Which Ivy League School Should I Go To TKG

Which Ivy League School Should I Go To Subject: College choiceMessage: Hi! I’ve read your website and it seems like you’ve helped a ton of people get direction on their university choice. I was wondering if you could help me out too? I really have no idea where I want to go and I’m in my senior year of high school. I want to get into one of the Ivy’s but I don’t know particularly why or which one. Full disclosure: we are about to completely drag this method of thinking. If you are someone who has grown up dreaming of going to an Ivy League school for no particular reason, then you probably won’t feel great after reading this blog post. We do our best to answer every email that we get, and when we’re asked a certain question a million times we try to turn it into a blog post so that we can reach as many readers as possible. In this case, we’re posting this question so that people will stop asking it. Please don’t ask us this question. It’s (one of) the questions we get the most, and the question we like the least. We’ve gotten many variants of this question. Parents ask us to help their kids apply to every Ivy League school, and we’ve written (a lot!) about why that’s a bad idea. We’ve said it before and once more here for good measure: building out a target school list based on status is never a good application strategy. To answer the question posed in this particular email, yes, we help students build out their school lists. But those lists are based on the student’s grades, test scores, academic areas of interest, personalities, and a number of other factors. We don’t start by asking the client which Ivy League school they want to go to. To confirm, the Ivy League is a sports league comprised of 8 schools that play sports against one another. That’s what unifies Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and the rest of them. These schools are undoubtedly academically rigorous, but what they also possess is a top-notch branding team. Since birth, we’ve all been trained to believ e that Ivy is best. Even young children who don’t really know what college is want to go to Harvard. We all think that we need to go to one, and that once we do our troubles will melt away. (Spoiler alert: that’s completely false.) It’s advantageous for Ivy League schools to continue this marketing strategy because more kids are applying by the year and that’s exactly what they want. The number of applications has been steadily increasing but the average class size doesn’t get any bigger. And because of that, Ivy League acceptance rates are all now in the single digits, with the exception of Cornell. We are not suggesting that there aren’t students that belong at an Ivy League school. There are. But they don’t belong there “just because it’s an Ivy.” The students that get into Ivy’s have highly specific goals with regard to their major, specific professors that they want to learn from, and extracurricular interests that are best furthered at a certain school. N ot to mention, killer grades. In other words, they’ve been working towards their goal of going to “X” Ivy League school long before the start of senior year. (This is not to say that people going to non-Ivy’s don’t have goals, we mean that certain students custom tailor their high school career in hopes of going to a certain Ivy.)So, our answer to “Which Ivy League School Should I Apply To?” is none of them. If you don’t have any idea which Ivy you want to go to, stay strong and don’t give into the marketing plans. It’s really important to us that our readers and clients know that they don’t have to go to an Ivy League school to be successful. Plus, applying to all of the Ivy League schools “just to see if I get in” is extremely time consuming and more often than not a losing battle. Contrary to popular belief, applying to all of the Ivy’s does not increase your chances of getting into one of them. What will happen is that you’ll spend an inordinate amo unt of time on those applications and fall short on the rest. And then you’re really in a bind. If you do want to read about the offerings at Princeton, browse the website as you would any other school. But be open to the fact that your best fit school is most likely not an Ivy League school, and that you only think that because you’ve programmed to do so. Remember that your value and future career is not determined by where you attend college.  We love helping students figure out where they want to apply, and why. Contact us here if you want to work with someone one-on-one.

Historical Deviant Sexual Behaviors Free Essay Example, 2250 words

A number of these deviant sexual behaviors do not cause harm to the victim but are rather just a source of nuisance. Even so, deviant sexual behaviors have been associated with negative impact on the health status, psychological functioning and interpersonal functioning of victims (McAnulty Burnette, 2006). Behaviors such as prostitution risk the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases and other infections (WHO, 2005). The affected victims could be affected psychologically, causing anxiety and fears. The victims could also find it difficult to relate with other people, especially those resembling their perpetrators. It has also been observed that some deviant sexual behaviors propagate deviant behaviors and fantasies. Williams et al. (2009) give the example of pornography which promotes aggression and rape tendencies among men. Such tendencies lead to sex crimes which could lead to prosecution in a court of law. A majority of these acts are also criminal in various countries and could as such land the perpetrators to jail. Even though largely considered to be negative, these behaviors could also deter perpetrators from engaging in harmful crimes. Specifically, nuisance sexual behaviors with no harm to the victim give the perpetrators satisfaction without resorting to alternative harmful behaviors (Mahmut, Homewood, Stevenson, 2008). We will write a custom essay sample on Historical Deviant Sexual Behaviors or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page Heterosexuals are so because of their behaviors and attitudes towards people of the opposite sex.

