Thursday, July 23, 2020

The First Snow of the Year!

The First Snow of the Year! Today was the first snowfall of the year! How exciting, I didnt even know it was coming. Two of my best friends from high school were visiting me and another one of my best friends who goes to MIT. We were walking across the Harvard Bridge and bang, we felt a snowflake (the first snowflake of winter, how exciting)! Gradually, it began snowing harder; the flakes became pretty big and fell for a couple of hours. Unfortunately, it looks like it has transitioned to rain =( Last week, I finally busted out my winter coat and put away my summer clothes; its always a semi-sweet transition. I love watching snow fall, seeing the river freeze, and having an excuse to drink ungodly amounts of hot chocolate. Nothing beats sitting by a fireplace (even if it is boarded up and non-functional, as are most fireplaces at MIT) and throwing snowballs at unsuspecting friends. But, frostbite is no fun and neither is being wet all the time. In case you havent lived through a Boston winter, heres a quick preview: The average high in January is 36 degrees, the average low is 22 (its also the coldest month, yay for IAP). The record low for November is 8 degrees and the most precipitation on average occurs in November. The lowest temperature ever recorded was -18 degrees in 1934. According to the Old Farmers Almanac, the winter season will be milder than normal, December and January will be exceptionally cold. Winter-season temperatures will be near normal in Maine, but a degree or two colder than normal elsewhere, on average. Snowfall will be below normal in the northwest, but above normal elsewhere. A big snowstorm will hamper Christmas travel, with other major snowstorms in mid-December and the first half of March. Last year, on January 24, 2005, it snowed 13.4 inches in 2 days! (Pictures below!) The average snowfall for the entire month of January is 13.5 inches! So, I copied a poem by Tami Ryan below, and then pictures from today and the crazy IAP snowstorm from last year. My advice: dont worry about what you look like, get the puffiest and longest coat, the craziest wool hat, the warmest gloves, and the most durable boots. Get ready, its going to be AWESOME! A poem by Tami Ryan: Snowflakes infinitely drift from heaven, creating a pristine blanket as temperatures spiral downward Birds unheard songs stand still, frozen mid-song in the wintry air Autumns leaves long gone, the bare branches shiver beneath their layered scarves of ice You, with hands jammed into pockets and head bowed to stave the bitter cold and gusty wind, pray your brisk Winters walk allows a speedy arrival to your destination From today: Watching the snow from the shelter of a shoe store on Newbury Street The Hancock tower and Newbury Street Braving the weather and walking home Pictures from last years blizzard: It was so funny, you couldnt even see the parking meters, they were completely buried! What you will have to wear: The Next House courtyard:

Friday, May 22, 2020

Teaching Reading Comprehension Support For Students With Adhd

ADHD and Comprehension Problem Statement There is a general problem in providing effective reading comprehension support for students labeled with ADHD. Despite many programs and modifications in place for students labeled with ADHD to become as successful as their unlabeled peers, recent studies have demonstrated that students labeled with ADHD continuously fall short of their peers in many facets of reading comprehension. This problem has negatively impacted students labeled with ADHD in a multitude of ways during their academic careers which in turn could lead into lifelong difficulties with reading and comprehension. It is imperative for teachers to understand the causes that add to the students’ challenges to appropriately offer remediation. A possible cause of this problem is not having identified which instructional strategies and interventions are most effective when teaching reading comprehension to students labeled with ADHD in the in elementary and middle school grades. A study which investigates the co mprehension deficits of students with ADHD, and identifies the most effective instructional strategies and interventions in reading comprehension for these students may prove to be a step in the right direction could remedy the situation. Quantitative Scenario Research Scenario The researcher will conduct a quantitative study to examine the effects rereading has on elementary and middle school students with ADHD. Research Questions and Hypothesis 1. What isShow MoreRelatedAdhd And Comprehension Strategies For Students With Adhd5462 Words   |  22 Pages ADHD and Comprehension JVT2 Task 2 Jennifer Blake July 19, 2015 A Written Project Presented to the Faculty of the Teachers College of Western Governors University â€Æ' Abstract There is a need to provide effective comprehension support for students labeled with ADHD. ADHD students struggle with comprehension and there is limited research on comprehension strategies for these student. This is a qualitative research study that proposes to find useful comprehension strategies for studentsRead MoreInstructional Plan Design : Instructional Plans Design1510 Words   |  7 Pages(ELA) Unit: Reading, Rhyme and Vocabulary Teacher Ms. Jane Doe Date: March 27, 2017 Time: 11 am Duration: 2 hrs. Student population Total population: 27 students SLD – 2 students ADHD – 1 student EEL -1 student CCSS (ELA New York) - CCSS. ELA-Literacy.RL.K.2: Demonstrate proper reading skills and understanding of spoken word, syllables, and phonemes - CCSS. ELA-Literacy.RL.K.2a: recognize and produce rhyming words - CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.4: vocabulary enhancing standard. Students will be ableRead MoreEssay on How To Effectively Teach Students With Learning Disabilities864 Words   |  4 Pagesissue of how to effectively teach students with learning disabilities and meet the lesson plan objectives. I will explore three potential issues that currently exist in the educational system and how an action research plan would prove beneficial. Research Topic Literature Exploration Problem Statement The problem is children with learning disorders often exhibit anger management and problem solving skills. How can art based education be beneficial to students with learning disabilities controlRead MoreUniversal Design for Learning Essay1574 Words   |  7 Pages As educators, it is important to address individual differences in students’ recognition, strategic, or affective networks, thus providing the best possible support by individualizing pathways to learning through Universal Design for Learning (UDL). A study on alternative education for children suggests oversimplifying learner differences by categorizing students into two groups, regular and special, fails to accurately represent the full diversity of learners in the classroom. ( Meo, 2010, p. 21)Read MoreThe Theory Of Reading Difficulties1665 Words   |  7 PagesAn interest in the social constructs of reading difficulties became prevalent in 1878 when the German neurologist Adolph Kussmaul, coined the term â€Å"word blindness†. He had a specific attentiveness to adults who had a neurological impairment and had faced reading challenges. He noticed that many adults who were unable to properly read were frequently observing the words in the wrong order. In 1887, the te rm â€Å"dyslexia† replaced â€Å"word blindness† when a German ophthalmologist used the Greek translationRead MoreLeveraging Computer Technology for Literacy Instruction in the Classroom2385 Words   |  10 PagesComputer-Based Reading Programs for At-Risk Learners Children with disabilities face a variety of challenges when learning to read. Some students experience processing disorders, some have auditory or visual deficits, still others have gross or fine motor disabilities. Computer technology is adept at addressing all of these issues by the nature of its flexible and extensible application. As a relatively low-cost solution for providing specialized instruction, integrating computer technology isRead MoreSpecial Education : Questions And Answers And Teachings976 Words   |  4 Pagesare teaching located? (Type an â€Å"X† next to the appropriate description.) City: __x___ Suburb: _____ Town: _____ Rural: _____ 3. List any special features of your school or classroom setting (e.g., charter, co-teaching, themed magnet, intervention or other leveled small group instruction, classroom aide, bilingual, team taught with a special education teacher) that will affect your teaching in this learning segment. [My placement school is a K-5 public school with approximately 551 students. TheRead MoreSample Iep Plan And Identifying 3 Components Of An Iep1319 Words   |  6 Pages1. Take a look at the sample IEP Plan and identify 3 components of an IEP. The Student Performance Profile indicates and contains information that was gathered during Step 1: Prereferral was initiated. Initial Concern demonstrated by the accurate data that was collected, namely â€Å"Morgan’s inappropriate behavior of self-injury, hitting or biting others, and repeating questions she is asked.† The exhaustive Testing which Morgan underwent reflects that fact that Step 2: Referral was implementedRead MoreEvaluation Of A High School Freshman With Autism Essay1350 Words   |  6 PagesEvery child requires a certain amount of support throughout their educational career. Students have need of support from family and educators alike. However, students with special needs can and often do require a more elaborate team of specialists. The special education team consists of several different people from many different teams. These teams include: the parents; the mental health workers in the school; the mental health workers outside of the school; general education teachers; specialRead MoreThe Diversity Of Multicultural Education972 Words   |  4 Pagesclassrooms across American today are beginning to look the same, raising awareness for teaching that is all-inclusive. Social studies teachers today are facing increasing difficulties with creating curriculums that meet their st ate’s mandated requirements and each individual learner, learning needs. A typical classroom will consist of students that may not speak English as a second language, a mixture of male and female students, and more important, children coming from several different backgrounds, having

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Essay On Automatic Diagnosis For Cancer - 1155 Words

