Saturday, August 31, 2019

Against and Grey Area Essay

Yet So Colorful To truly understand why gay marriage is a pressing issue, understanding both arguments is a must. The argument across the nation is, are you for or against allowing legally recognized marriage between homosexuals to co-exist with that of heterosexual marriages? Yet should same sex marriage be legalized throughout the entire United States? It is a topic of great disagreement among many people, and is discussed in many presidential debates. Tolerance is a word that should be used in all three of our writings, yet for this neutral approach towards same sex marriage tolerance is a perfect word. A definition of tolerance is: The ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. (New Oxford American Dictionary; New York 2001). In this case, tolerance would refer to being tolerant towards those who are for same sex marriage and those who are against same sex marriage. Tolerance is one of the most basic reasons people have immigrated to the United States. Equality and tolerance are needed, for it is our birthright as Americans. Tolerance is a word that is used in The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, The Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King’s famous speech. As much as I am emotionally supportive of same sex marriage, I do believe that as Americans we must give everyone the freedom to believe what they wish, as long as it is not hurting anyone. Therefore those who disagree with same sex marriage have as much right to disagree with gay marriage as those who are for gay marriage or wish to marry some one of the same sex. Tolerance and equal rights are two major reasons so many immigrants from all over the world selected the United States for their home. These three quotations from famous yet well-respected Americans help to point out values that are important to American society. â€Å"We will only attain freedom if we learn to appreciate what is different, and muster the courage to discover what is fundamentally the same. America’s diversity offers so much richness and opportunity. Take a chance, won’t you? Knock down the fences which divide. – Justice Thurgood Marshall The highest result of education is tolerance. † – Helen Keller, Optimism (1903) â€Å"Laws alone cannot secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire population. † – Albert Einstein So tolerance toward anyone and their beliefs whether you agree or disagree is the correct approach. Homosexuals have the right to express themselves in the same way that heterosexuals express themselves. We all have equality and must be tolerant of each other. Like the vast majority of Americans, I’ve opposed same sex marriage, but I’ve also opposed unjust discrimination against anyone, for racial or religious reasons, or for sexual preference. Americans are a tolerant, generous, and kind people. We all oppose bigotry and disparagement. But the debate over same sex marriage is not a debate over tolerance. It is a debate about the purpose of the institution of marriage and it is a debate about activist judges who make up the law rather than interpret the law. Mitt Romney 12/14/2006 National Review Online In this quote, Mitt Romney argues that Americans recognize marriage as a partnership between man and woman. He states that the creation and development of the next generation is at stake with same sex couples. On the other side of the spectrum gay rights activists argue that marriage should be universal with no boundaries. Gay people (men and men and women and women) should have the same ability to marry just like their heterosexual counterparts men and women. Many gay people claim that not allowing gays to marry is a hate crime. They say it is exactly the same as discriminating against race or religious preference. Thomas Jefferson uses the Declaration of Independence to elaborate on the rights of a government. His idea of equality is closely related to the concept that, because all men are equal, the government’s power is based on â€Å"the consent of the governed,† not by its own arbitrary whims or motives. Today, America is one of the most culturally diverse nations in the world. Given this, the importance of tolerance in the government has great importance at present. The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that a ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, and in the opinion stated that: â€Å"government attorneys failed to identify any constitutionally adequate reason to deny them [gay couples] the right. † This was a very important and groundbreaking ruling. It opened the doors for more states to legalize same sex marriage. It is important for heterosexual people to be tolerant towards homosexuals and their legal right to ask for same sex marriage. It is also important for gay people to respect, be patient and tolerant of heterosexual that do not believe in same sex marriage. Perhaps with tolerance and understanding from both parties more acceptances of each other’s differences will be reached. Change is constant yet does take time. It is scary yet change must happen before we pass judgments. Alex Snyder 9/27/12 C. Dowling Engl. 100 The Wrong Choice, Vote Yes For the Two thousand years of this countries rich history, homosexuality was considered a sin and bad enough to ban, with many state laws prohibiting sodomy. Then in the 2003 Lawrence VS Texas case, The Supreme court ruled in favor of homosexuality and for the laws to be taken away. As the article I read stated, suddenly, homosexuality was not bad enough to prohibit and now, we have to permit it. Homosexuality is bad for the economy and the people of the United States of America and it should be against the law to act in a homosexual manner. My first argument is that a child a gay couple raises may grow up to be shunned by others even in fact alienated by the society they live in. Gay couples raising children cannot give or meet the child’s needs that many heterosexual couples can. Children feel alienated or embarrassed when in public with their homosexual parents. Many homosexual relationships end very badly. Homosexual relationships have a higher break up rate or â€Å"divorce† rate than heterosexual couples. These couples indoctrinate their children from day one on this earth by accepting homosexual relationships as equivalent and the norm. Further more adoption in the homosexual relationship will make the child a trophy, which in effect, validates homosexual relationships. Allowing same sex marriage validates homosexual relationships. My second point is that of taxes, taxes kill me on a day-to-day basis, and I am sure I am not alone. Income taxes will increase in order to make up for the marriage tax benefits given to homosexual couples. As well as paying for social costs resulting from illegitimacy increases. Do you believe Homosexual couples should get the same benefits from raising a child as a man and women raising a child should? Further more social security taxes would increase in order to pay enefits of losing a significant other, such as â€Å"widows† and â€Å"widowers†. Not to mention medical insurance premiums will be at an all time high if gay marriage is allowed because we have to offset the health care costs that go along with homosexual behavior such as (AIDS, hepatitis, Colon Cancer, and other diseases) these homosexual acts will likely be more validated and will likely increase if same sex marriage is approved. Homosexual supporters may say, â€Å"It isn’t hurting anyone† When in theory it is hurting everyone. They could also say something along the lines of â€Å" If I want to behave a certain way, it is my right† when It may be your right, but that does not mean society as a whole is going to endorse and support your choices. Homosexuality will tear this country apart. Hurting our generations to come by indoctrinating our children and our children’s children, but also hurt you and our country as a whole. Alex Snyder 10/7/12 C. Dowling Engl. 100 Gay Marriage: A 21st Century Prejudice Isn’t it good for society to have couples that are in love and are committed to one another regardless of sexual orientation? Furthermore people who love one another create good in there own lives and for people around them. For example I have had the rare opportunity to have two gay couples in my family. My great uncle Bill and his boyfriend uncle Paul were in love and together for over 40 years. They were monogamous and married in their hearts and minds for over 40 years. They taught my siblings, my cousins and I how to sail, cook and love your partner unconditionally through the good times and the bad times. They could never legally be married. The unfortunate consequence of the two never being able to marry occurred when my uncle Bill died this year. Our uncle Paul is unable to support himself because unlike a wife he cannot receive his partner social security benefits and veteran health insurance benefits even though he cared for our uncle Bill for 10 years when he was a quadriplegic. Another example is my step cousin Sylvia and her partner Katherine. They have been together for 20 years. They live in Vermont. They were able to get married. They now have 2 children. Katherine and Sylvia are protected legally and financially through their marriage. They love each other and are committed to being each other’s spouse and being loving parents to their two heterosexual children. They love their children and will support their daughter and son to be the best citizens they can be. Their sexual preference is unimportant. These couples are two examples of how same-sex marriage can be successful. So is necessary to protect the partner if death or illness occurs. For example if a gay person is hospitalized and they are not married to their partner. Their partner is not allowed in the hospital room because they are not family. If their partner dies and they are not married they cannot receive their partners social security benefits but a legal spouse can receive their husband or wife’s benefits. This unequal playing field is sad and emotionally unappealing. With the divorce rate being over 60% and with the suicide rate being so high there should be absolutely no shame or judgment in being with the person you truly love. I might sound like a romanticist yet it may make the world a happier place with everyone being so equal and on the same ground, giving way for more tolerance and love to be expressed.