The Impact Of Consumerism On Our Society Today - 1276 Words

Consumerism has played an important role in our society today. Whether it is the shoes we wear or the shampoo we use in our hair, the idea of being a consumer and what products attract us contribute to how we identify ourselves within our society. When people go the store to purchase a product, they tend not to think how the package affects them. Thomas Hine’s â€Å"What’s in a Package† emphasizes how packaging is essential to attract a customer to buying the given item. He further explains that not only do these packages subconsciously affect customers, the product can also say something about the person based on their purpose of buying it. In addition, Hines also expresses in his article that the way a package is presented to us as consumers affects our expectations when purchasing the product and how each package in the store is competing for our attention. These numerous choices of items come in all different shapes and sizes, and there are different ways in which these items appeal to each consumer. For instance, the bold letters or the bright colors can catch the attention of a buyer. Even the amount of information provided in the item or the ingredients used can play a factor on whether this product is the right product to consider buying. Packaging is key for an advertisement to be successful. The product I decided to choose to analyze was my Clinique Stay-matte Liquid Foundation. What attracted me to this foundation is how the packaging goes straight to the point withShow MoreRelatedConsumerism Is All Around Us747 Words   |  3 PagesRegardless of where our travels may take us, where our minds may wander, and how we choose to carry out the day-to-day happenings of our lives, the people of the 21st century cannot seem to escape the ever-powerful grasp of corporate consumerism. While many are aware that consumerism is all around us, few understand the true extent to which it impacts our lives. With constant exposure to advertising it’s hard not to get sucked into consumerism. The advertisements we see influence our spending habitsRead MoreConsumerism Speech - Preliminary Aos869 Words   |  4 Pagesyou don’t eat. Is it possible that you could, unwillingly and unintentionally be superficial? Good morning everyone and welcome to the mindset of modern society, materialistic and consumer driven. Today, the desirable consumerist lifestyle outweighs the instinct of compassion, which only proves my point that the inherent values of consumerism force you all; yes you, to be insensitive. The Australian poet Bruce Dawe wrote The Not-So-Good Earth during the Vietnam War, about these values influencingRead MoreConsumerism Essay1620 Words   |  7 PagesConsumerism – Bruce Dawe Poetry || 2009 Every society has mythology. In some societies, it’s religion. Our religion is consumerism. As we are constantly exposed to mass media and popular culture in our modern society, the insidious nature of consumerism has allowed it to penetrate into every aspect of our lives, dictating our very beliefs, values and wants. Nearly every individual in our society subconsciously conforms to the shallow and superficial mindset that characterises our consumerist cultureRead MoreThe Economic And Social Changes During The 1960s Under The Reagan Administration989 Words   |  4 Pagesvictim to homelessness and poverty. The unemployment rate had reached its highest peak since the Great Depression, creating a major crisis for low-income families and other individuals concerning living conditions. The introduction of Reaganism into society primarily focused on reducing the growth of government spending through the modulation of federal income tax and reduction of government regulation to diminish inflation. Despite all attempts for economic recovery, the US struggled to bounce backRead Mo reEssay on American Consumer Culture1031 Words   |  5 Pagesgrocery stores, on the Internet, or elsewhere, the culture of buying is deeply ingrained in American culture. Fueled largely by advertising and the current credit system, America’s consumer culture is depleting our planet’s finite natural resources and polluting our environment. Consumerism has instilled in Americans an artificial, ongoing, and insatiable desire for mass-produced and marketed products, and the money with which to buy them, with little regard to their actual usefulness or necessityRead MoreThe Problem Of Extreme Consumerism926 Words   |  4 Pagesextreme amount of consumerism, but why exactly? What are the possible causes of extreme consumerism? Some of the few possible causes contributing to mass consumerism would include: the want for consumption, the need for consumption, and possibly even hoarders. Although many of the possible causes listed above tie together, it’s quite intere sting exploring these causes of extreme consumerism and being able to shine a small light on the subject. As mentioned, extreme consumerism is what makes theRead MoreGreed And Consumerism810 Words   |  4 Pagesgood, our environment conjectures otherwise. The rise of greed and modern human culture has helped facilitate aspects of consumerism by creating a desperation for more. More friends, more food, more clothes, more money, more dreams. Entirely based around the concept of lust, selfishness and envy, consumerism helps appeal to the mass’s most primal desires, exchanging a person’s rationality for emotional investment. Experts now aver that all of human history has come down to one coherent fact; our onlyRead MoreBranding And Its Effect On Society1567 Words   |  7 Pages In society today, everything has a name for it. If the product doesn’t have a well-known name, it goes by name that a well-known product that is similar goes by. Branding has made its impact on society and it’s never going to go away. In this situation, all we can do from here is analy ze more and more until we fully understand its presence in society and its effects. Branding has its biggest effects on consumerism, which makes us question consumerisms power in society. Has our society become oneRead MoreThe New Consumerism And Media Culture1418 Words   |  6 Pages The New Consumerism and Media Culture Professor Chyng- Feng Sun October 31, 2017 In Chapter 27, The New Politics of Consumption: Why Americans Want So Much More Than They Need, author Juliet Schor states consuming is authentic as it gets in the American culture and the standard of living has changed in relation to consumerism. Americans need to work longer hours in order to make money that they are then pressured to spend. Schor describes today s consumerism as the new consumerism. This canRead MorePositive And Negative Aspects Of Advertising1695 Words   |  7 Pages Advertising may be considered among the most quietly controversial subjects in our society, and is yet, ever so essential. There are both positive and negative aspects, and although that could be true for anything, advertising is unique in the sense that it requires a constant give and take from consumers. Furthermore, I have investigated certain technological benefits associated with advertising that improve effectiveness, and how advertising benefits consumers. On the contrary, I have evaluated

