Factors Contributing to Disproportionate Minority Representation in Special Education

The disproportionate representation of minority students in special education has been a constant and consistent concern for nearly four decades (Klingner et al. , 2005). Currently, there are disproportionate numbers of minority students who are referred, assessed, identified, classified, and placed in programs for students with disabilities. The issue of disproportionate representation for minority students has been and continues to be an incessant dilemma that has detrimental effects on the educational opportunities and outcomes for this specific group of students.Concerns about disproportionate representation are focused on the â€Å"judgmental† categories of special education (learning disabilities, emotional disturbance, and mental retardation), those disabilities usually identified after the child starts school and by school personnel rather than a medical professional. Children identified with these disabilities usually do not exhibit any obvious discernible features, y et they are still considered to have internal deficits that affect their learning and/ or behavior (Klingner, et al. , 2005).One of the earlier discussions on disproportionality (Heller, Holtzman, & Messick, 1982) noted that it cannot be assumed that ethnic disproportionality in special education is a problem, since it could be that certain groups of students require special education services in greater amounts than those from other ethnic categories. The panel declared that â€Å"the adequacy and appropriateness† of all phases of the special education process as well as the outcome had to be determined before recognizing disproportionality as a problem.The existence of bias or inappropriate practice at any phase of the process was the feature that would determine that disproportionality was indeed problematic. In its 26th Annual Report to Congress, the U. S. Department of Education (2005) presented the percentage of students ages 6 through 21 who were served under IDEA by d isability and race/ethnicity. Specific learning disability was the largest disability category for all racial/ethnic groups.Hispanic/Latino children represented the largest racial/ethnic group (58. 3%) diagnosed with a specific learning disability. American Indian/Alaskan Native students were the next highest group (55. 3%) identified with a specific learning disability. The highest percentage of minority students served under IDEA for mental retardation was African American/Black (16. 8%). Mental retardation can be defined as sub-average intellectual functioning that concurrently exists with deficits in adaptive behavior.Similarly, African American/Black students also represented the highest percentage of children served under the category of emotionally disturbed students (11. 3%) (U. S. Department of Education, 2005). It is critical to note that the existence of this problem has been repeatedly documented by the U. S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR), in th at it has confirmed the overrepresentation of minority students in special education programs with data for the past thirty years.In addition, the issue of determining whether students of different racial or ethnic groups are disproportionately identified for special education has been a longstanding public and professional concern; however, the causes of disproportionality and factors contributing to this problem are not clearly understood (Donovan & Cross, 2002). Thus, this paper aims to examine factors contributing to disproportionality of minority in special education. Firstly, the paper examines historical background of disproportionality problem. Finally, some conclusive remarks are presented.History of the Disproportionality Problem The problem of overrepresentation of minority students in special education is not a new phenomenon and has been a serious concern for the last 40 years. Dunn (1968) cited statistics from the U. S. Office of Education and concluded â€Å"about 60 % to 80% of students in mild mental retardation classes were from low status backgrounds, including African Americans, American Indians, Mexicans, and Puerto Rican Americans; those from nonstandard English speaking, disorganized and inadequate homes; and children from nonmiddle class environments† (p.6). Mercer (1973) documented disproportionate representation of minority students in special education classes in Riverside, California. She concluded that the percentage of African Americans placed in special classes for students diagnosed with mental retardation was three times their percentage in the population. In a similar manner, the percentage of Mexican American students placed in classes for mentally retarded children was four times their percentage in the population (Mercer, 1973). The overrepresentation problem has also been documented over time through court cases.Two notable cases, Diana v. State Board of Education (1970) and Larry P. v. Riles (1971) dealt with issues related to assessment bias, disproportionate placement, and the long-term consequences of special education placement (Donovan & Cross, 2002). Larry P. v. Riles (1979) was a class action suit on behalf of African American/Black students in the San Francisco Public School System who were placed in mildly mentally retarded education programs. At that time African American/Black students represented 28.5% of the district's student enrollment, but 67% of the students in mildly mentally retarded programs were African American/Black. The plaintiffs argued that intelligence tests were culturally biased. The court ruled that intelligence tests were culturally biased against African American/Black students and that reliance on biased instruments was related to the overrepresentation problem. Overrepresentation of certain ethnic minority groups, such as African Americans/Blacks or Hispanics/Latinos, in certain special education environments is a serious problem for a number of reasons.Heller , Holtzman, and Messick (1982) stated that disproportionality is a problem if children are invalidly placed in programs for mentally retarded children, if they are unduly exposed to the likelihood of such placement by virtue of having received poor regular education, or if the quality and academic relevance of the special instruction blocks students' educational progress, including decreasing the likelihood of their return to the regular education classroom. In their review of the literature, Hosp and Reschly (2003) discussed three main reasons why disproportionate representation in special education is problematic.Such reasons include negative effects of labeling, segregation of placement, and presumed ineffectiveness of special education (Hosp & Reschly, 2003). For example, labeling a child handicapped has been found to reduce teachers' expectancy for the child to succeed (Dunn, 1968). Furthermore, removing a child from regular education to special education may contribute signifi cantly to feelings of inferiority and problems with acceptance by peers (Dunn, 1968). Factors Contributing to Disproportionate RepresentationSeveral variables related to the disproportionate representation of some students in special education have been documented in the literature. Specifically, research has examined possible reasons that might explain the overrepresentation of minorities in special education including bias in the referral process, bias in assessment tools, English Language Proficiency of a child, poverty, gender, race, and poor academic achievement (Hosp & Reschly, 2004). Referral process One factor that may contribute to disproportionality involves the referral process for special education.Referral for assessment has been cited as an important predictor of subsequent special education placement (Ysseldyke, Vanderwood, & Shriner, 1997). Ysseldyke et al. (1997) found that 90% to 92% of referred students are tested and 70% to 74% of tested students were then declar ed eligible for special education placement. Thus, if a child is referred to a multidisciplinary team for special education eligibility consideration, there is a high probability that the student will be identified with a disability and be placed in a special education program.One possible explanation for overidentification of students for special education may be due to the information processing strategies of multidisciplinary team decision makers, which can cause the presence of a confirmatory bias (O'Reilly et al. , 1989). Confirmatory bias can occur when the multidisciplinary team decision makers have a tendency to gather information that confirms a hypothesis that is being tested and ignores contradictory information. This can result in special education decisions that are not based on objective evidence and lead to inappropriate placements.Thus, if teachers are biased in their referral decisions, psychologists may confirm already flawed judgments (Podwell & Soodak, 1993). In terms of demographics, research has shown that teachers over refer African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian/Alaskan Native males to programs for students with learning disabilities, emotional/behavioral problems, speech and language disorders, and mild cognitive disorders in comparison to female and White middle class students (Grossman, 1995).The majority of teachers nationwide are White; therefore cultural misunderstanding of expectations may affect referral rates of non-White students (Hosp & Reschly, 2003). For example, differences between students and teachers in learning style, verbal style, social style, and cultural information has been suggested to account for some proportion of minority students poor school performance which may lead to referral and subsequent placement in special education (Harry, 1994). Assessment procedures Overrepresentation could also be a result of bias in the assessment procedures used to identify students for special education.Assessm ent procedures that are not suited to the diverse characteristics of the students evaluated may result in misleading and biased information about their academic abilities (Grossman, 1995). For example, unfamiliarity with the assessment process may invalidate results. Grossman (1995) cited research that African American/Black and Hispanic/Latino children may be more anxious during assessments to the point that the anxiety interferes with performance because they are not familiar with the assessment process.Today, more minority children continue to be placed into special education on the basis of intelligence tests, even though it has been suggested that intelligence instruments as a basis for placement are imperfect and unfair (Agbenyega & Jiggetts, 1999). The validity and reliability of intelligence tests has been discussed when such measures are used with minority students (Reschly & Grimes, 2002). Intelligence tests are valid only if they measure a student's ability to learn and t o predict how the student will function in specific learning situations (Grossman, 1995).Furthermore, since the reliability of many assessments is established by studying their use with White students, they may be unreliable when used with non-White students (Grossman, 1995). It has been asserted that intelligence tests reflect the cultural knowledge base and cognitive and linguistic orientations of their creators (Harry, Klinger, Sturges, & Moore, 2002). Intelligence tests have been criticized as being culturally, socially, and racially biased because they reflect White, middle class values and experiences and therefore, are not applicable to minority children (Agbenyega & Jiggetts, 1999).It has been suggested that traditional measures of intelligence are not biased if certain standards are met. For example, standards should require a rigorous implementation of procedural safeguards in the referral, classification, and placement process; implementation of multifactored assessments designed to identify specific educational needs by a group of professionals; and programming and placement decisions made by a team that included professionals and parents (Reschly & Grimes, 2002).Nevertheless, there are concerns about using intelligence measures like the Wechsler scales in making identification decisions. Such concerns include that different environments provide different preparation for the test, the narrow item content of the test, and negative outcomes associated with the use of intelligence tests (Reschly & Grimes, 2002). Therefore, the use of more culturally fair measures of cognitive processing, such as the CAS, may be an important step in addressing the disproportionality problem in special education.English Language Proficiency Since most standardized tests are administered in English and normed on proficient English speakers, a linguistic bias may also invalidate the results of an evaluation if the assessment is conducted in a language that the student is not proficient in. For example, English Language Learners have been found to perform lower than proficient English speakers on standardized assessments in reading, science, and mathematics (Abedi, 2002).However, the performance gap between English Language Learners and proficient English speakers was greatest in content areas that required a higher language demand (i. e. , reading) and less or almost non-existent in content areas that required less language demand (i. e. , mathematic computation). The linguistic complexity of the actual test items, unrelated to the content being assessed, may be a reason for poorer performance for English Language Learners on standardized tests.Thus, these tests may function more as an English proficiency test than a test of ability or achievement (Abedi, 2002). This problem can impact special education identification and placement because there are very few school psychologists who are bilingual and are able to provide linguistically appropriate as sessment services in the school (Grossman, 1995). The consideration of English Language Proficiency is important since it is estimated that more than 3. 