We have worked with schools across the United States, and believe us, you are not the only person asking this question! The answers that we have heard from our customers are as varied as our customers are. The debate over school uniforms is complicated, so we’ve included highlights from both sides for you to consider:

Professional:

Some say that a child in a school uniform is more likely to take school seriously. Putting on the school uniform signals he or she is going to school just like dad dresses up to go to work. Schools report that when students dress in “work clothes” rather than “play clothes” they take a more serious approach to their studies.

Promotes Good Discipline:

Many think that school uniforms help maintain school discipline, decreasing the amount of discipline problems. The argument is that children today are lacking in self-discipline because parents refuse to discipline them. This makes it more difficult on the teacher who has to deal with classes of 25-30 students at a time.

Reduces Fighting and Violence:

Schools report that school uniforms decrease fighting and violence that arrise out of arguments over fashionable clothes. Children invariably tease those who do not have trendy clothes. Those who can’t afford name brand clothes are often sensitive about their clothing. Schools struggling with gang problems report that school uniforms help ease tensions.

Distractions:

Many parents believe that students wearing school uniforms look nicer and that a school uniform policy ensures that children will come to school in appropriate clothing, avoiding distractions such as fads considered to be outlandish or overly revealing. Some students have turned school into an unending fashion show. This disctracts from learning, as some kids spend more time focused on thier clothes than on homework.

Values:

School uniforms stress that individuality and self-expression are not determined by designer clothing or the latest fashion fad.

Low Cost:

School uniforms are a bargain. They are becoming far less expensive than many other clothes. Schools argue that school uniforms are economical, especially compared to designer clothing, and parents agree given school uniform durability. They say school uniforms last longer because they are made for repeated wash and wear. Many schools capitalize on this by starting used school uniform stores or swap meets. Parents can get used school uniforms at discount prices, or just use them as hand-me-downs between siblings.

School Spirit:

Some feel wearing a school uniform helps build school spirit. It instills a feeling of belonging. As the Beach Boys said, “Be true to your school.” Schools report an increase in school pride.

Individuality:

Supressing individuality is the most commonly cited objection to school uniforms. Educators argue that an academic program encouraging students to pursue individual thought is much more important than what they wear. They inhibit creativity and self-expression, forcing students to conform.

Causes Discipline Problems:

Some students reject any rules. Forcing them to wear school uniforms only aggravates their rebelious spirit. They alter their school uniform by tightening, widening, shortening, or lengthening them, and teachers are given the impossible task of policing the students on a daily basis.

Little or No Relationship to Academics:

Opponents insist that their is no credible evidence that school uniforms improve school discipline or promote higher academic acheivement. The principal argument is that some great students are terrible dressers. Dress does not necessarily improve learning.