Vermeer’s Hat Review Essay

In Vermeer’s Hat: The seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World, Timothy Brook uses Vermeer’s paintings to show the effects of trade on the world and the overall globalization occurring. Brook argues that this globalization had begun in the seventeenth century. He takes a look at Vermeer’s paintings, and uses them as windows into seventeenth century history to discuss further topics of interest. Through every painting, it leads to a door that causes a discussion point of the history of the world. Brook starts the story setting out in the city of Delft in the Netherlands.This author does not simply restate history facts we all know, he goes much deeper than that, getting to the heart of each painting and the history shown throughout each one, proving his arguments to be true. Through every painting, it led to a door that caused a discussion point of the history of the world. In Brook's third chapter, he goes on to discuss the painting Young Woman Readin g a Letter at an Open Window. The title itself is very self-explanatory. The painting has a young woman who is looking toward a window while reading a letter.Also in this painting is a table draped with a tablecloth and a spilt bowl of fruit lying on top of it. The bowl of fruit is what Brook uses as a window into the seventeenth century, specifically the Chinese porcelain, and how it began to become a part of Dutch life. Brook argues that the VOC (Dutch East India Company) had begun their interest and trade for porcelain shortly after 1600. He backs up his argument stating that among the most successful potters were those from Delft, who were descendants from the sixteenth century. Brook says,â€Å"They brought their knowledge of ceramics production with them and were able to set up kilns in Delft's renowned breweries, many of which had been forced to close down as working-class taste shifted from beer to gin. In these newly converted potteries, they began to experiment with imita tions of the new ceramic aesthetic coming from China, and buyers liked what they produced†. (78) This shows you that this new change of potteries, and porcelain originated in the seventeenth century, and Brook has a good understanding of the globalization that is occurring.Through the make and trade of porcelain, Dutch people were becoming more global, and opening their trade to other countries such as China, Europe, and Spain. It also proves that his arguments are completely valid. He has his facts straight and does not only tell you, but shows you through the paintings the history involved to back him up. In chapter five, School for Smoking, it does not directly deal with one of Vermeer’s paintings;, however,; it takes a look at the Delft manufactured Chinese plate, which leads to a discussion about tobacco.He Brook states that tobacco started in Europe due to Portuguese sailors, and from there it spread, and soon became was in high demand. Through this sudden outburs t of a need for tobacco, it made way for a growth in the global community, eventually being a contribution to the opium phenomenon. Brook states, â€Å"From this new labor arrangement, a new system of trade emerged. Tobacco (along with sugar) was a crop that could be used to make the Americas profitable, while Africa supplied the labor to make plantation production in the Americas feasible and South American silver paid for goods shipped from Europe and the Americas to Asia.Together the three prime commodities of the age—silver, tobacco, and slaves to mine the first and harvest the second—set the foundations on which the long-term colonization of the Americas rested. † (132) Brook connects tobacco to the reason more plantations were built, and why slaves were needed more than before and how it helped the colonization of the American world. He states that tobacco started in Europe due to Portuguese sailors, and from there it spread and soon became was in high dem and.Chinese people thought that tobacco had medicinal purposes, while Native Americans thought that tobacco connected you to a supernatural world. If we skip back a little, in the first chapter of Vermeer’s Hat: The seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World, Brook discusses Vermeer's first painting, View of Delft. This painting is one of the only outdoor scenes Vermeer had painted that is still in existence. The first window Brook opens for his readers in this painting is a view of the city of Delft.This painting shows the river harbor in Delft. Brook first uses the herring buses in this painting to open a window into the seventeenth century. Herring buses Timothy Brook states herring buses in Vermeer's Hat, are, â€Å"three-masted vessels built to fish for herring in the North Sea† (12). The herring buses give Timothy Brook a window to talk about the climate change and sickness in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In these two centuries, the temperat ures were falling all over the world, creating increased sickness and shorter crop seasons.In Vermeer's Hat, Brook says that the two herring boats in the painting are evidence of climate change. Brook also uses Vermeer to talk about the exchanges in the seventeenth century. He states that one of the benefits of the climate changing was the southward movement of fish stocks in the North Sea. This gave the fisherman more success. Another window Brook uses to open up the seventeenth century areis the roofs of the buildings in this painting. In particular, he uses a warehouse, known as the Dutch East India Company, or as they call it the VOC.The VOC was as Brook states in Vermeer's Hat, â€Å"tThe world's first large joint stock company, the VOC was formed in 1602 when the Dutch Republic obliged the many trading companies popping up to take advantage of the Asian trade boom to merge into a single commercial organization† (15). This company gave huge advantages for the Dutch for m aritime trade in Asia. It became one of the most powerful companies for business enterprises in the seventeenth century. Brook talks about how the VOC even affected a painter such as Vermeer's life.The VOC for many Dutch meant a better life. Due to this maritime trade, advances in technology were made. A couple discoveries were the magnetic compass, which allowed sailors to lose sight of the land and still know approximately where they were, paper, whichthat helped merchants to keep track of records, and gunpowder, which helped them make military advances. All of these windows Brook opens show the interchanging ideas, products, and climate. Brook I think Brook did well backing up his arguments about globalization.He uses evidence, and facts, and history, to prove everything. It is all quite logical as well, explaining how things have begun to change into a more modern world with exchanges of ideas and such. Brook shows us that all of these globalizations we think of such as fast com munications, and high tech objects all started from the beginning globalization of the seventeenth century. And none of this occurred due to big companies and millions of people, it started by a few men who opened up routes and communications for us.As a college undergraduate student myself, depending upon your area of interest, I would recommend this book to others. I have never been interested in history, but it is quite interesting the way Brook uses random objects and buildings in Vermeer's paintings to show the globalization occurring. So I would say if you love history or art definitely read this book. Even if you do not love either one of those, read it. You will definitely appreciate it, and have a much better understanding of seventeenth century history after reading it.This book is an easy read, with not a lot of hard vocabulary to have to understand as well. Reading this book makes you realize where all the trade and new ideas came from. Holly, You make some good points. I made some suggestions and corrections. Your paper should have no extra spacing between each paragraph (it should be 0pt between each one). Also, you jump around a little in the body section. You may want to just move your discussion of the earlier chapters to the beginning of the body section, so that the body then flows from the earlier to the later chapters. Good job though. – Ms. Perry

Friday, August 30, 2019

Debate over globalisation Essay

Currently in international circles there is a great debate over globalisation and whether it is a force for good or bad. The statement oversimplifies the matter, of course. But the issue of globalisation and our collective response to it promises to define who prospers and who does not well into the 21st century. Globalisation has positive and negative aspects. On top of its positive aspects comes the tremendous development of new information and communication technology, triggers in economic growth through increased trade and job creation around the world. This economical growth can be illustrated by the fact that the world real GDP grew from US$2 trillion to US$28 trillion, which means an increase of 1400%. On a per capita basis, this means an increase of US$614 to US$4908, an increase of about 800%. The quality of life in developed countries has increased However, anti-globalisation supporters affirm that although there was an economical growth, this was not well distributed throu ghout society, and that over the past 150 years, the rich countries are developing at a faster rate than the poor countries, increasing the difference between them. This happens because dealing with globalisation in a capitalist society, there will always be winners and losers. The winners will be the nations which have more skill, technology, information, power and money, whilst the losers will be the poor countries, which export primarily goods and rely on the rich countries to obtain technology and manufactured goods. As a term, globalisation means different things to different people. To some, it is a purely economic trend, the result of the market system unleashed on a worldwide scale, a century-long process that has now been vastly accelerated by the fall of Communism and the relaxation of other restrictive economic practices. As has the impact and growth of globalisation changed, so has its meaning during the last decades. But what is certain is that globalisation is not something of today or yesterday. Among the so many given definitions, Martin Wolf defines globalisation as a â€Å"journey, but toward an unreachable destination, the globalised world. A globalised economy in which, neither distance nor national borders impede economic transactions. A world where the cost of transport and communication were zero and the barriers created by differing national jurisdictions had vanished†. (Wolf, 2001: 178). But globalisation is a very wide notion, which embraces the social, cultural, and political interdependency of states. Globalisation refers also to the integration and interaction between different people and nations. Take the European Union as an example, where the member states share the same democratic values and norms, or the convergence and similarities of the constitutions of the member states, which could lead to a European law or constitution. To others, it defines the ever widening process of international interchange and interconnection that can be witnessed in so many aspects of life, whether the casual observation that top musical artists draw increasingly on other cultures for their melodies and rhythms, the news that former enemies are now participating in joint peacekeeping missions, or the realisation that there are suddenly many more foreign faces and accents in your hometown than before. No matter what the definition, globalisation is dynamic and real, causing numerous and often radical changes in all but the most remote places. Depending on your point of view, circumstance and prospects, the process can be seen as hugely positive or grossly negative. Those who defend globalisation say it is bringing prosperity to untold millions around the world, breaking down national and cultural barriers, and helping to speed the general process of peace-building. Critics say that the chaotic manner in which market forces have scaled up to the global level has unleashed a destructive whirlwind that treats workers callously, serves too often to further impoverish the poor at the expense of the rich, and wreaks vast amounts of environmental destruction. They say that its side effects are equally horrific, ranging from the spread of AIDS and drug abuse to the creation of a world monoculture that destroys local traditions and squelches diversity. At the 1995 World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, nations of the world took note of this dualism: â€Å"Globalization, which is a consequence of increased human mobility, enhanced communications, greatly increased trade and capital flows, and technological developments, opens new opportunities for sustained economic growth and development of the world economy, particularly in developing countries. Globalization also permits countries to share experiences and to learn from one another’s achievements and difficulties, and promotes a cross-fertilization of ideals, cultural values and aspirations. At the same time, the rapid processes of change and adjustment have been accompanied by intensified poverty, unemployment and social disintegration. Threats to human well-being, such as environmental risks, have also been globalized.† Inasmuch as the pain caused by some aspects of globalisation is undeniable, the real issue is whether the negative effects of its sweeping processes can be ameliorated and the positive effects enhanced. Because in the opinions of some, the forward march of globalisation is unstoppable. The notion concept of sovereignty refers to the three-fold capacity of a state, which is the â€Å"absolute supremacy over internal affairs within its territory, absolute right to govern its people, and freedom from any external interference in the above matters† (Wang, 2004: 473). So a state is sovereign if it has the ability to make and implement laws within its territory, and can function without any external power and assistance, and doesn’t acknowledges any higher authority above itself in the world of independent states. From the above definition one can draw the conclusion that either a stat e can be sovereign or not, since sovereignty is defined as the absolute supremacy and right of the government in a given state. A realist like Steven D.Krasner agrees on the collapsing autonomy of states but deny the impact of globalisation on nation state, which could possibly lead to the death of state sovereignty. He argues, â€Å"Those who proclaim the death of sovereignty misread the history. The nation state has a keen instinct for survival and has so far adapted to new challenges, even the challenge of globalization† (Krasner, 2001: 20). He also argues that globalisation is not a new challenge or phenomena. Viewed from a criminological point, â€Å"the perceived normality of high crime rates, together with thee widely acknowledged limitations of criminal justice agencies, have begun to erode one of the foundational myths of modern societies: namely, the myth that the sovereign state is capable of providing security, law and order, crime control within its territorial boundaries† (Garland, 1996: 448). The notion of legitimate organized violence monopoly, which is of great importance for the internal order as well as for the foreign accountability of a state, is challenged by the international criminality. Since states cannot provide security for their citizens and are not capa ble of guaranteeing internal order, one of the fundamental elements of state sovereignty is undermined and questioned. The negative effects of globalisation can be softened only through new and higher levels of international cooperation and consultation, filtered through a new system of moral values that puts human welfare and social justice ahead of the predominantly materialistic paradigm currently in vogue. Call this global governance. Call it world government. But one way or the other, the forces of globalisation will require the creation of some sort of international super authority, one that can ensure that human rights and workers’ prerogatives are upheld, and that the environment is protected, as globalisation proceeds. Another factor that is observed is that the number of poor people (people living with less than US$1 per day) has increased, and reached almost 1.2 billion people, which is almost one fifth of the world’s total population. This is partly caused by the increase in global population, but also due to the distribution of the money. The ratio of income between the wor lds twenty percent richest and twenty percent poorest has increased from 30:1 to 78:1. Many people also question the issue of globalisation creating more jobs when multinationals establish new factories in foreign countries. Their argument is that although more jobs are created, and that this reduces the unemployment, these jobs don’t require any skill and workers have very bad working conditions, working long hours and receiving little money. And as the workers have no other working options, and working in these factories is their only source of income, they can’t do anything else, but work to try to survive. Besides this, the unemployment levels are very high, which means that there is always someone available to substitute workers that aren’t happy with what they are being offered. These facts make us think in a way of making globalisation fairer, and giving developing countries the chance of benefiting more from it. So that this can happen, there are many things that need to be changed. First of all the development needs to be more focused on the people, and not only in financial reasons. Fairer rules and deeper partnerships should be done between developed and developing countries so they can have a mutually beneficial relationship. Also one of the most important things to ensure that nations can benefit the most from globalisation is that a powerful, democratic and more effective UN helps to control the spread and paths of globalisation. From this we can conclude that globalisation is one of the most important factors of the new century, and that it will continue spreading and growing all around the world, reaching the furthest corners of the planet. The question of whether it is good or bad can never be answered completely, and there isn’t a right or wrong answer, because there will always be good and bad sides to it. At present globalisation seems to be beneficial for some and detrimental to others. For globalisation to be beneficial to the majority depends on how it is treated and controlled. Globalisation could be very beneficial to society as a whole if managed correctly.

