Saturday, August 31, 2019

Kelly Services Essay

Kelly Services Inc This case is really focusing on the issue of a company that needs to consider taking on debt. Kelly Services Inc. is going through a period were they are going through some major expansion. With major expansion needs the urge to find investors. When you find investors you need to take on debt, the good thing about debt is you are able to generate profit without having to put a dollar down. So if the debt increases, yes he will be leveraged, but through the company leveraging it gives it the opportunity to generate more of a return in the long run. It says the pay out ratio is 28 percent. For the cases of Olsten and Volt, you can see that Olsten has no debt. Having no debt means the returns you are going to receive are going to be a lot lower For instance Olsten has 0 debt financing and as you can see there returns are the lowest of the three companies. On the other hand Kelly also has 0 debt but there forecasting for growth is a lot lower then Volt the reason being because they do not have the financing to take on investments that can grow their company in the future. On the other hand when you look into Volt’s statements they have the highest debt with still good net worth, but it has the highest level of growth for future advancement. So what this shows is a company that has the highest leverage won’t only have a good return on investment it will also show a favorable path for growth within the future. Another interesting thing to look at is the return on sales. Even though Volt put up a negative figure for one of it’s terms for sales it still had a relatively high net worth. This can mainly be attributed to the way they leveraged their by taking on debt. His lesson on business leverage in law school was wrong. Reason being if you leverage your firm you are able to get a higher return on investment just like anything else. Leveraging your firm takes on risk and the more risk you take on the higher the return you will receive. Another beneficial factor of leveraging your firm is being able to invest investors money instead of your  own. So when you make profit you are making your profit off of not your own risk, but the risk that someone else was taking to put into your company. So through leveraging you are minimizing your risk for potentially having the greatest return. Through the data that was given it really put me on the fence whether taking on leverage was a beneficial thing or not. There is data that is going to back up both claims, but I think being leveraged definitely outweighs being unlevered. You can really understand this through Volt’s company’s information because it shows that you can show a net worth being positive even having negative figures on return on sales return on assets return on capital and return on equity.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Cap and Trade Policy Paper Essay