5 million children in U. S. schools have Limited English Proficiency (U.S. Census Bureau, 2003). However, there has been limited research on the representation of English Language Learners in special education programs since state departments of education often do not gather data about language proficiency of students in special education. Artiles et al. (2005) assessed the magnitude of disproportionate representation of English Language Learners in 11 urban California school districts. Placement patterns at the elementary level indicated an absence of overrepresentation in special education.However, overrepresentation of English Language Learners was detected at the end of elementary school (4th grade) and continued through the high school years. Children who demonstrated limited proficiency in their native language as well as in E nglish had the highest rate of identification in high incidence special education categories (i. e. , learning disability). Impact of gender Other variables have also been examined to evaluate their influence on the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education.For example, recent research has looked at gender as a predictor of special education placement (Coutinho & Oswald, 2005; Coutinho et al. , 2002). In general, gender disproportionality has been found to exist in special education with male students more likely to be overrepresented in special education. Boys are about twice as likely as girls to be identified with a learning disability and almost three and half times more likely to be identified with a serious emotional disturbance (Coutinho & Oswald, 2005). Coutinho et al.(2002) investigated the extent of disproportionality among students with a learning disability and described the relationship between ethnicity, gender, and socio-demographic var iables (i. e. , poverty indicators, Limited English Proficiency status, parent education, etc. ). The findings showed an association between ethnicity, gender and the odds of being identified as a student with a learning disability. White, African American/Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and Hispanic/Latino males were all at least twice as likely as White females to receive special education.African American/Black and Hispanic/Latino females were essentially as likely as White females to receive special education. American Indian/Alaskan Native females were more likely than White females to receive special education. Asian males and females were both less likely than White females to receive special education services (Coutinho et al. , 2002). In addition to student characteristics, results indicated that socio-demographic characteristics were important in determining the likelihood of being identified as learning disabled.However, the impact of the socio-demographic characte ristics was found to be different for each gender-ethnicity group. For example, increased poverty was associated with increased identification of a learning disability for African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, and male Asian students. For White and American Indian/Alaskan Native students, increased poverty was associated with lower identification rates (Coutinho et al. , 2002). Economic, demographic, and achievement factors Oswald et al.(1999) examined the influence of economic and demographic variables on the identification of minority students for special education. The study examined the extent U. S. school districts displayed patterns of disproportionate presentation in the identification of minority students as mildly mentally retarded (MMR) and serious emotional disturbance (SED). It also analyzed the extent disproportionate representation at the district level is predicted by other district characteristics including school characteristics and demographic and economic facto rs (Oswald et al. , 1999).Oswald et al. (1999) used predictor variables that included median housing value, median income, percentage of children below the poverty level, percentage of adults in the community with a 12th grade education or less, percentage of children enrolled in school who are considered â€Å"at risk† (i. e. , from a single parent home, below the poverty level, and where the mother does not have a high school diploma or GED); and percentage of children who were Limited English Proficient. Race of the student was classified as African American/Black or non-African American/non-Black.Results indicated that African American/Black students were 2. 4 times more likely to be identified as MMR and approximately 1. 5 times more likely to be identified as SED than non-African American/Black students. Additionally, environmental and demographic variables were found to be significant predictors of identification of students as MMR or SED. For example, as poverty and d rop-out levels increased, more African Americans/Blacks were identified as MMR, but less were classified as SED.Furthermore, there was a disproportionate number of African American/Black students classified as SED in wealthier communities. It was suggested that these results may indicate that wealthier communities are more tolerant of cognitive impairments and less tolerant of emotionally challenging behaviors of African Americans/Blacks (Oswald et al. , 1999). Poor academic achievement is often a reason for referral and eventual placement in special education.Hosp and Reschly (2004) hypothesized that differences in academic achievement between racial and ethnic groups may lead to differences in referral and subsequent placement rates for special education. These researchers expanded on findings of Oswald et al. (1999) and included achievement variables with demographic and economic predictor variables of White, African American, Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/A laskan Native ethnic/racial groups in an effort to better understand disproportionate representation of minorities in special education.In their study, demographic predictors included the base rates of various ethnic backgrounds (base rate of White students, base rate of African American/Black students, base rate of Hispanic/Latino students, base rate of Asian/Pacific Islander students, base rate of American Indian/Alaskan Native students) in the district, percentage of students in the community who were Limited English Proficient, and base rate of students in the district identified who had a disability.Economic predictors included median house value of the community, median household income, percentage of adults in community who have a 12th grade education or less, and percentage of children who are considered at risk. Academic predictors included percentage of each ethnic group who achieved mastery in criterion reading and criterion math. Results indicated that economic, demograp hic and academic blocks of variables contributed to the prediction of disproportionate representation.Specifically, Hosp and Reschly (2004) found that the block of economic variables was the strongest predictor for mental retardation diagnosis, the demographic block of variables was the strongest predictor for emotional disturbance, and the academic block of variables was a strong predictor for a learning disability diagnosis. For African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian/Alaskan Native students, the demographic variables were the strongest predictors for emotional disturbance and learning disability.It is not possible to comment on the influence of each individual variable in its ability to predict special education eligibility since related variables were grouped together as broader blocks of variables. An ecological framework How bias in the referral process, bias in assessment techniques, English Language Proficiency, gender, socioeconomic status, and demograp hics contribute to the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education may be better understood by considering an ecological developmental framework.According to Bronfenbrenner (1992), understanding human development requires a consideration of the interaction of diverse characteristics of a child and of the environment in which the child is embedded. Bronfenbrenner (1992) suggests a hierarchy of ecological contexts that effect human development that move from the most proximal to the most remote. The first of these contexts is the microsystem, which has the most power to influence the course of development for the child (Bronfenbrenner & Crouter, 1983).Bronfenbrenner (1992) defined a microsystem as â€Å"a pattern of activities, roles, and interpersonal relations experienced by the developing person in a given setting with particular physical and material features, and containing other persons with distinctive characteristics of temperament, personality, and systems of belief' (p. 227). Such settings include the home, school, or peer group. The microsystem considers the immediate environment a child develops in, as well as the characteristics of all other people (i. e. , parents, teachers, siblings, etc. ) also in that environment.The characteristics of other people in the child's environment might include demographic features (age, race/ethnicity, and sex), cognitive abilities and skills, or temperaments/personalities. For example, a child whose parents only speak a language other than English may have difficulty acquiring English, which may put them at risk for lower achievement scores and a higher probability of being referred for special education services. Children interact with their teachers daily. Personalities and belief systems of the teacher may impact how he/she views the child and therefore, influences how the teacher interacts with the child.A teacher who lacks cultural awareness may inappropriately refer a child to th e multidisciplinary team. Thus, the microsystem may be the most important ecological level to consider when analyzing factors that relate to the overrepresentation of specific racial/ethnic groups because it considers not only the characteristics of the environment a child develops in, but the characteristics of those who interact with that child. The most distal ecological system is the macrosystem. The macrosystem is the largest ecological level and is typically defined by region, societies, cultural values, and governmental and economic institutions.The macrosystem involves the belief systems prevailing in the world. At this level, the individual has little control over the factors related to disproportionality, but it is important to understand the intent of the laws governing special education programs and the national goal to decrease the overrepresentation of minority groups in special education. Conclusion Disproportionate representation is a complex phenomenon without a def inite etiology or solution. As a result of this complexity, consensus has yet to be reached regarding the actual causes of this persistent dilemma.What is clear is that a variety of educational, sociocultural, socioeconomic, and teacher and school-related factors appear to contribute to the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education programs. Current literature on overrepresentation of certain students in special education focuses more on the general patterns of disproportionality rather than examining if there are specific variables related to special education representation (Donovan & Cross, 2002). Thus, the causes of the disproportionate representation of minorities in special education are not clearly understood.Therefore, it is important to consider structural and community level variables to provide a framework for analyzing the problem. Indirectly these variables affect the prescribed evaluation procedures, parental involvement in the special e ducation process, and the availability of alternative programs (Turnbull & Turabull, 2001). Bronfenbrenner's (1992) expanded ecological paradigm provides a conceptual framework for examining and understanding the factors that influence disproportionate representation of minorities in special education.An ecological approach considers the context within which individuals function and that influence individuals. In using Bronfenbrenner's framework, the larger issue of disproportionality should consider the combined influences of various contexts a child is a member, including the locality (type of neighborhood and resources), the organization (school factors such as performance, racial/ethnicity composition, teacher:student ratios, or discipline), the microsystem (family characteristics such as size, socioeconomic status, and education level), and the individual (unique characteristics of the child)