Impact of political ideologies on education policy Essay

Introduction Political parties with widely divergent views have a serious impact on government policies. If the government changes from extreme right to extreme left policies with every election, it would be impossible to make long lasting policies. A left-wing government may like to keep major resources in public hands while the right wing government may have a policy of promoting privatization. Fortunately, while this often is the case in emerging democracies, the countries of developed world have managed to establish certain common policies accepted by all major parties and a change of government does not mean political upheaval any more. In United Kingdom, policies of two main parties, the Labour and the Conservatives had considerable differences in their perception of how the country should be governed. Conservative party believes in market economy while the Labour party was considered a left of center party with socialist leaning. Both of these parties have elements, which have; extreme right views in the case of Conservative Party and extreme left wing view in the case of Labour party. Over the years these difference have narrowed considerably and the present Blair’s government policies of ‘New Labour’ are a far cry from the leftwing policies of the past. United Kingdom is a social welfare state and the public policy dealing with the social issues and programs plays an important role in the administration of government functions. The important elements of UK social policy are Social Security, Health, Housing, Education and Personal Social Services (welfare and children) [Alcock, 1996]. Both major political parties have their own views on the direction social policy should take and while maintaining the basic structure, both parties try to implement their own political ideology in reforming/modifying the social policies. As an example, when Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government was in power, it favoured private ownership of housing and privately rented housing, while the Labour government before her promoted public sector housing under the local councils. The social policy in the education sector has also been affected by the political ideologies of the ruling parties, For example, grant maintained schools set up by Conservatives Government under the 1988 Education Act were abolished by the 1997 Labour Government. Government policies have an immense effect on education involving huge resources. This essay reviews the impact of political ideologies of the ruling party on education policies since 1945. Butler’s Act Implementation Begins after 1945 The 1944 Education Act also known as Butler Act laid the foundation of the present system of education policy. The Act basically replaced all previous legislation and became the basis of post World War Education Policy. The implementation of the policy began with the first post World War Elections in 1946, when Clement Attlee’s government came into power. Attlee’s cabinet had Ellen Wilkinson as the Minister of Education as the Act had abolished the previous control by the Boards of Education and introduced a Ministry of Education. The new policy introduced compulsory education from the age of 5-15 with support services, such as milk, transport and medical support for children in the age group. Religious education was made compulsory but parents were given the right to withdraw their children from religious education. Local Education Authorities were to govern the system on a local level and managed by a Chief Education Officer appointed by the LEAs. The secondary education from 1946 onwards was said to be based on a ‘tripartite system’, Grammar Schools for the most able students selected based on a placement test at age 11, Secondary Modern Schools for the rest. The third category of Secondary Technical Schools was specified in the new Education Policy but very few schools of this type were actually opened. Until the end of World War 2, a national unity government (Coalition government headed by Conservative Winston Churchill) ruled the country and education was considered a non-partisan issue. However the differences in the education for ordinary people in congested, large class rooms in old buildings on one hand and high class English private education for the privileged elite was producing two very different category of citizens. This kind of education could not be a part of Labour politics. In the first election after the Second World War, the Labour party won a landslide victory and had the task of implementing the 1944 Education Act. Governments 1946 – To date In order to study the impact of political ideologies on education we need to compare the education policy with the government in power to monitor the effect of party politics on education policy. This information is presented below [Gillard, 2004a]: Period Prime Minister Political Party/Parties July 45- Oct 51 Clement Attlee Labour Oct 51 – Apr 55 Winston Churchill Conservative Apr 55- Jan 57 Anthony Eden Conservative Jan 57- Oct 63 Harold McMillan Conservative Oct 63 – Oct 64 Alex Hume Conservative Oct 64 – June 70 Harold Wilson Labour. June 70 – Mar 74 Edward Heath Conservative Mar 74 – Apr 76 Harold Wilson Labour Apr 76 – May 79 James Callaghan Labour May 79 – Nov 90 Margaret Thatcher Conservative Nov 90 – May 97 John Major Conservative May 97- To date Tony Blair Labour As we see from the above Table, during the last 60 years the two main parties in power have been Conservative party who believe in far-right to right of center politics [The Right Approach, 1976], and the Labour party which believes in socialist, left-of- center politics. The present Labour government can be considered as a Centrist party with its slogan of ‘New Labour’. The third major political party is the Liberal Democrats, which has a major influence in the country but has not been in power during the last 60 years. The nearest taste of power the Liberals had was in the Callaghan Government when the Labour party needed to form an alliance with them. Political Ideology & Education Policy Playing Politics with Education The governments in power have always used education to promote their political objectives. It is said that the reason behind the mass education plan of 1880 was not a concern to promote equality and education among the masses but due to a fear of civil disorder. When the unemployment became high in 1960s, the government fearing further unemployment as new 15 years old coming out of school will flood the market decided to raise the school leaving age to 16. The proposal of raising the school leaving age was originally made in the 1944 Butler Act but not acted upon by any government since 1946 [Chitty, 2004]. In the Education Act 1993, schools were made more accountable for the levels of performance of their pupils When the problem children in schools started impacting the school results, the idea of segregating â€Å"pupils with problems† was introduced to remove this source of embarrassment from the schools [Department of Education,1994]. The political ideologies and diverting the impact of political consequences of other factors have thus affected the education policy. Intelligence Tests Debate The placement examination in educational institutions consider the IQ at least a part of the assessment process. The assumption that IQ is a true measure of a person has been often questioned as children with social disadvantage often have a lower IQ compared to the children of wealthy, educated and socially established families. The IQ test gives an undue advantage to children who receive attention from early childhood while children living in poor, uneducated families appear to be at a disadvantage in these tests. The IQ tests have often been disputed, as they appear to have a class and racial bias. The selection at 11 years for Grammar schools was seen as biased as research in 1960s had questioned the theory of inherited intelligence. The Labour party, being a party of trade unions and the poor questioned the validity of IQ tests while Conservatives advocated the validity of IQ tests as based on precise science. Neutralizing Local Education Authority The post 1945 Education policy empowered Local Education Authorities (LEAs) to administer education at the local level. The local authorities of some regions are traditionally not pro Conservative Party and often were a source of embarrassment for the Central Government. The 1988 Education Act brought by the Conservative party attempted to take away the powers of LEAs. The Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher and John Major passed 1988 and 1993 Education Acts to have central control while neutralizing the LEAs. [Garner, 1998] pointing to the lack of discussions and building of consensus in drafting the education policy states, â€Å"The 1988 Education Act contained 238 clauses and took more than 360 hours of parliamentary time to debate. Its enactment gave the Secretary of State 415 new powers across the spectrum of educational provision. None of these were without controversy, resistance being most notable at local levels. â€Å"[Garner, 1998]. The Education Act 1986 reduced the powers of local government in administering education. The representation of local authorities on school boards was reduced and political indoctrination in local education was forbidden. The powers of local authorities were further reduced by creating city technology colleges and by giving Manpower Services Commission more powers in educational activities. Through these changes, the Conservative government succeeded in â€Å"stripping power from LEAs, thereby largely ridding itself of what had become, during the post-war period, a major source of dissent and criticism of central government action. † [Garner, 1998]. However, LEAs continued to have many of the old responsibilities such as education for children excluded from schools due to behavioural problems but the 1988 Act stripped their powers and resources to meet their responsibilities. â€Å" Opponents of the legislation have argued that, in bringing the ruthlessness of the marketplace into education, the first groups of children to feel the effects have been the disadvantaged and those children who have learning difficulties† [Garner, 1998]. The Conservative political ideology had a major impact on the education policy during the Thatcher and John Major rule. Comprehensive Schools When Labour Government (1964-70) decided to reorganize secondary education by introducing comprehensive education, many local Conservative Councils opposed the move. The proposed measure could not be implemented during this government and remained shelved until 1974 during the Conservative rule of 1970-74. When Labour came to power in 1974 the comprehensive school plan was revived and despite many disputes with the local Conservative Councils (Tameside dispute) was made compulsory in 1976. Introduction of Comprehensive schools improved the quality of normal school at the expense of Grammar schools and affected the quality of education. Grant Maintained School The market based education policy of the Conservative party had a major impact on education policy. The grant-maintained school created under the Education Reform Act 1988 allowed schools to opt-out of the LEA system to gain control over their finances and admission policy. Provisions of 1988 and 1993 Act were further modified in Education Act 1996 [Grant maintained Schools, 2007]. The number of these schools was small in comparison to LEA maintained schools, 1196 schools (5% of total) of all types (primary, secondary, special) opted for Grant maintained school while 21912 stayed under LEAs. The Labour party was opposed to the grant-maintained schools, as it would have created different standard of education while being maintained by the government grants. Labour Government abolished the grant-maintained school in 1998 under the School Standard and Framework Act 1998 and returned the control to LEA. The New Labour ‘Education Policies’ Labour party remained out of power for almost 18 years (May 79-May 97). The New Labour had to modify its policies of left of center to become acceptable to the electorate. This policy has worked and the Labour Party with its modified centrist policy has remained in power since May 97. The effect of the centrist policies on education has been more or less a continuation of the Conservative policies and it appears that finally a change of government will mean only minor policy changes in education. The comprehensive school and uniform education for all so vigorously advocated by Labour politics of the past is not under favour now. The new Labour policy now is ‘standards not structures’ meant continuing with selection policies of Grammar, secondary modern and comprehensive were continued by new Labour [Benn & Chitty, 1996]. Comprehensive schools, a symbol of uniform education are gradually being dismantled as the Government has announced conversion of many of these schools to specialist colleges; schools could win special status by wining business sponsorship. Under the new Labour policies, schools will be allowed to 10% of their pupils through competitive selection, grants based on performance and ‘name and shame practice of under performing schools were all the policies of the past Conservative governments. It appears that the two main parties have now found a common ground in social policy for education and finally the changes in education policies expected with change of government due to political ideologies will become history. Discussions & Conclusions The political ideologies of the left and right have had a major influence on the education policy during the last 50-60 years. The Labour party policy on education advocated a uniform standard of education for all to allow all sections of society an equal chance to develop their abilities. The Conservative policy advocated selective education for the more intelligent, market based reform of education system and parents to educating their children in private schools. The political ideologies of the political parties in power since 1946 had a major impact on the education system of the country. Changes such as comprehensive schools, selection of people for schooling of differing standards, grant based education system, empowering LEAs by one government and removing most powers of LEA by the next government have not been in the interest of education. The Labour party now in power has recognized that their voters are not prepared for the left of center government policies and it now appears that both parties will be following similar policies in education and the changes of the past will become less common. Bibliography 1. Alcock, P. , (1996), Social Policy in Britain : Themes and Issues, Macmillan 2. An introduction to Social Policy, [Online] retrieved from Internet on February 1, 2007, http://www2. rgu. ac. uk/publicpolicy/introduction/uk. htm 3. Benn C and Chitty C (1996) Thirty Years On – is comprehensive education alive and well or struggling to survive? London: David Fulton Publishers 4. Chitty C (2004) Education Policy in Britain Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 5. Department for Education, (1994), Pupils with problems: Circulars 8/94 – 13/94, London: DfE 6. Garner, P. , (1998), Vision or Revision? Conflicting Ideologies in the English Education System, [Online] retrieved from. Internet on February 1, 2007, http://policy. uark.edu/ritter/edfd5323-GarnerUKpart2. html 7. Gillard D. , (2004) Education in England: a brief history, [Online] retrieved from Internet on February 1, 2007, http://www. dg. dial. pipex. com/history/index. shtml 8. Gillard D. , (2004a). Education in England: a Timeline, [Online] retrieved from Internet on February 1, 2007, http://www. dg. dial. pipex. com/history/timeline. shtml 9. Grant Maintained School, (2007), [Online] retrieved from Internet on February 1, 2007, http://www. ndad. nationalarchives. gov. uk/CRDA/36/detail. html 10. The Right Approach-A Statement of Conservative Aim, (1976), Conservative Central Office, London, October 1976.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Advanced Auditing Case 2.3

