Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Log Cabin Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Log Cabin Theory - Essay Example The supposed sympathy of General Harrison, and the reputed aversion of Van Buren for the poor man, for the humble citizen, is the true secret of the great and tremendous political revolution of 1840. (Robbins, p. 42) General Harrison, a determined, self-made leader who rose from humble rural beginnings, armed himself through education, hard work or both, with the necessary tools for political leadership. (Chalmers, p. 149) The characteristics above are the types that are perceived to be uniquely suited to the rigours of political life in the United States. Someone who has been through the same struggles as the Whigs president is perceived to have the capacity to battle adversity and overcome obstacles threatening the achievement of their goals. The experiences of politicians with modest beginnings serve as their arms in battling all the challenges of the position in the government he will soon encounter. (Chalmers, p. 149) After 1840, party connections, tactics, and sentiments were widely and openly accepted as grounds of political conduct. It had by then become difficult simply to think of political life and active political leadership, even retrospectively, without reference to the motive of advancing party interests. (Beshady, p. 252) The log cabin campaign had set the trend in the association of politicians with political parties that supports them through the process of election from political rallies and campaigns necessary for the success of the candidate. Consequently, the rise of the "log-cabin" campaign brought a significant trend in the presidential election in the United States through presidential campaigns such that a presidential candidate with not enough campaigns may lost the track. The Log-Cabin History The "year of the great straddle" - this is how one scholar observes the 1840 presidential election. The Whigs, although united against the Jacksonians who were the opposition, found it difficult to set aside its avowed leader Henry Clay. He was too involved with Whig economics therefore he was perceived as a good Presidential candidate. Harry of the West was finally shunted aside through a complicated procedure of nomination and the Harrisburg convention came up with General William Henry Harrison as Presidential candidate. He was the most 'unobjectionable' candidate such that he does not have anything much to be talked about. He was even more unobjectionable due to his candidacy without platform. There were even indications that the Whig candidate does not know as to how the campaign will be conducted. It was only when an unknown newspaperman hired to be the editor of their campaign sheets did the party know their responsibility and their purpose - that is to oust the Democratic Par ty leader Henry Clay from power. (Ward, p. 269) Harrison's chance of not succeeding the presidential candidacy was far too obvious. However, the party did not know what image to portray in their campaign until a commentary has been delivered, for which its origin is unknown until now. "Give him a barrel of hard cider and settle a pension of two thousand a year upon him, and our word for it, he will sit the remainder of his days content in a log cabin." (Ward, 269) Instead of taking the issue in a negative perspective, the party had turned its motif as the central of the campaign. The log cabin, with its suggestion of the limitation, the

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

The ways to reduce crime in the worlds most violent cities Essay Example for Free

The ways to reduce crime in the worlds most violent cities Essay Crime has long been considered to be a serious issue of many countries, both developed and developing, in the contemporary society. In particular, the crime rate increases annually in degree in some sectors worldwide. In this speech, I would like to show my concern about the causes of the problem and the solutions to it. There are subjective as well as objective factors that lead to the escalation of this adverse circumstance. The first and also the principal cause of this problem is poverty, or we can say, economic deprivation. People are often driven to great lengths of desperation by poverty and this is a major cause of crime all around the world. The fact that such frustration is created is in itself a very dangerous thing for society on the whole as global inflation has risen significantly over the last few years. It does seem that in our world today, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That is to say, these destitute people do not have enough money to buy food and other necessities. Thus, their last resort to maintain their lives is to rob or steal, which leads to crime. More to the point, violence from mainstream media can also contribute substantially to the increase of crime. There are many films and plays containing violent or sensitive contents, which have a profound influence on the viewers. Some people want to emulate the heroes, as they see them, in the movies without knowing that the behaviour in reality can be seen as illegal in the eyes of the law. Teenagers are especially prone to this kind of factor without the supervision of older adults. There are also many social issues bringing about this unfavorable circumstance. Overpopulation, racism, regionalism, family conditions, and often political power are some factors that lay the foundation of serious crimes. Besides, there are other subjective factors. In other words, the reason for his crime-committing is partially not from the pressure of the society or social illnesses as mentioned above, and really difficult to control. Illustriously, mental disorders are a major cause of crime of this type. Other than depression, people with grave mental disorders also end up committing crimes. Such people should be treated before their tendencies and ailments get out of hand. A person with depression or some other serious mental disorder can also easily cause harm to themselves. Moreover, we have drugs, which are a bane [a cause of trouble], no matter how we look at them. A person addicted to drugs is unable to support their addiction and more often than not they end up in a life of crime to fuel their habits. It is not unknown anywhere in the world that a drug addict ends up committing crimes to raise money for their habits. Besides that, there are also a large number of people that are involved in the drug trade. Though these people may not really be drug-users themselves, they often lure others into drugs and crimes. So, what should we, people in the society, do to help tackle such a problem? Government, I’d like to say, need to come up with some policy that helps narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. Television and film rating system need to be strictly implemented. Parents should thoroughly supervise their children, so as not for them to be stuck into drug-relating problems, and make their children lead the most fulfilled life as possible .

