Film Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Film Review - Essay Example he film highlights the battle of the Alamo and the 189 Texians (American-born Texans) and Tejanos (Mexican-born Texans) who â€Å"gave their lives† so that â€Å"a nation might live,† central to the film is Sam Houston and his role in the founding of an independent Texas. In 1835, the Texans had achieved partial success in capturing San Antonio de Bexar from the Mexicans. Federalists, among them Sam Houston, were optimistic that as more Americans settled in Texas, it would survive as an independent republic, but not without a professional army. An â€Å"illustrious† and popular Congressman from Tennessee, Davy Crockett was among those who responded to Sam Houston’s impassioned call. However, Sam Houston was relieved as commander of the Texas army by the provisional government, in opposition to his proposal to raise a genuine military force (Bohem). The Alamo which served as a fort on the outskirts of San Antonio de Bexar was a neglected mission. Colonel James Clinton Neill, who was mainly responsible for maintaining the fort, knew, only too well, how vulnerable the Alamo was. Convinced that volunteers alone could not defend San Antonio, Sam Houston wanted the Alamo abandoned and ordered Colonel James Bowie to destroy the fort. Contrary to this plan, the official government sent Lieutenant Colonel William Travis and a number of soldiers as re-enforcement, with little else, to defend San Antonio. Ironically, the Alamo became the last â€Å"stronghold† of the people of San Antonio from the advancing Mexican army under the dictator General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. From February to March of 1836, an army of 2,000 men laid siege against the mission, killing all defenders, taking no prisoners. The film details the siege and the final assault on the mission, showing the humanity, the courage and the heroism of Alamo’s defenders, led by the Col.William Travis, James Bowie and David Crockett. A month later (April 21, 1836), inflamed by the massacre in the

Transcendentalim and Walden Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Transcendentalim and Walden - Essay Example int hum of a mosquito making its invisible and unimaginable tour through my apartment at earliest dawn, when I was sitting with door and windows open, as I could be by any trumpet that ever sang of fame. It was Homer’s requiem; itself and Iliad and Odyssey in the air, singing its own wrath and wanderings. There was something cosmical about it; a standing advertisement, till forbidden, of the everlasting vigor and fertility of the world. The morning which is the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour. Then there is least somnolence in us; and for an hour, at least, some part of us awakes which slumbers all the rest of the day and night. Little is to be expected of that day, if it can be called a day, to which we are not awakened by our Genius, but by the mechanical nudgings of some servitor†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Thoreau 140). According to Walden, Henry David Thoreau’s Walden is a manuscript of self-reliance, a social experiment that reflects upon simple living in natural surroundings. The book employs elements of transcendentalism, an idealistic philosophical movement developed by Immanuel Kant that is based on the idea that to understand life, one must enter an intuitive process of personal introspection. This paper employs close reading techniques to show how elements of transcendentalism are exemplified in the excerpt. The paper also discusses figures of speech, diction, tone, and the general use of words in Thoreau’s Walden, to explain their effectiveness in relaying Thoreau’s message of simple living. Spiritual awakening, simplicity, individualism, and being one with nature are some of the elements of transcendentalism that unshackle human beings from the traditional ideologies of conformity and materialism. Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that champions for self-independence and self-reliance of the individual in society. It was developed by transcendentalists in the early 1820s and 1830s. Transcendentalism is exemplified by various

How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression Essay Example for Free

How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression Essay Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd president of the United States of America. His tenure ran from 1933 to 1945. Franklin Roosevelt was born in 1882 at Hyde Park, New York City. He attended the prestigious Harvard University before proceeding to Columbia Law School. President Franklin got married to Eleanor Roosevelt in 1905. Franklin Roosevelt entered into public service through politics as a member of the Democrat Party. In 1910, Franklin Roosevelt won the senate seat and become the senator of New York. A few years after the elections, Franklin was appointed assistant secretary of the navy by President Woodrow Wilson. In 1920, he was nominated by the democrats for to be there vice president. In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt was elected president of the United States of America. Heale states that the Americans were not happy with the failures of President Hoover. President Hoover failed to intervene and help save the American economy