Compare and Contrast Essay on Pet Dog or Cat Essay

All over the world, people adopt or purchase animals to serve as pets. People own pets for a variety of reasons, and there are many different animals that can serve as pets. However, two of the most commonly found pets are dogs and cats. Both animals can serve as excellent pets, but depending on the customer, a dog might make a better pet than a cat, or a cat might make a better pet than a dog. In order for a future pet owner to make a choice between investing in a dog or cat, it all comes down to the cost, time, and attention revolving around the two different animals. When investing in a dog or a cat, the customer has to understand that both animals cost money to own. In general, dogs are a more expensive investment. Even in the initial adoption or purchase, a dog usually costs more than a cat. A dog owner has to buy food for their dog to eat twice a day; and the quantity of each meal varies between big dogs and small dogs. In addition, dog vaccinations cost money, as well as different supplies like shampoo to keep dogs clean, and toys to keep dogs happy. If a pet dog gets sick, the owner has to pay money to take the dog to a vet and buy medicine for the animal to get better. If a dog owner goes out of town, he or she usually has to pay money for someone to take care of their dog. Which can end up being expensive because of the amount of time behind taking care of a dog. Just like dog owners, cat owners have to spend money on food for the animal. Cats do not normally eat as much as dogs but still need to be fed two times a day. Cat owners have to buy shots for their cats to keep them healthy as well as purchase different supplies a cat needs to function. Cat owners have to buy a litter box and litter for their cats to use the bathroom. Pet cats and pet dogs both cost money to support, and the cost of investment is different depending on the animal. Along with cost, owning a pet dog or cat requires time out of the owner’s schedule. Both animals need their owner to feed them two times a day and need their owner to make sure they have water. A dog requires a lot of time  from their owner in order to be happy. Dogs need to be let outside or taken on walks a few times everyday in order to use the bathroom. In addition, dog owners must have time to play with their dogs and give their dogs attention. A dog cannot be locked alone inside a house all day, everyday. Dogs also cannot bathe themselves, so whenever they get dirty, dog owners must have time to wash them or they will be living in their own filth. Cats need time from their owners as well; but cats are more independent so do not take as much time out of their owners’ schedule. Cats are fine on their own for long periods of time as long as they have food and water. Cats do not have to be let outside in order to use the bathroom, but cat owners must occasionally find time to clean out a cat’s litter box. In addition, cats are able to groom themselves so they do not have to be bathed on a regular basis. Cat owners do have to find time to trim their cat’s claws whenever they get too long. Both cats and dogs require time out of their owners schedule in order to be happy as a pet. Pet dogs and cats require a certain level of attention from their owners. Dogs enjoy being part of their owners’ lives. Dogs enjoy going on walks and runs with their owners. They also enjoy playing with their owners, which can be done with a simple game of fetch. Dogs do not like being home alone and are excited when their owners come home after being out. A dog owner needs show that he or she loves his or her dog by petting it and giving it enough attention. Dogs are usually very social animals and will show the same amount of love towards its owner as its owner shows towards it. Cats are more independent animals and do not require as much attention as dogs do. However, cats do enjoy being played with and loved on but not to a high extent. Cats enjoy alone time and can still be happy if its owner has a busy schedule. Both animals need attention from their owners, but differ in the amount of attention needed. When investing, the customer must decide if he or she wants to care for a dog or a cat. Each animal requires a different level cost, time, and attention which can be deciding factors on whether to get a dog or cat. Both animals are â€Å"good† pets, but one might be the better pet, depending on the owner.