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Types of Life Insurance: Advantages and Disadvantages

Types of Life Insurance: Advantages and Disadvantages Overview Life insurance is one of the most popular types of insurance that people purchase. Life insurance is basically insurance that you purchase and will pay money to your beneficiaries if you die. One of the main reasons why people purchase life insurance is to protect their family financially. Life insurance will help pay for burial costs, debt, mortgages, and any other income losses that will occur if someone dies. Life insurance is paid for just like automotive insurance is. It can be paid by a monthly, quarterly, or annually premium for as long as the policy goes for (Types of Insurance Policies, 2011). There are several different types of life insurance policies that people can purchase that will best suit their needs. The main types are term life insurance, whole life insurance, variable life insurance, and universal life insurance. In this research paper, I will explain the advantages, disadvantages, time lengths, and how each of the types of life insurance fit different people. It is very important to understand how these insurance companies calculate premiums for different people. Their main goal is to assess the risk of someone dying during the policy. Just like other types of insurance, the more risk you have, the higher your premium will be. Some of the factors that are used to determine premiums are gender, age, occupation, height, weight, medical history, lifestyle, and if you smoke (Types of Insurance Policies, 2011). Recently I had to do a project in class where you had to find different premiums on life insurance. Some other things that I was asked were if I recently had any DUIs, if any relatives have died before the age of 60, if I have recently been hospitalized, and if any diseases run in my family. All of these factors do give the insurance companies a better understanding of someones risk, but it is nearly impossible to be able to determine the chances of someone passing away. It is also difficult to estimate the cost of each of the different types of life insurance because it is different for every individual. Term life insurance is very affordable, and that is why it is growing in popularity. Term life insurance is basically a life insurance policy that covers a person if they die during the length of their insurance. Term life insurance policies can be anywhere from 1 to 30 years. These policies are known as temporary because once the policies are over, you are no longer covered. For example, if you purchase a 10 year term life insurance policy, and you die the year after your policy expires, your beneficiaries wont receive any money. This also means that if you stop paying your premiums, you will no longer be covered. There are many different reasons how people decided on how long they want their life insurance policy to cover their family. A lot people that purchase term life insurance decide to make their contract until they retire. Another popular way people decide on their term is to remain covered until their children have turned 18. This is a very smart way to insure that your children will be financially protected until they are adults (Life Insurance Wiz, 2006). Another good reason to purchase term life insurance is if you are involved in risky or potentially fatal activities. Even though these factors will increase your premium, it is still worth it in case something terrible happens. The cost of term life insurance all depends on a persons risk and the length of the policy. There are several different types of term life insurance, and it is important to know the differences when selecting the best type. Annual renewable term life insurance means that each year a person may renew their term life insurance. However, each year you renew your term life insurance, the premium will go up in cost because of your age. Renewable term life insurance means that after your specific term is up, you are allowed sign a new term life insurance contract. Level premium term insurance means that your premium will not change throughout the length of the contract. This type of term insurance is good because as you get older, you dont have to pay more money for your life insurance. Convertible term insurance means that you are allowed to convert your term insurance into another type of life insurance, like universal or whole life (Life Insurance Wiz, 2006). There are advantages and disadvantages to term life insurance. Some advantages are that you get to choose how long you want to be covered for, most policies can be changed or renewed to other policies, and your beneficiaries are paid a specific amount upon your death which is decided when you start your policy. Some disadvantages are that if you pass away after your term life insurance policy, no benefits are giving to your family, and it doesnt offer as much protection as other life insurance policies offer (Life Insurance Wiz, 2006). Whole Life Insurance Whole life insurance is exactly what it sounds like, a life insurance policy that last for someones whole life. Upon death, the beneficiary receives the value of the account. Whole life insurance is also known as permanent life insurance. The main difference between whole