from the depression. The American citizens were thus ready for change (2007). Since they view Franklin Roosevelt as the most suitable candidate with the qualities that they desired, they voted him into presidency. His incredible and marvelous works as a governor made him the best choice for Democrats presidential candidate. By March 1933, America was hit by the worst economic depression. More than thirteen million were rendered jobless and nearly all businesses and commercial banks closed their operations. On observing this, President Franklin Roosevelt formulated the 100 Days Program which was intended to bring back the once glorious American economy back to normal. His proposal, The New Deal, which was also enacted by the US Congress as well, was meant to revive the major economic sectors of United States, especially the manufacturing, business and agricultural industries. The great depression hit America immediately after the crash of the Wall Street in October 1929. As a governor of New York, Franklin made strenuous efforts to help those who were unemployed. According to Leuchtenburg, President Franklin believed that the great depression resulted from low production in the agricultural and industrial sectors, unequal distribution of wealth, malpractices in the financial sector as well as international economic situations (2004). The New Deal proposal was to bring relief to unemployment. It was designed to help those who risked losing their homes and farm plantations. The New Deal was to bring new reforms, for example, through establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority. By mid 1935, US had achieved considerable amount of economic recovery from the depression. Hoverer, more and more businessmen and bankers were turning against Franklin’s New Deal program. According to Norton and others, the bankers and businessmen feared President Franklin’s political and economic experiments (Norton et al., 2011). In the reforms programs, President Franklin proposed that the Federal Government was to provide adequate social security to its citizens. The wealthy people were to be taxed heavily. Banks and other public utilities were to be put under new controls by the federal government. He further proposed enormous work reliefs for the unemployed. After his re-election in 1936, President Franklin formulated constitution laws that enabled the federal government to legally regulate the economy. In his New Deal proposal, Franklin Roosevelt sought through neutrality legislations that would keep United States of America out of war with Europe. However, when the Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japanese in 1941, President Franklin redirected all the resources of the nation towards global war with Japan, during the Second World War. During his presidency, America was hit by the worst economic depression ever seen in its history. According to Leuchtenburg, Franklin helped Americans regain hope and faith in themselves during the great depression (20004). Description of the New Deal According to Heale, the New Deal was an inclusive sequence programs that were designed and enacted by US Congress and signed by President Franklin Roosevelt to combat the great depression through ensuring appropriate strategies for improving the social and economic status of the American people (2007). Through the New Deal, American farmers were given the Agricultural Adjustment Act which endowed farmers with funds for agricultural activities. The National Industrial Recovery Act (NRA) was formulated to help in regulation fair competition within the manufacturing and trade industries. Furthermore, the New Deal provided Americans with collective bargaining power. Various state organizations such as the Public Works Administration (PWA), which was mandated to construct public transport infrastructure such as roads and railway lines and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) which provided re-insurance services to banks were created. Similarly, President Franklin created the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) which was meant to provide navigation services, generate hydroelectric power as well as controlling flood in the Tennessee River Valley. TVA was also responsible for regional growth and development of the Tennessee River Valley. According to Leuchtenburg, Tennessee River Valley was the poorest region in America during that time and thus President Franklin’s initiative to induce regional development in the area was incredible and of great importance to Tennessee people (2004). In order to curb high rates of unemployment, President Franklin instigated a special work program through the New Deal proposal in which jobless citizens were to perform various tasks to help in conservation and protection of the environment. The program, which was dubbed Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), enabled its members to plant trees, help in draining swamps that would otherwise be bearing sites for malaria causing mosquitoe s, restocking of rivers with fish to increase fish production and other projects that were directed towards environmental conservation. According to Heale, President Franklin’s New Deal brought more benefits to the American people through development projects and programs that were tailored towards creating job opportunities (2007). This greatly