Automatic diagnosis for cancer is a ongoing topic of research. Previous research have been conducted on breast cancer diagnosis. Doyle et al. [9] investigated the classification of breast cancer histopathology from textual, nuclear architectural features and images. Classification of benign and malignant histopathological im- ages based on 10 syntactic structure features, extracted after the Gabor filter had been applied was used by van Diest et al.[10]. The usage of Support Vector Ma- chines (SVMs) on relevant numerical features extracted from histopathological images in a semi-automatic fashion has also yielded very promising results[11]. George et al.[12] developed an intelligent remote detection and diagnosis system for breast cancer†¦show more content†¦tasks[15][16][17]. However, deep CNNs often have a number of parameters so large that it cannot reasonably be trained without a very large dataset. Medical imaging datasets are often not sufficiently large enough to train a deep CNN model from scratch adequately. Thus, the usage of transfer learning in medical imaging has been explored[18]. Transfer learning seeks to transfer knowledge between large source and target domains[5]. For CNNs, this is often done by pre-training a CNN model with a large dataset, then re-training the model with the smaller target dataset[19]. Yosinski et al.[20] showed that features in deep neural networks, in particular those learnt in bottom layers of a CNN are transferable, and fine- tuning the entire CNN model with the target dataset improves the performance of model. Shin et al.[18] demonstrated that the performance of deep CNNs on several CADe problems can consistently improved by transfer learning from the large scale natural image dataset, ImageNet. 3 3.1 Approach Dataset The dataset used for training and evaluation is the benchmark BreakHis dataset[7]. It contains 7909 breast cancer histopathology images acquired from 82 patients. These images are labeled either †Benign† or †Malignant† and can be of four different resolutions (40X, 100X, 200X, 400X). The dataset is subsequently sep- arated into five folds. Different samples from the sameShow MoreRelatedEssay on Autism Spectrum Disorder: What Does the Diagnosis Mean?1630 Words   |  7 Pages Sylvia Gilfillian â€Å"What does Today’s diagnosis of Autism mean?† December 6, 2011 Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a topic that is not addressed the way it should be. Many people have heard the work autism, but could not define it if asked. Two essays I recently came across, â€Å"Joey: A ‘Mechanical Boy’† written by Bruno Bettelheim and â€Å"Thinking in Pictures†, written by Temple Grandin, share the common topic at hand, autism. Both essays talk about the struggles autism brings toRead MoreEthical Issues in the Pharmaceutical Industry2511 Words   |  11 PagesNo one can deny that the pharmaceutical industry has made significant contributions to human progress. The pharmaceutical industry has been responsible for drugs that have saved millions of lives, cured many forms of cancer, and ensured that an AIDS diagnosis is no longer an automatic death sentence. Yet despite this there are questions that the public has on whether the industry has been fulfilling their social responsibility. There are many ethical questions that need to be addressed on how theRead MoreThe Risks And Hazards Associated With Risk Reduction And Safety Will Be Discussed2175 Words   |  9 Pagesexamining pregnant patients, as the health of both the mother and foetus is considered. The ALARA ( As Low As Reasonably Practicable) principle applies across all imaging modalities. This essay looks at Computed Tomography(CT), Magnetic Resonance Imagine (MRI) and Ultrasound (US), modalities used disease and pathology diagnosis. It will look at the scientific principles. Comparing the risks and hazards associated with each modality when examining pregnant patients. Risk reduction and safety will be discussedRead MoreTransdiagnostic Cbt5615 Words   |  23 Pagesavoidance in the maintenance of depression (Moorey 2010) Behavioural avoidance does not typically follow the development model of the depressed person having Beckian type thinking (cognitive schemas, leading to faulty assumptions and negative automatic thoughts)as maintaining; rather Dimidijian et al (2006) has debated the effectiveness of cognitive therapy for depression and suggests that cognitive therapy is no more effective than â€Å"purely behavioural interventions†. Interestingly there is evidenceRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesProviding Feedback 516 International Caveats 517 SKILL ANALYSIS 519 Cases Involving Building Effective Teams 519 The Tallahassee Democrat’s ELITE Team 519 The Cash Register Incident 521 SKILL PRACTICE 523 Exercises in Building Effective Teams 523 Team Diagnosis and Team Development Exercise 523 Winning the War on Talent 524 Team Performance Exercise 527 SKILL APPLICATION 529 Activities for Building Effective Teams 529 Suggested Assignments 529 Application Pla n and Evaluation 530 xiv CONTENTS SCORINGRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesCommunication 341 Organizational Communication 342 Formal Small-Group Networks 343 †¢ The Grapevine 343 †¢ Electronic Communications 345 †¢ Managing Information 349 Choice of Communication Channel 350 xiv CONTENTS Persuasive Communications 351 Automatic and Controlled Processing 351 †¢ Interest Level 352 †¢ Prior Knowledge 352 †¢ Personality 352 †¢ Message Characteristics 352 Barriers to Effective Communication 353 Filtering 353 †¢ Selective Perception 353 †¢ Information Overload 353 †¢ Emotions 353 †¢Read MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 Pagesentail barcoding on inventory packs allowing for much more precise visibility of food usage through the detailed matching of inventories, purchases, and closing inventory. Such a solution would also reduce the chance of miscounting and allow for the automatic tracking of First-In-First-Out inventory rotation procedures to reduce wastage of fresh produce. The system would also be valuable in the context of an industry increasingly concerned with food scares by providing an audit trail of ingredient movementsRead MoreStrategy Safari by Mintzberg71628 Words   |  287 Pagesfo rmulated can they then be implemented. We have al- ready noted the sharp distinction made in this school between the formulation of strategies on one hand and their implementation on the other. Consistent with classical notions of rationality—diagnosis followed by prescription and then action—the design school clearly separates thinking from acting. Central to this distinction is the associated premise that structure must follow strategy. It appears to be assumed that each time a new strategy isRead MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 Pagesa pharmaceutical organization could have a program for curing cancer. The cancer program includes and coordinates all cancer projects that continue over an extended time horizon. Coordinating all cancer projects under the oversight of a cancer team provides benefits not available from managing them individually. This cancer team also oversees the selection and prioritizing of cancer projects that are included in their special â€Å"Cancer† portfolio. Although each projec t retains its own goals and scope