The client’s assertions that accounts receivable confirmation can effectively address are existence, rights, and valuation. b) When performing year-end sales cutoff tests, auditors hope to accomplish the objective of obtaining evidence from third parties to evaluate the client’s assertions of sales recorded for the period under audit. The client’s assertions that sales cutoff tests can effectively address are completeness and presentation. 2. Coopers Lybrand made several significant errors of judgment in its effort to confirm the Wow Wee receivable at the end of 1995. These errors of judgment include ignoring or overlooking red flags including: the 69% change in the percentage of factored accounts receivable from 1994 to 1995, the $2. 4 million in sales to Wow Wee booked in the final day of fiscal 1995, the fact that Wow Wee is a manufacturing company, the fact that Wow Wee was left out of the top 25 customers list when it was among the top 5 based on recorded sales, and the clearly falsified bill of lading. Coopers Lybrand failed to make the appropriate modifications to their planned audit procedures to examine these irregularities. Coopers Lybrand also failed to follow up on the confirmation of the Wow Wee receivable that they accepted from Goldberg. These errors of judgment involve extreme negligence on the part of the auditors. I would classify these errors as reckless as there is no evidence to support that Coopers Lybrand were involved in the fraud. I think that the auditors did not suspect that fraud would occur at Happiness Express in 1995 as they had previously audited Happiness Express in 1994 and rightfully issued an unqualified opinion. I think that the auditors believed that these were simple mistakes that did not need to be further examined. The company’s revenue grew so significantly from 1994 to 1995 and because of this, I think that is was easy for the auditors to believe that the employees were simply overwhelmed by the company’s alarming growth and made mistakes as a result. . Yes Coopers Lybrand should have confirmed the receivable from West Coast Liquidators at the end of fiscal 1995 because it represented 13%, a clearly material amount, of the total accounts receivable. They also should have included one or more of the sales to West Coast Liquidators in their year-end sales cutoff tests for 1995 as many of these transactions were booked in the final month of the fiscal year. Sales transactions occurring close to the end of the fiscal year are much more likely to be suspicious in nature or fraudulent than transactions occurring earlier in the year. 4. The alternative procedures that can be applied to a large receivable of an audit client when a confirmation cannot be obtained include examination of subsequent cash receipts, the matching of such receipts with the actual items paid for, and examination of shipping, or other client documentation. The evidence provided by these methods may differ from the evidence provided by confirmation of a receivable depending on the client’s documentation of the transaction. Typically, in a company with proper internal controls and documentation, alternative procedures should be able to effectively address the same assertions that the confirmation of a receivable address. At very least, alternative procedures provide evidence for the existence assertion. 5. According to AU Section 317. 7, auditors should be aware of the possibility that illegal acts, such as insider trading, may have occurred however, an audit made in accordance with GAAS provides no assurance that illegal acts will be detected or that any contingent liabilities that may result will be disclosed. In the event that an auditor discovers evidence concerning the existence of possible illegal acts that could have a material indirect effect on the financial statements, they should apply audit procedures directed to ascer tain whether an illegal act has occurred. Advanced Auditing Case 2.3 The client’s assertions that accounts receivable confirmation can effectively address are existence, rights, and valuation. b) When performing year-end sales cutoff tests, auditors hope to accomplish the objective of obtaining evidence from third parties to evaluate the client’s assertions of sales recorded for the period under audit. The client’s assertions that sales cutoff tests can effectively address are completeness and presentation. 2. Coopers Lybrand made several significant errors of judgment in its effort to confirm the Wow Wee receivable at the end of 1995. These errors of judgment include ignoring or overlooking red flags including: the 69% change in the percentage of factored accounts receivable from 1994 to 1995, the $2. 4 million in sales to Wow Wee booked in the final day of fiscal 1995, the fact that Wow Wee is a manufacturing company, the fact that Wow Wee was left out of the top 25 customers list when it was among the top 5 based on recorded sales, and the clearly falsified bill of lading. Coopers Lybrand failed to make the appropriate modifications to their planned audit procedures to examine these irregularities. Coopers Lybrand also failed to follow up on the confirmation of the Wow Wee receivable that they accepted from Goldberg. These errors of judgment involve extreme negligence on the part of the auditors. I would classify these errors as reckless as there is no evidence to support that Coopers Lybrand were involved in the fraud. I think that the auditors did not suspect that fraud would occur at Happiness Express in 1995 as they had previously audited Happiness Express in 1994 and rightfully issued an unqualified opinion. I think that the auditors believed that these were simple mistakes that did not need to be further examined. The company’s revenue grew so significantly from 1994 to 1995 and because of this, I think that is was easy for the auditors to believe that the employees were simply overwhelmed by the company’s alarming growth and made mistakes as a result. . Yes Coopers Lybrand should have confirmed the receivable from West Coast Liquidators at the end of fiscal 1995 because it represented 13%, a clearly material amount, of the total accounts receivable. They also should have included one or more of the sales to West Coast Liquidators in their year-end sales cutoff tests for 1995 as many of these transactions were booked in the final month of the fiscal year. Sales transactions occurring close to the end of the fiscal year are much more likely to be suspicious in nature or fraudulent than transactions occurring earlier in the year. 4. The alternative procedures that can be applied to a large receivable of an audit client when a confirmation cannot be obtained include examination of subsequent cash receipts, the matching of such receipts with the actual items paid for, and examination of shipping, or other client documentation. The evidence provided by these methods may differ from the evidence provided by confirmation of a receivable depending on the client’s documentation of the transaction. Typically, in a company with proper internal controls and documentation, alternative procedures should be able to effectively address the same assertions that the confirmation of a receivable address. At very least, alternative procedures provide evidence for the existence assertion. 5. According to AU Section 317. 7, auditors should be aware of the possibility that illegal acts, such as insider trading, may have occurred however, an audit made in accordance with GAAS provides no assurance that illegal acts will be detected or that any contingent liabilities that may result will be disclosed. In the event that an auditor discovers evidence concerning the existence of possible illegal acts that could have a material indirect effect on the financial statements, they should apply audit procedures directed to ascer tain whether an illegal act has occurred.