Introduction: The issue of carbon emissions is an important one not only from an environmental perspective but also an economic one. While reducing carbon emissions is an important one for the health of human beings as well as that of the environment, the larger question is what type of policy strategy is best for both reducing such emissions which might have an impact on efforts to mitigate the effects of pollution on climate change. While ther are options to consider which does not rely on economics– technological or output standards achieved by command and control regulations–they are often fraught with political resistance by industry because they do not allow industry to make any choices or play a role in solving the problem of excessive emissions and the burden that these emissions place on others. Instead of such draconian measures based on fiat, the preferred options rely on economic tools instead to provide incentives to industry to police itself by either incenting investment in emission-reducing and/or energy saving technologies or to reduce production in line with the total/social-costs rather than just the private/ producer-costs of production. Two such economic policies to consider in this regard are emission taxes and cap-and-trade policies. Overview of Policy Problem: Carbon emissions reduction Consider a company that faces an increasing marginal pollution abatement cost curve as in the Figure 1. Left unregulated it will choose not to reduce its carbon emissions (a.k.a abate carbon emissions) and avert facing the costs of abatement represented by the area underneath the marginal abatement cost curve represented by area (B + C + D) in the diagram below. Figure 1: Marginal Costs and Marginal Benefits of Reducing Carbon Emissions [pic] Source: Econ 101: Carbon Tax vs. Cap-and-Trade, 2012, n.pag. Suppose that policy analysts have determined that the economically efficient level of pollution abatement occurs at the point where marginal benefits of abatement equal the marginal cost costs of abatement as is suggested in economic theory. The resulting level of carbon emissions is e* (reduction in emissions is measured from the far right in the diagram above to the pointe*). The question is what policy to follow to achieve e*: either some type of fiat policy involving either some type of output restriction or requiring use of a particular pollution-control technology or some type of policy that involves financial incentives to reduce emissions. This paper hypothesizes that policy options involving economic incentives are preferable to those options that involve regulatory fiat. Specification of Economic Policy Models: 1) A Carbon Emissions Tax: One policy instrument that can be used to achieve this level of abatement is to set a tax where marginal benefit equals marginal cost — represented by the horizontal â€Å"tax† line in the Figure 2 below. Under such a scheme, the polluter will find that it is cheaper to reduce carbon emissions so long as the marginal cost is lower than the tax. Since the tax bill (A + B) is great than the marginal abatement cost bill (B) to the left of the point e*, the firm will choose to reduce emissions up to the level of C with the remaining emissions level indicated in figure 2 measured from the right in the diagram. To the right of e*, the marginal abatement costs, represented by areas C + D, are greater than the tax bill (area D) so the firm will choose to pay the tax and continue to emit pollutants beyond e*. Figure 2: The Carbon Emissions Tax [pic] Source: Econ 101: Carbon Tax vs. Cap-and-Trade, 2012, n.pag. So long as the marginal costs and benefits of abatement can be known with certainty, an emissions tax can be set at the point of intersection of these two measures resulting in an efficient level of pollution emissions at e* with total abatement costs (including taxes paid) to the polluter of area B+D and providing the government with revenues represented by D (Econ. 101: Carbon Tax vs. Cap and Trade, n. pag.). It is when these marginal costs and marginal benefits are either not measurable in their entirety or when there is uncertainty about the figures obtained that leads to added questions as to whether this would be the best policy to follow. 2) A Cap Policy: An alternative policy to an emissions tax to achieve reductions in emissions through the tools of economics is to set a cap at the point where marginal social benefit equals marginal social cost of reducing emissions/abatement — represented by the vertical â€Å"cap† line in Figure 3 below. The polluting firm must reduce its carbon emissions to e* where the marginal social cost of reducing emissions equals the marginal social benefit of the products produced by the polluter. Such a policy–if the social costs and social benefits can be measured accurately—results in an efficient level of emissions produced/reduced at e* with an abatement cost borne by Figure 3: Cap Policy for Each Firm [pic] Source: Econ 101: Carbon Tax vs. Cap-and-Trade, 2012, n.pag. the polluter equivalent to area B (Econ. 101: Carbon Tax vs. Cap and Trade, n. pag.). The issue is whether total social costs can be measured and measured accurately in order to set such a policy at the correct or efficient level of emissions for each firm. Normally such policies do not result in efficiency even though an efficient level of overall emissions can be attained since it does not account for different costs of abatement in different firms. That is, a level of emissions can be attained that is equivalent to that achieved under an economically efficient policy but the level is not achieved at the lowest overall cost. One way of obtaining individual caps is for the government to auction off emission permits that total the pre-set amount of emissions that it feels is optimal. Firms with higher costs of reducing emissions will bid higher than firms with lower cost structures. Again, the only problem is determining what the total amount of emissions should be reflecting all social costs and benefits of reducing carbon emissions. 3) A Cap-and-Trade Policy An added twist on the cap policy allows firms to trade emission allotments between themselves based on the buyer of allotment bargaining with the seller over the proper price to pay for the extra allotment. A two-panel diagram is needed to better understand the logic of trading emission allotments. Figure 4 illustrates the marginal cost of reducing emissions of two firms. One firm is run on older technology with high abatement costs that goes from right to left with zero costs represented at the lower right-hand corner of the diagram. The other firm has newer technology in its plant with lower abatement costs that goes left to right with zero costs represented at the lower left-hand corner of the diagram. The width of the horizontal axis is the reduction in emissions that must be achieved overall to an efficient level. The intersection of the two marginal cost curves is where economic efficiency is achieved. That is, the value achieved Figure 4. Cap-and-Trade Between Firms Policy Source: Econ 101: Carbon Tax vs. Cap-and-Trade, 2012, n.pag. from the last dollar expended on abatement must be the same across all firms in the market. This is known as the equimarginal principle (Boyes and Melvin, 2011,122). The total cost of attaining the efficient abatement/emissions level is equal to the area C + G + K. At the efficient level of emissions, e*, the low cost (of reducing emissions) firm should reduce more emissions than the high cost (or reducing emissions) firm. Such a policy can be implemented by issuing carbon permits to different firms and allowing them to buy and sell their permits in the open market. Normally, equal amounts of permits are issued to each firm since it is difficult to assess the true abatement cost a priori. In the end, the marketplace will help determine the differences in cost structure depending on how high a firm is willing to bid for an extra permit or two (Econ. 101: Carbon Tax vs. Cap and Trade, n. pag.). As with the individual firm cap policy, the cap-and-trade policy is predicated on the government being able to determine the optimal level of total emissions desired reflecting social costs and benefits of reducing carbon emissions. Combining the different economic policy options together, it is obvious that it is possible to achieve the same level of reduction in emissions by setting a tax at the same level as where the marginal costs of reducing emissions is the same between firms which is at the level represented by the horizontal line in Figure 4 above. As above, the polluting firms will notice that it is cheaper to abate carbon emissions as long as the marginal abatement cost is lower than the tax. The firms with the higher cost structure will reduce emissions to e* when measured from right to left and incur abatement costs equivalent to area K and pay taxes equivalent to area B+C+F+G. The firms with the lower cost structure will reduce emissions to e* when measured from left to right and incur abatement costs of C+G and pay taxes equivalent to areas J + K in Figure 4. Setting a cap on each individual firm will produce the same level of reduction in emissions, but given that it is difficult, if not impossible, to individualized caps based on different cost structures of abatement, an efficient outcome is difficult to achieve under such a policy even though emissions are reduced to the same overall level. Regarding the market failure due to the negative carbon externality, both a carbon tax and carbon cap-and-trade will achieve the same level of increased efficiency–assuming that measurements of costs and benefits can be measured accurately– by reducing emissions to the optimal level at minimum cost. The real difference in these policies is due to differences in the distribution of costs. In the carbon tax policy, the government receives added revenues while in the cap and cap-and-trade policies when permits are simply handed out to firms, the firm has no additional outlays other than the cost of abatement to stay within the cap or to purchase additional allotment from other firms. If the permits are initially auctioned off by the government, the additional revenues to