Persuasive Essay On Conformity - 1016 Words

Conformity is killing the beauties of individualities Should we blame society or ourselves for conforming? As a struggling college student, today we are continually attempting to fit in and discover their place and role in society. Drug and alcohol abuse are turning into the responses for us so we do not have to deal with the social expectations of society. 3 out of 4 of high schoolers have reported that school stress is the reason behind it (12 Keys Rehab, 2013). Imagine there were 4 people in a room and 3 of them were alcoholics, that’s a lot, isn’t it? Would you want to live in a world like that? Any school institution is the start for any teen to be confused about their self-worth and what their real selves are. A study by Nail,†¦show more content†¦The reason behind the genocide was because â€Å"we were just following orders† (HRFnd, 2015). This shows that conformity can bring people danger if authority was not questioned. High school is one of the most iconic places where peer pressure is bound to happen, negative influences have been more likely to happen than positive ones. The worst feeling is not being liked or being left out of a group. This can heavily encourage us to try drugs/alcohol, skip class, steal, cheat, have negative relationships, bring down their own self-esteem and body image. Promoting awareness is important about teen issue but so is recognising and how to deal with it. Advice for anyone would be trust yourself and identifying things that might seem dangerous or unsure. Not giving in, in an uncomfortable situation and leaving. If serious, talk to someone who you trust such an adult or teacher. Parents can also help by opening to their child and being assertive that they will not get into uncomfortable situations (Collins, 1998). Conformity blocks the beauties of individuality. Despite there being negatives which can affect certain corporations as they cannot exploit people and there will not be a common direction for society that we can follow. The economic will be constantly unstable meaning there will be highs and lows. However, there are many positives that individuality can bring to this would such more freedom. You canShow MoreRelatedNight by Elie Wiesel1271 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿THE CONTEXT ESSAY Written response to a prompt- a statement about the theme which you are required to â€Å"break open† in your response. Theme – â€Å"rites of passage† Example of a prompt: â€Å"Rites of passage presents obstacles which must be overcome† The context essay can take three forms: Expository Persuasive Imaginary THE PROMPT The prompt or stimulus is what must be addressed in relation to the texts you have explored. Sometimes there may be an image as well as text Discussion of the promptRead MoreThe And The Great Gatsby877 Words   |  4 Pagessomewhat intriguing and given a list of essay topics that were broad enough to apply to any of the novels. I chose mostly classics because I thought they would help me in junior year for the New York State english regents exam. I read standard novels such as Frankenstein, Les Miserables and The Great Gatsby which at the time I considered relatively difficult to analyze because I usually struggled with development of themes and symbols. My solution was to read more essays and take notes of their developmentRead MoreStem Studies And Liberal Arts Education1145 Words   |  5 PagesMichael Roth, president of Wesleyan University, is a strong believer that the liberal arts education is a field of study that needs to be â€Å"protected,† as in it needs to stay thriving. Roth uses severeral rhetorical strategies to make an effective, yet persuasive argument. First, Michael Roth is the president of Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut, and pervious president of California College of the Arts (CCA). Roth is a history and humanities professor at Wesleyan University, which