Personal computer Essay

1. 1Introduction The spread of globalization entailed the emergence of the new type of society- information society, where knowledge or information has replaced the capital as the main driving force of economic growth. This, naturally, impacts everyday economic and social processes and structures. Knowledge-based economy relies on innovation and scientific research, which could not take place without highly qualified and sufficiently educated human resources. One of the main problems related with the development of the information society is the emergence of the digital divide. The digital divide refers to the gap in society between those individuals, households and enterprises who use the information technologies and those who do not. This results in the divide between the individuals who have access to information and those who do not. As information is becoming more indispensable, the gap is becoming even wider between those who use the IT and those who do not, and results in limited opportunities of the latter. As to Sri Lanka, it is important to analyze and compare the situation in the wider context of other countries as well as the situation within the country alone. Computer literacy is one of the key elements of the information society and one of the most important factors in reducing the digital divide. 1. 2Background An island nation in South Asia, Sri Lanka has a literacy rate of over 90%, which is one of the highest in the region. However, the digital literacy of the country fell far behind, at less than 20% in 2009, according to its Department of Census and Statistics. Therefore, it was imperative for the Government of Sri Lanka to find a quick but affordable solution to introduce basic digital literacy skills to state employees as well as to its citizens. Since the initiation of the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), the low rate of computer literacy in Sri Lanka has been a matter of major concern. With a mere 3% of rural households owning a computer, access to a computer and information is certainly a challenge for the predominantly rural population (70%). The highest computer awareness of 32% was reported from the Colombo district. The next higher percentages (18% – 29%) were reported from a belt of districts consisted of Matara, Galle, Kalutara, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Matale, and Ampara districts. Lowest percentages (4. 7% – 7. 7%) were reported from Mannar, Baticaloa, Nuwara Eliya and Monaragala districts. 1. 3SCOPE Is aimed at increasing Sri Lanka’s current low IT literacy, by enabling access to Information Communication Technology (ICT). This programme fosters the charter to ‘bridge the digital divide†. With the first stage of the project has planned to implement it to the region of the Uva. Because of The Badulla and Monaragala districts ware reported the lowest computer literacy rate of 3 percent. The project takes place in all 02 Districts throughout the Uva province of Sri Lanka in order to train more residents in small rural settlements. The education will take place in computer classes that will be leased out from secondary schools, vocational schools, and other educational institutions and provide adequate facilities as required by the project. In rural settlements, the education will take place in public internet Centers. 1. 4OBJECTIVES Followings will be the main objectives of this project to achieve when it comes to end. ?Knowledge of a personal computer system? Navigate within the Windows environment ?Operate a word processor ?Creating and Managing Files ?Sending & receiving emails ?Install software ?Download Acrobat Reader ?Download Google Talk ?Download Open Office ?Download Skype ?Connect to and surf the internet ?Printing ?Using Windows Live ? 2. CHAPTER TWO – PROPOSED SYSTEM 2. 1General definition Although the computers, Internet and e-mail have been around in households, work places, schools and universities in the country, no studies have been done on the level of usage of these facilities. Therefore, findings of this study can be used as baseline data for measuring e-readiness and by repeating this study at regular intervals preferably annually, impact of various interventions that had been implemented to take the country to the digital age can be evaluated and if necessary, corrective actions can be taken. It is hoped that the information compiled using data collected in this survey can bring about improvements in how these facilities should be introduced and used. Under the project, it is going to be implemented in four stages which are can easily introduce among the peoples. As we identified the main problem behind the situation, the fear to companion with new technology should be wacked out from their mentality. 2. 2First Stage – Introduce the importance of E-Literacy Much of the research work on information literacy has concentrated on skills and education for students or learners, however, a crucial area must be the information literacy levels of staff that are responsible for the development and implementation of e-learning. The technical expertise, knowledge and its services are not reached to the rural people. The reaching of IT wisdom is far dream of rural children or Adolescent Girls and Youth and particularly to illiterate men and women. Hence, the government is committed for to provide Computer Literacy and Information Literacy. Both skills are necessary to cultivate in emerging knowledge societies. In this context and in the process of Research & Development for an innovative project to provide the latest Information & Communication Technology (ICT) as well as to extend Innovative Sustainable  project at their door step and to Reduce the Cost, Time and Energy for overall empowerment & Development of Children, Youth & Women is the idea of this project. 2. 2. 1Objectives: ? To educate children in the e-literacy through schools to children. Three days in a week 02 hours per day from 1000-1200hrs. ?To give training to children above in the age of 18 years in computer typing, MSWord, Paint, MS-Excel, Power Point, Internet knowledge through the Vocational Training Centers. Every week days in week, 02 hrs per day from 1000-1200hrs. ?To provide e-literacy programme for youth and adolescent girls in MS office package. ?To provide teachers training for Inter / graduates in e-literacy classes. ?To train youth in spoken English and special courses. ?To train women functionaries and about community members make them aware about ICT & e-schemes. In this stage of the project is going to provide the basic knowledge about the; ? personal computer system ?Navigate within the Windows environment ?Operate a word processor ?Creating and Managing Files. Other than that the students can get the introduction to the field and importance of the E-Literacy. The total 18-hour e-literacy module on an auto-run CD explains to the users certain basics about how the computer is set up and designed. This includes basic tutorials on the history of computers, the various parts of a computer, and some basic interactive tasks. The training is not geared towards making users able to use computer applications, rather it is meant to give people an introduction to computers so that they can learn later. The method is going to be adopt to innovate the system is by using mobile Tele-centers, which is available with 5-10 PCs inside the vehicle. In this method we can access to the identified places as soon as possible without wasting time and money. As well as the plan is included with the cover it up places which is reluctant to have more gathering in and around area like towns, public libraries, etc. 2. 2. 2Facilities Included: All of the mobile Tele-Centers are fully equipped with 5-10 computers and peripherals ranging from printers, fax machines, scanners, web cameras and copiers to provide ICT services in rural and semi-rural communities. Internet access is provided with high speed broad band connectivity, using satellite technology. Two telephone lines with local and International dialing facility are also available at the centers that do not have fixed phone lines. Internet charges are kept to a minimum to allow people in the area to access internet at a lowest possible cost. Duration 01 Years 2. 3Second Stage – Upgrade the project through the Tele-Centers An essential step in the research process is implementing the access to basic environment which required enhancing the e-Literacy. Once it is found Information literacy is about peoples’ ability to operate effectively in an information society. This involves critical thinking, an awareness of personal and professional ethics, information evaluation, conceptualizing information needs, organizing information, interacting with information professionals and making effective use of information in problem-solving, decision-making and research. In this stage of the project is going to be covering it up the advance knowledge about the Information & Communication Technology by using the Tele-Centers which are located in the specified places of the region. In both the districts according to the suggestion of the project there should have 35-40 nos of Tele-Centers to help the process. Followings will be included for the period of the second stage. ?Sending & receiving emails ?Install software ?Download Acrobat Reader ?Download Google Talk ?Download Microsoft Office ?Download Skype 2. 3. 1Objectives ?To educate children in the advance knowledge about the Information & Communication Technology through Tele-Centers to children. Two days in a week 02 hours per day from 1400-1600hrs. ?To provide advance knowledge about the Information & Communication Technology for youth and adolescent girls. ?To provide teachers training for Inter / graduates. ?To train women functionaries and about community members make them aware about ICT & e-schemes. In the second stage of the project is planned to implement web accessed advance programmes which are related to e-mails and software installations. This stage totally depends with the internet access. With the consideration of the second stage the Tele-Centers must have to play a vital role to accomplish the aim of this project. There should be at least 20-25 PCs in a Tele-Center, other than there should be high bandwidth Internet access, printers, and Direct Telecom facilities. According to the demography, schools available, the total area and the number of students available considering all the matters at least there should be 35-40 Tele-Centers to continue with the project for the second stage. With respect to accessing government information on the websites, awareness on the availability of such government websites should be widely publicized. So far people use the Internet to access the gazette, exam results, general information, etc. Efforts should be made to encourage the downloading of applications and other relevant information. Government institutions should also publicize and encourage the public to use the information available on their respective websites. Duration 02 Years 2. 4Third Stage – Spread out the project with introducing the system using with their own PCs, Laptops, Palmtops, and Smart Phones. In the third stage as well as the last stage the peoples who are having their own accessibility they may allow to access to the internet and serf for the third stage. Though it is not able to do they are welcome to continue with the same method which they adopt during the second stage of the project. During this stage the students may have that opportunity to access the internet fully, get the knowledge about the printing of documents and using of live windows. ?Connect to and surf the internet ?Printing ?Using Windows Live Here, each and every student will provide with a separate user name and password to access the internet and participate the basic learning activities in online basis. They may allow to download learning materials related to this project at any time with accessing the own user name and password. Duration 06 months 2. 5Project requirements I. Preliminary data collection. Analyze & identifying potential villages / children, Youth and Women. II. Procurement of Training Building/ Premises on Hire. III. Procurement of infrastructure. Computers, furniture and electronic devices. LCD Projector and Internet connection and allied arrangements. IV. Procurement of Mobile Van to percolation of the center programmes and to create awareness by carrying K-YAN computer machine cum projector device. Imagine the audio visual medium perking up proceedings. It works like computer and uses a projector to beam lessons on the walls. The cost of the equipment is around 1. 10 lakhs. It stores lessons prescribed by the state government in both English, and Sinhala, transforming a mundane science class into one where lessons are taught using visuals and animation. It facilitates the mass communication media in the villages & train the community people with simple arrangements as well as in government schools also. V. Appointment of Faculty / Course teaching teachers. VI. Appointment of Volunteers cum motivators. One for each 2 villages / areas. VII. Appointment of Core staff & Driver. ? 3. CHAPTER THREE – DELIVERABLE ?It will enable children, youth and literate SHG women learn basic computer training & community members will get awareness about the programmes at their door step of villages itself. ?It will provide access to Internet facility to all rural people irrespective of age and gender. ?It will provide access to different knowledge, skills, vocational training programmes and communication skills at their door step. ?It will provide access to e-learning, e-commerce and other information is available to youth.? It will provide access to promote Information Management Center of village level, Encourage the documentation and Resource sharing of Indigenous knowledge information use and servicing among members. The center facilitate the needs assessment, Capacity building of the municipal level to Government and Nationally. ?It will provide access to e-Teacher Training porgrammes within the municipal level it saves their Time, Energy and Money and assured qualitative education as well they enable to procure local employment within their jurisdiction. ? 4. CHAPTER FOUR – SWOT ANALYSIS ? 5. CHAPTER FIVE – CONCLUTION In the paper, certain benefits of the project have been highlighted, which are hard to quantify in economic terms. While our data analysis shows results counter to the goals of mission, overall, on the issue of ‘continued use’ of Tele-centers by citizens, it is clear that even the slightly lower prices often offered by centers for computer training courses are highly valued even if respondents were not necessarily overly enthusiastic about enrolling for such classes. The key recommendations here are that the content and delivery of e-literacy should be changed significantly. While the initial goal of removing the fear of computers is very successful, we must ask what next – people have to stay interested in the course for the entire 15 hours once they pay for it. After the completion of e-literacy, the typical users should be able to do at least some basic tasks on their own. On the issue of service delivery, this is identified by the data as main concern. Clearly, creating and monitoring a project the size of it is a huge task and it is extremely difficult to monitor every aspect of the project. But a greater effort has to be made to ensure that the service delivery is either done through existing State agencies with experience in public spending projects, or through groups with good field credibility doing grassroots work. Finally, if it is agreed that e-literacy qualifies as a public good, the data from project presents strong evidence to uncouple it from Tele-centers.

Deaf culture and disability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Deaf culture and disability - Essay Example In the first part of your essay, assume you are an attorney representing the interests of a nine-year-old child that has been deaf since the age of three. Argue that it is in the best interest of the child to receive a cochlear implant. Wikipedia states that "In December 1984, the Australian cochlear implant was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to be implanted into adults in the United States. In 1990 the FDA lowered the approved age for implantation to 2 years, then 18 months in 1998, and finally 12 months in 2002"( Wikipedia.net) Another reason is if the child is having severe to profound sensorineural hearing impairment in both ears, having a functioning auditory nerve, having lived a short amount of time without hearing, having good speech, language, and communication skills, or in the case of infants and young children, having a family willing to work toward speech and language skills with therapy, not being benefited byother kinds of hearing aids, having no medical reason to avoid surgery, living in or desiring to live in the "hearing world" , and has the support of friends. (Ibid) Another advantage of using cochlear ear implant is that the deaf can now use his or her hands to freely write or to make mathematical computations or even to caress the deaf's girlfriend or boyfriend with more intimacy. A person has the human right... tes that the implementation of the inalienable rights of all members of the human family" (Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/index.htm. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights calls on nations to respect the rights to life, liberty, and security (Article 3). This Declaration also states that everyone should enjoy the right to be educated and to basic standards of living. The same declaration calls on nations to provide for all of their citizens without discrimination. Human rights, in substance, are protections against abuses by all states, and guarantees that people shall receive benefits from states ( Cornell law) The CIGI stated that has stated that "Cochlear Implant Association Inc., while cognizant of the fact that the cochlear implant has materially enhanced the lives of a great many children, is not recommending the cochlear implant for all children" (http://www.cici.org/postat.html). The above data have increased the weight of the weighting scale towards USING the cochlear implant. In the second part of your essay, take the opposing side and write in opposition to the cochlear implant. Your essay should be equally divided between the two arguments. Some of the reasons why the child should not use cochlear implants are:In the year 2003, "the CDC and FDA announced that children with cochlear implants are at a slightly increased risk of bacterial meningitis (Reefhuis 2003). Many users, audiologists, and surgeons also report that when there is an ear infection causing fluid in the middle ear, it can in fact affect the cochlear implant, leading to temporarily reduced hearing." (Wikipedia)Another reason is that some deaf children feel overall worse off with the implant than without them in place. Still another

Corporate finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Corporate finance - Essay Example In this process the underwriter sells the shares of the company at a discount to the senior executives of a third party company in exchange of some future business opportunities or some other benefits that it hopes to receive from that company. How this conflict of interest arises and how it can be solved is discussed in the following pages. When the company goes in for an IPO by using the services of an underwriter in exchange of some fees that the underwriter charges the company is in essence acting as principal and the underwriter is acting as an agent. The problem in a principal agent relationship arises when either the principal or the agent are guided by self interests. The problem is aggravated when there is information asymmetry such that the agent has more information than the principal available with it. In such cases the principal is not sure whether the agent is actually working to serve in the best interest of the Principal. In this particular case for example the agent that is underwriter of the shares, has more information available to it than the company. The investment banker has several interests over here to look into like looking into its own future interests and just to ensure that the company’s share can sell at higher price. Its primary goal is to show the company that it has sold the IPO by the company at a very high price and thus is able to command a huge price tag for its services. The second interest guiding the investment bankers is to open the doors of future business prospects. By the act of spinn ing the investment banker (acting as underwriter) is able to achieve both its objectives. A research into the field by Prof. J. R. Ritter and X. Liu in the year 2009 showed that the IPOs in which spinning was involved in by the investment bankers generated 23% higher first day returns as compared to other IPOs (Liu and Ritter, 2010). Secondly companies of the executives who were offered the shares of the IPO at discount were most likely