the government should be nearly the same as with a tax scheme if marginal social costs and benefits have been measured accurately. However, the economics-based policies are preferable to policies based on fiat where specific technologies (e.g., smoke-stack scrubbers) or a uniform cap on emission outputs across all firms since these other policies fail to take into account social costs and benefits. With regard to the economics-based policies, the following added impacts may also occur. First, in addition to static efficiency–efficiency occurring within a single period of time–there may also be dynamic efficiency within these policy schemes whereby firms have an incentive to adopt new technology over time to reduce their marginal costs of reducing carbon emissions (Econ. 101: Carbon Tax vs. Cap and Trade, n. pag.). Secondly, carbon emission taxes and/or auctioning permits will generate additional government revenue that might be used to offset various distortionary taxes on labour and/or capital (Econ. 101: Carbon Tax vs. Cap and Trade, n. pag.). Evidence and Analysis: There are various problems associated with the design of emissions tax regimes warranting discussion. First, if such a tax were placed on individuals rather than firms without any offsetting changes in other taxes or government transfers, a carbon tax might be regressive suggesting that the highest tax burden would be placed on the poor (Poterba, 1991, 11). This is mostly applicable to gasoline taxes where a flat emissions tax would make up a higher percentage of the income of poorer over wealthier taxpayers; thus, an issue of equity arises here. Likewise, firms with higher profit margins would shoulder less burden from the tax than firms with lower profit margins given a similar costs of pollution abatement. Poterba (1991) suggests that this regressiveness could be offset by changes in either the direct tax system or in government transfers. Second, as the population grows and production totals continue to increase to meet the demands of this growing population, emission taxes will need to rise to keep emissions at a particular level; this may lead to a set of distortions in terms of domestic vs. foreign production whereby firms can transfer production to other jurisdictions that do not have such taxes in place. Thus, international trade leads to an opportunity to get around the tax scheme and the higher the taxes instituted, the higher the incentive to engage in such behaviour. Thus, if emission taxes differ significantly between two neighbouring jurisdiction–for example, the State of New York and Connecticut or even New York and one of its neighbouring Canadian provinces–there is an inherent incentive to move production outside of the jurisdiction with the highest taxes and import products from elsewhere. Third, a central issue regarding the design of carbon emissions taxes to harmonize such polities with other fiscal instruments designed to mitigate the effects of climate change. For instance, it is important to ensure that taxes on chlorofluorocarbons and emissions from fossil fuels are comparable to avoid distortions in consumption that may lead to a worse outcome for the environment than in the absence of such policies (Poterba, 1991, 27). Bosquet (2000) conducted a review of the evidence regarding the impact of carbon emissions taxes on the environment and the economy. She claims that environmental taxes involve the shifting of tax burden from employment, income, and investment to resource depletion and waste. She asks the general question of whether such tax reform can produce a double benefit by helping the environment and the economy simultaneously. Based on her reviews of the literature and available evidence, she concludes that when emissions taxes are instituted, they are generally associated with reductions in payroll taxes, and–if wage-price inï ¬â€šation is prevented–they often result in signiï ¬ cant reductions in pollution and small gains in employment (Bosquet, 2000, 19). Also associated with the implementation of such environmental taxes are also marginal changes–gains or losses– in production in the short to medium term, while investments decease marginally and prices increase. However, she cautions that the results of such environmental taxes in the long-term are less certain (Bosquet, 2000, 29). With regard to cap and cap-and-trade policies, the evidence is also available regarding the effectiveness and consequences of such policies. Stavins (2008) describes a graduated cap-and-trade scheme that involves initially just Carbon gasses with 50% of permits issued to polluters in the market free of charge and other half auctioned off. Over 25 years, the percentage auctioned off annually will gradually increase to 100% and other greenhouse gas emissions will be included over this time span. The idea is to implement a gradual iterative policy with a slow trajectory of emission reductions. As time goes on, other emissions are included in this scheme and the system provides for harmonizing this scheme over time with effective cap-and-trade systems and other emission credit reduction programs in other jurisdictions. This harmonization effectively addresses the issue raised with emission tax policies that are unilaterally established in one jurisdiction without consideration for the po licies in neighbouring jurisdictions. If there is an effective way to dovetail policies in different jurisdiction, then this would level the playing field between domestic and imported products. Regarding actual cap-and-trade policies already in place, Colby (2000) analyzes a cap-and-trade policy for limiting Sulfur Dioxide emissions. The changes stemmed from the Clean Air Act of 1990 which allowed for a nationwide cap-and-trade policy for industrial firms emitting sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. Marginal costs of reducing emissions fell substantially duringn the 1990s due to reduced costs of installing scrubbers, reduced costs of flue gas desulfurization, and falling costs for low sulfur coal all due, to a large extent, to an active program of trading/buying allowances between firms that emerged after a few years of experience after the program was initiated. As Colby (2000) states, â€Å"The allowance trading market enhanced competition among the different methods that firms use to control emissions, adding impetus to cost reductions† (Colby, 2000, 642). Low allowance prices and falling marginal costs associated with reducing emissions produced earlier-than-predicted cutbacks in sulfur dioxide emissions. Allowance prices rose from lows of $80-90/unit in 1996 to about $215/unit in mid-1999 spurring further conservation efforts. Colby (2002) does mention that design and implementation of cap-and-trade schemes involves some important policy tradeoffs: equity among the players, balancing use levels with resource conditions, facilitating transactions between firms wishing to trade allowances, accurate accounting for externality costs, assuring adequate monitoring of emissions levels, and documenting welfare gains due to the policy. She says that efficient trading mechanisms can be more easily implemented when there is a strong political or legal mandate to cap resource use and trading allowances are sensed by all parties involved to be a way to ease adjustment to limits on emissions (Colby, 2000, 638). In choosing between the various policies, it is inevitably important to sense the level of uncertainty over measuring the items of interest. With regard to emissions taxes, it is important to have fairly accurate estimates of marginal social costs and benefits and with regard to cap-and-trade schemes, there needs to also be a fairly accurate means of estimating the optimal level of emissions given all the costs and benefits involved in reducing emissions. If it becomes difficult to measure these items accurately, then the expected deadweight loss and associate probabilities of various miscalculations needs to be assessed and compared across the different strategies to determine the policy that produces the smallest expected deadweight loss which is key from an economic perspective. Since policies based on fiat, such as technology mandates and non-economically based output standards, are not set with regard to these types of measures, it is likely that the deadweight economic loss associated with these policies will be greater than for either emissions taxes or better yet, cap-and-trade policies. Conclusion: The evidence suggests that economics-based emissions policies are preferred over policies based on fiat. Moreover, the strongest evidence for promoting investment in pollution control equipment and reducing emissions that mitigate the effects of climate change appear to involve cap-and-trade policies. Partially, this might be due to the flexible design of such policies which—through the auctioning and/or trading of allowances—account for changing market conditions. This policy, even more so than emission taxes, forces the industry to face current market conditions through the use of auctions and trading for emission allowances. As a result, the parties are forced to make choices based on strong economic criteria to obtain efficiencies over time. Works cited: Bosquet B. 2000. Environmental Tax Reform: Does It Work? A Survey of The Empirical Evidence. Ecological Economics. 34, 19-32, Colby G. 2000. Cap-and-Trade Policy Challenges: A Tale of Three Markets. Land Economics, 76, 638-658. Econ. 101: Carbon Tax vs. Cap-and-Trade. 2012. Website. Retrieved on June 5th, 2012 from http://www.env-econ.net/carbon_tax_vs_capandtrade.html Melvin W. Boyes M. 2011. Microeconomics. 9th ed. Marion, OH: South-Western, Cengage Learning, Poterba JM. 1991. Tax Policy to Combat Global Warming: On Designing a Carbon Tax. NBER Working Paper. MIT-CEPR 91-003WP. Retrieved on June 7th, 2012 from http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/50159/28596145.pdf?sequ Stavins RN. 2008. Addressing Climate Change with a Comprehensive U.S. Cap-and-Trade System. Nota Di Lavoro 67.2008 Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei. Retrieved on June 7th, 2012 from http://www.feem.it/userfiles/attach/Publication/NDL2008/NDL2008-067.pdf