RESEARCHING CRIME Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

RESEARCHING CRIME - Essay Example ific, the proposed dissertation will discuss different aspects of youth incarceration, especially in the context of Youth Justice System of the United Kingdom, and will endeavor to analyze available options of tackling youth offenders. It is a fact that every government has been giving noteworthy importance to youth crime, in order to get rid of anti-social agents from the society from its roots; however, none has been able to achieve such objective due to a number of factors, such as unemployment, poverty, etc. (Delanty & Strydom, 2003, pp. 39-42). On contrary, youth prison population has increased noticeably that has resulted in extreme criticism, as effects of youth imprisonment do not affect young offenders only, but families and communities as well. (Omaji, 2003, pp. 40-41) In this regard, it has now become very significant and important to carry out comprehensive research, in order to acquire factual realities that will help the system in dealing with these young lawbreakers effectively. According to the UK government, (Home Office, 2008) hard-hitting penalties for young offenders cannot be avoided, as it is essential for a safe and healthy society; however, studies have observed that these tough and punitive penalties and custodies have resulted in opposing results, rather than allowing offenders to recuperate and break their offending cycle. Although steps are being taken to prevent young individuals from falling into this black hole; however, youth imprisonment presently seems to be the only option that is taken as effective, regardless its adversities. (HM Government, 2008, pp. 58-61) Policymakers believe that guiltless public stays protected by custody and imprisonment sentences to young offenders; however, it is a satisfying fact that punishment confronted by young offenders in prisons results in segregation from society that is adverse for children according to a number of child psychologists. (Delanty & Strydom, 2003, pp. 55-59) Studies (Muncie,

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Ethics and corporate social responsibility Case Study

Ethics and corporate social responsibility - Case Study Example In this case, the company upholds a high level of responsibility to public and employees (Coca-Cola Company, 36). The other part focuses on offering the responsibility of employees to the company; in fact, this involves the scope of Code of Ethics that is applicable to managers and employees in the company and subsidiaries. There are orientation meetings that are held in every two years, where information regarding this Code of Ethics is offered to employees and they are expected to sign. Personal commitment of CEO to high standards of ethics Coca-Cola Company’s CEO has a high commitment to standards of ethics, whereby they are considered to be representatives of the company through their honesty, and consistency in every condition. In this case, CEO has a commitment of guiding employees in order to facilitate compliance to the Code of Ethics (Coca-Cola Company, 36). The CEO has the mandate of ensuring that managers in various departments, especially Human Resource department. Audits to ensure compliance with code Coca-Cola Company has an Internal Audit Department, which focuses on monitoring the operations and behaviors, which entail specified those that are stipulated in the Code of Ethics; thus, these audits are conducted regally in the organization annually (Coca-Cola Company, 36). Clear and logical consequences for failure to follow the code The Company has clear and logical implications of failing to comply with this Code of Ethics, whereby employees are subjected to penalties due to their misbehaviors. Moreover, there is detailed information concerning the process of punishment and it is entailed in the Code, and reviews of this Code of Ethics, which leads to necessity of making relevant alterations depending on stakeholders’ expectations. Environmental Stewardship Detailed assessment of the company’s environmental impact Coca-Cola Company has focus on being compliant with standards involves in operations that relate to supply chain, distribution channel and disposal of obsolete or broken products. In this case, this company is highly involved in recycling of bottles; in fact, this is a manifestation of their environmental stewardship (Coca-Cola Company, 50). On the other hand, obsolete products are disposed appropriately to avoid environmental pollution, besides most of these products are used to manufacture new products. Clear goals for improvement in each impact area The company has a goal of being complaint with provisions of legislation regarding the environment. In order to improve their impact area, the Company establishes procedures that facilitate employee compliance (Coca-Cola Company, 51). Therefore, the company established an obligation of their employees, whereby they are expected to comply with procedures and polices associated with environmental protection. Moreover, they are expected to give reports regarding any case of breaches to their managers and supervisors. Internal audits to ensure impro vements There are regular internal audits aimed at ensuring improvements through adaptation of objectives and principles. Therefore, continuous improvements involve activities that accomplish these objectives in regard to environment (Coca-Cola

Paraphrasing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 26

Paraphrasing - Essay Example Additionally, the experiment will use Wheatstone bridge networks and two resistors, the photo-call and the potentiometer. This experiment seeks to offer lab experience with USB-1208FS DAQ in resistor network analysis. To achieve this, the experiment will rely on Wheatstone bridge networks and two resistors, the photo-call and the potentiometer. Consequently, the DAQ, photo-call, resistors, and the potentiometer construct two circuits that apply in this experiment. A resistor connected in series with Oscilloscope and a photo-resistor defines the initial circuit. In this circuit, users measures voltage using the Oscilloscope and disregard the DAQ and the laptop. A Wheatstone bridge circuit consisting of a photo-resistor and a potentiometer defines the second circuit. The DAQ measures voltage in this circuit. The experiment achieves its purpose by using a photo-resistor and a potentiometer to construct the circuit and using DAQ to measure

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club - Case Study Example (Google Finance) Most of the revenues of Tottenham also known as Spurs are generated from TV broadcasting rights and ticket sales at its home ground White Hart Lane. Despite the efforts for expanding the team facilities and the stadium capacity the company is yet to make a breakthrough in this respect. The company is headed by Chairman Daniel Levy who controls 66 percent of the team by his investments through ENIC International. (Hoover) Based on the detailed financial performance analysed for the period from the fiscal year ending 30th June 2002 to 30th June 2006, the company has turned around its position during the fiscal year and has made remarkable improvement in the turnover and the pretax profits. The turnover has registered a growth of 28.95 million (2006: 74.14m) which is equivalent to 39.05 percent increase over the past year. The pretax at 27.72 m for the year 2007 shows an absolutely significant performance with the company making a loss of 15.75 m for the year 2006. This has resulted in a positive earnings per share of 4p per share (2006: (1.7p) per share). The company could pay a dividend of 4p per share while it could not pay any dividend in the year 2006 due to the losses the company made. The company's financial performance has been a turbulent one in the five years under review. The company could make some significant earnings in the year 2005, while the company had reported a net loss after interest and taxation for the year 2006. As seen above the company could reverse the position in the year 2007. There has been no consistency in the operations of the company which is evident from the varying ratios as indicated in the above table. Especially despite the higher turnover the company could not earn a good return for the shareholders. This can be seen from the ROE ratio over the last five years. Since the profitability of the company is largely dependent on the gate receipts for the premier league matches and the broadcasting rights which are very volatile depending on the class of matches and the quality of the players, there is bound to be a variation in the revenues for all the clubs. Moreover

Mcdonalds reward and practices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mcdonalds reward and practices - Essay Example Its continued success in the food and service industry can be undoubtedly attributed, among other factors, to the right strategies it has devised in handling its human resources. This paper evaluates the reward structure and system that McDonald’s uses currently both monetary and non-monetary and relate their effect on employees’ motivation and eventual performance. McDonald’s understands how much effective monetary compensation is to an employee. This is the money employees are paid for the job they do and it is structured based on the pay rates in the industry for the same nature and rank of job. It is a motivational factor as workers who demonstrate great skills and perform highly receive pay rise making them strive to be the best. There is short term and long term incentives that are variedly offered based on one’s performance. Short term incentives are those that monetary ‘appreciations’ offered at the end of the year to reward exemplary performances while long term incentives are those offered at unknown future dates. These incentives have great influence as they maintain the employees focus on the future of the business; employees work for future rewards (Armstrong, 2007, p.100). Another strategy that McDonald’s uses to motivate workers for high performance is through offering car that they can use for official and personal needs. There is a laid down criteria through which these cars can be acquired (eligibility criteria). Captivating enough is the fact that maintenance and repair costs are all on the company. Worker’s stress of travelling has, therefore, been neutralized. The cars act as a tangible evidence of appreciation to the employees and this facilitates their commitment to work as they can relate their inputs to rewards. The business has non-monetary programs that aim at motivating the workers for their excellent performances. Recognition programs are basically certificate awards that