Marine Finance and Insurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marine Finance and Insurance - Essay Example Some of the calamities that can cause damage include fire, collision, sinking, mutiny, piracy, shipwreck, etc. however, when the marine cargo insurance compensates the owner of the cargo, it excludes the payment of any items of cargo that can be recovered by the carrier or that will be taken care of by the marine insurance. Marine insurance also covers all the expenses that the owner of the cargo uses as a result of the delay that the loss covers. The profit that the owner of the cargo could have gained had the cargo reached him or her in time is also taken care of by the marine insurance. This paper aims at covering the marine insurance markets, the market practices, and the risks insured. Also included is a critical appraisal of a marine insurance that is likely to be required as security for ship financing by a financier. The exact reason why an individual who wishes to transport his or her cargo by ship needs to know about marine insurance is that it will help you protect your cargo form the point of origin to the point of destination. Two ways exist in which a businessman can transport his or her cargo: wet marine also called waterborne cargo or as dry marine also called land transported cargo (Gaebler, 2009). ... An inland marine insurance ensures that if the cargo gets lost in the process of shipment, compensation can always take place regardless of the individual who was in possession of the cargo when it got lost. Inland marine policies fall into two categories and each of them is designed to take care of shipping related losses. These are the filed policies and the non-filed policies (Gaebler, 2009). Filed policies are used to cover the direct loss of physical property and feature insured individuals who have suffered similar losses. For the non-filed policies, the direct loss of cargo is covered but this time round, compensation is allowed on only that property that had a specific cause of loss. The non-filed policies are very customizable and hence any type of property being transported can be covered by these policies. Other kinds of marine policies include the voyage policy that one applies for to cater for a specific trip (Horward, 2006). Compensation can only be made for the insured item if loss or damage took place when the items were being transferred. This policy is most suitable for cargo insurance. A time policy is covers the insured property for a given period of time. The maximum amount of time that most insurance companies are willing to cater for a property is twelve months. This type of policy is best for insuring ships. A floating policy helps individuals who are regular shippers of merchandise and it takes care of goods that are shipped in different shipments within a given period of time. A port policy covers a ship for the period that the ship is in a particular port. The fleet insurance policy helps insure several ships that belong to one owner to be insured under the same policy (John, 2002). Time policy and voyage policy can

National Science Teachers Association Standards Essay

National Science Teachers Association Standards - Essay Example The NSTA standards are mostly for the teachers who teach science. These standards make sure that the teachers of all levels who teach science should have the capability and the ability to teach science to the students and they (teachers) have the ability to understand the subject as well. These standards also work as a measurement against the teacher's performance. The teacher has to give a satisfactory performance of his or her skills and knowledge about the subject in the science teacher preparation program. There are about 10 NSTA standards and they are Content is the first standard of NSTA standards. In content the teachers of science must be able to understand the subject the matter and its practices thoroughly. It is important that they understand the concepts and grasp the ideas and applications of the subject. The teachers must be able to convey the important concepts and the ideas and the applications of the subject to the students. The teachers are able to use mathematical calculations successfully that they can generate reports and process data and solve problems related to their field. It is very important for the teacher of science that they have a very strong content background in the field of science. Content standard basically includes the knowledge and the skills that learned by the teachers in their teacher's science curriculum. The content standard ... The teacher must have the grasp of their related field and have the capability to make the students understand the chemical kinetics, the physical and chemical properties, mole concept, fundamental concept of atoms and molecules, fundamental biochemistry and organic synthesis. The teacher should make the subject they are teaching interesting so that learning can take place. It can be done with taking field trips, teaching in such a way that it connects to real life, or through videos etc. Nature Of Science is the second standard of NSTA standards. The teachers, who teach science make the students learn how to differentiate between what is science and is non-science, make them understand the practice of science and the origins of science. The teachers themselves should also understand the goals and the values that are important in the development of scientific studies as well if they plan to teach the nature of science. The nature of science standard can be used in the school curriculum. The teachers should have the skill to engage students in the classroom to participate in the analysis of the scientific assumption and claims. The professors or teachers should be able to show that they can make the students participate in the study of nature of science. The teachers can provide the students with case studies, through seminars on the nature of science or through assignments or projects etc. Inquiry is the third standard of NSTA standards. The teacher who are teaching science engage the students in classroom discussions and make sure that the student takes an active participation in the learning through scientific inquiry. The teachers have to make sure that they can teach through inquiry, they have to

Impact the German state on Europe economy Term Paper

Impact the German state on Europe economy - Term Paper Example   The world has taken a change in trend where countries form economic groups based on the regions in which they belong. The economic blocks in which countries are grouped are strategies through which they get advantage in terms of bargaining for the economic benefits of individual countries. The economic blocks open the trading frontier in these regions. The implication is that these countries when they come as regional blocks open up trading platforms in a bigger scale that they would individually. Germany is historically one of the most prominent countries that ring in the ears of many people. Of notable reference is its involvement in the great world wars that took place in two phases i.e. World War I and World War II. Its political structuring began from these two historic events which were fuelled by technological and other economics adjustments for survival. Fulbrook asserts, â€Å"From the period of the great world was, it has undergone a lot of political and economic reali gnments that place it among the most influential nations in the world today†. German’s place in the economic world has significantly been important. This draws relevance from previous occurrences as well as historical incidences. There are situations which warrant interceptions from economically superior countries. In the recent past, the world has experienced what could be described as tumultuous times. The uncertainty that rocked the zone within which Germany falls was indeed affected. Germany was not much affected by the times and crises that were felt globally. In analyzing the significance of Germany, it is imperative that its military as well as economic involvements on the global scene be brought into perspective. This is what the following discourse delves in. Politically, Germany has come from its dark past where it had been even been split up into two states with completely different economic ideologies in which one state which was the democratic west with capitalist economic ideology. The other state was the communist east with the communist economic system. According to Leininger, â€Å"Later the two factions brought down the Berlin wall and formed one nation with the same economic policies that has seen it rise to the list of the most developed countries in the world† (234). It is this level of economic prosperity that is making it of particular interest in this research paper. Aim of the study This paper focuses on establishing the factors that make Germany to be at the center of focus in establishment, management and performance of the European Union. It therefore targets all the observable economic aspects of this country in respect with its role and extent of influence in the European continent at large and European Union specifically. Significance of this study The current economic challenges are uphill task to many nations and therefore some critical approaches need to taken up by the

Food Day Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Food Day - Essay Example This was an effect or evidence that I was actively listening. During the preparation and at the event, we worked in a team. For example, our team composed Libby, Katie and I. Libby led the team most time and working together, we followed, monitored the progress, and met deadlines throughout the pre and post event activities. The events of the Food Day enlightened me on my profession. From the event, I have understood many facts and perspectives regarding human nutrition. It was very exciting when people inquired about economical and be environment friendly. Additionally, I realized that people are ever interested to learn things regarding living healthy and economically sound or viable. It was my first time address a public gathering. However, at the beginning, it seemed difficult, but after a while I got used to it and I loved this experience. At the end, I was very happy with confident and composure I learnt from this experience. Yes, my efforts made a different both to the occasion and my life experience. For example, most of the attendances were interested in our teams and inquired more about our stuff and how they can obtain it. In addition, I felt most of them were very interested on our displays and they wanted us to information more on how they can save more. I liked the samples we displayed on our information table because it helped us to provide accurate information. Furthermore, I liked our handout because it had simple and easy information. Lastly, I liked how we organized our table; we divided it in two sides. On one side, we placed the green sample and the other side there was the bottle water, Ziploc bag, coffee cup, and plastic bag. I would add more examples of green samples and have a calculator to let them calculate the difference prices of the green samples and the other stuff. The calculation would have help them know how and how much to save. All