Deception Point Page 22

Marjorie Tench fell silent, as if reeling from that last punch. The CNN host prompted, â€Å"Ms. Tench? A reaction?† The woman finally cleared her throat and spoke. â€Å"I guess I'm just surprised to hear that Mr. Sexton is willing to establish himself as so staunchly anti-NASA.† Sexton's eyes narrowed. Nice try, lady. â€Å"I am not anti-NASA, and I resent the accusation. I am simply saying that NASA's budget is indicative of the kind of runaway spending that your President endorses. NASA said they could build the shuttle for five billion; it cost twelve billion. They said they could build the space station for eight billion; now it's one hundred billion.† â€Å"Americans are leaders,† Tench countered, â€Å"because we set lofty goals and stick to them through the tough times.† â€Å"That national pride speech doesn't work on me, Marge. NASA has overspent its allowance three times in the past two years and crawled back to the President with its tail between its legs and asked for more money to fix its mistakes. Is that national pride? If you want to talk about national pride, talk about strong schools. Talk about universal health care. Talk about smart kids growing up in a country of opportunity. That's national pride!† Tench glared. â€Å"May I ask you a direct question, senator?† Sexton did not respond. He simply waited. The woman's words came out deliberately, with a sudden infusion of grit. â€Å"Senator, if I told you that we could not explore space for less than NASA is currently spending, would you act to abolish the space agency altogether?† The question felt like a boulder landing in Sexton's lap. Maybe Tench wasn't so stupid after all. She had just blindsided Sexton with a â€Å"fence-buster†-a carefully crafted yes/no question designed to force a fence-straddling opponent to choose clear sides and clarify his position once and for all. Instinctively Sexton tried sidestepping. â€Å"I have no doubt that with proper management NASA can explore space for a lot less than we are currently-â€Å" â€Å"Senator Sexton, answer the question. Exploring space is a dangerous and costly business. It's much like building a passenger jet. We should either do it right-or not at all. The risks are too great. My question remains: If you become president, and you are faced with the decision to continue NASA funding at its current level or entirely scrap the U.S. space program, which would you choose?† Shit. Sexton glanced up at Gabrielle through the glass. Her expression echoed what Sexton already knew. You're committed. Be direct. No waffling. Sexton held his chin high. â€Å"Yes. I would transfer NASA's current budget directly into our school systems if faced with that decision. I would vote for our children over space.† The look on Marjorie Tench's face was one of absolute shock. â€Å"I'm stunned. Did I hear you correctly? As president, you would act to abolish this nation's space program?† Sexton felt an anger simmering. Now Tench was putting words in his mouth. He tried to counter, but Tench was already talking. â€Å"So you're saying, senator, for the record, that you would do away with the agency that put men on the moon?† â€Å"I am saying that the space race is over! Times have changed. NASA no longer plays a critical role in the lives of everyday Americans and yet we continue to fund them as though they do.† â€Å"So you don't think space is the future?† â€Å"Obviously space is the future, but NASA is a dinosaur! Let the private sector explore space. American taxpayers shouldn't have to open their wallets every time some Washington engineer wants to take a billion-dollar photograph of Jupiter. Americans are tired of selling out their children's future to fund an outdated agency that provides so little in return for its gargantuan costs!† Tench sighed dramatically. â€Å"So little in return? With the exception perhaps of the SETI program, NASA has had enormous returns.† Sexton was shocked that the mention of SETI had even escaped Tench's lips. Major blunder. Thanks for reminding me. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence was NASA's most abysmal money pit ever. Although NASA had tried to give the project a facelift by renaming it â€Å"Origins† and shuffling some of its objectives, it was still the same losing gamble. â€Å"Marjorie,† Sexton said, taking his opening, â€Å"I'll address SETI only because you mention it.† Oddly, Tench looked almost eager to hear this. Sexton cleared his throat. â€Å"Most people are not aware that NASA has been looking for ET for thirty-five years now. And it's a pricey treasure hunt-satellite dish arrays, huge transceivers, millions in salaries to scientists who sit in the dark and listen to blank tape. It's an embarrassing waste of resources.† â€Å"You're saying there's nothing up there?† â€Å"I'm saying that if any other government agency had spent forty-five million over thirty-five years and had not produced one single result, they would have been axed a long time ago.† Sexton paused to let the gravity of the statement settle in. â€Å"After thirty-five years, I think it's pretty obvious we're not going to find extraterrestrial life.† â€Å"And if you're wrong?† Sexton rolled his eyes. â€Å"Oh, for heavens sake, Ms. Tench, if I'm wrong I'll eat my hat.† Marjorie Tench locked her jaundiced eyes on Senator Sexton. â€Å"I'll remember you said that, senator.† She smiled for the first time. â€Å"I think we all will.† Six miles away, inside the Oval Office, President Zach Herney turned off the television and poured himself a drink. As Marjorie Tench had promised, Senator Sexton had taken the bait-hook, line, and sinker. 24 Michael Tolland felt himself beaming empathetically as Rachel Sexton gaped in silence at the fossilized meteorite in her hand. The refined beauty of the woman's face now seemed to dissolve into the expression of innocent wonder-a young girl who had just seen Santa Claus for the first time. I know just how you feel, he thought. Tolland had been struck the same way only forty-eight hours ago. He too had been stunned into silence. Even now, the scientific and philosophical implications of the meteorite astounded him, forcing him to rethink everything he had ever believed about nature. Tolland's oceanographic discoveries included several previously unknown deepwater species, and yet this â€Å"space bug† was another level of breakthrough altogether. Despite Hollywood's propensity for casting extraterrestrials as little green men, astrobiologists and science buffs all agreed that given the sheer numbers and adaptability of earth's insects, extraterrestrial life would in all probability be buglike if it were ever discovered. Insects were members of the phylum arthropoda-creatures having hard outer skeletons and jointed legs. With over 1.25 million known species and an estimated five hundred thousand still to be classified, earth's â€Å"bugs† outnumbered all of the other animals combined. They made up 95 percent of all the planet's species and an astounding 40 percent of the planet's biomass. It was not so much the bugs' abundance that impressed as it was their resilience. From the Antarctic ice beetle to Death Valley's sun scorpion, bugs happily inhabited deadly ranges in temperature, dryness, and even pressure. They also had mastered exposure to the most deadly force known in the universe-radiation. Following a nuclear test in 1945, air force officers had donned radiation suits and examined ground zero, only to discover cockroaches and ants happily carrying on as if nothing had happened. Astronomers realized that an arthropod's protective exoskeleton made it a perfectly viable candidate to inhabit the countless radiation-saturated planets where nothing else could live.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Ethical Relativism and its Beliefs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethical Relativism and its Beliefs - Assignment Example This argument is true because from the past, cultures were isolated and people had little information about other cultural practices. Today, people consider their practices and traditions in their own cultures, which have existed over the years, in determining what is ethical. Even with information technology and the widespread use of the internet, it would be ignorant to think that there is a universal way of determining what is ethical. It is not wise to think that one culture’s way of doing things is the best way of doing things. Cultural diversity still exists around the world. For the instant, after the recent terror attacks in Paris, where the main target was a satirical magazine called Charlie Hebdo, people in France felt that the attack was an attack on freedom of speech. As a result, the magazine published magazines with Prophet Mohamed on the front cover. Many French people supported the magazine and saw this as a way of fighting for their freedom of speech. In this country and the rest of the western countries, the publication of the magazine was ethical. However, this was not the case in the Arab and Muslim countries who considered the action unethical and a mockery to the prophet and to the Muslim religion. This example clearly shows that it is not reasonable to assume that people interpret what is ethical in the same way. The theory of ethical relativism is also valid because it avoids ethnocentrism. This means that the theory does not judge another culture based on another culture instead. Ethnocentrism makes one culture look more superior to the others. It is argued that such thoughts are a form of discrimination just like sexism and racism (Hinman, 2013). Ethnocentric people devalue and look down on other cultures. If religious opinions are brought into this debate, more cultural differences can be identified. There are different religious opinions on what is right and what is wrong.  