helped in alleviating poverty and eradicating the sufferings of the American people after US was hit by the great depression. Leuchtenburg asserts that the New Deal consisted of two phases. The first phase consisted of reform programs that were tailored towards recovery from effects of the great depression by supporting business and agricultural activities (2004). These programs were to help in regulation prices, reducing inflation rates and creation of job opportunities through increased public works. On the other hand, the second phase was to provide legislations for regulating social and economic growth and development. Through such legislations, huge numbers were targeted to benefit from the undertaking of president Franklin initiatives. According to historian Thomas A. Bailey, the New Deal focused on the three R’s of economic growth and development, namely; Relief, Reform and Recovery. He further explain that this three items of the New Deal entailed providing relief to the poor and unemployed citizens of US, recovering the economy for the impacts of the great depression and lastly, reforming the financial sector of the to prevent further economic depression (Norton et al., 2011). Criticism of the New Deal Although the New Deal was warmly received by many Americans, including labor unions, minority groups as well as human rights organizations, it received a variety of harsh criticisms. The major opponents of the New Deal were politicians form the Republican Party. Republicans opposed the New Deal claiming that President Franklin was misusing public funds. They accused the president for unnecessarily increasing public spending. They also claimed that the president was abusing the office of the president by centralizing the power of the executive government within a few people. Bankers, businesspersons and wealthy Americans also accused President Franklin for imposing high taxes on them. They believed that the high taxes were punitive in nature and unnecessary. Rosenbaum and Bartelme suggest that even though President Franklin faced strong opposition against his New Deal, he resolved to revive the American citizens’ trust in him by broadening his plans (2009). For instance, he proposed a legislation that would put off employers from interfering with labor unions. In addition, he introduced the federal pensions as well as unemployment insurances schemes in order to assist those who not employed. Conclusion Even though President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal received great opposition, it founded strong economic and social policies for the American people. Its legislations are still intact and used in the present America. Through the Federal Reserve System, many banks are today stable and hoard less currency. The New Deal imposed new rules and regulations that help wipe out corrupt dealings in the American banking systems. Today, individual deposits are safe and secure due to the rules that were imposed by President Franklin in his New Deal programs. This has been achieved through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Additionally, through the New Deal, President Franklin Roosevelt was able to bring about equality between men and women at the workplace. Initially, women were sidelined in the workplace. However, through a New Deal program dubbed Works Progress Administration, women and men were given equal employment opportunities with the federal government. In my view, this helped in eliminating workplace discrimination against women. Furthermore, it also helped in increasing the total income available for household consumptions, thereby improving the living standards for American families. Previously, it was only men who used to go to work and provide food for their families. However, when the great depression hit the American economy, most people lost their jobs and thus men were not able to adequately provide for their families. Through employment of women, the total income for households was incredibly increased. I would conclude that the New Deal was a great idea for the American people. Through government intervention, President Franklin was able to bring joy to the American citizens.

Video Rental Store Database Information Technology Essay

Video Rental Store Database Information Technology Essay Development of a Video Rental Store database application for JJ Video Library to facilitate efficient data storage and retrieval. Background to the Project JJ Video Library is a store which rents out videos to its members. It was established in 2006. It is located in Kimara, Kinondoni district of Dar es Salaam. The stores success is due to the good service it provides to its members and the wide and varied stock of videos available for rent. The store is having difficulties in managing the increasing amount of data used and generated. It cant cope with its own success. It now offers a larger selection of videos to a growing number of members, which means that the level of service it provides is falling. A system that will speed up the way they work, i.e. something to automate a lot of the day-to-day tasks that seem to take forever to complete is needed. The aim of this project is to develop a database application that will help solve the increasing problems of data management. Objectives The main objectives for the system are as follows: 3.1) Technical To produce an overall requirements specification for the system. To design and develop the system by adapting the waterfall model. 