Ariannadenyse A. Gagonia

Arianna Denyse A. Gasgonia III-Hosea Reaction Paper in Filipino (Noli Me Tangere) When we watched the stage play of Noli Me Tangere, I was excited but not until we knew that we were headed to the Star Theater, and not at the CCP Theater as we expected. When we got out of the bus, we brought or jackets with us because we expect it to be cold as the AFP Theater. But once we were inside, it was hot and eventually, we had to fan ourselves with the hand-outs that we bought. When the play started, I was a bit disappointed because some parts of the scene were just played with a projector.We thought it was very boring and uninteresting because of the lack of props. The last 2 years, we watched Ibong Adarna and Florante at Laura at the AFP Theater and they gave us their full performance which is interesting enough. While at the Star Theater, I really thought that it sucks compared to the AFP Theater. They lack in props (as I had already said) and even the ones that they have are old and looks battered. Their costumes look cheap and I don’t find it entertaining. They have a projector background and we thought it was so uncool.At the AFP Theater, they have backgrounds and props colorful and pretty enough to be entertaining for us. At the Star Theater, they even lack characters. In some scenes, I find it odd because it was different from what I’ve read and I was looking for my favorite chapters and lines and I found out it was the ones that they’ve cut. I really thought that it was poorly directed, though the characters portray their roles well and I found no fault in them. They are good at acting but sometimes their mic would just turn on and off at their slightest movements. Overall, I think it was a tiny bit unpleasant (no offense! and I would prefer watching at the AFP Theater if given the chance. For me, everything was almost always out-of-placed, except for the characters. Well, at least they’re worth watching. They are the only ones that I liked at the play and I particularly enjoyed the last scenes where there we loud booms enough to prattle our bored minds. At least it was exciting even though it’s the only one I found interesting. It was the least of what we expected and I know its an awful lot of expecting. One thing I know is, though, is I would never ever prefer Star Theater from the AFP Theater. Ever.

Benefits Policy & Strategy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Benefits Policy & Strategy - Assignment Example Therefore, it is practical that WorldatWork argues that although the goal of motivating workers is the same in different companies, optimum mix or strategy of benefits may change even in the same company. This trend is probably due to changes in administration of the company over time. However, with these changes, it is possible for an expert in the field of benefits strategy to equip himself with the new types of benefits strategies in the following ways. A benefits strategy connoisseur is ought to be a timely researcher. As mentioned earlier, this field is fast changing and therefore, those who are involved should change too. The best too for this change is through research on new viable benefits strategies and how to use them. Benefits policy and strategy has surely gone to a completely new level with every human resource manager trying to keep or acquire the best kind of employees there is. The only difference is on the way they do

Issue of medicalization, the social construction of difference through Essay

Issue of medicalization, the social construction of difference through science and medicine and power - Essay Example Several differences are medicalized. Due to scientific conquest and development of new knowledge, several aspects of society are affected. With this, what are aspects are medicalized in the first place? The most affected in this case are the cultural beliefs and value systems that are embedded in an individual. Since there is cultural diversity, it is really problematic to impose a certain a cultural ideology towards a certain group of people that have a different cultural grassroots. There should be a thorough understanding of the culture from both sides of the spectrum. However, in the case of Lia, from the work of Anna Fadiman entitled The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, the doctors of Merced Community Medical Center have not taken into consideration the spiritual culture of the Hmong people about childbirth. In her work, there is a quote that deals about the frustration of the parent due to cultural indifference. â€Å"It took all the autonomy of being a parent away, even for folks who have had a lot of medical experience. It would be that much harder if you were from another culture and didn’t understand the purpose of these things.† (Fadiman, 1997) This quote manifests the clear problem about medicalization. Modern medical science and its practitioners have the tendency to bypass the concern of the people they are dealing with since they always exercise their expertise. Even if the concerns are valid for the Hmong people because of their culture, the medical professionals did not comply and understood the necessity of such cultural practices for the Hmong. Cultural Indifference has indeed occurred and has yielded several detrimental effects. On the second level, what seems to be the theoretical framework used by the authors to discuss the issue of medicalization? In the essay entitled Of Gender and Genitals: Use and Abuse of Modern Intersexual from the book Sexing

Persistence of Christianity in Post communist china Research Paper

Persistence of Christianity in Post communist china - Research Paper Example However, despite the hostility against Christianity, the religion evolved and was practiced underground in order to survive. Therefore, the revolution did not result in any shift in Christianity, but the religion persisted even after this revolution. As early as 17th century, Christian missionaries of the Roman Catholics belonging to the Jesuit order had been actively involved in China while the protestant missionary arrived in the 19th century.4 Conversion of the Chinese to Christianity was difficult in that it was linked to western imperialism. Approximately 3 to 4 million Chinese had been converted to Christianity by 1949, less than 1% of the entire population; after the collapse of the monarchial rule, fights erupted largely fueled by a need to determine the next form of governance different from the Monarchs, and in which Christians were heavily involved.5 Monarchs used religion to control their territories and neglected its moral teachings. The rise of Communism acted as a barr ier to the spread of Christianity stating religion as â€Å"opium of the people† from Max philosophy Before the 1949 revolution, Christians were estimated to be about 700,000 in China.6 In the 1940s, many Chinese Christians were behind calls to rid China off foreign influence, with a selected group of Chinese Church leaders preparing a document that was later to be known as â€Å"Christian Manifesto.†7 For example, because of their steadfast loyalty to the pope, Catholics faced great persecution from the early 1950s and 1960s, with all foreign missions being expelled from China.8 The number of Catholics in 1949 was estimated to be about 4 million in China. The severe persecution of Catholicism led to cold relationship between Vatican and the Communist country. In fact, the relations are still shaky as the Chinese Catholic church continued to ordain a bishop without Papal approval as the communist regime still requires the native Catholics to choose between devotion to the pope, and obedience to the communist authorities.9 Religion was viewed as a strong factor of change that could have threatened the status quo as introduced by the communist regime; it was mainly viewed as a liberal force in China after the 1949 revolution. Though contributing only a small portion, Christianity was particularly indentified as a big risk that could cause problems to the communist regime. Christianity was particularly introduced in China from the Western and European regions, and was thus seen as a perpetuation of western ideologies in the communist country. Having been introduced by foreigners with strong establishments in European countries and offering education, medicine, and food to the locals, it earned much hate and suspicion from the communist rulers. Clarke offers a concise differentiation of what constitutes public and private realm. Such a distinction has to rely on the dichotomous distinction between the private and public.10 Therefore, in terms of reli gion in China, private realm would constitute

Write an essay in which you identify a person who has been a positive

Write an in which you identify a person who has been a positive influence in your life - Essay Example my strengths and good habits, through that she cured me to be a nice person as I don’t have a big family. My family comprises just one brother and my dad. So there is no one who knows me in person as Kristen. I first met her in my school class in the higher school and since then we are truly good friends. She helped me in my studies and in my personal life. She helped and assisted me in taking most important decision in my life. Whenever I was in problem, she was the first person to stand with me. I trust her a lot. In most cases in life I was wrong; she helped me in getting out of it, by directing me towards right option. She have always been with me in every walk of life, therefore she has a great impact on my life. She has helped me in many things, which I would have not been able to do it alone. I have a very high temper because of which mostly I put myself in trouble. She was the one who guided me to be kind and generous and I should try to be calm and happy always. I am a very polite and kind person in nature, therefore, some people did endeavor to make wrong use of my kindness, and she taught me that I should not let other people make wrong use of my care and friendship. She made me believe on my dreams and compelled me to have faith in those and struggle for it. She always encouraged me to study more and to have a profession. A friend is a person with whom we can share anything and in case of girls: best friend is the second person after mother with whom we share our secrets and relish our life to the fullest. She is a kind of person to whom every girl want to do friendship with, but her friends circle is very limited, in which I have a top priority, because she considers me her best friend. She is a very kind and helpful person. She has a short height, fair and thin hair. She is little skinny, same as me. We both friends are quite alike, which is a plus point of our friendship. She wears normal traditional Pakistani dress, but she looks very