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Coming to America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Coming to America - Essay Example In â€Å"Coming to America†, Byron has discussed his journey from Ireland to America. Byron immigrated to America from Ireland in 1901. That was a time when people used to travel by ships. Byron starts with the discussion of the poor lifestyle he had in Ireland before he resolved to immigrate to America. He had less to eat and no good place to live in. He spent the life of a poor man. Then he decided to immigrate to America as he saw it as a means to enhance his standard of living. After a three week journey in the ship, he arrived in America and got settled in New York. With due effort and uninterrupted search, Byron managed to find a job in one of the largest trucking operations in the world; the REA express. Byron worked in this company for 46 years. During these years, Byron got married with an American lady, Mary Hardy, and raised five children; three of his own and two of his sister who had passed away. â€Å"The reason I wanted to come to America was that America gave me the opportunity to make my own home, make a living, have freedom of speech, and many, many more wonderful things that only exist here† (Byron). Both authors share multiple aspects in their assessment of America as a land of opportunities. Both authors see America as a place that has to offer a lot of opportunities in terms of employment and a high standard of living. The strongest words that both the authors have made use of to emphasize upon the opulence which can be enjoyed in America are that in addition to naming particular things that can be acquired in America, they have given this aspect an infinite dimension in these words, â€Å"many, many more† (Byron) and â€Å"more than you share†

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Now we can get congress going Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Now we can get congress going - Essay Example There should be adoption of policies that will ensure new graduate and majority of youth get enough opportunities after getting out of the education system. Addressing these issues will boost confidence on elected leader and also esnures that the current administration is seen as doing something on policy issues. On the other hand, I belive that addressing issues of enrgey will help in reviving areas of the economy that are not performing well. Energy sector is a key driver of various parts of the economy. This is because energy drives various sector of the economy such as prodcution. Most of the prices of goods and services enjoyed by americans are determiedn by the prodcution process. Hence, addressing issues of enrgy will be paramount in esnuring that Americans are not faced by high prices of goods and services. Moreover, americans will be able to purchase more commodities with less. Therefore, a proposal to construct Keystone XL pipeline should be a priority of the new elected

Monday, August 26, 2019

Transition services in special education Coursework

Transition services in special education - Coursework Example Transition services normally coordinated and designed within an outcome-oriented process that aims at promoting movement from school towards post-school life activities. These activities are usually based on the needs, preferences and interests of the students. They include the activities needed in the following areas: related services of disabilities, instructions, experiences in the community, daily living skills acquisition when appropriate, functional vocational evaluation and the development of employment and other living objectives of adult post-school life. The transition services are important in offering students with disabilities hope for their future. The community resources and agencies provide students with disability with adequate knowledge, and education can be tailored to the goals and strength of the students to providing the options and plans for the future life. It is not just enough to simply be aware that students with disabilities are in need of guidance to successfully transition themselves from high school life to the next stage of young adulthood life. Bold steps need to be taken to offer guidance and prepare the teenagers for college life and their future careers, as well as independent lives. Without such guidance in place, students with disabilities, more so learning disabilities, often fail during their high school life and beyond. All special education students regardless of the disability severity between the ages of sixteen (16) to twenty-one (21) years qualifies for transition services and must have transition components in their Individualized Education Plan (Pennsylvania Department of Education, Education Law Center, 2007). Planning in most cases begins from the age of sixteen (16) years, or when appropriate, as early as fourteen years of age. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires the first Individualized Education Plan to be implemented once the student reaches sixteen (16) years of

Sunday, August 25, 2019

CRITICALLY DISCUSS SOME OF THE KEY ISSUES INFORMING EARLY YEARS Essay

CRITICALLY DISCUSS SOME OF THE KEY ISSUES INFORMING EARLY YEARS EDUCATION AND CARE POLICY UNDER THE NEW LABOUR GOVERNMENT - Essay Example The New Labour government came up with the third way – ‘policies’ that were being developed on what works. Power and Whitty (1999) concluded that â€Å"it might be more accurate to suggest that new labour government program is based on a combination of what’s popular and what’s easy rather than what works.† The new labour party always featured education as its first most priority. The party continued coming up with new strategies and plans. For them, education was the necessity of every individual in a nation. Through proper education system, not only the standard of state is raised but unemployment can also be prevented to some extent. The government wanted to provide quality nursery education, for example by, setting up primary schools of standard, building new schools on public and private partnership, introducing the need of new technologies, hiring more skilled and dedicated staff in schools to improve teaching methods etc. These were the policies of the party in 1997 (Labour Party Manifesto, 2001). In 2001 the party manifesto was to establish more secondary schools with different missions. The subjects like Mathematics, English, Science and Information Technology were given more importance in the curriculum. Their manifesto included creating nursery for three year olds, introducing more learning at primary schools with music and sports, and arranging more state schools. The aim of the party was to polish the talent of every child and giving them more opportunities to excel in life (Labour Party Manifesto, 2001). In the first term of their government, the Labour party changed the method of teaching with establishing primary schools. In the second term, they transformed the secondary schools in accordance with the teachers and staff of schools, and formed more specialist schools with each having a unique identity. In 2005, their manifesto was to establish an education