3.2) Personal To gain programming experience in PHP and MySQL. To produce a system that will meet the need of the store. To improve my understanding in organizing and carrying out a software development project. 3.3) Academic To meet the academic requirements of the B.Sc. ICTM final year Project. Justification 4.1) Reasons for choosing this project The primary reason for choosing this particular project is to solve the business need of JJ Video Library, which is detailed in section 5.1. Without a real-time database application, it is extremely difficult to manage the growing size of the data being stored. In the new system the following manual functions will be automated: Check in and out Find customer show details. Show customers current rentals. Return a video on time. Return a video late pay fine. Return late video without paying. Paying outstanding fines. Locate video details to check out. Check a video out. Search Search for a movie. List genres. Add title Add the new title to the database. Find the ID of the film we just added. Create copies of the film. Find existing artist. Connect the artist with the film. Get genres. Sign up Add new customer details. Get ID of new customer. List all debtors Show list of customers with unpaid fines. A secondary reason for choosing this project is to broaden my knowledge in both the areas of PHP scripting and database application development. I am greatly interested in both areas and see this project as a way for me to investigate how both these areas can be combined to create robust database applications. 4.2) How this project draws from other course subjects During this project I will use many skills I have acquired during my coursework, the table below summaries this: Code Course Subject Techniques/Knowledge to be used ICT 106 Introduction to Information Technology. Document and presentation preparation techniques. ICT 110 Fundamentals of Computer Networks. Appliation deployment techniques and protocols. ICT 209 Global Networks. ICT 116 Management Information Systems. Salient components of Information Systems and how they couple with functional areas of a business. ICT 211 Information Technology and Business Computing. ICT 208 Database Concepts and Design. Relational database design techniques. ICT 214 Computer Programming. Programming constructs. COM 200 Business Communication Skills. Report writing techniques. PUB 220 Research Methods. Research techniques. ICT 313 Database Management and Administration. This subject has not been covered yet, so this project will serve as an early investigation of subject. ICT 314 Information Technology and Society. This subject has not been covered yet, so this project will serve as an early investigation of the subject. ICT 315 Software Engineering. This subject has not been covered yet, so this project will serve as an early investigation of the subject. ICT 316 Systems Analysis and Design. This subject has not been covered yet, so this project will serve as an early investigation of the subject. ICT 317 IT Project Management. This subject has not been covered yet, so this project will serve as an early investigation of the subject. 4.3) What are the expect gains from doing this project The development work will give me the opportunity to gain handy practice in a programming language. The project will give me a chance to put to use many of the techniques and concepts which I have learnt in my coursework. Database development methods and the application of formal systems development model to mention a few. Furthermore, upon the completion of the project, JJ Video Library store will have a powerful tool which they can use to store and retrieve information more efficiently. The development work will serve as the means for meeting the requirements of the B.Sc. ICTM project component. The project will enable me to improve my software development ability by developing a considerably sized software application, thus allowing me to gain valuable experience in: planning and organizing project work problem-solving systems analysis systems design programming and testing 4.4) Video rental industry background study The movie rental industry has changed drastically over the years. Previously, movie fans could only rent movies at their local movie renting store, but the birth of new technologies and movie distribution methods has changed the way the movie rental industry operates. Today, there are three major ways for movie buffs to obtain their movies: the traditional movie rental store, online movie rental services, or no-return movie rental services. While the movie rental industry is rapidly changing, movie rental stores are still very financially successful. Movie rental stores make their money through a number of different methods including membership fees, rental fees, late fees, and movie purchases. Because online movie rental services are both cheap and convenient, they are quickly becoming a strong competitor within the movie rental industry. Both options are ideal for movie rental enthusiasts who enjoy renting movies regularly but dont want to be bothered with returning the movies. One of the leaders in no-return movie rentals, Flexplay, offers superior quality and convenience over other no-return movie rental companies. Scope System Requirements 5.1) Scope The scope of the system will be limited to the core business functions (Connolly Begg, 2004: 132) of JJ Video Library, namely: To maintain (enter, update, and delete) data on videos To maintain (enter, update, and delete) data on members To maintain (enter, update, and delete) data on video rentals To maintain (enter, update, and delete) data on staff To perform searches on videos. To perform searches on video rentals. To perform searches on members. To report on videos. To report on members. To report on video rentals. 