Formative assessment Essay Example for Free

Formative assessment Essay Formative Assessment: raising standards inside the classroom Black. , P. (1998), provides a brief overview of the evidence, both qualitative and quantitative about the quality of teacher’s classroom assessment practices, about the effectiveness of good formative assessment in promoting pupil’s learning and the features of classroom assessment that enhances students learning. Paul Black carried out two practical inquiries in various schools. The first experiment involved twelve classes of thirty pupils each in two schools. This experiment work was structured around pupil’s tools of systematic and reasoned inquiry and greatly emphasized on student’s communication skills and peer assessment. The students were required to carry out a science group project which involved experimentation. The results showed that the students who had the best assessment process achieved the highest scores. This was only possible where students were able to communicate effectively with each other and were able to evaluate their own understanding of the concept being taught. Thus, the author showed that self- and peer assessment can be achieved by giving pupil’s opportunities to reflect their learning. Similarly, the second experiment involved forty eight eleven year old Israeli pupils from twelve classes across four schools where half of those selected being in the top quartile of their class on tests of mathematics and language and other half being in the lower quartile. They were taught materials not directly related to their normal curriculum, and given written tasks to be tackled individually under supervision, with an oral introduction and supervision. Then the pupil’s were divided into three groups and feedbacks were provided. The first group was given comments only, the second group was given grades only and the third group was given comments with grades. The research showed that for ‘comments only’ showed an increase in the performance of the students while the other two groups showed a significant decline in the scores across the three sessions. Therefore, this research article tries to show that if feedback comments are in principle, it is operationally helpful for a pupil’s work, and literature also indicates that ‘task-involving’ feedback is more effective than ‘ego-involving’ feedback. Likewise, the reports studied by Paul Black and his colleagues showed that formative assessment helps to enhance feedback between the students and the teacher as it increases new modes of pedagogy and will cause a significant changes in the classroom practices. Similarly, formative assessment increases pupil participation in the classroom and can help affect motivation and self-esteem of pupils. Therefore, effective teaching must be carried out in a classroom that will enhance students learning. However, posing of questions is a natural and direct way of checking on learning, but is often unproductive. It becomes important for teachers to generate good questions and this can be obtained from outside sources such as internet and library sources. Thus, teachers should ask themselves that: Do I really know enough about the understanding of my pupils to be able to help each of them? Therefore, what seems both obvious and problematic is that the whole area is at the heart of pedagogy and may have been appraised and shaped further in terms of a theory of larger scope to encompass school learning comprehensively. One of the limitations of this article is that this has not been attempted, so that what is here needs the discipline of a broader context. Thus, a classroom must be implemented that focuses on the policy for raising standards that will help improve formative assessment. (Black. , P. 1998. Formative assessment: raising standards inside the classroom. School Science Review.

Process Capability Essay Example for Free

Process Capability Essay Process capability studies determine whether a process is unstable, investigate any sources of instability, determine their causes, and take action to resolve such sources of instability. After all sources of instability have been resolved in a process, the natural behavior of the process is called its process capability. Process capability compares the output of a process (called â€Å"Voice of the Process†) with the customer’s specification limits for the outputs (called â€Å"Voice of the Customer†). A process must be stable (have an established process capability) before it can be improved. Consequently, a process capability study must be successfully completed before a process improvement study can have any chance for success. Process improvement studies follow the Deming cycle of Plan, Do, Study, Act. First, managers construct a plan to decrease the difference between customer needs (Voice of the Customer) and process performance (Voice of the Process). Recall, that a plan is an intention to move from an existing method or flowchart to a revised method or flowchart by incorporating one or more change concepts. Second, they test the revised flowchart’s (Plan) viability using a planned experiment (Do). Third, they collect data and study the results of the planned experiment to determine if the plan (revised flowchart) will decrease the difference between customer needs and process performance (Study). Fourth, if the data collected about the revised flowchart show if the plan will achieve its objective(s). Finally, the revised flowchart is standardized through best practices and training (Act); and the managers responsible for the plan return to the Plan phase of the Deming cycle to find further revisions to the flowchart that will further reduce the difference between customer needs and process performance. If the data collected about the plan show that the plan will not achieve its objective(s), the managers responsible for the plan return to the Plan phase of the Deming cycle to find a different revision to the flowchart that will reduce the difference between customer needs and process performance. Hence, the Deming cycle follows a never-ending path of process and quality improvement. This chapter is divided into four sections: specifications, process capability studies, process improvement studies, and quality improvement stories. The quality improvement story is an effective format for quality management practitioners to present process capability and process improvement studies to management. 11.2 Specifications (Voice of the Customer) and Created Dimensions Specifications fall into two broad categories: performance specifications and technical specifications. 11.2.1 Performance Specifications Performance specifications address a customer’s needs or wants. An example of a performance specification can be seen in restaurants rated by the Red Michelin Guide. The customers of these restaurants set their performance specifications as â€Å"a perfect dining experience.† Perfection is measured in terms of the synergistic experience created by the interaction of food, service, ambience and price. The Red Michelin Guide rates restaurants on a one to three star scale. Only the best restaurants in the world receive Michelin stars. A restaurant receives one Michelin star for consistently serving very good food in a good setting, but it is not considered worthy of a special traveling effort. A restaurant receives two Michelin stars for consistently serving excellent food, including specialties and wines of choice in a great setting. The restaurant is worth a detour from one’s existing travel itinerary. A restaurant receives three Michelin stars for serving excellent food and great wine, with impeccable and elegant service and ambience. The restaurant is one of the best restaurants in the world and is worth a special trip. All starred restaurants have a high average level of quality with very little variation around the average. A three star Michelin chef is an artist; it is as if Picasso was painting for your pleasure. Three star Michelin restaurants provide performance specifications. They guarantee satisfaction at the point of delivery. Nothing short of perfection is acceptable. 11.2.2 Technical Specifications Technical specifications describe the desired values of quality characteristics at delivery. There are three types of technical specifications: individual unit specifications; acceptable quality level (AQL) specifications; and distribution specifications. Individual Unit Specifications. Individual unit specifications state a boundary (upper or lower specification limit), or boundaries (both upper and lower specification limits), that apply to individual units of a product or service. An individual unit of product or service is considered to conform to a specification if it is on or inside the boundary or boundaries; this is the goal post view of quality. Individual unit specifications are made up of two parts, which together form a third part. The first part of an individual unit specification is the nominal value. This is the desired value for process performance mandated by the customers needs. Ideally, if all quality characteristics were at nominal, products and services would perform as expected over their life cycle. The second part of an individual unit specification is a tolerance. A tolerance is an allowable departure from a nominal value established by design engineers that is deemed non-harmful to the functioning of the product or service over its life cycle. Tolerances are added and/or subtracted from nominal values. The third part of an individual unit specification is a specification limit, or the boundaries created by adding and/or subtracting tolerances from a nominal value. It is possible to have two-sided specification limits: USL = Nominal + Tolerance LSL = Nominal Tolerance where USL is the upper specification limit and LSL is the lower specification limit; or one-sided specification limits (i.e., either USL or LSL only). A nominal value and specification limits form the Voice of the Customer. An example of an individual unit specification and its three parts can be seen in the specification for the case hardness depth of a camshaft. A camshaft is considered to be conforming with respect to case hardness depth if each individual unit is between 7.0 mm  ± 3.5 mm (or LSL = 3.5 to USL = 10.5 mm). The nominal value in that specification is 7.0 mm; the two-sided tolerance is 3.5 mm; the lower specification limit is 3.5 mm (7.0 mm 3.5 mm); and the upper specification limit is 10.5 mm (7.0 mm + 3.5 mm). From our earlier discussion of the philosophy of continuous reduction of variation (i.e., the Taguchi Loss Function), we saw that the goal of modern management should not be 100 percent conformance to specifications (Zero Defects), but the never-ending reduction of process variation within specification limits so that all products/services are as close to nominal as possible, absent capital investment. Specified tolerances become increasingly irrelevant as process variation is reduced so that the processs output is well within specification limits. Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) Specifications. Acceptable quality level (AQL) specifications state a requirement that must be met by most individual units of product or service, but allow a certain proportion of the units to exceed the requirements. For example, cam shafts shall be acceptable if no more than 3 percent of the units exceed the specification limits of 3.5 and 10.5 mm. This type of specification limit is frequently referred to as an Acceptable Quality Level. AQL specifications are much like individual unit specifications, except they have a unique negative feature: they formally support the production of a certain percentage of defective product or service. Distribution Specifications. Distribution specifications define an acceptable distribution for each product or service quality characteristic. In an analytic study, a distribution is defined in terms of its mean, standard deviation, and shape. However, from the Empirical Rule discussed in Chapter 5, it is not necessary to make any assumptions about the shape of the distribution. That is, virtually all data from a stable process will fall between the mean plus or minus three standard deviations. As an example of a distribution specification, the case hardness depth of a camshaft shall be stable with an average depth of 7.0 mm and a standard deviation not to exceed 1.167 mm. In other words, individual units shall be distributed around the average with a dispersion not to exceed 3.50 mm on either side of the average since for a stable process, virtually all of the output will be within three standard deviations on either side of the mean [7.0 mm  ± 3(1.167 mm) = 7.0 mm  ± 3.50 mm = 3.50 to 10.50 mm]. The mean and standard deviation are simply directional goals for management when using distribution specifications. Management must use statistical methods to move the process average toward the nominal value of 7.0 mm and to decrease the process standard deviation as far below 1.167 mm as possible. Distribution requirements are stated in the language of the process and promote the never-ending improvement of a process. Distinguishing between Performance Specifications and Technical Specifications. Performance specifications are not commonly used in business; instead, technical specifications are used. Unfortunately, this can cause major problems because technical specifications may not produce the performance desired by a customer. As an example, consider a hospital that serves medium (versus rare or well-done) steak to patients who select steak for dinner [see Camp, 1986]. The performance desired is patient satisfaction within nutritional guidelines. But performance specifications are not used. Instead, a technical specification of five ounces of steak is substituted; it is assumed they are equivalent.