Planning to expand MGM Resort international to the United Arab Term Paper

Planning to expand MGM Resort international to the United Arab Emirates, Dubai - Term Paper Example Expanding in Dubai comes with new challenges in terms of the set-up, necessary resources and management expertise to enter the new market successfully. MGM has also noted that since the expansion carries with it new challenges if not handled skillfully, it can do more harm than good. Since MGM has decided to expand its market in Dubai, UAE, it has gone ahead and explored Dubai market, the potentiality of growth, the set-up procedures and issues that may crop up unexpectedly. This way MGM can minimize risks as well as optimize profits. Even though, MGM has a property in Abu Dhabu, UAE, it felt that it should increase its market share in this fast growing economy. This planning paper first seeks to explain in details what MGM entails; its background, services, properties, employees, organizational structure, staffing, training and compensation procedures as well as Customer Relation Services (CRS). In addition, the discussion takes a deep research on the country of expansion, which is Dubai. Furthermore, it will look into the business set-up procedures in Dubai, the reasons for the choice of market, the legal, political, environmental, social, technological and social environment in Dubai. In addition, it explains the role of culture in terms of facilitation and hindrances as well as communication difficulties that will be encountered and how to mitigate it. In the same case, it will explain the change in the organizational structure, approaches to staffing, types of training and lastly, explain the strategies to be used in the expansion and reasons for strategy as well as the issues that may arise while implementing the chosen strategies. Discussion The company profile MGM Resort International is one of the world’s leading and most respected companies that own and operates some of the most prestigious hospitality properties in the USA. It not only has holdings in hospitality but also has shares in gaming and entertainment sector. It owns 17 properties pos itioned in Michigan, Nevada and Mississippi and has 50% investments in other four properties in New Jersey, Illinois, Macau and Nevada. The City Centre, an extraordinary urban metropolis on the Las Vegas Strip that opened in late 2009 is a joint venture between MGM Resort International and Infinity World Development Corp., a Dubai World’s subsidiary. MGM is in future partnership with casino and non-casino resorts in the United States, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Vietnam and People’s Republic of China has sealed a treaty to dispose its Treasure Island property on the Strip of Las Vegas. MGM is famous for responsible gaming and has even implemented the American Gaming Association’s code of Conduct for Responsible gaming at its properties. It has also received several awards and recognition for being up front in Diversity Initiative and community compassionate programs. In Las Vegas only, MGM properties include Bellagrio, Mirage, Monte Carlo, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, MG M Grand, Circus Circus, New York-New York and the great and unique CityCentre, which comprise of Crystals, Vdara and Aria. Out of Las Vegas properties include MGM Grand Detroit, Beau Rivage, Gold Strike Tunika, Gold Strike Casino and MGM Resort, Sanya China (www.mgmresorts.com, 2012). Organizational stru

Identify the main sources of foreign currency risk confronting an Essay

Identify the main sources of foreign currency risk confronting an international firm and evaluate different techniques that you think may be most appropriate i - Essay Example It can be seen that due to the volatile and unpredictable nature of the forex markets during times of political or economic crisis both these markets carry a considerable risk for the multinational firms. The preceding discussion will assess the types of strategies which can be used to avoid these risks and their feasibility in the short and long term. This involves the transfer of the transaction exposure to another company through the technique asking them to pay for a product in your currency so that they have to bear the transaction exposure resulting from forex uncertainty on their own. Another technique would be to price the export in the local currency of the other firm and demand payment immediately in which case the current spot rate will determine the value in your own currency of the export.4 A second way of minimising transaction risk is "netting out", and this technique is very helpful for foreign multinationals with large business concerns who do frequent and sizeable amounts of foreign currency transactions. In this way unexpected exchange rate charges will essentially "net out" over many different transactions. This is mainly because when payments and receipts are in many different currencies as this will spread the risks and there might even be a chance of profit.. Although transaction exposure cannot be completely netted away ,the company is better off making a small in one area of trade that a large loss overall if it literally "puts all its eggs in one basket". Compared to hedging this may even be a safer way of avoiding forex risks. Hedging strategies (aimed at reducing short-term transaction exposures of roughly less than a year.5) Forward Contracts This is probably one of the most direct methods of handling hedging risks. The obvious advantage of this is to prevent the company from suffering any loss through a depreciating or appreciating currency because the payment has already been made to a bank. The problem however is that small businesses are often discouraged by banks in this option because of the increased risk that the banks in collecting back the money Futures contracts Another option of hedging transaction exposure is with futures market hedge which is a lot similar to the above method .The difference begins when a short sale of a future contract puts the business in a position opposed to that of a business owning the futures contract. This happens because an increase in the value of the contract causes a loss to the company. 6When the futures contract decreases in value, it gains that amount. Another problem is that any losses in

Irony In Nathan The Wise Essay Example for Free

Irony In Nathan The Wise Essay Nathan the Wise is a call for reexamination among those who consider themselves as having the monopoly on truth while the rest of the world are supposedly living their lives based on false creeds. The misunderstanding among peoples or nations is rooted in this perception. Gotthold Lessing’s play sought to highlight the innate prejudices of his characters’ religious affiliations and subsequently provided a pithy reminder in the form of an irony. â€Å"Ah! Indeed you do not know how closer I shall cling to you henceforth. We must, we will be friends. Despise my nation. We did not choose a nation for ourselves. Are we our nations? What’s a nation then? Were Jews and Christians such, e’er they were men? And have I found in thee one more, to whom It is enough to be a man? (Lessing)† This was Nathan’s response to The Templar on the latter’s perception of Jews. The irony is on the second to the last sentence which implores humanity to be humane or kind to others regardless of what one believed in. Lessing is contrasting people living their lives based on religions and men who are humane kind to their fellowmen. The irony is in our supposition that our beliefs save us, guide our conduct, and teach us to be human. Yet the same precepts tend to make us biased and often cruel to those outside our fold. Indeed everyone is certain that his belief is the truth among many â€Å"lies†. Sometimes it’s this self-righteousness that makes us unjust. A paradox as pointed out by Lessing. It is ironic that a play written more than two centuries still holds true today. IRONY IN TARTUFFE Moliere parodied religiosity through his play, Tartuffe. Moliere created a very witty play of witless characters-with the exception of the servant girl, Dorine and Cleante. The irreverence of the play could explain away its banning during its time. Hypocrisy is personified by Tartuffe as credulity is personified by Orgon. There are gems of literary passages in the play that demonstrate irony. One particular instance was the interjection of Dorine to Orgon who was convincing his surprised mother about Tartuffe’s masquerade. This passage in Act V, Scene V is worth considering: â€Å"You are quite wrong, you have no right to blame him; This action only proves his good intentions. Love for his neighbour makes his virtue perfect; And knowing money is a root of evil, In Christian charity, hed take away Whatever things may hinder your salvation. † Orgon and his family are about to be evicted from their own home by the unscrupulous Tartuffe when this particular dialogue was uttered. He was already at a loss of how Tartuffe could have done this to him. The irrepressible Dorine could not resist jabbing him verbally. To be deprived of one’s property is to be given the chance to be eternally saved since the thing that causes sin is taken away from you. The person robbing you then is in fact doing you a favor and the robbery itself is a result of good intentions. This may be a tongue-in-cheek line but the irony is apparent in the situation where the quest for religiosity has led almost to Orgon’s total material depravity. IRONY IN THE PRINCESS OF CLEVES â€Å"If any other motives than honour and virtue were necessary to induce you to persist in that character you have hitherto worthily sustained; I would tell you, that a reverse of conduct will disturb my happiness in a better world. But should (which Heaven forbid! ) this heavy misfortune be inevitable, I shall welcome death with joy, since it prevents my being witness to your disgrace (Lafayette). † These last words in the deathbed of Madame de Chartres were part of a warning to her daughter of the pitfalls of falling in love while married. Rather than prevent the Princess of Cleves falling in love, it further arouses in her the need to experience what is romantic and for her which obviously she has not found from the Prince of Cleves. Aside from this irony of a warning prodding one to fall into the pit of forbidden love, Madame de Chartres or Madame Lafayette treated us with verbal irony in the last two sentences. She indicated that if the Princess will stray from the marriage path, she will be unhappy. Still she added she might be happy in death since it will prevent her from witnessing that which would bring disgrace to her daughter. This strong admonition is quite consistent with how society looks upon extramarital dalliances. The Princess was only guilty of mental infidelity. Ironically, it was not only her who suffered but her mother, who died of a broken heart, perhaps from a daughter who ignored her; husband, who died of jealousy; the Duc Nemours who suffered emotionally; and finally the Princess herself who entered a convent. The deathbed warning is ironically not helping the Princess. It destroyed everybody. Bibliography Lessing, G. E. (n. d. ). Nathan the Wise. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from PDF Books: www. pdfbooks. co. za Moliere, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. The Project Gutenberg EBook Tartuffe. Project Gutenberg, October 26, 2008 (Posting Date). Lafayette, M. The Princess of Cleves. London: J. WILKIE, No. 71, St. PAUL’S.