5.2) System Requirements Usage of the database application will be restricted to two groups of users, namely the supervisor who will have unrestricted access to the system and the other staff members who will have limited access to the system. To effectively meet the needs of JJ Video Library the functionalities listed below need to be delivered. Due to the time constraints the project will only deliver the contents of this specification. The system will provide the following functionality: Log in Connect to MySQL database: username password. Locate user in employees table. Log out Terminate MySQL database connection. Check in and out Find customer show details. Show customers current rentals. Return a video on time. Return a video late pay fine. Return late video without paying. Paying outstanding fines. Locate video details to check out. Check a video out. Search Search for a movie. List genres. Add title Add the new title to the database. Find the ID of the film we just added. Create copies of the film. Find existing artist. Connect the artist with the film. Get genres. Sign up Add new customer details. Get ID of new customer. Create a user account Add a new user. Grant privileges to user. Remove a user account Get the username of the user. Remove the user from database. Revoke users privileges. Get user ID. List all debtors Show list of customers with unpaid fines. Deliverables 6.1) Development Approach For this project I plan on using the Waterfall systems development life cycle model and an object oriented development approach using UML diagramming tools to model the systems architecture. The waterfall model (Pressman, 2005: 79) will allow for a systematic, sequential approach to software development that will begin with customer-specification of requirements and will progress through planning, modeling, construction, and deployment, culminating in on-going support of the completed software. The figure below shows the proposed model. Waterfall Systems Development Model (Pressman, 2005: 79) Another reason for choosing the waterfall model (Pressman, 2005: 79) was because the requirements for the project are fixed and work is to proceed to completion in a linear manner. And if there is any change in the requirements the model will provide for feedback loops (iteration). 6.2) Artefacts The following parts of the project life cycle are part of this document. These include project initiation, project feasibility and requirements analysis. A high-level design document will be the next deliverable. After that for each stage the following deliverables will be produced at the listed phases: Detailed Design Requirements Specification User Interface Design Database Design Entity Relationship Diagram Data Dictionary Functional Design Use Case Diagram Class Diagram Sequence Diagram Deployment Diagram Build Working Application Test Test Plan Test Cases for: Acceptance Testing To get a small sample of user opinions. Performance Testing To test the speed of the system under load, in a live environment. Implementation User Guide Additional deliverables required for the B.Sc. ICTM project component that will be produced include: Final Project Report. Formal Oral Presentation Timing 7.1) Major Milestones Appendix A gives a detailed breakdown of the hours I have at my disposal to work on the project. I am convinced that I will be able to deliver within the target dates. ID Milestone Hours Start Date Target Date PID Project Plan/Requirements Analysis 75 18 January 2011 31 January 2011 HLD High-level Design Document 75 01 February 2011 14 February 2011 Development Phases DP1 Core System/Database structure 35 15 February 2011 21 February 2011 DP2 Login_logout 17 22 February 2011 24 February 2011 DP3 Check_in_out 18 25 February 2011 28 February 2011 DP4 Search 35 01 March 2011 07 March 2011 DP5 Add_title 35 08 March 2011 14 March 2011 DP6 Sign_up 35 15 March 2011 21 March 2011 DP7 Create_user_account 35 22 March 2011 28 March 2011 DP8 Remove_user_account 35 29 March 2011 04 April 2011 DP9 List_debtors 35 05 April 2011 11 April 2011 FPR Final Project Report 105 12 April 2011 02 May 2011 Total 535 18 January 2011 June 2011 Additional Information 8.1) Project Organisation The project will be conducted entirely by myself. The project supervisor will be Mr. Almasi Maguya. 8.2) Resources: The following tools will be put to use during this project: Tool Description Apache 2.2.17 Web Server. PHP 5.3.3 Scripting Language. Star UML 5.0 UML Diagramming Tool. Komodo Edit 6.0.3 Text Editor. Microsoft Project 2003 Project Management Software. MySQL Workbench 5.2.31 Database Design Tool. MySQL 5.5.8 Relational Database Management System. Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended Graphics Editing Tool. OpenOffice.org 3.2.1 Office Suite.