Monday, August 26, 2019

Improving Organisational Performance Assignment - 1

Improving Organisational Performance - Assignment Example 6 Highly Skilled/Specialist Staff †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 Recent Organizational Change†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 Business Strategy Adopted†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 Challenges, Weakness, Quality and Culture †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 Proposals†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 12 List of Figures Figure 1. Key component of performance management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 Figure 2. Porter’s Force of Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 Figure 3. Consistency†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 10 References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..14-15 Introduction High Performance management is about translating strategic plans to concrete actions. This is the constant challenge in all organization, corporation, and industries that are seeking to sc ale up profits and widen business operation. Experts posit that an effective organizational management ensures the consistency of effective direction of employees work to make their performance consistent to company’s vision, mission and objectives to meet organizational needs (Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2012). It is an approach to encourage innovative efforts and inspire workers’ initiatives to yield high performance It motivates everyone to be engaging as human resource capital for a company. Purpose This paper aims to correlate performance management (PM) to two business organizations based in United Kingdom. It will also explore some evidences pertaining to some difficulties, challenges, and it’s anent implications. Moreover, the paper will attempt to balance proposals inspired by evidences upholding the significance of performance management to human resource management (HRM). Purcell and Hutchinson (2007) explained that this is because the relationship of PM systems to organizational performance is importantly bridged by employees’ behavior and their separate perspectives. In an attempt to advance PM, both in theory and praxis, as discussion is further deepen with concerns on motivation from their expectations, goals and standard company controls. Specifically, the study aims to complete the following: a. Explore, contrast, and critically evaluate, a business case using performance management standards in two organizations; b. Explore using research evidence, practical difficulties, challenges, and implications of PM within two organization; c. Use research evidences to develop balanced proposals that relates to practical challenges that can be effectively managed in short or strategic terms; d. Demonstrate awareness about potential limitations of your proposals. The organizations: UK SMEs Recent development in the European market depicted the completion of internal market amid improved socio-economic and policy-based environ. Ec onomists in UK perceived that the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) can only thrive by removing the trade barriers and by the institutionalization of structures that can better market relations (Braun, 2012). SMEs are those small and middle businesses partaking in the manufacturing, wholesale, retail, hotel, restaurants, real estate lease management and the like. An

Psychological Aspects of Cybersecurity Assignment

Psychological Aspects of Cybersecurity - Assignment Example Today, when the dependency on the use of computer systems and internet technology has increased significantly, the understanding and incorporation of cyber security proves to be highly essential (â€Å"What is Cyber Security?† 2010). The present study has considered social networking as the primary focus in regard to the psychological aspects of cyber security. Social networking in the present times is used by millions of individuals as a means of remaining connected with the outer world, with friends, near and dear ones as well as for professional purposes. However, a lot of personal information is, in turn, being shared in the process that might be used by cyber attackers to spread malevolent codes, viruses, or may even access the personal information and misuse it for their own purposes (McDowell & Morda, 2011, p.1). Thus the need for cyber security arises, and this study focuses on the vulnerabilities and threats associated with social networking and having impacts on the services and the users, thus trying to determine the possible cyber security measures and the level of customer satisfaction that may be achieved. In the recent years, the use of social networks has been found to have increased significantly. There are several online social networking websites like Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, and LinkedIn, to name a few. The relative size of the addressees in these social networks is huge, which is often not known to the users of the site. Moreover, the nature of such users is also unknown. Hence individuals tend to reveal a lot of personal information. This may actually result in a number of security related threats for the members and hence for the services as well. Thus it proved to be necessary to incorporate such cyber security as to protect personal information on social networks (Hasib, 2008). When individuals post their personal information on social networks, a permanent record of the users is created that may be used

Sunday, August 25, 2019

The global automobile industry - an analysis of General Motors Case Study

The global automobile industry - an analysis of General Motors - Case Study Example General Motors has survived major economic whirlwinds that have rocked the United States and the global automobile industry. However, the company has had its fair share of challenges, some of which have threatened is very existence. Despite the good financial statistics that General Motors Corporation has posted over the years, it is worth noting that the company has faced a number of challenges, considering the dynamic nature of the automobile industry (Fear, 2004). However, the company has not attained its optimal performance because of two separate incidents of bankruptcy claims. In addition, General Motors has had to repossess most of its cars in the United States after widespread claims of faulty ignition systems. Both of these factors have affected the financial performance of GMC tremendously. Besides, General Motors faces stiff competition from a number of automobile companies with huge market shares in the United States. General Motors survived bankruptcy in 2009 after receiving help from the federal government. In essence, General Motors was on the verge of collapsing because it had closed Saturn, Hummer, and Pontiac brands. This move came at a time when General Motors had already closed its Saab brand, which was a Swedish brand. GM’s shareholders felt the hitch because they could not access the assets of the firm in some countries, especially in Europe and Asia. General Motors had a new positive twist in 2010 because it reverted to its old symbol on the New York Stock Exchange (Smolinsky, 2011). During the same year, GM traded its shares in the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company performed well throughout the year at the New York Stock Exchange after an initial public offering (IPO) of $23 billion at $33per share. The filing of bankruptcy by General Motors took the country a step back by a total of $ billion that was used to bail out the company. Indeed, GM’s bankruptcy affected the U.S. economy in a negative way because the

Assignment IB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Assignment IB - Essay Example International management recruitment and selection mechanism are exposed to various risks which the organizations are required to manage and select appropriate hedging techniques. The management plays the pivotal role in managing the risks faced by the organizations. Political risks are one of the important risks which the multinational firms quite often face. â€Å"Political risks are any governmental action or politically motivated event that could adversely affect the long-run profitability or the value of a firm† (Deresky, 2006, p.30). In order to manage the political risks identification of the risks is crucial. The risks faced by the firms may be firm-specific risks that affect the firms at the corporate level with conflict between the firm and the host government. In order to manage these risks the firms enters into negotiation of an investment agreement to purchase investment insurance and guarantees, to modify operating strategies in production, logistics, marketing, finance, organization, and personnel at the corporate level. Cultural and institutional risk evolve from host country policies with respect to ownership structure, human resource norms, religious heritage, nepotism and corruption, intellectual property rights, and protectionism. Managing cultural and institutional risks requires the MNCs to understand the differences, take legal actions in host country courts, support worldwide treaties to protect intellectual property rights, and support government efforts to create regional markets (Foreign Investment Decisions, 2005, p. 460).Closely connected with the political risks is the economic risk of the country. Various approaches are adapted by the mangers to manage the economic risks. The quantitative approach is devised to assign different weights to economic variables in order to produce a composite index used to measure the country’s creditworthiness over time and also to make comparisons with other countries. The problem of t his approach is to do not incorporate different stages of development among the countries it compares. The qualitative approach estimates the economic risks of a country by assessing the capability of its leaders as well as analyzing the types of policies they are likely to implement. The future dimension of the economy of the country can be estimated from this approach. In another approach which is the checklist approach, the researchers develop several vulnerability indicators that categorize the countries in terms of their ability to withstand the economic volatility. Majority of the corporations try to use the combination of all these approaches to manage the economic risks faced by the organization (Deresky, 2006, p.34). Repatriate turnover not only results in a loss of human capital investment for the MNC in general but also increases the risks the possibility of losing this investment to a direct competitor. To reduce the risk of repatriate turnover, MNCs will emphasis on the structuring of the short-term oriented HR practices inculcated with longer-term instruments such as integrating international assignments into individual career paths. Research has focused that the short-term assignees may fail to expand helpful relationships with local colleagues and customers at the same time facing increased risks of marital problems. One of the staffing policies in this case is

Society gets what it pays for and the cost of reducing social risk is Essay

Society gets what it pays for and the cost of reducing social risk is regulation, leading to higher taxes and higher prices. Discuss - Essay Example Really, it is with the help of tax payments that social protection through the redistribution of social resources becomes possible. However, those who complain that social protection through regulation raises taxes and increases prices should remember that nobody is secured from various social risks, and it is through effective redistribution of social resources that individuals can insure themselves from the existing and future social risks. Social protection encompasses a series of public measures intended to reduce social risks and enhance income security of individuals (Holzmann & Jorgensen, 2000). Social protection measures rely on the payments provided by taxpayers to state budget; in other words, it is through the reallocation of limited social resources that social protection through regulation becomes possible. It is no wonder that not all taxpayers agree with the way social protection measures are provided to the vulnerable populations. However, all taxpayers should remember that they are not secured from the existing and emerging social risks (Holzmann & Jorgensen, 2000). Recent financial crises have shown that when social protection programs are not in place, individuals become extremely susceptible to the consequences of reduced GDP (Holzmann & Jorgensen, 2000). To a large extent, the presence of extensive social protection systems is both necessary and inevitable for any state or society that considers itse lf developed. Not all the people realize the principle of society-state relations. It is possible to say that society gets what it pays for, and the cost of reducing social risks is regulation, leading to higher taxes and increased prices. The latter are inevitable components of the social protection systems in the developed world. It is a reflection of the ongoing tension between the need for social protection and the overall non-affordability