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Reduse Usage of Plastic Bags Free Essays

Plastic bags are not biodegradable, so they get littered onto a wasteland which causes soil erosion causing damage and harm to the trees. If plastic bags are burnt, they emit hazardous gases causing air pollution which causes damage on the ozone layer. The Plastic can be reduced by u not using lots of plastic and use things in yr homes then going to buy a plastic bottle from the shop. We will write a custom essay sample on Reduse Usage of Plastic Bags or any similar topic only for you Order Now Plastic bags are made out of non-biodegradable substance. (not organic)Because they are durable they do not rot. Scientist believe that it would take up to 1,000 years to break down. In that time plastic bags separate into smaller toxic particles that contaminates the soil and even waterways. Even if we try to burn them, it pollutes the atmosphere Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are made worldwide. That means that 1 million plastic bags are made each minute, but then billions end up as litter each year. Making plastic bags can lead to exhaustion of oil, because to make a lot of plastic bags, we need a lot of oil. If we reduce oil we could save much more oil. You can actually drive about 460 meters with the oil which is used for only one plastic bag. Plastic bags even kill a lot of marine animals. Plastic bags gets blown into the ocean and floats around like a jelly-fish. A lot of sea-creatures choke and die for mistaking them as their food. Each year, thousands of sea turtles choke on plastic bags after mistaking them for jellyfish, their favourite food. Even other sea critters like sea lions and dolphins have also been found with their stomachs filled with plastic bags! GOVERNMENT SHOULD BAN PLASTIC BAG The society’s consumption rate is now estimated over 500,000,000,000 plastic bags annually. The Malaysian Federal Government is considering banning plastic bag for environmental reason. There are some big company have take the challenge to make â€Å"say no to plastic bag† campaign such as IKEA, AEON and Factory Outlet Store (F. O. S). There are many drawbacks of the use of plastic bags. In some other countries, there are proposals to charge for the use of plastic bags. The objective of this paper is to educate shoppers to use reusable bags instead of plastic bags whenever possible. In the other hand, many people think it would be nuisance because there are so many practical uses for plastic bags. The United States Environmental Protection says paper bags are worse for the environment than plastic. Plastic bags require much less energy to manufacture and recycle because of this plastic generates less greenhouse gas. Plastic bags cause less air and water pollution. They compress to a small size in landfills. Nevertheless, this paper is to agree that government should ban plastic bags because of several factors which are environment, economy and health. Firstly, the idea of banning plastic bags and use reusable bag is good for the environment. In the other hand, many people think it would be ineffective because, according to Hilary Chiew (Chiew, 2009) in article high usage from Startwo’s newspapers, paper degrade at a slower rate compared to plastic in a landfill. In modern landfills nothing completely degrades due to the lack of water, light and oxygen. University of Arizona have done a research on paper, paper does not degrade even in 3 decades. So, paper takes up more space than plastic in landfill. While according to Abu Bakar Yang (Bakar, 2009) in article â€Å"Ancaman plastik dan botol plastik† about 100,000 of marine animals like†¦ How to cite Reduse Usage of Plastic Bags, Papers