Bach (Acorus Calamus) Essay Example for Free

Bach (Acorus Calamus) Essay Bach or Sweet flag is thought to have originated in Central Asia and probably indigenous to India, found common in areas that surround the Himalayas. As a result of cultivation, it has spread throughout the globe, found across Europe, in southern Russia, northern Asia Minor, southern Siberia, China, Japan, Burma, Sri Lanka, Australia, as well as southern Canada and northern USA. Calamus has long been a symbol of male love. The name is associated with a Greek myth on Kalamos, son of the river-god Maeander. In Japan, the plant is a symbol of the samurais bravery because of its sharp sword-like leaves. Teton-Dakota warriors chewed the root to a paste, which they rubbed on their faces. It prevented excitement and fear when facing an enemy. In Penobscot homes, the root was cut and hung up. Steaming it throughout the home is thought to cure sickness. have also been used as a thatch for roofs. Food and Flavouring: An essential oil from the rhizome is used in perfumery and as food flavouring, it has a fragrance reminiscent of patchouli oil. An essential oil obtained from the leaves is used in perfumery and for making aromatic vinegars. Insect repellent: The essential oil is also an insect repellent and insecticide. It is effe c t i ve a ga i n st houseflies. When added to rice being stored in granaries it has significantly reduced loss caused by insect damage because the oil in the root has sterilized the male rice weevils. All parts of plant can be dried and used to repel insects or to scent linen cupboards. Incense: The leaves and the roots have refreshing scent of cinnamon. They can also be burnt as incense. Medicine: In Ayurvedic system of medicine, the rhizomes of Sweet flag are considered to possess anti-spasmodic, carminative and anthelmintic properties and have been used for a number of beneficial reasons. Vacha is considered as a sattvic herb which feeds and transmutes the sexual kundalini energy. It is forms a popular remedy for cough and cold and also the other respiratory disorders like bronchitis. In raw form it is used as cough lozenge. Sweet flag provides aid to the digestive system and acts against flatulent colic, dyspepsia, and vomiting. Acorus calamus depresses central nervous system and is a well known ingredient in formulation for psycho-somatic disorders like epilepsy. The vapours of Sweet flag repel some insects. THE PLANT Sweet flag is a perennial, semi-aquatic and smelly plant, found in both temperate and sub temperate zones. It is up to 2m tall, aromatic, sword-shaped leaves and small, yellow/green flowers with branched rhizome. Plants very rarely flower or set fruit, but when they do, the flowers are 3-8 cm long, cylindrical in shape, greenish brown and covered in a multitude of rounded spikes. The fruits are small and berry-like, containing few seeds. CULTIVATION Its a hardy plant found growing from tropical to sub-tropical climates. Plenty of sunshine should be available to the plant during its growth and after harvesting for drying the rhizomes. This species comes up well in clayey loams, sandy loams and light alluvial soils of river banks. The land should be ploughed twice or thrice prior to the onset of rains. Acorus is propagated through rhizomes obtained from earlier planting. The best time for planting is the second fortnight of June. The river or canal bank where the land is saturated with water is very suitable for its growth. Timely weeding and hoeing to control the spread of weeds and to obtain good yield is essential. After each weeding the growing plants are pressed down into the soil. After 6-8 months, in December, the lower leaves turn yellow and dry indicating their maturity. The field should be partially dried only leaving sufficient moisture for uprooting the plant. The uprooted rhizome is cleaned after washing with water and cut into size and fibrous roots removed. The cut rhizomes are dried by spreading under the shade so that the amount of oil present in it is not harmed. TRADE AND COMMERCE Sweet flag has been an item of trade in many cultures for thousands of years. Sweet flag forms a useful adjunct to other tonics and stimulants. Its domestic demand is quite large. As the production is much less in India, the internal market itself is highly potential. Importers, buyers within the country, processors, traditional practitioners, Ayurvedic and Siddha drug manufacturers throng the markets for procurement of this plant every year.

Micro Operations Microinstruction Micro Program Micro Code

Micro Operations Microinstruction Micro Program Micro Code Each microinstruction in a microprogram provides the bits which control the functional elements that internally compose a CPU. The advantage over a hard-wired CPU is that internal CPU control becomes a specialized form of a computer program. Microcode thus transforms a complex electronic design challenge (the control of a CPU) into a less-complex programming challenge. Microcode is a layer of hardware-level instructions and/or data structures involved in the implementation of higher level machine code instructions in many computers and other processors; it resides in a special high-speed memory and translates machine instructions into sequences of detailed circuit-level operations. It helps separate the machine instructions from the underlying electronics so that instructions can be designed and altered more freely. It also makes it feasible to build complex multi-step instructions while still reducing the complexity of the electronic circuitry compared to other methods. Writing microcode is often called microprogramming and the microcode in a particular processor implementation is sometimes called a microprogram. Microcode can be characterized as horizontal or vertical. This refers primarily to whether each microinstruction directly controls CPU elements (horizontal microcode), or requires subsequent decoding by combinational logic before doing so (vertical microcode). Consequently each horizontal microinstruction is wider (contains more bits) and occupies more storage space than a vertical microinstruction. Modern microcode is normally written by an engineer during the processor design phase and stored in a ROM and/or PLA structure, although machines exist which have some writable microcode in SRAM or flash memory. Microcode is generally not visible or changeable by a normal programmer, not even by an assembly programmer. Some hardware vendors, especially IBM, use the term as a synonym for firmware, so that all code in a device, whether microcode or machine code, is termed microcode (such as in a hard drive for instance, which typically contain both). Microcode was originally developed as a simpler method of developing the control logic for a computer. Initially CPU instruction sets were hard wired. Each step needed to fetch, decode and execute the machine instructions (including any operand address calculations, reads and writes) was controlled directly by combinatorial logic and rather minimal sequential state machine circuitry. While very efficient, the need for powerful instruction sets with multi-step addressing and complex operations (see below) made such hard-wired processors difficult to design and debug; highly encoded and varied-length instructions can contribute to this as well, especially when very irregular encodings are used. Q.2. How Information Technology can be used for strategic advantages in business? Ans.: All the advantages and disadvantages of information technology, it is essential that we know what information technology is exactly, and why it has it come to play such a important role in our daily lives. Today information technology involves more than just computer literacy; it also takes into account how computers work and how these computers can further be used not just for information processing but also for communications and problem solving tasks as well. Globalization IT has not only brought the world closer together, but it has allowed the worlds economy to become a single interdependent system. This means that we can not only share information quickly and efficiently, but we can also bring down barriers of linguistic and geographic boundaries. The world has developed into a global village due to the help of information technology allowing countries like Chile and Japan who are not only separated by distance but also by language to shares ideas and information with each other. Communication With the help of information technology, communication has also become cheaper, quicker, and more efficient. We can now communicate with anyone around the globe by simply text messaging them or sending them an email for an almost instantaneous response. The internet has also opened up face to face direct communication from different parts of the world thanks to the helps of video conferencing. Cost effectiveness Information technology has helped to computerize the business process thus streamlining businesses to make them extremely cost effective money making machines. This in turn increases productivity which ultimately gives rise to profits that means better pay and less strenuous working conditions. Bridging the cultural gap Information technology has helped to bridge the cultural gap by helping people from different cultures to communicate with one another, and allow for the exchange of views and ideas, thus increasing awareness and reducing prejudice. More time IT has made it possible for businesses to be open 24 x7 all over the globe. This means that a business can be open anytime anywhere, making purchases from different countries easier and more convenient. It also means that you can have your goods delivered right to your doorstep with having to move a single muscle. Creation of new jobs Probably the best advantage of information technology is the creation of new and interesting jobs. Computer programmers, Systems analyzers, Hardware and Software developers and Web designers are just some of the many new employment opportunities created with the help of IT. Q.3.What Characteristics of software make it different from other engineering products? Ans.: A large number of software standards have been developed concerned with software products and processes, terminology and more general fraework standards. While the need for software standards is not disputed, it is felt that many standards fail to take into account the essential differences, and occasionally the similarities, between software products and processes and other engineering products and processes. Ideally, standards should be useful, testable and represent a consensus view. It appears that some software standards fall significantly short of these objectives. Further progress in developing useful software standards requires a better understanding of the potential benefits which standards have, and do not have, to offer the software industry. The relevant issues are discussed and the next steps which should be taken in developing software standards suggested. Q.4. What are different addressing modes available? Ans.: Addressing modes are an aspect of the instruction set architecture in most central processing unit (CPU) designs. The various addressing modes that are defined in a given instruction set architecture define how machine language instructions in that architecture identify the operand (or operands) of each instruction. An addressing mode specifies how to calculate the effective memory address of an operand by using information held in registers and/or constants contained within a machine instruction or elsewhere. In computer programming, addressing modes are primarily of interest to compiler writers and to those who write code directly in assembly language Absolute +-++ |jump| address | +-++ (Effective PC address = address) The effective address for an absolute instruction address is the address parameter itself with no modifications. Absolute/Direct ++++ | load | reg | address | ++++ (Effective address = address as given in instruction) This requires space in an instruction for quite a large address. Register +++++ | mul | reg1| reg2| reg3| reg1 := reg2 * reg3; +++++ This addressing mode does not have an effective address and is not considered to be an addressing mode on some computers. In this example, all the operands are in registers, and the result is placed in a register. Immediate/literal ++++-+ | add | reg1| reg2| constant | reg1 := reg2 + constant; ++++-+ This addressing mode does not have an effective address, and is not considered to be an addressing mode on some computers. The constant might be signed or unsigned. Implicit ++ | clear carry bit | ++ The implied addressing mode does not explicitly specify an effective address for either the source or the destination (or sometimes both). Either the source (if any) or destination effective address (or sometimes both) is implied by the opcode. Indexed absolute +++++ | load | reg |index| address | +++++ (Effective address = address + contents of specified index register) This also requires space in an instruction for quite a large address. The address could be the start of an array or vector, and the index could select the particular array element required. The processor may scale the index register to allow for the size of each array element. PART à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬B Q.5. How will you differentiate b/w Arrays and Stacks?Explain by giving an example. Ans: There are two main differences between an array and a stack. Firstly, an array can be multi-dimensional, while a stack is strictly one-dimensional. Secondly, an array allows direct access to any of its elements, whereas with a stack, only the top element is directly accessible; to access other elements of a stack, we must go through them in order, until we get to the one we want. Q.6. How Assembler differs from Complier? Ans.: An Assembler converts Assembly instructions into executable machine language. A Compiler converts higher level programming language instructions into Assembly instructions, and then those are turned into executable machine language. Most Compilers allow generation of object code, which is the Assembly instruction set generated by the Compiler. Some older Compilers allow for the Assembly instructions to be fine tuned by the programmer. Compiled programming languages typically generate many lines of Assembly instructions for each program statement. Some programming languages, such as ANSI C, are very close to Assembly, while others such as Java, result in many Assembly instructions per program statement. Most Compilers are highly optimized and it would be difficult for a human programmer to improve the efficiency of the output. Assembly level instructions are very difficult for someone not trained on Assembly to read and comprehend. Q.7. Out of Linear and Binary Search ,which one is preferred where and why? Ans.: Binary Search, because in Binary Search code take less no. of execution and it save time. But, in linear search it executes full time whenever search may give result. A binary search is an algorithm for locating the position of an element in a sorted list. It inspects the middle element of the sorted list: if equal to the sought value, then the position has been found; otherwise, the upper half or lower half is chosen for further searching based on whether the sought value is greater than or less than the middle element. The method reduces the number of elements needed to be checked by a factor of two each time, and finds the sought value if it exists in the list or if not determines not present, in logarithmic time. A binary search is a dichotomist divide and conquer search algorithm.