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Discussion Board Post Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion Board Post Response - Essay Example For instance, many of the employees look demoralized in their activities as they feel devalued as their contributions in terms of input to the budget formulation does not matter (Zelman, McCue and Glick, 2009)). There is however one issue in particular I am interested in and would want you to clarify. Does your organization has a specific way of collecting employees, supervisors, and lower-level managers ideas or contributions to the budget? Does it happen during weekly meetings or do the employees forward their contributions or input to their supervisors who then forward it to the top managers? Martusciello, your post was interesting and I learnt a lot from your research. I had not imagined that a change in staffing matrix could be reason enough to deviate from a budget as you have noted in your post. It is true that when cases where some of the staff resigns or are on leave puts the management in a hard situation whereby they have to hire new employees temporarily. This according to Zelman, McCue and Glick (2009) translates to additional expenses as such expenditure in terms of salaries for the temporary staff is not initially planned. I also agree that unplanned situations such as an influx or surge in the number of patients could cause deviation from a budget. Your organization did the right thing to employ the additional eleven nurses to float to units. I am interested to know, did the surge in patients affect the nurses in any way in terms of burnout and elevated stress levels? Zelman, W., McCue, M., & Glick, N. (2009).Financial management of health care organizations: An introduction to fundamental tools, concepts, and applications(3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass. Retrieved from the Walden Library

Friday, August 23, 2019

Globalisation,Multinational Enterprises(MNEs) and Free Trade Essay

Globalisation,Multinational Enterprises(MNEs) and Free Trade - Essay Example Global integration is facilitated by the existence of a global infrastructure that fosters easy communication and transportation of labour and products. This plays a critical role in creating a borderless society, which reduces the world into a village. In addition, connectivity reduces the time spent in the production of goods and services, which ensures efficiency among manufacturing industries. Under globalization, international bodies such as the European Union provide guidelines to govern economic activities among member states. Globalization is associated with increased economic growth where nations are open to new opportunities for trade and investments. Integration fosters the removal of barriers such as trade restrictions, quotas and tariffs, which attracts economic stimulation through economic drives. In this sense, new markets emerge in countries of interest with services such as banking, transport and insurance being established. Similarly, globalization encourages efficiency in business thus lowering national barriers to trade and investments. Advances in manufacturing technology as well as in communication facilitate efficiency. The internet provides an effective mode of communication such as email and video conferencing, which bridges geographical barriers and facilitates efficiency. Integration is governed by rules and regulations, which ensure democracy and rights of the citizens are upheld. An increase economic success is associated with improving living standards among citizens in the country. However, globalization also has negative impacts to the society relating to loss of autonomy, which leads to harmonization of standards between nations. In the same manner, international bodies take precedence over national bodies where economic activities are supervised by multinational institutions such as World Trade Organization, International

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Vacation plan for a 70 year old man who is dependent on a wheelchair Case Study

Vacation plan for a 70 year old man who is dependent on a wheelchair - Case Study Example Alexander is 70 year old and is dependent on a wheelchair. For a person like him, who enjoys adventure a lot but feels bound because of his immobility, there are still vacations he can take that can be called an adventure of a lifetime. Alexander would be able to travel there without any worries of not having fun, as there exists a comfortable environment that has the provision of a wheelchair amongst many things. For a person who is immobile, and is yet interested in adventurous escapades, this tour should be a lot of fun.Since, Alexander has no money constraints it is relatively easier to find him his perfect vacation.The safari there is disabled friendly. In this tour Alexander would be able to visit many places like the Kruger National Park, Garden Route, Johannesburg, Private Game Reserve, Cape Town and Durban also. Through these places, Alexander would also get access to visit places like Zimbabwe, Namibia and other places in Africa. All this is offered with constant availabili ty of wheelchair and other things useful for Alexander.As far as travel and transportation is concerned this is specialized to provide all disabled people even more comfort.Epic Enabled uses a Mercedes Benz Safari Truck to move around. This is especially been made for the disabled to provide them total safety and comfort.There are even elevated seats with seat belts, for the needs of a disabled person. Inside the Benz Truck, you can move your wheelchairs around also because there are removable seats; however safety has also been taken into hands by having these wheelchairs secured by easy to use tie-downs. These tie-downs are firmly fixed to the structure and body of the truck. Accommodation has also been looked after by providing the options of fully tented camps, cottages and even bungalows. This tour also will provide Alexander and people like him with own bath swivel set, a wheelchair which can be used in the shower and while on commode, and when in case of an emergency these wheelchairs are fitted with handlebars that can be moved. One particular activity of use and interest to Alexander should be the eight day Kruger Safari. This journey in specific will start from Johannesburg. And through the Crocodile Bridge, when going east it will take the travelers to the Park. A total of three days are spent here during which all the travelers will be able to view and interact with wildlife up-close including birds, animals and even plant! This shall include game viewing, early morning drives, evening walks etc. An optional night drive is also available for the more adventurous. The next three days are spent at the Private Game Reserve. Here, world famous wild animals live amongst animal breeding projects. Alexander might even get a chance of viewing up a lion really closely! Dinner is served around a Boma, which is a traditional "forest" small fire around which people gather and sit. A visit to a Research centre for endangered species like the cheetah and wild dogs, and one to a local village are also part of this three day program. The last day will be spent along the Blyde River Canyon, after which Epic Enabled will safely through its vehicle/s take the vacationers to Johannesburg after a great adventurous eight day safari. (Epic Enabled. 2008) Travelers 2 and 3: Mark and Jillian It will be ideal for both Mark and Jillian to visit the Bahamas on their vacation. There are quite a few reasons to support this suggestion and of them, the most important ones are cost-effectiveness, a balance of adventure and relaxation and a great place to have fun. Also, there is considerable support for handicapped people (Kruckemyer, 2005). This is possibly the biggest advantage of visiting the Bahamas and nearby islands: Mark and Jillian both can have fun without worrying about accessibility. According to Kruckemyer, cruises are one of the