The globalization of media

The globalization of media The globalization of media is a pervasive phenomenon associated with several different theories and views about its characteristics and consequences. Due to the considerable amount of transnational media which originates in the U.S, many fear that globalization will lead to an Americanization of the world, while others fear the power imbalance in media flows will weaken national sovereignty (Straubhaar et. al 2009, 531). The article Indigenity, media and cultural globalization: The Case of Mataku, or the Maori X-Files by Kevin Glynn and A. F. Tyson supports the opposing view that globalization provides the opportunity for national cultures to counter the Eurocentrism in the global media market, though the Western domination of the market does act as an obstacle against the expansion of productions by lesser known cultures (Glynn et. al 2007, 210). Despite minor setbacks in the organization and flow of the article, Glynn provides developed and well-researched arguments in support of his view, and strengthens his thesis further through the analysis of an internationally known indigenous television drama, Mataku. From the first part of the article, the authors thesis is clear: contemporary media is comprised of a multidirectional flow of information and culture, rather than a homogenic and unilateral one. The global mediasphere is complex and differentiated, with evident cultural hybridity between local and global production (Glynn et. al 2007, 211). Firstly, analyzing the alternative view that globalization is an extension of colonization shows that it is an established view with strong points in support of it. Cultural imperialists believe globalization poses similar threats to indigenous population as colonization did during the early colonial period (Rodricks 2003, 81). Similarities between globalization and colonization, as outlined by Rodricks (2003, 49) include the idea that both phenomena involve a focus on financial gain, a competition for consumers, markets, and resources, and a suppression of indigenous cultures (Rodricks 2003, 50-57). Furthermore, knowledge, as presented by global media, is described as specialized, compartmentalized, and standardized (Kawagley et. al 1999, 121) which reflects the Eurocentric view that knowledge should provide universal definitions and categorized information (Henderson 2000, 35-37). This view of knowledge directly opposes the First Nations view that knowledge should involve collect ivity, and decision-making as a community (Rodricks 2003, 79), further exemplifying the biases and Eurocentrism, evident in the global market. Glynn, although he does not deny the struggles faced by First Nations mediamakers against racism and stereotypical portrayals of minority cultures in mainstream television, has a more positive outlook of globalization as a trend that creates opportunities for establishing public recognition of indigenous identities (Glynn et. al 2007, 220). At one point he even suggests, through a quote from a Maori producer, Tainui Stephens, that the inevitable struggles against more dominant cultures in the global media market, can be an aid, as opposed to a hindrance, to the Maori quest for self-determinism, since it makes [the Maori] that much more determined to succeed (Stephens 2004, 114). Glynn raises several points to support his claim that the indigenous public sphere is continuously expanding through global media systems (Glynn et. al 2007, 211), and each of the points are specific to his thesis and backed up with historical events, such as the establishment of Aboriginal television channels, or opinions of other scholars. For instance, he refers to Kraidys conclusion that through aspects such as immigration and colonial expansion, the local and the global have long been hybridized (Kraidy 1999, 459). He also refers to Stuart Halls view that the use of global media is key for cultural and political survival of indigenous cultures (Grossberg 1996, 143), and Lisa Parks view that global media does not need to act as a tool for Western cultural imperialism, but can instead be used to establish aspects of local culture and priorities (Parks 2005, 59). By providing an array of quotations and references to a number of people, some of whom are closely associated with the s ubject under discussion the Maori, Glynn presents a well-supported and thus, convincing position. The number of quotations and references which he presents depicts his analysis as one that is evidently well-researched. However, the implementation of this research at some points in the article, acts as an impediment to the organization and flow of his argument. Because of the various different views he references to from various people, there is a section in his article where he stacks, in a sense, one point after another, where each point counters the one preceding it. He begins with the dismissing of Marshall McLuhans concept of the global village as overly idealistic (Glynn et. al 2007, 209), counters this with the point that, despite this, the concept has a romanticism about it which disregards the issue that the global village is discriminatively governed by the West. Nevertheless, Glynn mentions as a counterpoint to this concept of power imbalance, neoliberalism promotes the idea of a free flow of information, and this point is then, in turn, countered with the argument that the concept of a free market is overly simplistic, and can have a suppressive effect on cultural self-expression. The fears associated with Western domination of the global media market is briefly discussed before finally arriving at the point which supports Glynns original thesis that such a view makes the fallacious presumption that indigenous cultures do not have the ability to withstand Western imperialist power (Glynn et. al, 210). The way these points, each of which are supported by a different authors opinion, are presented sacrifices clarity since the reader may be susceptible to losing track of Glynns primary thesis due to the bombardment of other points that are raised, each in succession to the other. Despite this shortcoming, overall, Glynn presents a strong argument, with a substantial amount of support given through other opinions and relative research. The second part of the article deals specifically with Mataku, an indigenous production which has received both domestic and international success; the popularity of this drama serves as an example which encompasses each of the points raised in Glynns thesis. A strength in Glynns discussion of the issue of globalization in relation to indigenous media production is, throughout the article, and primarily in the concluding section, Glynn does not present an overly idealistic view of the positive effects which globalization can have on the growth of national cultures. Rather, he reminds us that, despite the possibilities which globalization presents in regard to this issue, the undertakings involved in the production and popularization of indigenous media must be dealt with cautiously, and the struggles of First Nations mediamakers involving the establishment of institutions, the availability of funding, and the dominant Westernized views of mainstream media, are constant challenges. Glynn thus provides a convincing, optimistic yet practical view of the ways in which the globalization of media can contribute to the growth of the indigenous public sphere and the establishing of national cultures on a global scale. References: BATTISTE Marie and James Youngblood HENDERSON (2000). What is Indigenous Knowledge?, in Protecting Indigenous Knowledge and Heritage: A Global Challenge, Saskatoon: Purich Publishing Ltd, pp. 35 38. GLYNN, Kevin and A. F. TYSON (2007). Indigeneity, media and cultural globalization: The case of Mataku, or the Maori X-Files, International Journal of Cultural Studies, vol.10, no.2, pp. 205-224. GROSSBERG, Lawrence (1996) On Postmodernism and Articulation: An Interview with Stuart Hall, in Stuart Hall: Critical Dialogues in Cultural Studies. Edited by David Morley and Kuan-Hsing Chen. London: Routledge, pp. 131-150. Joseph STRAUBHAAR, Robert LaROSE, Lucinda DAVENPORT (2009). Media Now: Understanding Media, Culture, and Technology. Enhanced 6th Edition. Boston, Wadsworth/Cengage Learning. KAWAGLEY, Oscar, and Ray BARNHARDT (1999). Education Indigenous to Place: Western Science Meets Native Reality. in Ecological Education in Action: On Weaving Education, Culture, and the Environment. Edited by Gregory A. Smith, Dilafruz R. Williams. New York: SUNY Press. pp. 121. KRAIDY, Marwan (1999). The Global, the Local, and the Hybrid: A Native Ethnography of Glocalization, Critical Studies in Mass Communication, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 456-76. PARKS, Lisa (2005). Cultures in Orbit: Satellites and the Televisual. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. RODRICKS, Warren (2003). Globalization and Corporization The Evolving Nature of Education Online at: , consulted on February 8th, 2010. STEPHENS, Tainui (2004). Maori Television, in Television in New Zealand: Programming the Nation, Edited by Roger Horrocks and Nick Perry, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 107-15.

The Judicial Process and Batson Case Essay -- Jury Duty Bias Voir Dire

The Judicial Process and Batson Case Despite the efforts of lawyers and judges to eliminate racial discrimination in the courts, does racial bias play a part in today’s jury selection? Positive steps have been taken in past court cases to ensure fair and unbiased juries. Unfortunately, a popular strategy among lawyers is to incorporate racial bias without directing attention to their actions. They are taught to look for the unseen and to notice the unnoticed. The Supreme Court in its precedent setting decision on the case of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), is the first step to limiting racial discrimination in the court room. The process of selecting jurors begins with prospective jurors being brought into the courtroom, then separating them into smaller groups to be seated in the jury box. The judge and or attorneys ask questions with intent to determine if any juror is biased or cannot deal with the issues fairly. The question process is referred to as voir dire, a French word meaning, â€Å"to see to speak†. During voir dire, attorneys have the right to excuse a juror in peremptory challenges. Peremptory challenges are based on the potential juror admitting bias, acquaintanceship with one of the parties, personal knowledge of the facts, or the attorney believing he/she might not be impartial. In the case of Batson v. Kentucky, James Batson, a black man, was indicted for second-degree burglary and receipt of stolen goods. During the selection of the jury the prosecutor used his peremptory challenges to strike out all of the four black potential jurors, leaving an all white jury. Batson’s attorney moved to discharge the venire, the list from which jurors may be selected, on the grounds that the prosecutor’s peremptory challenges violated his client’s Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to have a jury derived from a â€Å"cross-section of the community†(People v. Wheeler, 583 P.3d 748 [Calif. 1978]). The circuit court ruled in favor of the prose cutor and convicted Batson on both counts. This case went through the courts and finalized in the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Batson. The Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment forbids the prosecutor from challenging potential jurors solely on account of their race or on the assumption that black jurors as a group will be unable to consider the state’s case ag... ...Philip (1986) â€Å"Court’s term marked by blows to race bias; justices ok affirmative action, ease challenges to discrimination in voting, pay, jury selection† Los Angeles Times, July 4: Part 1; pg 1; Column 2. Lewis, Peter (1992) â€Å"Judge Kills Bid To Study Race Bias In Jury Pools† The Seattle Times, May 30: pg A9. Marcus, Ruth (1991) â€Å"High Court Bars Race Bias In Selection of Civil Juries; Ruling Says Skin Color No Test of Impartiality† The Washington Post, June 4: pg A1. Riccardi, Michael (1998) â€Å"Dennis: Get Rid Of Challenges Without Cause† The Legal Intelligencer, Oct. 14: pg 1. Smith, William (1997) â€Å"Useful or Just Plain Unfair? The Debate Over Peremptories; Lawyers, Judges Spllit Over the Value of Jury Selection Method† The Legal Intelligencer, April 23: pg 1. Smith, William (1997) â€Å"McMahon Plays Opposite Side of Batson Fence† The Legal Intelligencer, April 9: pg 1. Stewart, David (1986) â€Å"Court rules against jury selection based on race† ABA Journal, July 1: 72 ABAJ 68. Zwillman, Blair and Albin, Barry (1999) â€Å"Legislature Sould Defeat Proposal To Reduce Peremptory Challenges† Nov. 29: pg 23. Batson v. Kentucky 476 U.S. 79 (1986). WWW.dictionary.law.com