Hamlet, A Boy In The World Of Men :: essays research papers

Hamlet, A Boy In The World of Men "Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light." Dylan Thomas Dylan Thomas recited his struggle in letting his father go so that he could continue on in life to become a whole person. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet a young prince is devastated by the death of his father, and he experiences the same dilemma. He lingers in the midst of his world before the tragic loss. He is a child who has been sheltered from life, lacking the experiences that are necessary in order for a boy to become a man. He loves Ophelia, his sweetheart who has also been sheltered, and remains a child who is incapable of thinking for herself. Hamlet and Ophelia have been robbed of their role-models; Ophelia’s mother and Hamlet’s father; who were needed to teach these children the ways of life, and they are forced by fate to grow up and perform as adults before they are given the chance to make mistakes as children do and to learn form these life lessons. Hamlet and Ophelia want fulfillment from each-other, but they were never given the tools they would need to become mature human beings. They toy with each-other, because they d o not have the capacity to communicate as adults. Hamlet Ay, truly, for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness. This was sometimes a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did love you once. Ophelia Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so. Hamlet You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not. Hamlet is angry with his mother, who has married his uncle Claudius, his father’s brother. Prince Hamlet is led by his friends to his father’s ghost, who tells him that he was murdered by his own brother, Claudius. The ghost asks Hamlet to kill Claudius. Young Hamlet must decide whether to avenge his father’s death, by murdering his uncle, thus inheriting his rightful place as king; or to allow God to take the actions to determine the fate of evil. This decision is one that Hamlet questions as a child, who has been abandoned by his father, before he was able to inherit his birthright; his father’s wisdom.

Black is Beautiful in Shakespeares Sonnets and Astrophil and Stella Es

Black is Beautiful in Shakespeare's Sonnets and Sidney's Astrophil and Stella    Germinating in anonymous Middle English lyrics, the subversion of the classical poetic representation of feminine beauty as fair-haired and blue-eyed took on new meaning in the age of exploration under sonneteers Sidney and Shakespeare. No longer did the brown hair of "Alison" only serve to distinguish her from the pack; the features of the new "Dark Lady" became more pronounced and sullied, and her eroticized associations with the foreignness of the New World grew more explicit through conceits of colonization. However, the evolving dichotomy between fairness and darkness was not quite so revolutionary; in fact, Sidney and Shakespeare lauded the virtues of fairness with the same degree of passion as their predecessors, albeit in a cloaked form. To counter their mistresses' exterior darkness, the poets locate an interior lightness that radiates beyond the funereal veil of hair or eyes†¹raven-hair or jet-eyes is acceptable only if there is an innate brightness that illuminates th e sensuality of the superficial.    Most of the poems addressing the light/dark antithesis choose at some point to make an open declaration that embraces or undermines the dichotomy and lays the groundwork for the rest of the poem. The dichotomous lines tend not to be as straightforward as they suggest. "I can love both fair and brown," from John Donne's "The Indifferent," seems to blur the line between the colors, but by revealing the gracious equanimity of his desire, Donne implicitly reinforces brown's aesthetic inferiority. Shakespeare parodies the antiquated contrarieties, which he acknowledges in Sonnet 127: "In the old age, black was not counted fair" (1). In... ...line "But being both from me" as the couple's being "away from" the speaker, the line can also imply that the two inhabit his mind (11). With this reading, "To win me soon to hell, my female evil/ Tempteth my better angel from my side" means not that the Dark Lady will cast Shakespeare into misery through her upsetting the triangle, but that her power will shift Shakespeare's mind to the dark side. Her temptation is filled with reference to dirtiness of sin: "And would corrupt my saint to be a devil,/ Wooing his purity with her foul pride" (7-8). "Proud flesh" is the swollen flesh surrounding a wound; thus her "foul pride" may be a pun on her genitalia. The eroticization of her darkness is a salient pointer towards the fascination the poets hold toward darkness; beneath that impure exterior lies a devilish promiscuity unlike that of all the other fair-haired maidens.

Computer Literacy Essay

Thou shall not vandalize Web pages. Thou shall not shut down Web sites. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s MP3s. FBI agents are spreading a new gospel to parents and teachers, hoping they’ll better educate youths that vandalism in cyberspace can be economically costly and just as criminal as mailbox bashing and graffiti spraying. The Justice Department and the Information Technology Association of America, a trade group, has launched the Cybercitizen Partnership to encourage educators and parents to talk to children in ways that equate computer crimes with old-fashioned wrongdoing. The nascent effort includes a series of seminars around the country for teachers, classroom materials and guides and a Web site to help parents talk to children. â€Å"In a democracy in general, we can’t have the police everywhere,† said Michael Vatis, director of the FBI’s National Infrastructure Protection Center, which guards against computer attacks by terrorists, foreign agents and teen hackers. â€Å"One of the most important ways of reducing crime is trying to teach ethics and morality to our kids. That same principle needs to apply to the cyber world,† he said. Recognizing Virtual Crime Vatis and other FBI agents attended a kickoff seminar, titled the National Conference on Cyber Ethics, last weekend at Marymount University in Arlington, Va. Part of the challenge: Many teens still consider computer mischief harmless. A recent survey found that 48 percent of students in elementary and middle school don’t consider hacking illegal. Gail Chmura, a computer science teacher at Oakton High School in Vienna, Va., makes ethics a constant in her curriculum, teaching kids about topics such as computer law, software piracy and online cheating. She has argued with students who don’t see that stealing from a computer with bad security is as wrong as  stealing from an unlocked house. â€Å"It’s always interesting that they don’t see a connection between the two,† Chmura said. â€Å"They just don’t get it.† The FBI’s Vatis tells students, â€Å"Do you think it would be OK to go spray-paint your neighbor’s house or the grocery store down the street? On a Web site, it’s the same sort of thing. It’s somebody’s storefront or an extension of themselves.† Chmura tries similar messages. For instance, she asks a budding composer how he would feel if his music was stolen and given away online. â€Å"They do sometimes realize that when they’re copying someone’s product, it’s not just that 5 cent disk, but someone’s work that they’re copying,† she said. â€Å"I think they do come to appreciate the fact that it’s somebody’s salary they’re stealing.† Driving Home Consequences Vatis cites a long list of cyber crimes perpetrated by minors, including attacks on defense department computers in 1998 and the February jamming of major Web sites such as Amazon.com and eBay. He tries to drive home the consequences of hacking — including the resources it drains from his center, as law enforcement scrambles to find who is responsible at the outset of an attack. Authorities â€Å"don’t know if it’s a terrorist or a foreign military,† Vatis said. â€Å"It diverts very scarce resources of people who are trying to focus on crime, warfare and terrorism.† And children aren’t the only ones in need of training. College students and parents also are frequently undecided about what crosses an ethical boundary in cyberspace, where anyone can download pirated musical recordings. â€Å"We had some discussion about the legalities of whether you’re sharing something with your friend or burning CDs to sell at your school,† said Deborah Price of Lewisville, N.C., parent of a 14-year-old daughter. â€Å"I’m not real certain about Napster ethics myself.† Price — whose daughter uses Napster, the music-sharing service considered a threat to the recording industry — feels that computer ethics are an important issue. â€Å"I think it should be part of the discussion at the school,† Price said. â€Å"It’s only going to get bigger.† References: ABC News W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 10 FBI Pushes for Cyber Ethics Education By D. Ian Hopper http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119369