in his earlierRead MoreThe Social Influence Of Minority And Minority Influence1491 Words   |  6 Pageswhy people conform and the factors that make them more likely to conform. Conformity is defined as â€Å"a form of social influence in which a person yields to group pressure in the absence of any explicit order or request from another person to comply, as in the Asch experiment† (Colman, or Dictionary of Psychology, 2009). Conformity encompasses majority and minority influence. Kelman (1958) proposed three types of conformity for influence of a majority; Compliance, internalisation and identificationRead MoreEssay on Sociology and Social Sciences1144 Words   |  5 Pageswhere everythings is, climate , and what groups of people live in each region. (43 points) 2. Write a persuasive essay that defends your ranking of the seven social sciences. Use specific facts and details from your personal experiences and reading to support your point of view. Review the Grading Assignment Rubric and the Persuasive Essay sheet before writing your essay. Answer: What’s your order of ranked for the seven social sciences? And witch once are more important to you?Read MoreSelf Reliance Essay1678 Words   |  7 Pagesupon old ideas of Romanticism, Unitarianism, and German Idealism. Some of these ideas pertained closely to the values of America at the time. These values included nature, individualism, and reform, and can be noted in the essay â€Å"Self Reliance,† by Ralph Waldo Emerson. In this essay, Emerson states his values and incorporates them into his philosophy of self-reliance. In the past 170 years, some of the ideas stated by Emerson in his literary work â€Å"Self-Reliance† have weathered the test of time. HoweverRead MoreEffective College Level Writing Strategies Essays711 Words   |  3 Pagesintroduces the subject of discussion. It is also important for the write to make the claim in the introduction part. This way, the reader will be informed of the points that the write is likely to make. This is particularly important in augmentative or persuasive writing where the writer is requires leading the reader through the article by giving objective pros and cons of the subject of discussions. Again, organization requires that the body of the writing remains consisted with the claim of the writerRead MoreAdvertisements For Sales Promotion : An Advertisement2514 Words   |  11 PagesStudent’s Name: Professor’s Name: Course: Date: Advertisements Introduction Advertising is form of communication that is directly invoked in passing critical messages to the target audience. It is also termed as a promotional mode that has persuasive instincts of swaying buyers to a given direction. Therefore, advertisements for sales promotion are destined to orient the thinking and perception of buyers to a given product. While there are different forms of advertising, the main message expressedRead MoreCulture Shock1188 Words   |  5 PagesCulture Shock Essay The United States of America is a country in which many people from all over the world come to live together. Unlike Canada, which is a multicultural country, it is a melting pot since each person brings his/her own peculiarity to enrich the culture of this country. But this melting pot process is not always without problems. When people from other countries come to America, they may experience some form of culture shock. CultureRead MorePersuasive Essay : Capital Punishment1200 Words   |  5 PagesPersuasive Essay Ethan Martin Communications 100 October 18th 2015 Capital Punishment Capital punishment, which is also known as the death penalty, is the punishment of a crime by execution. This extreme retribution is reserved for those who have committed heinous, or capital crimes against society, therefore considered an ongoing threat. Capital punishment was abolished from the Canadian Criminal Code in 1976. It was substituted with a compulsory life sentence without possibility