Monday, April 27, 2020

Social Responsibility in a Commodity Market free essay sample

And this is almost every product in the world. So the rising fuel prices affect almost every product we buy. Also the fact that it is a finite material, makes it more difficult and puts the consumer under pressure. The whole world depends on petroleum and that is why it is hard for consumers to do without it. 2. How does the information in this case relate to the common criticism that marketing causes prices to be higher than they normally would? In this case I can not find a reason why marketing is causing a higher price. Marketing is only a small percentage of the cost of crude. I think that the cause for the higher prices is due to oil price futures, which are traded on the commodities futures exchange. Depending on what investors think the price of oil – what later will become petrol will be in the future. When traders think oil will be high, they bid it up even higher. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Responsibility in a Commodity Market or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 3. Is ExxonMobil acting responsibly with respect to pricing its product? Can it keep its prices stable (or even lower them) when the market price is increasing? Should it even try? In the text it was explained that there was no evidence found that any wrong doing or anything illegal price manipulation took place. So ExxonMobil is acting with a social obligation the obligation of a business to meet its economic and legal responsibilities and nothing more. Obeying the law is fundamental but it is not sufficient enough to protect the public. When a company is able to gain record profits by increasing their prices in times of crisis, it can not be called a company that actually cares about its customers. So in my opinion, it is not acting responsibly and had more control over the rising prices then we (the consumers) were lead to believe. 4. From the perspective of social responsibility, what role does the consumer play in the price of petrol? The consumer is playing the central role, because the consumer is the one who is demanding. The less consumers demand, the more they will lower the price. From the social responsibility point of view, when a consumer thinks that a company is not acting ethically or socially responsible he or she then could boycott that company and and not buy its products anymore. If a great amount of people would do this, therefore, the whole demand for those companies’ products would be lowered and so would the company’s price for this product do. This is easy said, because the whole world is in need of petrol, but in theory the consumer is the one who creates the demand and so he could control it. 5. How would you â€Å"fix† the problem of rising petrol prices? Consider solutions for different groups including governments, corporations, nonprofit groups, and consumers. What are the advantages and disadvantages of your proposed solutions? From the consumers perspective they should find a way to get together and boycott the products of ExxonMobil to have an influence of their prices. But as above said, it is hard to have an influence on such a powerful company. But theoretically it is possible to decrease the price by decreasing the demand. In my opinion the only ones who have the power to fix the problem are the governments. They should make regulations, so that gas stations cannot rise their prices so easily. The easiest way for the consumer would be to try to use public transportation, bike or to switch over to alternative energies (electric car).