Customer behaviour Essay

What is Electronic Commerce? Commerce – The exchange of commodities, buying and selling, of products and services requiring transportation, from location to location is known as commerce. E-Commerce – From a communications perspective, e-commerce is the delivery of information, products/services or payments via telephone lines, Fax, computer networks or any other means. What is Electronic Commerce? From an online perspective, e-commerce provides the capability of buying and selling products and information on the internet and other online services. It refers to a wide range of online business activities for products and services. Any form of business transaction in which the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchanges or direct physical contact. Difference between E-Commerce & E-Business Electronic commerce or â€Å"e-Commerce† E-commerce covers online processes that touch customers, suppliers and external partners, including sales, marketing, order taking, delivery, customer service, purchasing of raw materials and supplies for production. More sophisticated system such as flight and hotel reservation system. e-Commerce breaks into two components: Online Shopping – the scope of information and activities that provides the customer with the information they need to conduct business with you and make an informed buying decision. Online Purchasing – the technology infrastructure for the exchange of data and the purchase of a product over the Internet. Online purchasing is a metaphor used in business-to-business e-Commerce for providing customers with an online method of placing an order, submitting a purchase order, or requesting a quotation. E-Business is a super-set of E-Commerce. E-business includes e-commerce but also covers internal processes such as production, inventory management, product development, risk management, finance, and human resources. E-business includes electronic mechanism to distribute information not directly related to buying and selling of goods. Examples: Product specifications, customer testimonials, and product reviews. Purchasing activities on your site, e.g., order forms, shopping carts, and credit card processing. Customers can’t interact directly with the firm. (territory barrier) History of EC The term e-commerce was originally conceived to describe the process of conducting business transactions electronically using technology from the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These technologies, which first appeared in the late 1970’s, allowed for the exchange of information and the execution of electronic transactions between businesses, typically in the form of electronic purchase orders and invoices. EDI and EFT were the enabling technologies that laid the groundwork for what we now know as e-commerce. The Boston Computer Exchange, a marketplace for used computer equipment started in 1982, was one of the first known examples of e-commerce. Throughout the 1980’s, the proliferation of credit cards, ATM machines and telephone banking was the next step in the evolution of electronic commerce. The birth of companies such as eBay and Amazon (launched in 1994) really began to lead the way in e-commerce. Both eBay and Amazon were among the first to establish prominent e-commerce brands. The most prominent e-commerce categories today are computers, books, office supplies, music, and a variety of electronics. Dell.com,1997 Types of Ecommerce B2B( Business to Business E-commerce) or Inter-Organizational E-commerce B2C(  Business to Consumer E-commerce) C2B( Consumer to Business E-commerce) C2C( Consumer to Consumer E-commerce) or Ecommerce Involving Intermediaries Intra-organizational E-commerce  m-commerce(Mobile E-commerce) Business to Government E-Commerce B2B (Business-to-Business) or inter-organizational Ecommerce Companies doing business with each other such as manufacturers selling to distributors and wholesalers selling to retailers. Pricing is based on quantity of order and is often negotiable. B2B is used to improve business relationship among orgz. (invoices, cheques, purchase orders, financial reports) are in electronic for. For Example: Logistic companies Benefits: Supplier Management (reduce no. of suppliers, processing coast, and cycle time) Inventory Management (list of items/product, eliminate out of stock items) Distribution Management (list of ship’s cargo, purchase orders etc) Channel Management (reduce labour, time saving) Payment Management (electronic payment reduce clerical errors, lower transaction fee and coast) B2C Business to Consumer In B2C seller is a business organization buyer is consumer. In this case costumer directly interacts with company, i.e. books and cd’s buy online and internet used as a medium for transaction. Newspapers reading and weather forecasting are used as a B2C E-commerce. This type of e-commerce improve the flow of information between firm and customers. Examples are ebay.com, and amazon.com. C2B Consumer to Business A consumer posts his project with a set budget online and within hours companies review the consumer’s requirements and bid on the project. The consumer reviews the bids and selects the company that will complete the  project. Elance empowers consumers around the world by providing the meeting ground and platform for such transactions. Freelancing C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer) or E-commerce Involving Intermediaries In this type both seller and buyers are consumers. There are many sites offering free classifieds, auctions and forums where individuals can buy and sell. PayPal where people can send and receive money online with ease. Olx.com auction service is a great example of where person-to-person transactions take place everyday. Intra-organizational E-C The purpose of Intra-organizational applications is to help a company maintain the relationships that are critical to delivering superior customer value by paying close attention to various functions in the organization. Benefits: Workgroup communications Electronic Publishing Sales force Productivity Business to Government E-C A platform for businesses to bid on government opportunities. It refers to the use of the Internet for public procurement, licensing procedures, and other government-related operations. It reduces the risk of irregularities. Income Tax Department, Excise and Taxation Department M-Commerce Mobile commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services through wireless technology – i.e., cellular telephones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Including mobile banking (when customers use their handheld devices to access their accounts and pay their bills). Bill payment and account reviews can all be conducted from the same handheld device. Delivery of entertainment, financial news, sports figures and traffic updates to a single mobile device. Advantages of e-commerce for businesses? Reduction of costs in the business E-commerce serves as an â€Å"equalizer†. It enables start-up and small- and medium-sized enterprises to reach the global market. E-commerce makes â€Å"mass customization† possible. E-commerce applications in this area include easy-to-use ordering systems that allow customers to choose and order products according to their personal and unique specifications. E-commerce allows â€Å"network production.† This refers to the parcelling out of the production process to contractors who are geographically dispersed but who are connected to each other via computer networks. What forces are fuelling e-commerce? There are at least three major forces fuelling e-commerce: Economic forces. One of the most evident benefits of e-commerce is economic efficiency resulting from the reduction in communications costs, – low-cost technological infrastructure. – speedier and more economic electronic transactions with suppliers. – lower global information sharing and advertising costs. Market forces. Corporations are encouraged to use e-commerce in marketing and promotion to capture international markets, both big and small. The Internet is likewise used as a medium for enhanced customer service and support. Technology forces. The development of ICT is a key factor in the growth of ecommerce. What are the components of a successful e-commerce transaction loop? To maximize the benefits of e-commerce, a number of technical as well as enabling issues have to be considered. A typical e-commerce transaction loop involves the following major players and corresponding requisites: 1. The Seller should have the following components: A corporate Web site with e-commerce capabilities (e.g., a secure transaction server); A corporate intranet so that orders are processed in an efficient manner; and IT-literate employees to manage the information flows and maintain the e-commerce system. 2. Transaction partners include: Banking institutions that offer transaction clearing services (e.g., processing credit card payments and electronic fund transfers); National and international freight companies to enable the movement of physical goods within, around and out of the country. Authentication authority that serves as a trusted third party to ensure the integrity and security of transactions. 3. Consumers (in a business-to-consumer transaction) Form a critical mass of the population with access to the Internet and disposable income enabling widespread use of credit cards; and Possess a mindset for purchasing goods over the Internet rather than by physically inspecting items. 4. Firms/Businesses that together form a critical mass of companies (especially within supply chains) with Internet access and the capability to place and take orders over the Internet. 5. Government, to establish: A legal framework governing e-commerce transactions (including electronic documents, signatures, and the like); and Legal institutions that would enforce the legal framework (i.e., laws and regulations) and protect consumers and businesses from fraud, among others. 6. Internet, the successful use of which depends on the following: A robust and reliable Internet infrastructure; and A pricing structure that doesn’t penalize consumers for spending time on and buying goods over the Internet (e.g., a flat monthly charge for both ISP access and local phone calls).

Was Caesar a Good Leader?

Julius Caesar was born on July 12, 100 BC in Rome. He was a great leader of the Roman Empire. Some people believe that Caesar wasn’t a great leader or man. Experts say he was greedy and a megalomaniac. They also say that he bribed the people to love him and he cheated the system. Other experts say he was a great leader because he was for the Roman people unlike previous leaders. I believe that Caesar was a great leader for the Roman people because he created reforms to help the people, created a new government, and changed the course of history.Caesar was very helpful to the people when he took over. He created many solid reforms to give the people what they needed. He won people over by creating them. Some of the reforms he created were tax reforms in Asia and Sicily, allowing captured people to become citizens, and giving free food to the poor. The tax reforms in Asia and Sicily were made because â€Å"both had suffered from avaricious governors and tax-collectors. (Seindal 2003) This put Caesar at an advantage because this reform got people in other places to like him better. Caesar allowed people that he captured while he was fighting to become citizens throughout his dictatorship. This helped the Roman Empire prosper because it had many different abilities and trades coming in with all the different people. Finally, Caesar gave food to the poor. He didn’t ration it. He just gave it out to them. This meant that people that couldn’t get their own food could have it very easily.