Rapid Growth of Christianity in the First Centuries Essay Example for Free

Rapid Growth of Christianity in the First Centuries Essay Account for the rapid growth of Christianity in the first centuries. Christianity spread rapidly from C.E for three hundred years until it was legalized. The fact that this religion spread so quickly is one of the most amazing feats in history – in just 300 years Christianity went from one person preaching about a God, to a legalized religion. One of the main reasons for this rapid growth is that Christianity was open to anyone, in Judaism, you were not automatically a Jew and some synagogues did not allow people to convert. The great thing about Christianity was that anybody could become a Christian. People often thought of Christianity as Judaism lite. This was because Christianity descended from Judaism and had a lot of the same beliefs – it was just easier to become a Christian and the rules were not quite as strict. Both Judaism and Christianity are monotheistic religions so they only believe in one god. The Jewish religion was attractive to gentiles because of its monotheistic beliefs and moral code – who were tired of worshiping the Greek and Roman pantheons (Gods Goddesses). It got to the point when Jewish Synagogues would no longer allow Christians in them so the Christians Christianity is said to have the highest standard of love to god and to man. Christianity often appealed to poor people who felt alienated by mainstream religions. Back then, most people would be able to speak fluent Greek, the fact that Christianity was written and mostly spoken in Greek made it appeal to the majority of the people because they could read it. Judaism however was spoken in Hebrew, so only people that could speak Hebrew could understand it. This is why the new testament was written in Greek. The Roman Empire had a weak religion, so it was very easy to get people to convert to Christianity. After a group of people converted, others often followed behind. So many people converted to Christianity that Rome became the ‘base’ of the religion. That Is why the Pope lives in Rome – this is where Christianity was ‘properly’ formed.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The Strength Weakness Opportunities And Threats Analysis Information Technology Essay