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The contemporary definition of Organizational Culture includes what is valued; the leadership style, the language and symbols, the procedures and routines, and the definitions of success that characterizes an organization. It is a specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization.
Here, organizational values are beliefs and ideas, about, what kinds of goals members of an organization should pursue and the appropriate kinds or standards of behavior organizational members should use to achieve these goals. From organizational values develops organizational norms, guidelines or expectations that prescribe appropriate kinds of behavior by employees in particular situations and control the behavior of organizational members towards one another.
In the past 25 years, the concept of organizational culture has gained wide acceptance as a way to understand human systems. From an open system perspective, each aspect of organizational culture can be seen as an important environmental condition affecting the system and its subsystem. Increased competition, globalization, mergers, acquisitions, alliances, and various workforce departments have created a greater need for organizational culture. Thus, it has become an important pattern for the organization’s development.
Below are important key ingredients of Organizational Culture:
It focuses attention on the human side of organizational life, and finds significance and learning in even its most ordinary aspects.
It clarifies the importance of creating appropriate systems of shared meaning to help people work together toward desired outcomes.
It requires members especially leaders, to acknowledge the impact of their behavior on the organization’s culture.
It encourages the view that the perceived relationship between an organization and its environment is also affected by the organization’s basic assumptions.
Organizational culture is possibly the most critical factor determining an organization’s capacity, effectiveness, and longevity. It also contributes significantly to the organization’s brand image and brand promise.
Organizational Culture creates energy and momentum. The energy will permeate the organization and create a new momentum for success.
The above-mentioned relevance of organizational culture supports the proposition that, in this competitive and globalized corporate scenario, there is huge need of organizational development strategy at various workforce departments, as this can improve the company’s culture. Thus, to fulfill organizations development needs, Organizational Culture Center is the better option! With its outstanding services, OCC provides meaningful responses to the company’s wants, needs and values. Its services range from Workshop, Speaking to Consulting and Coaching.
OCC, Workshop and Speaking service teach cultural enhancement programs to the attendees to improve their cultural effectiveness. It educates current and emerging leaders on issues related to organizational culture. Besides, its associates work parallel with leaders at every level of the organization by engaging and training them to understand workplace culture and to assume their responsibilities as the cultural leaders of their own individual subcultures.
Organizational Culture Center’s thirty years of experience of building culture, combined with VisionLink process, provides a complete guideline of six critical elements of workplace cultural effectiveness with the power of strategic mapping and the balanced scorecard. This proven and highly effective leadership concept brings about a direct linkage between the activities and measurements of every associate at every level of the organization with the vision and strategy of the enterprise as a whole.

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Many people automatically think that they want a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. They feel that this offers the maximum peace of mind for homeowner loans in that they forever know exactly what their mortgage payment will be, and their house is completely paid off at the end of the loan (anyone up for a mortgage burning party?). This is true, but it is actually very expensive for you to go with the 30-year fixed rate option. Other programs offer a shorter length of time at a fixed rate that can save you many dollars of interest payments for only a slightly higher mortgage monthly payment. A shorter length loan (still at a fixed rate) usually can be obtained at a slightly lower interest rate, and you build up equity in the home much faster because of the higher monthly payment. Other common fixed-rate terms are 20 years and 15 years.

The differences in the amount of interest that you will pay over the life of the various fixed-rate loan options can be staggering. Lets look at a $200,000 fixed-rate mortgage at different life terms:

Monthly Total Interest

Term Rate Payment Paid over Life

30 years 6.00% $1,199.10 $231,676.00

20 years 5 3/4% $1,404.17 $137,000.08

15 years 5 1/2% $1,634.17 $ 94,150.60

The difference in total interest costs between 20 years and 30 years is dramatic! For an additional monthly payment of $205, you get a little bit lower interest rate and, more important, you save $94,675.92 in total interest payments almost half of what you paid for the house to begin with! If you can afford to pay $1,200 per month, you should be able to afford $1,400 each month otherwise you are probably buying more house than you can afford.

The buyer of your mortgage note will always price the loan for their purposes. A fixed rate may not be the best deal for you. Are you positive that you will be living in this house for the length of the mortgage life? On average, a mortgage lasts only about 7 years because the borrower moves to a different house or refinances at a lower rate. Think hard and long before you lock into a fixed rate mortgage. Check out other types of loan options first. Depending on current interest rate structures, a fixed rate may be preferable to a variable rate and vice-versa.

Happy home owning,

Manik Thapar
http://www.themortgageinsider.us

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Manik_Thapar

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Choosing your cash-back credit card takes a little more study and investigation than you might think, because the features vary from one to another. In fact, some of them that offer big rewards might not pay off at all - ever.

The first thing to watch for is an annual fee. If you have to pay to carry the card you might have to spend quite a bit just to break even. So unless that annual fee offers some other benefit, such as an extremely low interest rate, you probably want to keep looking.

Next is the kind of cash-back. Is it actual cash, or is it points? If it’s points, how many do you have to accumulate before you can turn them into cash?

Some cards offer cash-back but with a combination of expiration dates and payment thresholds that mean you have to spend a lot in order to ever see the cash back. If the threshold is say, $100 and you’re earning 2%, you’d have to spend $5,000 before you get your rebate. And if your rewards expire at the end of each twelve month period, you could have spent $4,900 without seeing a dime returned to you.