Evolving Nursing Roles Essay

The Institute of Medicine released a report in October 2010 that set out to answer the question, â€Å"what roles can nursing assume to address the increasing demand for safe, high-quality, and effective health care services?† . Three ways that the report suggests to do this are to utilize nurses to their full extent of education and training, a higher level of education for nurses and a stronger leadership role. . Nurses make up the largest segment of the health care workforce and have the capacity to positively impact healthcare in the future, especially with the changes coming from the Affordable Care Act. Nursing is one of the few professions that has several educational pathways to licensure. In order to qualify to take the NCLEX-RN exam, one can obtain an associate’s degree in nursing (ADN), a bachelor’s of science in nursing (BSN) or can complete a diploma program. â€Å"The primary goals of nursing education remain the same: nurses must be prepared to meet diverse patients’ needs; function as leaders; and advance science that benefits patients and the capacity of health professionals to deliver safe, quality patient care†. . While these goals are ideal, the educational road to get there can be streamlined to be less confusing and â€Å"to prepare nursing graduates to work collaboratively and effectively with other health professionals in a complex and evolving health care system in a variety of settings†. . New RNs are not always prepared for the job and there is a high turnover rate for â€Å"new grads†. Hospitals can help the transition by offering â€Å"new grad† or residency programs and longer orientation periods. RNs not only have to become efficient at the tasks of the job, but also be able to critically think a situation, delegate tasks to CNAs and LVNs, effectively manage time and become comfortable with communicating with doctors and other healthcare team members. The key is to better educate nurses both before and after licensure. . The Institute of Medicine’s report states that nurses are being underutilized. The changing healthcare system in the United States requires that â€Å"the system undergo a fundamental shift to provide patient-centered care; deliver more primary as opposed to specialty care; deliver more care in the community rather than  the acute care setting; provide seamless care†.. Gone are the days of just treating a patient in a hospital once he or she has become ill. Patients are being educated about disease prevention and health promotion in their communities, there is improved access to care for the poor and those in rural areas and there is hospice care available. Nurses are at the core of this shift and help to provide a high quality of care more safely and with fewer errors. With the shortage of healthcare providers, advanced practice registered nurses should be given more responsibilities and a broader scope of practice. Some hospitals and healthcare facilities are already making changes and are seeing positive results. The impact of employing nurses in a substantial way will continue to improve patient care and promote health and wellness; however there are some issues that will need to be addressed. It is true that nurses are capable of doing more with their experience, skills and education, but nurse to patient ratios is a major factor in why nurses aren’t doing more. It would be ideal if the nurse could provide care to a patient in the hospital, provide thorough education about the disease process and prevention, address any spiritual and social services needs and coordinate any home health or therapy requirements. However, with a nurse to patient ratio of 1:4 or 1:5 and several discharges and new admits every day, this is unlikely in the acute care setting. I strive to provide seamless care for my patients and give as much of myself and my time as I can, but I also have no choice but to rely on other sources, such as social services and case management. Unfortunately, many patients who need these services and who could benefit from more education do not get it because of time constraints. It is my hope that as this shift occurs, there will be fewer patients who need to be admitted to the hospital and there will be more time to provide patients with the care and information that they need. â€Å"Strong leadership is critical if the vision of a transformed health care system is to be realized†. . Nurses may not have originally thought they would be leaders when they entered the profession. Most likely they just wanted to help people. However, now more than ever, nurses have to become partners with other healthcare team members and help lead the way to reformed healthcare in the country. According to the IOM report, â€Å"being a full partner involves taking responsibility for identifying problems and areas of waste, devising and implementing a plan for improvement, tracking  improvement over time, and making necessary adjustments to realize established goals.† Nurses must use their leadership skills to work with others and advocate for their patients to make these improvements. Obtaining a higher level of education will assist students or RNs to develop leadership competencies and help them gain the confidence needed to work on these projects. References Creasia, J. L., & Friberg, E. (2011). Conceptual Foundations: The Bridge to Professional Nursing Practice (5th ed). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier. The Institute of Medicine. (2010). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

An Analysis of Piggy and Jacks Temperament in Lord of the Flies

Analysis of the temperament of pig and Jack in fly of the Lord In the novel Lies of the Lord, William Golding created an island representing the world's microcosm. The characters in the book have unique and different personality to simulate the real world. All the children of the island are different. Each character belongs to the temperament of a craftsman, rational, idealist or guardian. The personality of the character helps determine their personality. The uninhabited island of the fly became a symbolic image of the Earth, where civilization (Ralph and Pig community) was created and destroyed (Tribe of Jack), forming a new country (2 camps The juveniles of the earth parted, diplomatic relations began (Ralph - Jacques), a war broke out (Jack, Morris, Roger adds Ralph and pigs), and a new religious belief is formed (worship Flying King ) Flying King has three protagonists, Ralph, Piggy and Jack. Jack is a symbol of emotion and barbarism. He earned his living by hunting, dominated d ictators, and led the purpose of evil. Piglets are weak. He is an abandoned person, but he is a very smart, real, intellectual friend. As a former leader of the boys' group, Ralph tried to remain reasonable and just. Ralph is an important part of this story. Examples of leadership, behavior, courage, thinking, external influences, and excerpts to better understand this role In the novel The Lord of the Flies, three boys, Jack, Ralph, Pig are used to explore three kinds of characters. The impulsiveness and sexuality of Jack Merridew proved his identity, Ralph tried to keep peace to show himself, and pig's excessive judgment Self was used to explore the supergo . If they are isolated, the new personality of each child will be the devastating effect of their separation and loneliness. Three children of the same age and sex show how to fix personality to the side of a particular person. People's way of thinking depends on the circumstances and circumstances of the person. Personality ca n not be defined or fixed to a specific category. Personality is influenced by individuals and their own experiences and is not influenced by their specific aspects. I recently read William Golding 's Golding (1954). This book has various psychological aspects; I do not know where to start from! Jack, Ralph, and pig of the hero can be seen as three conflicting aspects of the heart; trying to maintain harmony, Id is Jack, Superego is Piggy, and Ego is Ralf. Ralf played his father's role, which may have happened due to his strong attachment to his father and therefore likely to mimic his adult behavior (Bandura, 1965). Even parachuting is a phobia of Beast, or a bullying act of a pig scorpion, which is a matter of psychology. An Analysis of Piggy and Jacks Temperament in Lord of the Flies Analysis of the temperament of pig and Jack in fly of the Lord In the novel Lies of the Lord, William Golding created an island representing the world's microcosm. The characters in the book have unique and different personality to simulate the real world. All the children of the island are different. Each character belongs to the temperament of a craftsman, rational, idealist or guardian. The personality of the character helps determine their personality. The uninhabited island of the fly became a symbolic image of the Earth, where civilization (Ralph and Pig community) was created and destroyed (Tribe of Jack), forming a new country (2 camps The juveniles of the earth parted, diplomatic relations began (Ralph - Jacques), a war broke out (Jack, Morris, Roger adds Ralph and pigs), and a new religious belief is formed (worship Flying King ) Flying King has three protagonists, Ralph, Piggy and Jack. Jack is a symbol of emotion and barbarism. He earned his living by hunting, dominated d ictators, and led the purpose of evil. Piglets are weak. He is an abandoned person, but he is a very smart, real, intellectual friend. As a former leader of the boys' group, Ralph tried to remain reasonable and just. Ralph is an important part of this story. Examples of leadership, behavior, courage, thinking, external influences, and excerpts to better understand this role In the novel The Lord of the Flies, three boys, Jack, Ralph, Pig are used to explore three kinds of characters. The impulsiveness and sexuality of Jack Merridew proved his identity, Ralph tried to keep peace to show himself, and pig's excessive judgment Self was used to explore the supergo . If they are isolated, the new personality of each child will be the devastating effect of their separation and loneliness. Three children of the same age and sex show how to fix personality to the side of a particular person. People's way of thinking depends on the circumstances and circumstances of the person. Personality ca n not be defined or fixed to a specific category. Personality is influenced by individuals and their own experiences and is not influenced by their specific aspects. I recently read William Golding 's Golding (1954). This book has various psychological aspects; I do not know where to start from! Jack, Ralph, and pig of the hero can be seen as three conflicting aspects of the heart; trying to maintain harmony, Id is Jack, Superego is Piggy, and Ego is Ralf. Ralf played his father's role, which may have happened due to his strong attachment to his father and therefore likely to mimic his adult behavior (Bandura, 1965). Even parachuting is a phobia of Beast, or a bullying act of a pig scorpion, which is a matter of psychology.

Ethical Dilemma in Nursing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ethical Dilemma in Nursing - Research Paper Example Ethical dilemmas are clinical situations where the beneficent care giving interventions or ethical values of health professionals conflict with a patient’s or family member’s wishes (Melia, 1992). Nurses are obligated to respect a patient’s choice and enforce the decision within the law and standards of the profession. Nurses may also have personal values that may conflict with a patient’s choice and it is important in all situations that nurses respect the patient’s choice. Ethical principles exist in the profession so as to guide the conduct of nurses and when faced with ethical dilemmas, the basis for decision making for the health care provider is guided by these values. ... th medical ethics and can be distinguished by the emphasis nursing ethics have on human dignity, formation of caring relationships and collaborative care. Principals such as justice, autonomy, non-maleficence and beneficence are core to the nursing profession (Brody, 1998). The ethical principles guide the everyday practice of nurses to ensure good patient care and to practice within the acceptable code of ethics. In the nursing profession, nurses usually encounter medical situations that present ethical conflicts. Nurses actively participate during ethical decision making in clinical situations and these decisions may conflict with a patient’s or the family’s decision making autonomy. This presents an ethical dilemma to the nurse whose practice is guided by ethical principles but having the responsibility of providing decisions that conflict with these principals. 2.0 Case Study Baby Grace is an infant who had a low heart rate at birth with breathing difficulties and a lso exhibited no movement of her extremities. She was intubated and is supported by a mechanical ventilator. Diagnostic tests revealed that there was a hemorrhage high in her cervical spinal cord, the prognosis being poor. The parents have kept her on the ventilator life support for three months, with the hope that their baby would recover. There is little chance of recovery and Baby Grace’s quality of life is poor. Nurses view the situation as the importance of human life, the baby’s condition stabilized and they are reluctant to remove life support. The parents are unsure of the decision to make. 3.0 Ethical Conflict Nursing is a dynamic as well as a complex profession especially in situations where decisions that have to be made hang in the balance between life and death. Beneficence and