life and term life is that whole life insurance grows in value over time. Whole life insurance is similar to a retirement account where you are putting money toward the future, except in this case it is toward your death. An interesting fact about whole life insurance is that you can actually borrow money out of your account, which you cannot do with term insurance (Life Insurance Wiz, 2006). To be able to borrow money out of your account, there must be a set minimum of money already invested into the account. Most whole life insurance policies mature when a person turns 100 years old, so if that person is still alive they will receive the face value of their account (My Life Insured, 2007). The main reason why peop le choose whole life insurance over term life insurance is because they want to be insured for the rest of their life. For this reason, whole life insurance is more expensive than term insurance. There are several different types of whole life insurance. Non participating whole life insurance means that you do not receive dividends for your policy. On the other hand, participating whole life insurance means that you do receive dividends. Level premium whole life insurance is just like level term insurance, where you pay the same premium throughout the length of the policy. Purchasing a life insurance policy with a fixed premium is a great choice because once you retire, you wouldnt want your premium to increase every year due to the loss in income. Single premium whole life insurance is a policy where you pay a large sum of money in the begging of your policy, which than eliminates having to pay premiums. This type of policy is not very popular due to the reason that you would need a lot of money up front. Intermediate whole life insurance means that your premiums change over time depending on your status (New York State Insurance Department, 2011). In the past couple years, a significant amount of people lost their homes because of adjustable mortgages, so I think that this type of whole life insurance is not a good choice. Some advantages of Whole life insurance are that they are usually fixed premiums, the beneficiaries will receive money whenever the policy holder dies, there are tax benefits, and most of the money will be returned if the policy is cancelled. The money that accumulates in your policy is tax free, which attracts a lot of people to purchase a whole life insurance policy over a term life insurance policy. Some disadvantages of whole life insurance is that it is costly compared to term insurance, and it is much more complicated than term life insurance (New York State Insurance Department, 2011). If you are interested in purchases a whole life insurance policy, it is important to know which type it is so you know you will be able to afford it for the rest of your life. Universal Life Insurance Universal life insurance is very similar to whole life insurance. A universal life insurance policy will cover someone for their whole life, so it is also considered a permanent life insurance policy. Universal life insurance policies also grow in cash over time, which is tax deferred. The interest rates increase and decrease like the money market, so there is a chance to make a lot of money in this type of life insurance (My Life Insured, 2007). The main advantage that universal life insurance has over whole life insurance is that there is more flexibility in the policy. The cash value and the death benefits parts of your policy are broken up, so a person can decide how much of their money will go in each part (Life Insurance Wiz, 2006). The policy holder can also increase and decrease their premium depending on their situation. However, the insurance companies do have a target premium, so if you pay less than it, you may be penalized (Life Insurance Wiz, 2006). This type of life in surance policy would be best for someone who wanted to be covered for the rest of their life, and would want to be able to adjust their policy to be suit their needs. Advantages of Universal life insurance are it is the most flexible, you are able to take out loans, you can adjust your premiums due to your situation, and the cash you earn in interest can be used toward your payments. Some disadvantages are that your cash value isnt guaranteed like it is with whole life insurance and it more costly than term and universal life insurance policies (Life Insurance Info, 2011). Variable Life Insurance Variable life insurance is also considered a permanent type of life insurance. It is considered a pure investment policy because the insured has completed control of how their money is invested (My Life Insured, 2007). They can decide to invest their cash account into bonds, stocks, or any other money market funds (My Life Insured, 2007). For this reason, variable life insurance is the most risky out of all the types of life insurance. If a person makes poor investment choices, they risk losing a substantial amount of their money. On the other hand, if good investments are made, the policy holder can receive a significant profit. Due to the risk of this type of life insurance, it is the most expensive one. This type of life insurance policy is only a good choice for people that understand the money market, and will remain active in watching their investments.