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall Overview When Thurgood Marshall retired from the U.S. Supreme Court in October 1991, Paul Gerwitz, a law professor at Yale University wrote a tribute published in The New York Times. In the article, Gerwitz argued that Marshall’s work â€Å"required heroic imagination.† Marshall, who had lived through Jim Crow Era segregation and racism, graduated from law school ready to fight discrimination. For this, Gerwitz added, Marshall â€Å"really changed the world, something few lawyers can say.† Key Achievements First African-American to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.Wins 29 U.S. Supreme Court cases, helping to overturn segregation in public schools and transportation these cases include Brown v. Board of Education as well as Browder v. Gayle. Established the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, serving as first president and counsel-director.Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom from William H. Clinton. Early Life and Education Born Thoroughgood on July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Marshall was the son of William, a train porter and Norma, an educator. In the second grade, Marshall changed his name to Thurgood. Marshall attended Lincoln University where he began protesting against segregation by participating in a sit-in at a movie theater. He also became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.   In 1929, Marshall graduated with a degree in humanities and began his studies at the Howard University School of Law. Heavily influenced by the school’s dean, Charles Hamilton Houston, Marshall became dedicated to ending discrimination through the use of legal discourse. In 1933, Marshall graduated first in his class from Howard University School of Law.    Career Timeline    1934: Opens a private law practice in Baltimore. Marshall also begins his relationship for the Baltimore Branch of the NAACP by representing the organization in the law school discrimination case Murray v. Pearson. 1935: Wins his first civil rights case, Murray v. Pearson while working with Charles Houston. 1936: Appointed assistant special counsel for the New York chapter of the NAACP. 1940: Wins Chambers v. Florida. This will be Marshall’s first of 29 U.S. Supreme Court victories. 1943:   Schools in Hillburn, NY are integrated after Marshall’s win. 1944: Makes a successful argument in the Smith v. Allwright case, overturning the â€Å"white primary† existing in the South. 1946: Wins an NAACP Spingarn Medal. 1948: The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down racially restrictive covenants when Marshall wins Shelley v. Kraemer. 1950: Two U.S. Supreme Court wins with Sweatt v. Painter and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents. 1951: Investigates racism in the U.S. Armed Forces during a visit to South Korea. As a result of the visit, Marshall argues that â€Å"rigid segregation† exists.    1954: Marshall wins Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. The landmark case ends legal segregation in public schools. 1956: The Montgomery Bus Boycott ends when Marshall wins Browder v. Gayle. The victory ends segregation on public transportation. 1957: Establishes the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. The defense fund is a nonprofit law firm that is independent of the NAACP. 1961: Wins Garner v. Louisiana after defending a group of civil rights demonstrators. 1961: Appointed as a judge on the Second Circuit Courts of Appeal by John F. Kennedy. During Marshall’s four-year tenure, he makes 112 rulings which are not reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court. 1965: Handpicked by Lyndon B. Johnson to serve as U.S. Solicitor General. In a two-year period, Marshall wins 14 out of 19 cases. 1967:   Appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Marshall is the first African-American to hold this position and serves for 24 years. 1991: Retires from the U.S. Supreme Court. 1992: Recipient of the U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Office by the Jefferson Awards. Awarded the Liberty Medal for protecting civil rights. Personal Life In 1929, Marshall married Vivien Burey. Their union lasted for 26 years until Vivien’s death in 1955. That same year, Marshall married Cecilia Suyat. The couple had two sons, Thurgood Jr. who served as a top aide for William H. Clinton and John W. who worked as a Director of the U.S. Marshals Service and Virginia Secretary of Public Safety. Death Marshall died on January 25, 1993.

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Margaret Beaufort, Kings Mother