You want rewards that roll over from one year to the next, or that automatically pay out at the end of the period, no matter if you’ve only “earned” $20.

Check to see how you go about getting your cash back - will they automatically send a check or credit your account? Will you have a choice of how to receive it? Or will you need to fill out rebate forms in order to get your money?

If you use your card for business and thus charge and pay off large amounts each month, it makes sense to use a card that rewards you. But be careful, some credit card issuers put a cap on how much you can earn. Some cap your earnings at $300 per year.

Look for restrictions. If the card rewards grocery, gasoline, or restaurant purchases, don’t assume that just because you bought groceries, gas, or a meal that the purchase will qualify. Many of the credit card issuers have significant and surprising limitations with regard to which stores, gasoline outlets, or restaurants qualify.

The bottom line is that if you want to get a card that fits your lifestyle, and will truly give the promised cash back, you have to read all the fine print. It isn’t easy - those agreements are filled with legaleze and the print is minute, but reading it all is the only way to know if you really are going to get what you expect.

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Until recently, car owners were faced with limited choices for getting their cars clean inside and out, most of which were not green options. None of the three most common choices were all that attractive for green car owners:

* Professional auto detailing services: You’re certain to get a great job done when you take your vehicle in to be detailed by a professional team, but at what cost? These jobs can run upwards of $120 depending on what services you opt for. Plus, if you’re concerned about your health and the environment, you may not like the chemicals and toxic air fresheners used to get your car clean with these companies.

* DIY car wash bays: Alternatively, you can take your car to the local vehicle washing bays to spray it down yourself or run it through a touchless system, but these commercial washing services use enormous quantities of water and again, questionable chemicals. It can also be costly, including your time, especially if you’re doing a thorough job on your own.

* Wash car at home: While this is an economical solution, it involves dragging out the rags, hose, buckets, toxic cleaning products, which aren’t healthy for you or the environment. Washing your car at home with a hose can consume up to 140 gallons of water with one wash. Not only do you pay for that water, but all of toxic chemicals, oil, gasoline, heavy metals are washed straight into storm drains. And, it can take several hours to get the job done when washing a car the old-fashioned way with a hose and a bucket and dry time.

Most green car drivers looking for an economical way to clean their vehicles feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. They either choose something that’s expensive with a few green attributes, or they do something inexpensive with fewer environmental benefits. There have been very few green car care products on the market until recently.

Thanks to some cutting edge technology and a real green spirit, the new Laura Klein’s Green Car care products will get the job done in a fraction of the time, with zero water waste, and without harming the planet. These car detailing products are biodegradable, made from plant- and water-based ingredients, and they’re non-toxic which makes them safe and healthy for you and the planet.

Laura Klein’s Green Car Waterless Wash & Shine is a truly amazing product. All you need is the spray bottle and two microfiber cloths. You simply spray the solution on a two-by-two foot square area on your car and wipe away the dirt and grime with the first microfiber cloth, then polish and shine with a second microfiber cloth (or use a clean section of the first cloth) and you’re done! No pre-wetting or rinsing required. It will not scratch your car. It cleans and shines lightly to moderately soiled surfaces, lifting dirt and soil off surfaces for easy cleaning (they admit: their Green Car Waterless Wash and Shine isn’t for caked on, four-wheeling dirt…its specialty is every day grime-fighting!). No water, no bucket, no hose, or messy clean up! One 32 oz bottle will give you 10-16 car washes per bottle (depending on the size of your car) and can literally save $100s a year in professional car washing fees (depending how much you spend of course).

Other products include, the Laura Klein Green Car Cleaning Kit that comes with the Waterless Wash & Shine, Tire & Dash Dressing, Glass & Mirror and two microfiber cloths. If buying a hybrid doesn’t fit your budget, greening your car with Laura Klein’s Green Car Kit couldn’t be easier.

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