Business Environment

Question: Describe about the business environment and leadership approach. Answer: Leadership Approach Leadership is defined as the power by which I can influence others so as to make sure that my organization FS Travel Tour makes the maximum benefit meeting the desired goals.Leadership authority gives me the power to rule on or regulate others behavior for the benefit of my group or organization. However leadership does not mean always executing ones dictatorship over the team or employees he/she is ruling(Dimitriadis Psychogios, 2016). Keeping this into concern; it is not ethical on the legal as well as logical grounds to execute my leadership authority every-time upon my employees. In order to ensure that FS Travel Tour reach the zenith of success; as its owner it is my responsibility to guide my team or employees in such a way that tat are able to work under comfort executing their best possible potential helping me to reach the goal which I have dreamt for my company. In this context; I would primarily adhere to Traits theory of leadership which explains that a person in order to become a competent leader must inherit character traits like self-confidence, cognitive ability, a proper and in-depth knowledge about the business world he or she is dealing, motivational spirit, flexibility, decision making ability, emotional capability, honesty and the desire to lead and expand the business(Male Palaiologou, 2012). However only possessing such traits shall not prove me a competent leader. My behavioral features (reference to Leadership Behavior) are the greatest factor which shall be guiding the best outcome of my traits. It is my duty to understand the needs of my employees and help them in the same so as to ensure that they work efficiently. Managing Information Managing information forms a fundamental role of my duty as a leader; especially during the arousal of any unexpected or crisis situation. My role here can be divided into 4 parts: Interpersonal role (which states how or which role I as a manager take up to interacts personally with my fellow employees); Informational role (which deals with a my process of exchanging information with my employees) and Decision making (dealing with the process I would prefer adhering to use the information for better decision making)(Elkin Law, 2000). Along with these roles; there are 8 fundamental steps which must be considered for maintaining trust and better information management during crisis situation. Rather than blaming my employees for the unforeseen situation which has risen, it is my responsibility to own the problem which FS Travel Tour has encountered and consider it minutely for better solutions. Also being at the authority position as the owner of the business; I should never dominate my employees because if they step back; it is me who will be suffering the loss (intervene early and often logic)(Eschenfelder Johnson, 2014). Other than these; as a leader, it is my responsibility to mind my message before marking it and also show the humanity towards my employees giving them a chance to explain their points and seek feedback before coming up with my own conclusion. If followed properly; only then can I help my Travel and Tourism business to grow. References Dimitriadis, N. Psychogios, A. (2016).Neuroscience for Leaders. London: Kogan Page. Elkin, J. Law, D. (2000).Managing information. Buckingham [England]: Open University Press. Eschenfelder, K. Johnson, A. (2014). Managing the data commons: Controlled sharing of scholarly data.Journal Of The Association For Information Science And Technology,65(9), 1757-1774. Male, T. Palaiologou, I. (2012). Learning-centred leadership or pedagogical leadership? An alternative approach to leadership in education contexts.International Journal Of Leadership In Education,15(1), 107-118.

Theory Of Consumer Choice Essays - Consumer Theory, Marginal Utility

Theory of Consumer Choice I think that it is right to begin with the Theory of consumer choice. The above consumer has expressed his preference of choice. He has a taste for seafood which he prefers above all other types of food. This does not mean that he only eats seafood, but in line with the last two elements of the theory of consumer choice, he has shown his preference for taste and on that assumption, will do the best that he can for himself to consume as much seafood as he can. The elements of the theory which govern exactly how much seafood he will consume are the first two, namely the consumer's income and the price of seafood. We can assume therefore, that the consumer will devote as much of his budgeted income for food, to as much seafood as he can afford in preference to other foods such as hamburgers. A budget line can be drawn up to show a trade off between say, fish suppers and hamburgers to indicate the combinations of fish suppers and hamburgers the consumer can afford given his income and the prices of each meal. Points on the buget line will all be within the consumers budget for food. All points below the line will show the possible combinations of dinners avaiable for his choice. All points above the line wil be unaffordable. It will be possible to see how far the consumer could indulge his passion for seafood in one week. (Slope of budget line = -Pu/Pv) The next considerations that might be taken are the marginal rate of substitution of one meal for another without changing the total utility, the diminishing marginal rate of substitution which will hold utility constant and representation of taste as indifference curves. I will not elaborate on these at this point as I believe that the marginal utility and diminishing marginal utility are more relevany and pertinent to the question. I shall now contunue by defining utility. In economic jargon, utility is a numerical method of appreciating a consumer's satisfaction. The word itself, as far as meaning is concerned, has nothing to do with its meaning in everyday language. It has nothing to do with usefulness, it is a satisfaction based unit of measurement. Marginal utility on the other hand is, in a sense, an extra utility. What is meant in economic jargon by marginal is the additional pleasure a specific good gives to a consumer. Diminishing marginal utility is the marginal utility lessening due to the growth of consumption. For example, a consumer consumes a pound of fish, and his utility is 10 units, and his marginal utility is 10 units. If the same consumer consumed two pounds of fish, his utility would be 15, but his marginal utility would be 7. The same effect on marginal utility would take place if the amount consumed further increase. Since marginal utility diminishes as the quantity of fish consumed increases, we are faced with diminishing marginal utility. The point is that no matter how good the the consumer's fish dinners are , the more that is consumed, the less satisfaction will the consumer have compared to the initial portion. This of course is down to personal taste, for consumer A may have a diminishing marginal utility that decreases a lot more slowly than consumer B. The fact remains, that at some point, both comsumers will become saturated by their love for seafood and the law of diminishing marginal utility will make itself apparent. Our consumer, as this point, will seek to substitute some of his fish dinners with hamburgers or another alternative. To conclude, the title question based on the argument above, the statement: ?I love seafood so much I can't get enough of it? may be passionate, but economically speaking is implausible. Even if theoretically speaking the consumer had access to an infinite amount of seafood and an unlimited budget, in the end the good would not satisfy the consumer enough to remain a preferred good, thus this change in preference would result in the consumer literally having had enough. First we must consider suppy and demand. Supply is the quantity of a good that sellers want to sell at every price. Demand is the quantity

