is a number of university league tables produced every year by relevant bodies such as the Melbourne Institute, The Australian Newspaper, The Good Universities Guide, THES and Shanghai Jiao Tong University's academic ranking of world universities.

The Melbourne Institute (operated by the University of Melbourne) has produced its own ranking of the international standing of Australian universities. This ranking is based on a number of performance indicators such as international standing of staff, views of Deans and CEOs, resources, undergraduate programs, undergraduate intake and graduate programs.

According to Melbourne Institute 2007 the top ten Australian Universities (in order of ranking) are: Australian National University (ANU), University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, University of Queensland, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Monash University, University of Western Australia (UWA), University of Adelaide, Macquarie University and Queensland University of Technology. From this ranking ANU was the number one Australian university in terms of international standing and reputation, followed by Melbourne and Sydney. Is this result representative? Here we will analyze and compare it with the other two famous international league tables - THES and Academic ranking of world universities (ARWU).


Ranking Comaprison:

•-         The list of  top four universities produced by the Melbourne Institute are the same in ranking order as THES and ARWU 2007. We are confident to say that they are the Best Four - ANU, Melbourne, Sydney and Queensland.

•-         Group of Eight (Go8) Universities are among the top 8 universities as ranked by the three different league tables. These include the Best Four and the rest of the group - UNSW, Monash, UWA and Adelaide.

•-         Macquarie and QUT are among the top ten list (after Go8) in the Melbourne Institute and THES league tables.

Please visit the relevant guides for more information on the latest Australia university rankings and the world top ranking universities.

Read more »