Friday, October 25, 2019

American Agriculture Needs a Free-Market System Essay -- Argumentative

American Agriculture Needs a Free-Market System The words to the famous old children’s song â€Å"Old MacDonald Had a Farm† are due for a revision. The new lines should read â€Å"Old MacDonald had a farm . . . with a lawyer here, and an accountant there, and everywhere a new federal program and regulation.† Not quite as poetic, but definitely more appropriate. The current state of agribusiness consists of an incredibly complex mix of subsidies, price supports, and bureaucratic regulations that could confound the most knowledgeable business minds. Underlying this tangled web of rules and regulations are political battles that pit normally allied groups against each other, and bring normally adversarial groups into allegiance. One bizarre outcome of federal farm policy is that consumers and tax-payers (usually one and the same) are set at cross-purposes. In this paper, I will highlight some of the unusual policies that exist today and will try to present some rational alternatives to alleviate the nightmare tha t is U.S. agribusiness. E...I...E...I...Ohhhhhhh..... The United States Government and agriculture have had a working relationship for most of the twentieth century. In 1916, Congress established the Federal Land Bank to provide farmers with easier access to credit. Then, during the Great Depression, many New Deal programs came to the aid of the farmer (Rapp, 1988). A system of price supports and production quotas was established to ensure price stability. For the first time, farmers were being told not to grow as much as they could. After World War II, the government found that prices were a very difficult thing to stabilize, so it focused its attention on income supports. That is, it attempted to guarantee a farmer ... ... prosper, while those who are marginal will not continue to be a drain on the economy. We cannot continually advocate free trade around the world (the GATT talks) while protecting our farm industry at home. I believe that when the government gets out of the food-growing business, farming efficiency will increase, consumers will benefit, and the economy will be better for it. And after the shakeout, Old MacDonald’s son or daughter will have a chance for greater prosperity. References Rapp, David. How the U.S. Got Into Agriculture and Why it Can’t Get Out. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1988. Rawlins, N. Omri. Introduction to Agribusiness. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1980 Robbins, William. The American Food Scandal. New York: William Morrow, 1974. Tweeten, Luther. â€Å"The Economics of Small Farms,† Science 219 (4 March 1983): 1037-41.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Blood Promise Prologue