Margaret Beaufort, King's Mother Continued from: Margaret Beaufort: Basic Facts and TimelineMargaret Beaufort: The Making of the Tudor Dynasty Henry VII Becomes King and Margaret Beaufort the Kings Mother Margaret Beaufort’s long efforts to promote her son’s succession were richly rewarded, emotionally and materially.   Henry VII, having defeated Richard III and become king, had himself crowned on October 30, 1485. His mother, now 42 years old, reportedly wept at the coronation.   She was, from this point, referred to in court as â€Å"My Lady, the King’s Mother.† Henry Tudor’s marriage to Elizabeth of York would mean that his children’s right to the crown would be more secure, but he wanted to make sure that his own claim was clear.   Since his claim through inheritance was rather thin, and the idea of a queen ruling in her own right might bring images of the civil war of Matilda’s time, Henry claimed the crown by right of battle victory, not his marriage to Elizabeth or his genealogy.   He reinforced this by marrying Elizabeth of York, as he had publicly pledged to do in December of 1483. Henry Tudor married Elizabeth of York on January 18, 1486.   He also had parliament repeal the act which, under Richard III, had declared Elizabeth illegitimate. (This likely means that he knew that her brothers, the Princes in the Tower, who would have a stronger claim to the crown than Henry, were dead.) Their first son , Arthur, was born almost exactly nine months later, on September 19, 1486.   Elizabeth was crowned as queen consort the next year. Independent Woman, Advisor to the King Henry came to kingship after years of exile outside of England, without much experience in administration of a government. Margaret Beaufort had advised him in exile, and now she was a close advisor to him as king.   We know from his letters that he consulted with her on court matters and chuch appointments. The same parliament of 1485 that repealed Elizabeth of York’s illegitimacy also declared Margaret Beaufort a femme sole – in contrast to a femme covert or a wife.   Still married to Stanley, this status gave her an independence few women, and fewer wives, had under the law.   It gave her complete independence and control over her own lands and finances.   Her son also awarded her, over some years, considerably more lands which were under her independent control.   These would, of course, revert to Henry or his heirs on her death, as she had no other children. Despite the fact that she had never actually been a queen, Margaret Beaufort was treated at court with the status of a queen mother or dowager queen.   After 1499, she adopted the signature â€Å"Margaret R† which may signify â€Å"queen† (or may signify â€Å"Richmond†).   Queen Elizabeth, her daughter-in-law, outranked her, but Margaret walked close behind Elizabeth, and sometimes dressed in similar robes.   Her household was luxurious, and the largest in England after her son’s.   She might be the Countess of Richmond and Derby, but she acted like the equal or near equal of the queen. Elizabeth Woodville retired from the court in 1487, and it’s believed that Margaret Beaufort may have instigated her departure.   Margaret Beaufort had oversight over the royal nursery and even over the procedures for the queen’s lying-in.   She was given the wardship of the young Duke of Buckingham, Edward Stafford, son of her late ally (and her late husband’s nephew), Henry Stafford, whose title was restored by Henry VII. (Henry Stafford, convicted of treason under Richard III, had had the title taken from him.) Involvements in Religion, Family, Property In her later years, Margaret Beaufort was noted for both ruthlessness in defending and extending her land and property, and for responsible oversight of her lands and improving them for her tenants. She gave generously to religious institutions, and particularly to support the education of clergy at Cambridge. Margaret patronized the publisher William Caxton, and commissioned many books, some to distribute to her household. She bought both romances and religious texts from Caxton. In 1497, the priest John Fisher became her personal confessor and friend.   He began to rise in prominence and power at Cambridge University with the King’s Mother’s support. She is supposed to have had the agreement of her husband in 1499 to take a vow of chastity, and she often lived separately from him after that. From 1499 to 1506, Margaret lived at a manor in Collyweston, Northamptonshire, improving it so that it functioned as a palace. When the marriage of Catherine of Aragon was arranged to Margaret’s eldest grandson, Arthur, Margaret Beaufort was assigned with Elizabeth of York to select the women who would serve Catherine.   Margaret also urged that Catherine learn French before coming to England, so that she could communicate with her new family. Arthur married Catherine in 1501, and then Arthur died the next year, with his younger brother Henry then becoming heir apparent. Also in 1502, Margaret gave a grant to Cambridge to found the Lady Margaret Professorship of Divinity, and John Fisher became the first to occupy the chair. When Henry VII appointed John Fisher as bishop of Rochester, Margaret Beaufort was instrumental in choosing Erasmus as his successor in the Lady Margaret professorship. Elizabeth of York died the following year, after giving birth to her last child (who did not survive long), perhaps in a vain attempt to have another male heir.   Though Henry VII talked of finding another wife, he did not act on that, and genuinely grieved the loss of his wife, with whom he’d had a satisfying marriage, though initially making it for political reasons. Henry VII’s older daughter, Margaret Tudor, was named for her grandmother, and in 1503, Henry brought his daughter to his mother’s manor along with the whole royal court.   He then returned home with most of the court, while Margaret Tudor continued on to Scotland to marry James IV. In 1504, Margaret’s husband, Lord Stanley, died.   She devoted more of her time to prayer and religious observance.   She belonged to five religious houses, though she continued to reside in her own private residence. John Fisher became the Chancellor at Cambridge, and Margaret began giving the gifts that would establish the re-founded Christ’s College, under the king’s charter. Last Years Before her death, Margaret made possible, through her support, the transformation of a scandal-ridden monastic house into St. John’s College at Cambridge. Her will provided for continuing support for that project. She began planning around her end of life.   In 1506, she commissioned a tomb for herself, and brought Renaissance sculptor Pietro Torrigiano to England to work on it.   She prepared her final will in January of 1509. In April of 1509, Henry VII died.   Margaret Beaufort came to London and arranged her son’s funeral, where she was given precedence over all the other royal women.   Her son had named her his chief executor in his will. Margaret helped arrange and was present for the coronation of her grandson, Henry VIII, and his new bride, Catherine of Aragon, on June 24, 1509.   Margaret’s struggles with her health may have been aggravated by the activity around the funeral and coronation, and she died on June 29, 1509.  John Fisher gave the sermon at her requiem mass. Largely because of Margaret’s efforts, Tudors would rule England until 1603, followed by the Stuarts, descendants of her granddaughter Margaret Tudor. More: Margaret Beaufort: Basic Facts and TimelineMargaret Beaufort: The Making of the Tudor Dynasty