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Development of Adult Education Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Development of Adult Education - Research Paper Example Development of Adult Education He defined that educational learning that is reflective in nature was better obtained through meaningful experiments. On the other hand, the development psychology theory defines that adult are psychologically not the same to normal post-adolescent college students. Therefore, it is pertinent that the theories of Erikson, Havighurst, Kolhberg, Gilligan, Magolda and Bronfenbrenner be taken into consideration while dealing with adults. Ultimately, the theory of critical learning has it that sociological analysis of education holds that learning institutions are considered hazardous to the social life of individuals. Most of the people who go to school usually end up oppressed, and this is worsened in the case of an adult amidst teenagers. In this process, the adult are tough so that they may bring new changes to the society through a transformational model engineered by Lindeman. The above three theories explained are crucial in the process of understanding adult development. Based on cross theory, adult learners employ both formal and informal system of learning, in which they face serious predicaments. These issues are usually addressed by the CAL model, which is essential in linguistics. It has also been identified that dealing with adults largely depends how they passed the eight psychological stages of development proposed by Erikson (44). According to him, all the stages are crucial since they either impact an individual positively or negatively. The 8 stages range from toddler to late adulthood. Say during the life course of an individual, school age, one underwent an extremely hard time making him or she ingrains a negative attitude in oneself on education. For such a person, it will be hard for him, or her, to successfully undergo adulthood education. This is because the individual will continue suffering the effects of what he or she pass, anytime t he word education comes across. This will not be the case for an individual who never had problems during school age; he or she will be ready to learn because he has a positive attitude toward education. For adults to learn appropriately, a rather close relationship should be developed between them and their teachers. Through this, they will be able to share different experiences that they underwent through their learning process. This will make it easier for the teacher to assist them whenever necessary. Both teachers and learners should understand that, for the process of learning to be successful, a proper balancing between the needs for the learner and that of the learning process should be balanced appropriately. The famous Pedagogy wrote by Freire had it that there should be a mutual relationship between student, teacher and the society. In the light to the above ideology, it was discovered that since the oppression in schools is majorly contribute by teachers, thy also have t he power to make schools a better place. With the creation of a conducive atmosphere, many adult and normal students will find it easy to learn, since there will be better co-operation. With reference to the theory of experimental learning, it has been noted by Fosnot that people get to gain

Definition of Buddhism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Definition of Buddhism - Essay Example 500 B.C. on the basis of pantheistic Brahminism. The speculations of the Vedanta school of religious thought, in the eighth and following centuries, B.C., gave rise to several rival schemes of salvation" (Definition of Buddhism n.d.). Things might appear to be solid and self-existing, but with the development of the insight gained through meditation one discovered that this was not so. Also, Buddhists believe that the Buddha's death is only an illusion and that he remains accessible to suffering humanity. Sunyata, one of the central concepts, means emptiness and it is the logical development of the earlier Buddhist concept that the human being does not possess an enduring soul and that all things were conditioned by preexisting conditions (New Oxford American Dictionary 2001). The four Noble Truths are (1) life is suffering, (2) the origin of suffering is attachment, (3) there is an end of sufferings, (4) there is path out of suffering (Buddhism Information and Education Network 2007). Believers suppose that the first of these is that life is, in its essence, unsatisfactory. The second of these is the idea that the unsatisfactoriness of the world stem from the constant cravings which arises in the human being and from ignorance of the true nature of reality. The third Noble Truth is that this need not be the fate of all human beings, and that there is a way to cease being enslaved to this unsatisfactory world. The final Noble Truth is that the way to cessation of bondage to the world lay in the Eightfold Path. The eight components of this path of liberation are 1) right (i.e. correct or proper) viewpoint, 2) right intention, 3) right speech, 4) right actions, 5) right livelihood, 6) right effort, 7) right mindfulness, and 8) right concentration (Buddhism Information and Education Network 2007).. Here, encapsulated in a very few easy to remember steps, lies the entire Buddhist plan for salvation. When examined more closely this list divides into three separate parts. The first part, right viewpoint and right intention, relates to the underlying core of one's understanding of the nature of reality. In order for his program of liberation to be effective, the Buddha knew that its practitioners had to change fundamentally the way in which they perceived the world. In old tradition, this was the purpose of right viewpoint, an orientation away from the understanding of the world as made up of material things that were acted upon, and toward an understanding of the world as a series of constantly changing and interacting processes. From this new understanding of the world came the second step on the Eightfold Path, right intention. This was achieved when the individual decided that the Buddhist analysis of existence was correct and determin ed to follow the Buddhist plan for salvation. This meant acting in a benevolent, non-harmful manner and practicing the steps of the Eightfold Path (Definition of Buddhism n.d.). The next three steps on the Eightfold Path were designed to take the insights gained from the first two steps and to put them into practice in the world. Right speech, as its name implies, was based on a proper use of speech, but it really involves the entire way in which human beings interact with one another. Thus one was enjoined not to lie, not to slander, not to backbite, not, in a word, to say (or presumably even

CDA analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CDA analysis - Essay Example Thus, the selected element is a discourse, and its analysis has three dimension: as a text, sentence-by-sentence, and the words and phrases evaluation. Firstly, the text as a whole is close to the genre of political speech, since its content is mostly based on the speech made by Michelle Obama. In this context, it has her direct quotations both in the text and in the video. However, the content and the comments on the speech make this discourse resemble the slice of life genre with casual style of writing, which means that the Guardian presented the speech itself with its subjective reflection on it. On the frames, the exact concepts that unite text are two main identities – on the one hand, it discusses â€Å"ethnicity,† â€Å"black race,† and â€Å"African Americans† (it refers to both the speaker and to Tuskegee University students); on another hand, the family values appear in the text as â€Å"my husband’s chances,† â€Å"my girls,† and â€Å"kids and families.† Moreover, these two identities are in different position in terms of foregrounding and backgrounding, because i n the end of the text there appears the conclusion that â€Å"folks like you and me† (meaning the race) must believe in their potential (meaning realization in family life). On the cases of omission within the text, it does not mention any justification of first lady’s words with the facts from her biography; in other words, readers have nothing but to fall under emotional impression in what is given in the text. In addition, the voice of white public is neglected by this discourse, as the African American first lady speaks to the â€Å"mainly black graduates.† Although, the text includes horizontal intertextuality, as it has two direct quotations from other famous people on the same topic. Even though they have opposite opinions, the article does not reveal any support to them and provides only brief information on their

Friday, August 23, 2019

Health Policy Issues and Analysis Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Health Policy Issues and Analysis - Article Example The arrangement ensures that ll citizens of the U.S. would be covered for all clinically necessary services such as hospital, doctor, preventive, mental health, long-term care, dental, reproductive health care and prescription drug costs. This article seeks to to declare that the ObamaCare scheme is inferior to the single-payer system. Single-payer (Nationa health care) systems are administratively less complicated. They normally spend merely a portion of what pluralistic health indemnity systems expend on administrative costs, leaving more of national health care spending for health care proper. One explanation why these systems splurge less on paperwork is that they are the superlative stage for a logical electronic information and communication infrastructure, with a universally joint organization. In the single-payer scheme, spending on heath care and utilization trends can be traced electronically. In this case, electronically transmitted health care information sidelines intermediaries that increase the cost of claims by individuals. 1 unlike the ObamaCare system, the total cost of heath care in single-payer scheme is comparatively low since a save in the administration cost will trickle down to the premium payable by the Americans. The single- payer program will be funded through dollars redeemed from replacing the current inefficient and profit oriented multiple insurance players with a solitary streamlined nonprofit public scheme. In the scheme, individuals will make contributions regarding their ability to pay. In addition, the single payer scheme eliminates all forms of premiums leading to households saving their income. Unlike the ObamaCare system where individuals are not at liberty to pick their choice hospitals or doctors, single payer system gives patient free choice of hospitals and doctors. Single-payer schemes are ideal for implementing an

Climate Change Impact on Agriculture Research Paper

Climate Change Impact on Agriculture - Research Paper Example This paper illustrates that scientists have recorded a global rise in temperatures that influenced a series of negative events on the earth’s weather patterns. Currently, there is a significant rise in sea level, melting glaciers and intensifying rainstorms. Today, climate change is more profound than what previous generations had to endure resulting in a series of challenges to the world, particularly in the agricultural field. Climate is a dynamic system resulting from physical and chemical interactions in the earth’s structures. The Earth is made up of the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere. The physical and chemical interactions of these structures result in the climate of a region. The atmosphere is part of the climate system that affects the earth directly. This is owing to the spherical nature of the earth. The sun heats up the earth, with more intensity on the equator and less intensity at the poles. This uneven heat distribution gen erates wind that carries the heat from the equator to the poles. The heat is also distributed from the upper-level surface of the atmosphere to the lower level of the atmosphere. The ocean correspondingly distributes heat but at a much slower pace than the atmosphere. The carbon cycle is a chemical exchange resulting from the interaction between the earth systems. The ocean and the biosphere are reservoirs of carbon. 99.9% of the CO2 on earth exists in the lithosphere. Carbon flows among the various reservoirs. Mathez states that photosynthesis by plants and decay affects the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. This decaying and photosynthetic effect from the earth’s biosphere occurs after some time. Over a longer time frame, the ocean exerts a more dominant control on the atmospheric CO2. The ocean dominance is as a result of the amount of CO2 in the ocean that is 50 times more than the CO2 in the biosphere. The persistent balance that exists between the earth systems in the ca rbon cycle has maintained the conditions of the earth. It is as a result of this balance that the earth became conducive to evolution and survival of life. The interruption of this dynamic disrupts weather patterns and consequentially results in climate change.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Man vs. Fishing Boat Essay Example for Free