Prescription narcotics Essay -- essays research papers

The Need for Restrictions â€Å"Why there should be stricter regulations on the availability of prescription narcotics† Despite efforts to decrease the number of deaths and overdoses related to narcotic medications, such as OxyContin, and minimize the number of people illegally obtaining them, the measures that the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) in specific are taking are not enough. The literal definition of a narcotic is a drug that produces numbness or stupor; often taken for pleasure or to reduce pain; extensive use can lead to addiction. Narcotics are normally prescription medications that are given to patients to help ease the constant pain cause by cancer or other long term illnesses. â€Å"When one in 10 high school senior’s reports abusing prescription painkillers, the DEA is obligated to protect our children and the public safety† says Karen P. Tandy administrator of the DEA(1). Tandy is saying that when the abuse of prescription pain medication is taking over that many students the DEA must step in for the sake of future generations. There is a long process that not many average Americans know about that all pharmaceutical products, especially addictive medications have to go through before they reach home medicine cabinets. This process is called â€Å"Diversion†. It is an important chain like process that the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) have been using for years to look at where highly addictive drugs, like OxyContin, go and who they come into contact with. From the pharmaceutical company that literally make the product, to the drug wholesalers that sell the product, and then into the hands of doctors and pharmacies who prescri be and distribute the medications. The purpose of diversion is to take the information and look for certain situations where drugs were lost, stolen, or illegally distributed and give proper punishment to those people. The problem of abusing prescription narcotics became noticeably out of control in the 1990’s. The problem lies in the fact that it is 2005 and the numbers of overdoses and deaths have been and are still rising at astonishing rates. An argument however, that many people have about advancing restrictions on OxyContin and other schedule 2 narcotics is that the needed process that one might have to go through in order to properly obtain the drug would be an ‘invasion of privacy.† Some believe that reportin... ...rs†¦the number of patients in motor vehicle crashes who are ‘methadone impaired,’† says John H. Burton, MD Medical Director for Maine Emergency Medical Services.(3) To think that the problem of abusing any kind of drug would just disappear with one solution is naive and absurdly optimistic. However, to think that all the DEA is doing right now to prevent harmfully addictive and destructive medications is enough is plain ignorant. The DEA has made substantial progress toward making OxyContin and other prescribed narcotics less available for abusers. But first hand accounts and shocking statistics prove that these measures are clearly not enough. It is true and will always be true that free will is a legitimate part of this equation. The abuse of any kind of drug is almost guaranteed to be present at all times no matter how hard the government tries. If a person wants it they will have it. The fact also remains that people with addictions cannot control themselves or their addictions, that’s why it is called an addiction. Therefore making it the partial obligation of the DEA and the government to not only recognize this desperate need for r estrictions but do something more about it.

Creating a computer system Essay

1. 1 Introduction Wooten Basset Rugby Club, are a rugby club in the Swindon area, whom play 15 a side rugby union. They put out a numbers of teams each week ranging from junior levels, senior teams and women’s rugby. Of my concern is the U-16s, whom would like to computerise a number of tasks and have a reference for relevant data including player and parent information. In any particular season there will be between 20 and 30 players at the club. These players are trained by the head coach and around three other coaches all of whom are made up of parents of the players. The head coach is responsible for much of the current administrative work. 1. 2 Current System Currently all tasks for the club are carried out manually. For example when organising a match against a rival team a letter is written specifically for each player. With as many as 30 players at the club, this is tiring and tedious work. Data is currently stored in files kept at the head coach’s house. This system of holding information has become unreliable as over the history of the team players have moved on or changed their details. When this occurs due to time constraints, addresses for example are often added to rather than modified creating two distinct addresses complicating matters when important letters need to be sent. In the past when players have left their file has not been removed leaving large amounts of useless information. All of this complicates matters when searching for data making the process longer and increasingly unreliable. Among the squad of players, each player has his own specific needs. For example different players require different training methods such as fitness or tactics. With many players and few coaching staff it becomes difficult to organise. Currently this is organised through memory which is difficult due to the above reasons. The current system has no scope for evaluating players from teams the club faces. No data is kept on players from other teams like their scoring or disciplinary records. They can therefore not assess before a fixture which players are a danger and tactics suffer. Scoring and disciplinary data is stored on paper kept in files. This data is again not well managed and prone to being lost making analysing a player’s progress somewhere between difficult and impossible. Also they are unable to see which players are the top scorers or most ill disciplined. Money management is also a problem. Fees used to pay math officials are deducted form the fees paid by players. This is organised by the coaches, however often players miss this payment and the referee’s payment is short. Yet with at least 15 players playing in every match records of owes money are not kept and this information is simply forgotten. 1. 3 Interview Summary In order to create this system it was important that I conduct an interview with one of the end users for the system. This will give a good outline of the requirements for the system. The interview was with the head coach whom will be the predominant user of the system. From the interview this is an outline of what the new system will have to achieve: Â  Produce template letters for a number of issues. These letters include Match details, which will tell players about a match its date, venue and other relevant information. Invitation letter to other clubs inviting them to a match. Player and parent data. Store contact details about players and parents. Â  Statistics. Store statistics on players including points scored, tries and appearances. Â  Team information. Store details on rival teams such as contact details. Fixtures. Store fixture information including scores, dates and venues. Â  Ability to see reports on players from the club. Â  An ability to track membership payments. The system must indicate whether a players has paid his membership for that season. Â  Create leagues of the club’s leading scorers and those with the worst disciplinary records. Â  Store data about what type of training each player is on. For example some players may have fitness training or others forwards training. Monitor finances for each fixture. For each fixture a player has to pay a fee of i 2. Other important points taken from the interview: Â  System must be as automated as possible as user wants system to save him time. Simple user interface. Several of the coaches whom will use the system have very little knowledge of computers and will struggle with a complicated system. Â  System will be run from head coach’s lap top computer and therefore not need any network capabilities. Head coach has copies of Microsoft Access already stored on his computer. IT experience consists only of use of Microsoft applications. Â  Data on fixtures and statistics only to be kept for one season at a time. After this period data will be deleted and new record will be kept. Â  Hold data relating to tournament and determine the club’s progress in these tournaments. 1. 4 Data Requirements From the interview it has become apparent that I will need to store a considerable amount of data. I have divided this data into the following groups: Players, Fixtures, Rivals, Rival Players, Players-Fixtures and Rival Players-Fixtures. A primary key will be used in every case to uniquely identify each record, these are marked by these symbols, < and >. PLAYERS deals with data relating to players such as membership and contact details: – A unique code used to identify each player. Each Membership code is made up of three numbers and a letter. The letter represents the age group, as this letter only deals with one age group each membership code will have the letter, E. For example, 001E Name – Christian and Surname only Parent – Store parent’s name for contact details. Address1 – Store first line of a player’s address. Address2 – Store second line of a player’s address where applicable. Postcode Training-What type of training the player is on. User will only be able to select from these values: Fitness, Backs, Forwards or General. Telephone Number Membership Paid – Whether a player has paid membership fees for current year or not. FIXTURES handles data revolving each fixture played or to be played: – Identifies each fixture uniquely as some fixture may be against the same team. Team Code – Determines which team is to be played or has been played Team Score – Score for Wooten Bassett, null if not played. Rival Score – Score for rival, null if not played. Tournament Code – Foreign key which identifies which tournament a fixture belongs to. Friendly fixtures will be determined by a specific code. Date Venue – Select from either home or away. Round – Determines which round of the competition, for example first round or semi final. RIVALS holds data on teams played by the rugby club, this includes contact details: – Each team will be assigned a unique in case of two teams having the same name. Team Name – Name of each rival team. Telephone Address1 – First line of each team’s address. Address2 – Second line of each team’s address if applicable. City Postcode Directions – Description of how to reach rival club. PLAYERS-FIXTURES relates to the actions of players in each fixture, this includes scores and disciplinary information: – Used to identify player for which record is stored. – Identifies which fixture record relates to. Tries – Number of tries scored by a particular player in each fixture. Penalties – All penalty kicks converted by a player in a fixture. Drop Kicks – All drop kicks scored by a player in a fixture. Disciplinary – Whether a player was disciplined in a fixture and what level of action, a yellow card for example. Fee Owed -The amount paid will be displayed from. TOURNAMENT holds data relating to tournaments the clubs plays in: – Unique code which identifies each tournament. Winner – Eventual winner of tournament. 1. 5 Entity Relationship Diagram This diagram of how data will be kept in the new system. The Players-Fixtures data store will link Players and Fixtures together. It will store data relating to what a particular player does in each game. Each record will be identified by using a player’s membership code and the corresponding fixture code, these two foreign keys will create a composite key. Each player may have played in many fixtures and therefore have many records in Players-Fixtures. This creates a one to many relationship between, Players and Players-Fixtures. Similarly many records in Players-Fixtures may relate to one fixture and so a one to many relationship exists between Fixtures and Players-Fixtures. The Rival Players-Fixtures data store is similar to Players-Fixtures, however it stores data about rival players as opposed to players for Wooten Bassett rugby club. Each record will be uniquely identified using the foreign keys of rival player code to determine which player, and fixture code to determine the fixture. Again a one to many relationship exists between Fixtures and Rival Players-Fixtures as one fixture may have many related records in Rival Players-Fixtures. Each Rival Player may have many records in Rival Players-Fixtures as they have played in many fixtures, a one to many relationship will exist here. Wooten Bassett will face many different rival clubs with many different Rival Players. Therefore Rivals will store data about all rival clubs and each record will be uniquely identified by team code. Rival Players will store data will store data about all the players who play for these clubs will be identified by the rival player code. To determine which player plays for which club Rival Players will have the foreign key Team code. This means many Rival Players can play for one club, again a one to many relationship will exist here. Each fixture will be against one of the teams detailed in Rivals. In order to identify which team is being played the foreign key, team code from Rivals will be used. One Rival may play in many fixtures creating a one to many relationship from Rivals to Fixtures. Tournament holds data relating to competitive fixtures. Therefore one tournament will have many records in fixtures, and again a one to many relationship is present. 1. 6 Data Flow Diagrams 2 Design 2. 1 System Design. The system will be divided into five entities described in Analysis. These are Players, Rivals, Fixtures, Players-Fixtures and Tournament. 2. 2 Attribute Design Following are description of all the attributes to be stored in the system: 2. 3 Form Design In order for the user to interact with the system, it must be presented in a user friendly interface. Within Access this is done using forms and reports, each form should allow the user to easily understand the information and be able to perform sufficient actions such as adding or deleting data. Following are the forms required by the system: 1. frmFixtures. This form will deal with all the actions relating the handling of data with fixtures. Here the user will be able to add, alter or delete any records from the Fixtures table. For example if a new fixture has been organised then the user can use the Add Fixture button to add a fixture to the schedule. Also changes to the date for example can be made. In order to maintain the consistency of data validation is being used. The FixtureCode attribute is updated automatically as an auto number preventing the user from making mistakes. Also a TeamCode will be selected from a combo box so a user cannot enter a team that does not exist. Also only two values will be able to be entered into the Home/Away attribute, home or away. To simplify the user’s navigation of the system a combo box at the top of the form allows the user to select any existing record quickly. 2. frmPlayers The Players form works on a similar principle to the Fixtures form. There are button to add and delete Player records and there is also a combo box to allow the user to navigate through the system. For validation the training attribute uses a combo box to ensure the user enters the correct value and an input mask controls the MembershipNumber, so that data is entered in the appropriate format. 3. frmRivals Again the Rivals form works in a similar fashion to Players and Fixtures. Buttons on the right control adding and deleting functions and a combo box is used for navigation. Validation is ensured by using an auto number data type to automatically update the TeamCode attribute. 4. frmTournament The tournament form works exactly the same as the previous forms, with add and delete buttons clearly labelled and a combo box for navigation. The TournamentCode attribute does not require input as it is an auto number ensuring validation. 5. frmFixture Statistics This form is directly different form the previous forms. In this form a user can manipulate data in the Players-Fixtures entity. The user can view specific fixtures through a combo box, when a fixture is selected it will open a sub form containing all the data about the players whom played in that match. Here new data can be added about a fixture or incorrect data can be corrected. The FixtureCode and MembershipNumber attributes will be controlled by a combo box, eliminating user error and the consistency of the data. 2. 4 Query Design For the system to perform the function required of it queries are used to extract the precise data from the database. Â  