Origin of the Chinese Zodiac Signs

Origin of the Chinese Zodiac Signs The well-trodden (no pun intended) story of the Chinese zodiac is cute, but a bit trite. The tale usually begins with the Jade Emperor, or Buddha, depending on the teller, who summoned all the animals of the universe for a race, or a banquet, depending on the teller. The 12 animals of the zodiac all headed to the palace. The order that they came in determined the order of the zodiac. The order is as follows: Rat: (1984, 1996, 2008, add 12 years for each subsequent year)Ox: (1985, 1997, 2009)Tiger: (1986, 1998, 2010)Rabbit: (1987, 1999, 2011)Dragon: (1976, 1988, 2000)Snake: (1977, 1989, 2001)Horse: (1978, 1990, 2002)Ram: (1979, 1991, 2003)Monkey: (1980, 1992, 2004)Chicken: (1981, 1993, 2005)Dog: (1982, 1994, 2006)Pig: (1983, 1995, 2007) During the journey, however, the animals got involved in everything from high jinx to heroism. For example the rat, who won the race, only did so through guile and trickery: it jumped onto the back of the ox and won by a nose. The snake, apparently also a little sneaky, hid on the hoof of a horse in order to cross a river. When they got to the other side, it scared the horse and beat it in the contest. The dragon, however, proved to be honorable and altruistic. By all accounts, the dragon would have won the race as it could fly, but it had stopped to help villagers caught in a flooding river cross safely, or it stopped to assist the rabbit in crossing the river, or it stopped to help create rain for a drought-ridden farmland, depending on the teller. Actual History of the Zodiac The actual history behind the Chinese zodiac is much less fantastical and much harder to find. It’s known from pottery artifacts that the animals of the zodiac were popular in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.), but they were also seen much earlier from artifacts from the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.), a period of disunity in ancient Chinese history, as differing factions fought for control. It’s been written that the animals of the zodiac were brought to China via the Silk Road, the same central Asian trade route that brought the Buddhist belief from India to China. But some scholars argue that the belief predates Buddhism and has origins in early Chinese astronomy that used the planet Jupiter as a constant, as its orbit around the earth took place every 12 years. Still, others have argued that the use of animals in astrology began with nomadic tribes in ancient China who developed a calendar based on the animals they used to hunt and gather. The scholar Christopher Cullen as written that beyond satisfying the spiritual needs of an agrarian society, the use of astronomy and astrology was also an imperative of the emperor, who had the responsibility for ensuring harmony of everything under heaven. To rule well and with prestige, one needed to be accurate in astronomical matters, Cullen wrote. Perhaps that is why the Chinese calendar, including the zodiac, became so entrenched in Chinese culture. In fact, reforming the calendar system was viewed as appropriate if political change was eminent. Zodiac Fits With Confucianism The belief that everyone and every animal has a role to play in society translates well with Confucian beliefs in a hierarchical society. Just as Confucian beliefs persist in Asia today alongside more modern social views, so does the use of the zodiac. It’s been written by Paul Yip, Joseph Lee, and Y.B. Cheung that births in Hong Kong regularly increased, bucking declining trends, to coincide with the birth of a child in a dragon year. Temporary fertility rate increases were seen in the dragon years of 1988 and 2000, they wrote. This is a relatively modern phenomenon as the same increase wasn’t seen in 1976, another dragon year. The Chinese zodiac also serves the practical purpose of figuring out a person’s age without having to ask directly and risk offending someone.