Prologue Once when I was in ninth grade, I had to write a paper on a poem. One of the lines was, â€Å"If your eyes weren't open, you wouldn't know the difference between dreaming and waking.† It hadn't meant much to me at the time. After all, there'd been a guy in the class that I liked, so how could I be expected to pay attention to literary analysis? Now, three years later, I understood the poem perfectly. Because lately, my life really did seem like it was on the precipice of being a dream. There were days I thought I'd wake up and discover that recent events in my life hadn't actually happened. Surely I must be a princess in an enchanted sleep. Any day now, this dream-no, nightmare would end, and I'd get my prince and happy ending. But there was no happy ending to be found, at least not in the foreseeable future. And my prince? Well, that was a long story. My prince had been turned into a vampire-a Strigoi, to be specific. In my world, there are two kinds of vampires who exist in secrecy from humans. The Moroi are living vampires, good vampires who wield elemental magic and don't kill when seeking the blood they need to survive. Strigoi are undead vampires, immortal and twisted, who kill when they feed. Moroi are born. Strigoi are made-forcibly or by choice-through evil means. And Dimitri, the guy I loved, had been made a Strigoi against his will. He'd been turned during a battle, an epic rescue mission that I'd been part of as well. Strigoi had kidnapped Moroi and dhampirs from the school I attended, and we'd set out with others to save them. Dhampirs are half vampire and half-human-gifted with human strength and hardiness, and Moroi reflexes and senses. Dhampirs train to become guardians, the elite bodyguards who protect Moroi. That's what I am. That's what Dimitri had been. After his conversion, the rest of the Moroi world had considered him dead. And to a certain extent, he was. Those who were turned Strigoi lost all sense of the goodness and life they'd had before. Even if they hadn't turned by choice, it didn't matter. They would still become evil and cruel, just like all Strigoi. The person they'd been was gone, and honestly, it was easier to imagine them moving on to heaven or the next life than to picture them out stalking the night and taking victims. But I hadn't been able to forget Dimitri, or accept that he was essentially dead. He was the man I loved, the man with whom I'd been so perfectly in sync that it was hard to know where I ended and he began. My heart refused to let him go even if he was technically a monster, he was still out there somewhere. I also hadn't forgotten a conversation he and I had once had. We'd both agreed that we'd rather be dead-truly dead-than walk the world as Strigoi. And once I'd had my mourning time for the goodness he'd lost, I'd decided I had to honor his wishes. Even if he no longer believed in them. I had to find him. I had to kill him and free his soul from that dark, unnatural state. I knew it was what the Dimitri I had loved would have wanted. Killing Strigoi isn't easy, though. They're insanely fast and strong. They have no mercy. I'd killed a number of them already-pretty crazy for someone who was freshly eighteen. And I knew taking on Dimitri would be my greatest challenge, both physically and emotionally. In fact, the emotional consequences had kicked in as soon as I made my decision. Going after Dimitri had meant doing a few life-altering things (and that wasn't even counting the fact that fighting him could very likely result in the loss of my life). I was still in school, only a handful of months away from graduating and becoming a full-fledged guardian. Every day I stuck around at St. Vladimir's Academy-a remote, protected school for Moroi and dhampirs-meant one more day was going by in which Dimitri was still out there, living in the state he'd never wanted. I loved him too much to allow that. So I'd had to leave school early and go out among humans, abandoning the world I'd lived in nearly my entire life. Leaving had also meant abandoning one other thing-or rather, a person: my best friend, Lissa, also known as Vasilisa Dragomir. Lissa was Moroi, the last in a royal line. I'd been slated to be her guardian when we graduated, and my decision to hunt Dimitri had pretty much destroyed that future with her. I'd had no choice but to leave her. Aside from our friendship, Lissa and I had a unique connection. Each Moroi specializes in a type of elemental magic-earth, air, water, or fire. Until recently, we'd believed there were only those four elements. Then we'd discovered a fifth: spirit. That was Lissa's element, and with so few spirit users in the world, we hardly knew anything about it. For the most part, it seemed to be tied to psychic powers. Lissa wielded amazing compulsion-the ability to exert her will on almost anyone. She could also heal, and that's where things got a little strange between us. You see, I technically died in the car accident that killed her family. Lissa had brought me back from the world of the dead without realizing it, creating a psychic bond between us. Ever since then, I was always aware of her presence and thoughts. I could tell what she was thinking and feel when she was in trouble. We had also recently discovered I could see ghosts and spirits who hadn't yet left this world, something I found disconcerting and struggled to block out. The whole phenomenon was called being shadow-kissed. Our shadow-kissed bond made me the ideal choice to protect Lissa, since I would instantly know if she was in trouble. I'd promised to protect her my whole life, but then Dimitri-tall, gorgeous, fierce Dimitri-had changed it all. I'd been faced with that horrible choice: continue to protect Lissa or free Dimitri's soul. Choosing between them had broken my heart, leaving an ache in my chest and tears in my eyes. My parting with Lissa had been agonizing. We'd been best friends since kindergarten, and my departure was a shock for both of us. To be fair, she'd never seen it coming. I'd kept my romance with Dimitri a secret. He was my instructor, seven years older than me, and had been assigned to be her guardian as well. As such, he and I had tried hard to fight our attraction, knowing we had to focus on Lissa more than anything else and that we'd also get in a fair amount of trouble for our student-teacher relationship. But being kept from Dimitri-even though I'd agreed to it-had caused me to build up a lot of unspoken resentment toward Lissa. I probably should have talked to her about it and explained my frustration over having my entire life planned out. It didn't seem fair, somehow, that while Lissa was free to live and love however she wanted, I would always have to sacrifice my own happiness to ensure that she was protected. She was my best friend, though, and I couldn't bear the thought of upsetting her. Lissa was particularly vulnerable because using spirit had the nasty side effect of driving people insane. So I'd sat on my feelings until they finally exploded, and I left the Academy-and her-behind for good. One of the ghosts I'd seen-Mason, a friend who had been killed by Strigoi-had told me Dimitri had returned to his homeland: Siberia. Mason's soul had found peace and left this world shortly thereafter, without giving me any other clues about where in Siberia Dimitri might have gone. So I'd had to set out there blindly, braving a world of humans and a language I didn't know in order to fulfill the promise I'd made to myself. After a few weeks on my own, I had finally made it to Saint Petersburg. I was still looking, still floundering-but determined to find him, even though I dreaded it at the same time. Because if I really did pull this insane plan off, if I actually managed to kill the man I loved, it would mean Dimitri would truly be gone from the world. And I honestly wasn't sure I could go on in a world like that. None of it seems real. Who knows? Maybe it isn't. Maybe it's actually happening to someone else. Maybe it's something I imagined. Maybe soon I'm going to wake up and find everything fixed with Lissa and Dimitri. We'll all be together, and he'll be there to smile and hold me and tell me everything's going to be okay. Maybe all of this really has been a dream. But I don't think so.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