Man vs. Fishing Boat Essay It was a cloudy summer day, the first week in June following my high school graduation. I was meeting my boyfriend and his family out on Shasta Lake who were enjoying the week on a houseboat. This would be the first time meeting all his aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. I did not expect for the meeting to end up like this. Brandon, my boyfriend, and his younger cousin, Jake, picked me up at Packers Bay in the ski boat. It was a chilly morning and I was in shorts and tank top and had only my towel to keep me warm. The boys forgot where the houseboat was parked in the lake. We spent the next hour and half searching the entire area of Shasta Lake for their houseboat. â€Å"Brandon, just call your mom and ask where they’re at,† I mentioned as an idea. â€Å"Embarrassing as it is, I guess I will,† Brandon sighed. He called his mom, and the first thing she said, â€Å"Your lost aren’t you?† Mothers know everything. We finally found our way to the houseboat. We climbed out of the boat, and one after another, each family member said their hellos and each gave me a very welcoming hug. I felt like family already. We sat in the houseboat for about 30 minutes socializing and eating breakfast, when Brandon’s dad, Gary, decided to tell us we were moving the houseboat to a different spot for the day. Moving the houseboat is a lot more challenging than just one boat because the Connolly’s also had two jet skies, the ski boat and an old tin fishing boat (which wasn’t even registered). â€Å"Brandon, you and Ally take the ski boat. Jake, you hop in the fishing boat and the girls got the jet skies. Get out in front and lead the way to another cove,† Gary said with much authority. So Brandon and I jumped in the ski boat and drove out way past the houseboat waiting for everyone to get situated. Jake, 15 at the time took control of the tin fishing boat. We all figured that he had driven a boat like that before, but we may have been wrong. Enjoying the cloudy day, Brandon and I sat in the ski boat waiting for Jake to make his move. And we heard the motor start and Jake was moving. Phew. There were some waves coming from Brandon’s messing around in the boat that Jake was hitting, but we didn’t think anything of it. After talking for a little bit, we turn around to check on Jake’s progress and we see him flying through the air and the tin boat going very fast around and around and Jake was no where to be found. His head popped up out of the water and than his hand came up with his phone in hand and he screamed, â€Å"Help!† Brandon threw him and a life buoy and told him, â€Å"GET AWAY FROM THE BOAT!† The boat was still spinning out of control and one hit from the tin boat would kill Jake instantly. Since it was a cold morning, Jake was in two pairs of sweatpants and a sweatshirt and he had his Nike tennis shoes on. Swimming was a lot more difficult. He reached the life buoy and made it safely to our ski boat. But this wasn’t the tragic event. It took a while for the family on the houseboat to realize what was going on, than next thing we know we see Uncle Dan fly out on one of the jet skies. He seemed like superman or maybe even batman. He looked like he was going to be the hero of this crazy event. We never even thought he would be the victim. From the ski boat, Brandon, Jake, and I all thought that with the tin fishing boat spinning out of control, Uncle Dan was just going to take the front of the jet ski and stop the tin boat. Nope. Wrong. Next thing we know he is in the water. â€Å"What is he doing?† I asked Brandon in a very worrisome voice. â€Å"I’m not quite sure.† He replied. Dan swims towards the spinning boat and reaches to grab the front of it when it comes around and he misses. So he goes in one more time. Strike two. Misses again. Third times a charm? Not in this story. He swims in for the third time and as the boat makes its 360 rotation it seemed, as every noise around us was silent except for the sound of rocks in a motor. But it wasn’t rocks. It was Uncle Dan. I looked at Brandon and Jake in horror. What was going on? It seemed like he was in the water forever before he popped up. Finally he did. In a very settle and quite voice, he raises his hand covered in red thick blood and a face that looked like it was dipped in ketchup, says, â€Å"Help. Help. I’m hurt.† I scream at Brandon and Jake, both swimmers, â€Å"Help him! Get in the water. Help him!† Brandon and Jake start stripping off their clothes one at a time and Jake was in the water within seconds. Swimming like it was the last meet of his life, he swims over to Uncle Dan and, with his adrenaline, lifts the middle-aged man onto the jet ski. Blood was everywhere and the tin boat was still spinning. Jake speeds the jet ski along with Uncle Dan and his wounded body towards the shore where the houseboat was still vacated and the next thing I see is Jake’s mother, who is also Dan’s sister, strip completely naked and used her clothes to wrap up his arm and face. I’ve never been so shocked and scared in my life. Seeing a hand sliced up from the elbow down to the tips of the fingers and a face covered in blood coming from the eye and side of the face, which hid his pain. He was being so tough and he just kept saying in a mellow tone, â€Å"I just don’t want to loose my hand.† He repeated this many times. Next thing I know, Gary was the driver of the ski boat with Uncle Dan laid out in the boat with naked Aunt Janine at his side, they were off to the shore where the ambulance helicopter was meeting to take him to the emergency room. We all else went back on the houseboat and comforted Jake and everyone effected by this horrific accident. The cloudy day served it’s purpose. After the cops asked all their questions to all of us involved, and finally crashed into the tin fishing boat with their sheriff boat, we could all just relax on the houseboat and wait for the call from the hospital to hear the news of Uncle Dan.

American rangelands and forests Essay Example for Free

American rangelands and forests Essay Part 1 Choose either a rangeland or a forest of the United States and describe current federal management strategies. Explain federal efforts to manage these lands sustainably by completing the chart below. Rangeland or Forest Location Brief History of Rangeland or Forest What are current land management problems? What are the current federal land management strategies that address these problems? What is one sustainable effort that should be implemented? American Rangeland or Forest: San Bernardino National Forest San Bernardino Forest The San Bernardino Forest was born in 1907 after the forest reserve act was passed in 1891. The forest has a history of mining and prospecting in the past. The roads during the winter. Trees are dying off at a fast rate causing a high chance for forest fires. Insects are damaging the trees at a fast rate. The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) program is trying to stop the damage that burnt areas causing. The run off hurts fish, wildlife, and many other things that are important. Ecological Restoration plan. It will take over stewardship of the land for the next 15 to 20 years. They need to sell some of the land for mining as it has a history of mining and prospecting in the past. Part 2 Take your information from Part 1 and use it to create a Sustainability Plan. Your sustainability plan should present what, when, and how something is to be sustained and maintained now and into the indefinite future. Your plan can be submitted in a narrative or table format. The Corporation for  National and Community Service (n.d.) provides the following list of components that make up a sustainability plan that should be included in your paper or table: 1. Action items: Provide the items or activities that need to be addressed or that need to occur. Refer to the following example: My plan for sustaining clean air in my community is to develop an education program about air pollution-generating activities and their effects, schedule a presentation day and time, invite community participants, and research the effects of air pollution. 2. Order of action items: Discuss how the action items in Step 1 will align or occur. One event or activity should occur before another; thus, order the items into steps similar to the following: 1) Research the effects of air pollution. 2) Develop an education program. 3) Schedule a presentation day and time. 4) Invite the community. 3. Action steps: Explain how you are going to conduct the action items. How are you going to make each item or activity happen? Include individuals or groups who will help you conduct these activities. Use the following as a guide: In order to schedule a presentation day and time, I will attend next month’s community homeowner’s association (HOA) meeting and request permission from the board to add it to the following month’s agenda. 4. Timeline: Estimate when you are going to conduct the action items, such as â€Å"In months 1–3, I will complete the research.† If an item or activity does not have a specific conclusion time, indicate that it is ongoing. The following is a sample of how you might incorporate your sustainability plan into a table format—keep in mind this is an incomplete plan: Action Items (in the correct order) Action Steps Action Steps Research and identify the effects of air pollution. Review environmental websites and journals. Document the sources of air pollution and both environmental and health effects of air pollution. Document video interviews of environmental researchers and facilitators. Month 1–3 Develop an education program about air pollution effects. Develop a presentation about why this program is needed and include air pollution’s ill effects, the lifestyle changes that will be required, and the benefits and challenges of change. Month 1–3 Schedule a presentation day and time. Attend a monthly HOA meeting to present the benefits of the program. Request that the HOA board add the presentation to the following month’s agenda. Document the audio and visual equipment needed for presentation and layout of the room. Month 4 Identify and invite community participants. Tally the number of homes in the community. Create and distribute flyers to homes announcing the next HOA meeting and the educational program that will be introduced. Month 4–5 Blank Sample Action Plan Action Items (in order) Action Steps Timeline Anybody who wants to join groups that wants to save the San Bernardino Forest. We will talk about information on saving the forest; newsletters, and other ways of keeping people informed. We need to set regulations and rules to help preserve the forest. We have many laws and Government groups (Baer) that need our help and support. I feel that education will be the most important tool. People always want to get involved we just have to give them a chance. If they know what to do if something is wrong it could save the forest. 1 – 5 months Education will be the most important for everybody that works or visits the forest. If we want to keep the forest in good condition we have to educate all people that work and visit the park what causes damage and how to keep the forest safe. If people know how to save the forest they will. We need to make sure all laws are posted up all over. We need to make sure that people know the benefits of keeping the forest in good condition. 6 – 9 months How to preserve the forest. We need to inform all entering the San Bernardino forest why it is important to protect the forest. The forest is very important to way of life and the future of our kids. It will help with air quality and the clean water. We need to cover fire safety. 1 year How to take action We need to take action and make sure we implement Government plans and the plans as a group that we came up with. We need to take care of the insect problem with safe pesticides that don’t hurt the wildlife and fish. The future Be a good steward Follow up on all the plans and make sure we take the lead as a group. We need to see if the plans we made are making a difference and cleaning up the burnt trees and the insect problem. Follow up References www.fs.usda.gov/sbnf/ Corporation for National Community Service. (n.d.). Sample sustainability plan. In Toolkit for program sustainability, capacity building, and volunteer recruitment/management (Section 4). Retrieved from http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/filemanager/download/online/sustainability_plan.pdf.