Louis Vuitton – Japan

Executive Summary: Louis Vuitton, a pioneer in luxury market has Japan a key market with largest revenue generator during its golden period. Due to adverse consequences of global recession, the slowdown was also faced by Louis Vuitton. In order to regain its fame, Louis Vuitton needs to change its manufacturing strategy and the production strategy. Goal: To reinvent and regain the cachet, Louis Vuitton needs to increase and attain the largest market share in five years. Louis Vuitton offers a wide range of luxury brands and was a trend setter in Japan. One of the key components which drive this goal strategy is the overall market growth. Although luxury market growth rate has reduced due to the global financial crisis, the Japanese luxury market growth rate was still at six percent. Also, the customers has been shifting to low price segment, the Japanese way of consuming luxury brands was a kind of social value that they cannot afford to lose. Impediment: The global financial crisis affects the consumer mind set and the behavior. The first and the most important key impediment which proves to the major obstacle in achieving the goal is high priced products offered by Louis Vuitton that could easily be attacked by other competitors. The various other companies offer the luxury products at competitive price as compare to Louis Vuitton have shaken the market share. Moreover, the product line offered by Louis Vuitton is limited and monotonous from past few years which made less impact on the consumers. Louis Vuitton was growing its strategy towards mid size and smaller cities but no attempt was made to promote the brand in these cities. Solution: In order to revive the company, and to increase the overall market share in Japan, Louis Vuitton needs to change its manufacturing strategy by setting up a manufacturing plant in Japan with some of the French workforce leading the plant. Since Japanese luxury market is one of the leading market egments, this would eventually decrease the import cost and French workforce would help in gaining the customer satisfaction. Moreover, it will also avoid the counterfeiting because the product is manufactured and consumed at the same place. Low scaled promotions could also be advertised during the discount season in mid size cities. Also Jacobs had signed a contract until 2018 and Marc Jacobs’s label was one of the rising stars in LVMH’s portfolio. Jacobs could also bring many other new opportunities to just keep up the brand image an d value.

Presentation in History of the English Language Essay

When studying the development of English as a language, it can be argued that early modern English is perhaps the most vital point of reference. This period brings with it a richness in material that provided clues as to how the tongue developed phonetically and geographically from its roots as a secondary, regional language in an arena dominated somewhat by the French language, and largely by Latin. Although the amount of available information isn’t enough to paint a sufficient scenario of the linguistic lay of the land at the time, these materials are a great help in discerning the stages of development of the English language. During the latter age of transition from Middle English, the language was mostly spread about in regions. This period is â€Å". . . notoriously [known] as the time when linguistic variation is fully reflected in the written mode . . . † (Nevalainen 13). Due to the heavy presence of French and Latin as the dominant vernaculars, middle English didn’t have enough room to develop as a real language and was limited to regional variants that were shaped by the grammar rules of the more prominent languages at the time. This was, mostly, due to the lack of standardized spelling – it was difficult to come up with a fixed set of grammar rules if the people didn’t have any idea of how to spell the words to be used in each situation. This changed during the sixteenth century. With the shift to early modern English came the streamlined version of the language, thanks to major standardizations in the way words were spelled throughout various regions. But you can’t ever get rid of local variations in language, and the early form of modern English is no different. Most of the available materials from the period concern themselves mostly with grammar reforms and the instruction of the language. The most curious thing about these documents is that despite dealing with a language that was gaining more and more popularity as a serious vernacular, the method of instruction was still largely conducted in Latin. This proved to be difficult in unifying the language since the two tongues were different from each other both grammatically and in inflection. Alexander Gil wrote Logonomia Anglica in 1619 as an attempt to describe the chief variants of English according to region. These are the general, northern, southern, eastern, western and poetic variants. Interestingly, these are the same regional distinctions of middle English, save for the unifying general vernacular that could be similar to what we call standard English. The weakness in Gil’s study is his partiality to the northern style although this feature gives us an outstanding view of how the morphology of early modern English developed. His renditions of spelling and pronouncing some words are indicative of the Germanic roots of English, including the use of /v/ for /f/ (the example given by Nevalainen is vill for fill). Another method of dialectal segregation was recorded by George Puttenham in The Arte of English Poesie (1589). Here, Puttenham gives us a view of how early middle English was segregated according to social standing, and was focused mostly on improving the aesthetic appeal of the language by identifying the speech of the court and the aristocrats as well-sounding and favorable, as opposed to the speech of a craftsman, or that of the thieves (thieves’ cant). Still, the dominant tongue at the time remained to be Latin, and it was in Latin that the English grammar was taught and written. This was to accommodate foreigners who wished to learn English; these people learned English via the structure of Latin, whereas locals who already practiced English learned Latin through the structure of their mother tongue. The effect of Latin in the grammar manuals during the first part of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were apparent – the use of Latin categories, or at least a system derived from Latin, to describe English grammar left out a chunk of what formed the structural core of English, and while the regional dialects flourished, very little attention was given to them and the focus of learning instead went to the General dialect, which would eventually go on to become the basis for the structure of the language today. A lot of the development that transformed the English language occurred at this time. In Pamphlet for Grammar (1586), William Bullokar gives us insight to the transformation of the personal noun ye into modern-day you. He also noted the possible conversion of the suffix –eth ¬ (e. g. loveth) into the more economical –s pronounced with a /z/-like crescendo. The latter, incidentally, is an example of northern dialect curiosities that made it to the general dialect. The continuous development and popularity of English as a language both written and spoken led to the precursors of modern-day newspapers. Newsletters by eminent individuals were handwritten and sent out as manuscript circulations back in 1620 as a means of spreading important information around. A fair example is the Newdigate Newsletters that were addressed to Sir Richard Newdigate of Warwickshire from the Secretary of State’s office. A selection of the newsletters would go as follows: â€Å"The King of Poland desireing a nearer Correspondence with this Crowne then has been formerly and haveing sent Over to desire his Maty to be godfather to his Daughter, his Maty was preparing to send an Envoy ExtraOrdnary thither to stand for him, when the last post brought news ye young Princess was dead. † (21) This selection, in its original form, contains plenty of scripting nuances of the period – such as superscripts for the abbreviations – and resembled, in all intents and purposes, formal letters of the period. In closing, it is worth to note that while the instruction and growth of English as a language during the early modern period isn’t as clear as we’d like it to be, there really is no denying that this period yielded a huge wealth of material to study. Thanks to works like Gil’s Bullokar’s and the missives to sir Newdigate, we can continue to study and piece together the broken pieces of the puzzle of how today’s universal language evolved into what it is. WORKS CITED Nevalainen, Terttu. Introduction to Early Modern English, An. USA: Oxford University Press, 2006. 12-27