How to Use a Scientific Calculator

How to Use a Scientific Calculator You might know all the formulas for math and science problems, but if you dont know how to use your scientific calculator, youll never get the correct answer. Heres a quick review of how to recognize a scientific calculator, what the keys mean, and how to enter data correctly. What Is a Scientific Calculator? First, you need to know how a scientific calculator is different from other calculators. There are three main types of calculators: basic, business, and scientific. You cant work chemistry, physics, engineering, or trigonometry problems on a basic or business calculator because they dont have functions youll need to use. Scientific calculators include exponents, log, natural log (ln), trig functions, and memory. These functions are vital when youre working with scientific notation or any formula with a geometry component. Basic calculators can do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Business calculators include buttons for interest rates. They typically ignore the order of operations. Scientific Calculator Functions The buttons may be labeled differently depending on the manufacturer, but here is a list of common functions and what they mean: Operation Mathematical Function + plus or addition - minus or subtraction Note: On a scientific calculator there is a different button to make a positive number into a negative number, usually marked (-) or NEG (negation) * times, or multiply by / or à · divided by, over, division by ^ raised to the power of yx or xy y raised to the power x or x raised to the y Sqrt or √ square root ex exponent, raise e to the power x LN natural logarithm, take the log of SIN sine function SIN-1 inverse sine function, arcsine COS cosine function COS-1 inverse cosine function, arccosine TAN tangent function TAN-1 inverse tangent function or arctangent ( ) parentheses, instructs calculator to do this operation first Store (STO) place a number in memory for later use Recall recover the number from memory for immediate use How to Use a Scientific Calculator The obvious way to learn to use the calculator is to read the manual. If you got a calculator that didnt come with a manual, you can usually search for the model online and download a copy. Otherwise, you need to do a bit of experimentation or youll enter in the right numbers and still get the wrong answer. The reason this happens is that different calculators process order of operations differently. For example, if your calculation  is: 3 5 * 4 You know, according to the order of operations, the 5 and the 4 should be multiplied by each other before adding the 3. Your calculator may or may not know this. If you press 3 5 x 4, some calculators will give you the answer 32 and others will give you 23 (which is correct). Find out what your calculator does. If you see an issue with the order of operations, you can either enter 5 x 4 3 (to get the multiplication out of the way) or use parentheses 3 (5 x 4). Which Keys to Press and When to Press Them Here are some example calculations and how to determine the correct way to enter them. Whenever you borrow someones calculator, get into the habit of performing these simple tests to make sure youre using it correctly. Square Root: Find the square root of 4. You know the answer is 2 (right?). On your calculator, find out whether you need to enter 4 and then press the SQRT key or whether you hit the SQRT key and then enter 4.  Taking the Power: The key may be marked xy or yx. You need to find out whether the first number you enter is the x or the y. Test this by entering 2, power key, 3. If the answer was 8, then you took 23, but if you got 9, the calculator gave you 32.10x: Again, test to see whether you press the 10x button and then enter your x or whether you enter the x value and then press the button. This is critical for science problems, where youll live in the land of scientific notation!Trig Functions: When youre working with angles, keep in mind many calculators let you select whether to express the answer in degrees or radians. Then, you need to determine whether you enter the angle (check the units) and then sin, cos, tan, etc., or whether you press the sin, cos, etc., button and then enter the number. How do you test this: Remember the sine of a 30-degree angle is 0.5. Enter 30 and then SIN and see if you get 0.5. No? Try SIN and then 30. If you get 0.5 using one of these methods, then you know which works. However, if you get -0.988 then your calculator is set to radian mode. To change to degrees, look for a MODE key. There is often an indicator of units written right up with the numerals to let you know what youre getting.