The Dumbing Down of American Fiction :: English Literature Fiction Books Essays

The Dumbing Down of American Fiction The 1976 film "Network" is an acerbic satire of television's single-minded obsession with mass ratings.One of the film's main characters, Howard Beale, is called the "Mad Prophet of the Airways," and his weekly harangues produce a "ratings motherlode"--yet he constantly admonishes his viewers to "Turn the damn tube off!"During one such rant Beale berates his audience as functional illiterates: "Less than three percent of you even read books!" he shouts messianically--and then promptly collapses from a sort of apoplexic overload. Almost twenty years later, contemplating the contemporary American publishing scene, I feel a Bealean rage coming on (and with it a vague longing for one of his fits).While three percent of the American population in 1976 would have been a little over six million readers, recent surveys suggest that the consistent buyers of books in this country now total no more than half that number, and may even be as few as one million.[1] That's total readership: your avid bodice ripper fans who buy romance in six-packs lumped in willy nilly with high brow mystery addicts who idolize PBS-bred Brits ... To say nothing of your popular science market, your science fiction market, your fitness market, your self-help market, your gourmet cooking market, your home carpentry market, your computer hacker market, your quilting and preserving and canning and gardening and hiking and hang gliding and bungee jumping market ... that is, all of these markets taken together may have around a million fans. Imagine all possible readers of anything made of words crammed into a bookstore roughly the size of 10 football stadiums.Large for a bookstore?Remember, with only one million readers to accommodate, it's the only bookstore.Just this one, and most days even it is cavernously empty; a single big, echoing bookstore in a nation of 250 million people, at least 200 million of whom can, if they so choose, read.Our potential customers total then not even one percent of the reading-capable population, but only half of one percent.If there are 100 million computers in this country, then there may be 100 times as many computers as there are consistent readers of books. Well, it's a post-book world, you respond.Books are, like the horse and buggy, obsolete.Like the typewriter.Like the barbershop quartet.Like the Cold War. And yet we holdouts, we inveterate readers, we who love our books so well for reasons so

Sonnet 69 :: essays research papers fc

Sonnet 65 (Shakespeare) 1 Since brass, nor stone, nor boundless sea, 2 But sad mortality o’er-sways their power, 3 How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea, 4 Whose action is no stronger than a flower? 5 O how shall summer’s honey breath hold out, 6 Against the wreckful siege of batt’ring days 7 When rocks impregnable are not so stout, 8 Nor gates of steel so strong, but time decays? 9 O fearful meditation! Where, alack, 10 Shall time’s best jewel from time’s chest lie hid? 11 Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back, 12 Or who his spoil o’er beauty can forbid? 13 O none, unless this miracle have might: 14  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  That in black ink my love may still shine bright. Withstanding Mortality through Verse Melissa Zyduck Explication #1 Sonnet 65 Carducci Feb. 21st, 2001 Sonnets are rhymed poems consisting of fourteen lines, the first eight making up the octet and the last six lines being the sestet. The basic structure of the sonnet arose in medieval Italy, its most prominent exponent being the Early Renaissance poet, Petrarch. The appearance of the English Sonnet, however, occurred when Shakespeare was an adolescent, around 1580 (Moore and Charmaine 1). Although it is named after him, Shakespeare did not originate the English sonnet form. The English sonnet differs slightly from the Italian, or Petrarchian, Sonnet and the Spenserian Sonnet in that it ends with a rhymed couplet and follows the rhyme scheme (abab cdcd efef gg). Thus, the octet/sestet structure can be alternatively divided into three quatrains with alternating rhymes and ending in a rhymed couplet. William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 65 is part of a sequence of one hundred and fifty-four sonnets allegedly written sometime between 1592 and May of 1609 (Duncan 13; Moore and Charmine 1). In sonnets 1 through 126, the speaker addresses a young man often referred to as the Youth, and in sonnets 127 through 154, a woman, or Dark Lady, is addressed Sonnet 65 is also part of a unit with Sonnet 64 (Best 1), the two coming together to form their own â€Å"fearful meditation† (9) on time and ruin reaping youth and beauty from the world and leaving only cold death (Cooney 3). Shakespeare opens the poem with the speaker listing paradigms of the long-lasting substances â€Å"brass† and â€Å"stone† (1). â€Å"Earth† and â€Å"boundless sea† (1) are also long lasting, but are superior in that they are nearly limitless in extent. All of these elements, by their nature, should be capable of holding out against â€Å"sad mortality† (2), but none of them are free of its operations (Duncan, 240) as it â€Å"o’er-sways their power† (2).