Feedback Loops to Enhance Software Capability Essay

Feedback loops are a part of the systems we examine in systems thinking. Our first text book Thinking in Systems tells us we can see the existence of a feedback loop when â€Å"the consistent behavior pattern over a long period of time† is observed. My own interpretation is that feedback loops provide information in real time (or something close to real time) to provide the opportunity to make adjustments, pushing toward improvement. Even more simply stated action= information=reaction. Systems thinking is a methodology for us to analyze and predict behavior by developing an in-depth understanding of the underlying components in the system. The majority of real world problems are complex, and due to this complexity the systems models for these problems will be complex as well. It will be impossible to formulate solutions to complex issues without understanding the feedback loops that influence the systems we are studying. For example, the Internet is an information system with feedback loops. I began to notice feedback loops at work on the internet this week while I was on my Facebook page. Earlier in the day I had been looking at Hotel options in Las Vegas as I will be travelling to Nevada for a trade show in April. One of the hotels I looked at via their website was the Golden Nugget on Fremont Street. A few minutes later when I visited my Facebook page, one of the ads on the side of my page was for the Golden Nugget hotel in Las Vegas. Obviously there is some correlation between the ads on your Facebook page and websites you have visited, I just had never noticed it before. This has to be based on a feedback loop where Facebook is receiving information as to your browsing habits and then customizing advertising based on these habits. If we take this a step further this could also be used as a predictive tool as well. If you think you might like the Golden Nugget, you’ll really love the Mirage. That sort of suggestive selling could be a major revenue generator for Facebook assuming they receive a fee when a consumer purchases based upon their ads. I’d have to say this is a reinforcing feedback loop. The more Facebook knows about you the more it can customize your ads and this will continue to build upon itself with ni limitation other than your own habits. Feedback loops are also being used to enhance software capability. Patikirikorala stated â€Å"The feedback control loop has been one of the key concepts used in building self-adaptive software systems to manage their performance among other quality aspects† (2678). All of us who use and depend on software on a daily basis know that it is unpredictable. It can also at times be unstable, sometimes due to user error and other times due to real product deficiencies. The concept with using feedback loops is to help the software be able to fine tune itself in order to help create better performance and also reduce on going administrative costs. It appears one of the major stumbling blocks with this approach at the moment is that software systems are complex and their problems are not easily reproduced through modeling and systems thinking. Patikirikorala explores this issue when he says â€Å"For instance, an e-commerce system may face sudden intensive workloads when promotional offers are run or when referenced by a high-traffic site (the so-called ‘slash-dot’ effect). The workloads may also vary dramatically depending on the time of day (e.g., stock market applications) or the time of year (e.g., tax office sites). Third, if the application evolves due to new feature additions, bug fixes or system configuration changes, the constructed model has to be changed as well for accurate representation. The resultant behavior of the software application therefore depends on a combination of the operating states or conditions of the underlying software layers, the current environmental workloads, and the current configuration of the application architecture. Depending on what combination of the above factors occurs, the behavior of the software application can be characterized by a number of distinct operating regions. However, the complexity of interactions between these factors means that creating a single model of the system is very difficult if not virtually impossible.† (2679). One may only need to examine the stated issues above however to see the potential benefits by software that can self-regulate through a feedback loop. For instance, what if the system software used for on-line trading of stocks could execute a scenario during peak hours to allow the maximum number of users higher throughput, in order to execute their trades quickly and accurately without a slowdown in performance? This must have been the effect Windows was looking for when it enabled the real time reporting of bugs and crashes into its operating systems. The next logical evolution will be when the software itself tracks these issues and makes the adjustments without user intervention or reporting. This methodology need not be limited to software either, the race appears to be on from network hardware providers such as Cisco and Enterasys to provide network infrastructure that is self-healing, self-configuring, and self-adapting. Networks that can distinguish between different types of threats, discriminate between devices attempting to connect and self-install patches or security measures are the next generation of hardware. This is also all accomplished through the use of feedback loops. One thing is certain, without the feedback loop, and our ability to understand them. Our ability to formulate solutions via the use of Systems Thinking is severely limted. References: Patikirikorala, T., Colman, A., Han, J., & Wang, L. (2012). An evaluation of multi-model self-managing control schemes for adaptive performance management of software systems. Journal Of Systems & Software, 85(12), 2678-2696. doi:10.1016/j.jss.2012.05.077 Boehmer, W. (2012). Toward a target and coupling function of three different Information Security Management Systems. Concurrency & Computation: Practice & Experience, 24(15), 1708-1725. doi:10.1002/cpe.1873 Meadows, Donella H., (2008), Thinking in Systems. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing

Articles

In 1787. a group of representatives from the 13 colonies met all together to discuss the Articles of Confederations weaknesses and to make a new Constitution. They disputed, debated, and talked about It for 4 months until they created the U. S. Constitution. In my essay, I will discuss some weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation and I will also discuss how they resolved It. I will also discuss some weaknesses that remained in the Constitution when it was passed. One of the Articles of Confederations weaknesses was that each state makes their wn money. It was difficult for the states to trade with each other. If the states used the same kind of money, it would encourage more trading between them which is easier than making their own money. Another weakness was that John Jay mentions that the new government would be fair and enough. Thereby, the people were saying that the weakness of the old government which was the Articles of Confederation was unorganized and not fair. It had no federal court system, so each state made up their own laws and had their wn courts which may have led to a corruption. One weakness that remained In the Constitution even when It was passed was that Thomas Jefferson mentions that the only important thing that was not in the Constitution was a Bill of Rights. So, the federalists promised to include a Bill of Rights In the constltuuon once It will pass. The Bill of Right were the first 10 amendments, which included the freedom of religion, freedom of press, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, etc Another weakness was that the Articles of Confederation had only one house of overnment, but the Constitution provides for fair representation in the government.

Developing E-Commerce Customer Satisfaction, Trust, and Loyalty in the Essay

Developing E-Commerce Customer Satisfaction, Trust, and Loyalty in the UK Market - Essay Example The population of internet users worldwide was about 934 million is 2004 and it experienced a steady growth of about 14% by the end of 2005 (Karim, 2013; Lodorfos, Trosterud and Whitworth, 2006). Internet access is no more limited to surfing, gaming, media downloading and uploading and social networking but with widespread internet usage, the volume of online shopping and amount of money spent on e-shopping continues to increases in a steady manner as confidence of consumers in online shopping has stabilised. Consequently, the global e-commerce revenue from internet shopping was observed to be around  £91 billion in the United Kingdom in 2013 (Capgemini, 2014; Digital Strategy consulting, 2014). According to reports, the growth rate in mature markets is gradually declining and retailers are seeking unconventional opportunities so as to meet their growth targets. Retailers presently considering e-commerce an unconventional growth engine through which they can access the global market while a few continue to focus on establishment of greater number of physical stores (Lodorfos, Trosterud and Whitworth, 2006). The paper aims at establishing consumer relationship in terms of trust, loyalty and satisfaction with respect to ecommerce. Therefore, it is important to understand importance of consumer satisfaction, trust and loyalty from marketing perspective. In the following section of the paper, current developments in ecommerce have been discussed. Alongside, consumer satisfaction and loyalty have been assessed in an elaborate manner. The literature review covers various theoretical approaches to consumer satisfaction, trust and loyalty as well as impact of the same on ecommerce industry of the UK has been discussed based on recent surveys and reports conducted by organisations such as Mintel and Deloitte. For ensuring high quality in the literature review, various peer reviewed journals and reports from authentic