Student Talk / Length requirements for CV and any suggestions about how to make it successful. [6]

I just wondering is that a rule the length of a CV or personal statement?
What is the guideline?
What is important to including or not to write in the statement?

The reason that I asked because I/m in the planning stage of writing a CV to apply for MA in sociology. Any suggestions are welcome.

Writing Feedback / Fear is not going to help us in this stage; Nuclear energy for the future [3]

PLEASE HELP WITH my GRAMMAR MISTAKESSSSS and MORE.

A hundred year ago when automobile was invented, the farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters, landowners and the good citizens of the country were fighting vigorously against it because they were worried about their jobs and interests and also the loud noise of machinery disturbing the peace. Back in those days the people never concern or did not understand the consequence of pollution and destruction from modern technologies. Unfortunately in today society the automobile industry is the backbone of the world economy. It is unthinkable without them, the whole world will stands still.

In these days we are facing the same issue from nuclear energy technologies or alternative energies. Let's face it; they are here to stay in the name of modern society as well as economical advantage in term of producing cheap energy especially for the developing countries struggling to meet their needs. All and all because of you and me. I am not a big fan of fast car or anything nuclear. However, for my own comfort I still turn on my air-conditional or heater at home in different season of the year. Electricity is almost part of my life, to light my house, computer, TV and many other types of equipment. The distance from my house to my place of employment has no public transport only can be reached by car. As you can see the structure of our society is not environmental friendly.

Since automobile already part of our civilization. It is impossible to remove it altogether the only thing we could do is to impose rules and regulations to enhance public safety, to improve driving condition and to minimal pollution. More likely we might have to do the same to nuclear energy industry. Fear is not going to help us in this stage. Nuclear energy is here to stay like a bad marriage for better or worse.

Writing Feedback / 'a 80 years old widow had won five million dollars' - lucky person essay [3]

Are you a lucky person? Do you believe in luck?

Most recently I read that in our local newspapers a 80 years old widow had won five million dollars from the lottery. Interestingly, she did not buy the ticket. It was given to her for free as part of the promotion from a new supermarket for the first one hundred patrons entering the store. She told the newspaper that actually she had no intention to receive a free lottery ticket. As a matter of fact, she went there to have a walk and the free coffee. The ticket was given to her as a bonus without any purchase. Everyone is saying that the window is considered lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

On the other hand, can she also considers as unlucky to win such a large sum of money in such a late stage of her life? Has she the time and energy to spend all the money? I would say her children and grandchildren are lucky because they have the potential to inherit million of dollars from her. So what is luck and how can we measure it? According to some researchers in human behaviour stated that luck is a form of self-esteem. People with low self-esteem proclaim that they are born unlucky or vice versa. Personally I think luck is a kind of superstition because people will do anything either to get lucky or avoiding unlucky incidents. That includes hanging a heavy horseshoe on their neck to attract good luck, without thinking about the consequence if unlucky that might break their neck.

Writing Feedback / Gambling assessment tool [4]

PLEASE pont out my grammar mistakes and suggestion. THX

The purpose of using assessment tool is to identify problem gambling, and gather the detailed information needed to find a treatment plan or Intervention strategies relevant to the client's needs. Many standardised assessment tools and interview protocols are available to help the health professionals perform appropriate screening for people having problem gambling. In Howard's case we have to select an assessment tool that can help us to identify the severity of his gambling problem, if any. Howard might not have a gambling addiction and his risky behaviours could have caused by other issues such as mid-life crisis, conflict at work, medical condition or family problems.

I ruled out using Jacob's 5 Dissociation Questions on Howard. In this assessment tool in order to prove if someone is at risk. It needs only one out five answers to determines that the person is in dissociation while gambling. However, all the five questions are concerning of mental health issues. Since every individual has different feeling, it is difficult to define questions regarding "memory blackout" and "trance" while gambling, if a lack of understanding of a question that could produce a false result. Problem gambling is a complex social issue; use of five questions is not thorough enough for assessment.

For the most part, The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) has been the preferred instrument among researchers assessing the prevalence of pathological or problem gambling in the general population. One main reason is that it is the instrument that has received the most validity and reliability testing (Shaffer et al., 1997). This tool is widely used by clinicians to assess pathological or problem gamblers. This assessment tool consists of 20 questions with multiple choice answers, but not all the questions used to measure client's risk factors. All the questions are straightforward and easy to understand. However, I am sceptical if this is a foolproof tool, although it is so widely used by clinicians. From my point of view, majority of the questions are on the subject of money, it sounded like the main issue of problem gambling is all about losing money. How about the winner of the World Poker tournament who had won more than six million dollar with many years of gambling experience. Is he not considered as a compulsive gambler?

Personally, I like the Gamblers Anonymous (GA) 20 questions which have a soft approach with some spiritual components and do not have the seriousness of a clinical tool. I believe this assessment tool might be suitable to use on Howard. Given that Howard is an educated man and has a responsible job in the bank. Since most of the questions are open-ended that will give him the opportunity to express his feeling and opinion about his risky behaviours. In the GA assessment tool, just about half of the questions are regarding money, and the rests of the questions emphasize on family relationships and mental health issues. This tool could be useful to help him to discover the roots of his problem, instead of just labelled him as a problem gambler.

According to the findings of Ferris (1996), Single male between the age groups of 18-29 and 40-49 were more likely to report gambling problems, with 30 to 39-year-olds less involved, and those 50 and up in age reporting the fewest gambling problems. Howard is a 55 year-old successful married man. In term of statistic, he is not a typical problem gambler. It is important to ask Howard about his health effect and his relationship with his wife. Is Howard suffering from mid-life crisis, using gambling to escape his boredom, depression and tension? Is he having marital problem?

Interpersonal plays a major role on how an individual interacting with others in the society or the reasons of engaging in a risky behaviour. If Howard's gambling behaviour is caused by family conflict with his spouse then perhaps marriage counselling may be effective to resolve the problem than addiction counselling. The goal of assessment is to identify what are the presenting problems so that a successful treatment plan can be implemented for his healing. The long term goal is for Howard to abstain from gambling or even reduce the harm, by using his own ability, prospective and strength to solve his own problem with the options and resources available to him.

Grammar, Usage / 'With the Combination of medication and counselling' is this sentence understandable? [3]

Is this sentence understandable? Any grammar error?

With the Combination of medication and counselling by using Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), that is the most effective treatment for problem gambling because CBT changes distorted thought patterns and viewpoints from negative life experiences.