Labour market research

Within the health, sector nurses constitute the largest proportion and it is important to appreciate the work that nurses do. They care for patients in private clinics, hospitals and at homes. Besides the bedside care they provide to patients nurses educate the public on disease prevention, health issues, home based care, and even give mental and emotional support for terminally ill patients. These services provided may seem simplistic but in their absence, the effects are devastatingly profound. In this paper I choose to research on the nursing labor market in Texas and seek to determine how nursing wages are calculated, factors that influence the supply and demand of nurse’s position, how a nurses pay is determined and possibly recommended some actions that could increase the supply of nurses in Texas.According to the Texas centered for nursing work force studies (TCNWS) the number of registered nurses in Texas stands at about 146,000-plus who work on either part time or ful l time basis in health care settings.   This constitutes the largest proportion of the work force in the state.   Of the 146,000 registered nurses, 66% are employed in inpatient and outpatient hospitals.   The remaining 34% are either self-employed or work in home based care, nursing schools, military institutions or school institutionsAlthough RN profession is the largest in Texas there has been concerns raised over the unprecedented shortage of nurses and it seems the gap between supply and demand will continue to rise. Stabilizing strategies should be implemented to bridge this gap.Factors determining supply and demand of nurse’s positionAn increase in the number of aging population has increased the demand of health care facilities and per person nursing services.   Between 1990 and 2005, the number of people aged 65 years increased from 23% to 30.5 percent; this is according to a TCNW report. (2006)Secondly is an increase in the population in Texas owing to incre ased births and immigrants, aliens and migrants from other states.   In the 1990s, the population was 17 million people. Today it stands at approximately 23.5 million and it is projected that by 2015 the population should stand or teach 28 million.   Consequently, demand for nursing services has increased.Thirdly, retired and aging nurses.   In the past, the number of people who chose nursing profession as a career was few. Today most people choose to join lucrative professions such as law and doctors.   As such, there occurred a shortage in nurses.   The current nurses are aged and demand for replacements is high as they look to retirement. .   So, how does a shortage in nurses occur? Few nurses entering the nursing profession as compared to aging nurses exiting the profession.   Difficulty to attract and retain nurses by employers.   Few nurses qualified to provide acute services, advanced practice research and unwillingness to relocate to rural areasThe scenario a t the national level is similar to that in Texas.   The increasing senior population, more immigrants, retirement of baby boomers and few qualified nurses increase demand for nursesRecommendations to increase supply of nurses The shortage of RN will continue to prevail and increase unless drastic measures are taken. The solutions to the shortage of nurses are varied depending on the causes of the shortage. Some hospitals have already implemented strategies to address these shortage   These include increasing the number of full time employees in nursing programs and also to increase enrolments into nursing programs and the number of students who graduate from them.   This would replace the aged, retired or dead nurses.Image is everything and if hospitals want to retain and attract new nurses, they have to rebuild the image.   For example better pay packages and incentives, attractive overtime pay, flexible working times, better working conditions, motivation program, recruiti ng aged nurses, mentorship and role modeling etc. implementation of loan forgiveness programs, which lure nurses to less attractive areas like rural areasDetermining of Nurses PayA fair and equitable salary and wages rate should be satisfactory to both employee and employers considerations should be guided by the slogan ‘fair days pay for a fair day’s work’ That is, a salary that is commensurate to input and can sufficiently provide for basic needs, and cater for future ambitions, is that constitutes fair pay. The labor market as other markets is sensitive to forces of demand and supply.These forces among other factors determine price (wage rate) and quantity (number of people in the market). In Texas nurses, salaries are high given that it is a rural area. Most nurses are unwilling to relocate to Texas. This has led to higher salaries in order to woo more people to the profession. The level of experience is important in determining salary scale. A highly experie nced nurse earns more than an inexperienced one. In addition, external factors beyond an organization also have a hand in contributing to setting prices.They include the cost of living, value of the job, economic conditions, presence of unions, laws etc. (Delaney 2006) some hospitals consider the regional pay differentials and pay according to the cost of living in the area. Legislative requirements dictate the minimum level of pay also determine salary rate. Unions have strong bargaining power and influence employers’ decision on amount of salary in a unionized labor market such as nursing. Overall salary determination is a complex issue and the determining factors vary across states.ReferenceDelaney, B (2000) Human Resources: Importance of External Factors in WageDetermination. Retrieved on August, 24, 2007 www.hr.com/†¦/pay_strategies/base_pay/importance_of_external_factors_in_wage_determination_eng.htmlThe Supply of and Demand for Registered Nurses and Nurse Graduate s in Texas: Report to the Texas Legislature Texas Department of State Health Services, Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies. Electronic Publication No. E25-12513, p.1) available at http://www.dhs.state.tx.us/chs/cnws/sb132rep.pdf   accessed on August, 24, 2007