The Strength Weakness Opportunities And Threats Analysis Information Technology Essay Selecting Google as main organization for the Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats Analysis (SWOT) has many reasons, which i cannot not elaborate fully all of them here due to some limitations, but no doubt everyone knows the advantages and reliability of finding and searching easily anything through Google. In this era of upcoming technologies, Google is also doing research like other organizations who are working day and nights to serve their customers fully and satisfactorily to yield the customers trust and to keep strengthen their market strategies. Here is a short overview of the Google which will give the detail specification and a birds eye view of the achievements (Battelle J., 2005). In the list of global internet related technologies and advertisement organizations, Google holds a significant name. It was designed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1996 in Stanford, USA., who were actually Ph.D. students. Its offer services relating to gateway search engines and also those organizations who are doing advertisements for different companies through Google. Googles search engines are responsible for holding a huge pile of web links and other relative online content which anyone can find easily there. Googles main income profile starts from delivering World Wide Web advertisement for various organizations. The organization operates with a massive workforce of almost twenty thousand people, based in Mountain View in California, USA. During the year of 2009, Google hit the target successfully to a remarkable figure of twenty three and half thousand million dollars with an increment of eight percent from year 2008. The organizations operating profit was almost eight thou sands and three hundred millions in year 2009 with an increment of twenty five percent from year 2008. In year 2009, accumulative profit for Google was sixty five hundred million dollars with an increment of fifty four percent in year 2008. With above given facts and figures we can understand well the ongoing performance of Google organization. Gradually its going up and up every day as compared to its last year performance. Google is not only giving services in search engines and web content but also in holding email accounts, communication softwares, offering news to the people and one of the most important feature which is Google maps. With Google maps we can find every place by just giving the name of the place or the city or country name and Google will pinpoint exactly which we type but it can also give the names of two or more places, like Virginia is a place which is in two or more countries. (http://www.google.com/corporate/milestones.html) Strengths An essential toolkit to implement in which way many human beings are finding is commonly available to the other people. By luring and giving attraction to the searching engines and its site traffic which is a significant ongoing and continuous improvement is bringing business for almost every person in relative field. People across the globe use Google search engine to find everything relative to their field of profession. People who belong to nearly every part of the life, even if they are students or high stream professional, architecture or scientist, they are using Google search engine to find quick results. Normally people use three browsers which are Firefox and Internet explorer and Mozilla. But most of the people like Google chrome as well because it supports many applications which hold music, movie streaming and operating websites. Now, many browsers do not support some features like some music or juke boxes but Google chrome nearly supports everything which viewers want to enjoy and they also inform other friends and family as well. No doubt colourful and delicate images perform an important role to attract the customers. When we go to some websites, images and scripts running at the back are the only first things which are most attractive and colourful to lure the customers to come back again and again. Even its a selling and buying Amazon or eBay website like or its pornographic website, people love images and they want to have a good experience. So there should be such an internet browser which could support all types of images and to show them in some real colourful life (Elias J. C., 2010). Commerce driven by electronic channels or in short term what we call E-Commerce relates to commercial actions which are buying and selling the products and other financial or legal services with the help of electronic systems specially Google. Internet and other electronic machines like FAX or communicating devices like network routers carry out the service over computer networks. Google relates also to Electronic Commerce whose history goes back to seventies and eighties where initially EDI(Electronic Data Interchange) and fund transfer happened been introduced to the world. From that time an enhanced and fast production system started in electronic commerce which elaborated in almost all scenes of the commercial organizations as well. For example Distribution systems management, implementing transactions and electronic marketing and also stock management. Googles mechanism of business strategies can also be analyzed and structured in many good terms and also brings down turns like any other normal commercial institute. We take a birds view of those significant and essential good and bad things of the Google. Among all of these huge and mighty good things of Googles services, is firstly makes able a corporation or sole trading business to get to the world market. Hence, it holds the requirements of all the local and international market volume, even if corporation actions are no more locked by global hurdles. Google is no doubt helping to mini organizations as well which get the availability of the introducing their products and to also bringing others services or products into their country. While implementing corporation activities sometimes huge implications might come across, where Google fights back to implement commercial transformations almost twenty four hours and on the day offs and on weekends as well. Enhancing business cond itions like that definitely mounts the sales figures up which pleases the share holders (Yadhav S. Sharma Y., 2010). E-commerce provides the consumers the availability to find for relatively buying those products which are available on cheaper rates. Google is also helping customers by giving an adversely easy approach on millions services and products and even by giving the producers detail to consumers which helps everyone to find the respective product at the cheaper level(www.buzzle.com). There are proven facts and figures that buying electronically is normally more easy and conceivable and its also saves the time of the customers rather than basic outdoor shops. Apart of all of these persons might find different feedback which are sent by other customers concerned to those products which have been bought form the respective website which might hold complain about the product. Issues related at corporation level, Google draws back and down turn the cost and figures involve in marketing, care of the consumer, storing information and stock holding management. These techniques cut down the time elapsed which have been involved in corporation planning and also in engineering involvement, customized services and products which face the available demand of the specific consumers, mounting production levels and consumers card holding services. Google decreases the weight of administration to hold corporations and hence increases the figures of the share holders fund availability to further essential investment. These issues make able respective consumers care help lines. Weaknesses Google is basically structurized in so many technology breakthroughs and intellectual peoples recommendations whom have limited the quantity of the persons utilizing the revolutionized schemas. One of the tallest disadvantage of Google is the world wide web services still have not given the benefits in some parts of the world, whether its the Zulu tribes in South Africa or its the red Indians living in the caves of the panama, still mankind has to bring the charming connectivity of the internet to some significant parts of the world. Even though a huge amount of the people who do no utilize the benefits of the internet due to some sort of the financial conditions they are still trying to achieve that. Beside of these issues many people still decline the trustworthy online business communications because they think they cannot see the other business party face to face. Most of the people still require reserved places due to the needs and goals which are highly conceivable among those people who have been trying for a while to achieve those. The basic surrounding factor of Google is that because its not in that suiting conditions to some people who want to buy food related products. There has been a local news that a girl bought some food from an Indian takeaway which has been advertised on the Google. The girl had an allergy consisted to nuts eating allergy but the takeaway management did not mention that food they make might contain allergy so eventually the girl dies on the spot. Still people relate to be in the shop in some more traditional method to use Google for buying food. So, finally Google is not very good for those business situations. The era in which we deliver these services to the people might require some physical products which might be some basic and essential in some cases. So many telephonic calls and electronic mails need to get assorted by people. Hence, coming back to the products and getting refunded in some more troublesome environment is quite consuming and elapsing. Thus, by analyzing the different advantages and disadvantages, we might assume that the pros and cons of the Google is quite essential to among all the people which are using that service (Bazalgette, P., 2008) Opportunities An enhanced and illustrated technique to find the relative issues which ties up the basic requirement and needs in consumer trust, might indulge the basic infrastructure and the continuous changing world. Google is basically regarded to some technological related factors because they have some inside concurrent issues which are considered very much accumulative due to the financial conditions of the company. No doubt Google is the biggest name of the century and it cannot be forgotten till end of the time because it has brought the people together and offered them different services. A massive quantity of human beings still are not in proper connection with an internet there are some geographical and environmental issues because they cannot buy internet related infrastructure. Recently Google launched their Android software for small pocket size electrical devices like mobile phones and games consoles. Sony Erickson and Google are in a joint business, where Google is designing operat ing software for the mobile phones of Sony Ericsson. These kinds of joint ventures of different organizations are necessary for long term business deals and projects. After launching their Android based devices people started enjoying their different features and they can also download a huge number of applications from the web. Threats No doubt scientist are working on their ongoing projects. Research work is being handled at regular basis in different institutions around the world specially in USA, Germany and Sweden. Reason of that is these governments are working hard to achieve research related targets and they also encourage people to think differently in scientific fields. Sweden and Germany are offering free education to everyone around the world but in return local universities achieve a handsome cash from government but in return they get research from different students. In response of the ongoing development and progress in World Wide Web and electronic commerce, different people are working hard to invent new technological breakthrough. Recently Face book which was designed by another student has become remarkably very popular among people around the world. So, to overcome financial and marketing related issues, Google must have to perform extra ordinary to yield the market and to keep stay top in the list. The most important and effective implications is the still a huge number of people are not comfortable buying food products through searched Google. Human being still want to buy from shops, like grocer giants TESCO and Sainsbury and Waite Rose and other market leading owners are delivering products, and its happened once a customer bought a packet of bananas which were brought from South America and they found a lizard hiding inside the pack of yellow bananas, so these kind of issues can come across to the producers and it can cause problems for the main company as well. Beside of buying on the shop, people have an idea to go outside with their friends and family and they enjoy shopping as well. Analysis Every organization has some good points to be leaded by other organizations and also some draw backs of which other companies keep themselves aware of that. Below is a table of general products consumed by people, which we can explain here: Sales Projection (Millions of $US and %) 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 1 Total world sales $US 12,878 42,820 44,533 46,314 48,167 50,094 2 Total electronic music % 4.3 4.5% 4.7% 4.9% 5.2% 5.4% 3 Total electronic music $US 1,776 1,926 2,093 2,280 2,489 2,724 4 Estimated total online sales % 1.0 1.9% 3.5% 6.0% 10.5% 17.1% 5 Total online sales $US 402 812 1,554 2,800 5,040 8,568 6 Total online electronic $US 17 36 73 137 260 466 7 ar.com mkt share of above % 0.5% 2.0% 4.0% 6.4% 9.0% 11.6% 8 ar.com sales $US 0.087 0.73 2.92 8.82 23.34 54.26 Source : http://www.businessplans.org/audio/audio03.html Weighted average is defined in the second line which represents the market volume in electronic bought music. Line 5 shows the sales of the music which will overwhelm over the internet, because music is also downloadable, where CDs are delivered to customers, infect many people are still buying music in HMV and TESCO DVDs renting on the spot because they can see which one is available. The main reason is line5 is measured to the Jupiters facts and figures which tell that nearly half online sales happened in United States. It is very essential to remember that electronic equipment is not the basic music quality. Its require to increase its market. The bigger music names and on the web music shop like MP3.com are not in contact to help the market. The consumers view on the web buying is basically has some limitations, only twenty percent of survey shows that people have been buying music from world wide web. We even have faith that this service is basically has some draw back and with less music quantity which might affect the sales and fact and figures of the respective products and services. Infect, due to the concurrent online questionnaire, forty three percent people have inclined to pay for the music available on the web, where nineteen percent showed heavily interest and they bought the items on the web. The basic targeting strategy for Google is very uncertain, as it is inclined to those human beings who are tended to listen their favourite music and they want to buy music on the web. Google arranged a facts and figures survey of hundred repliers, among most of them basically in Canada, with nearly ten percent of repliers were from different countries and that facts and figures ratio were obtained from the web. As the people related to the marketing orientation and other factors which are essential for the betterment and easiness for the consumers are bringing reliability to the utmost reward of the pioneer higher management of the bigger and higher market leaders, nearly the age of twenty five which is a average age and one to three from university related people are buying the music from the web, besides of these situations the study also revealed that sixty five percent of the consumers were male. Another fact revealed that eighty one percent people from buyers have computers at home and they have the easiness of internet as well, almost ninety seven percent have the broadband facility at homes and they spent most of the time to watch and listen music from the World Wide Web. They do have the bandwidth speed reliability speed which is thirty one percent which is regarded to an average among the other people who do not use computers very often according to some different categories. People also intended to pay for high definition portable computers and TVs which is also available on high price on the market, but people still want to buy because they have easy accessible range to view and find the specifications of the products available in the online market. Almost twelve percent of the electronical music equipment and relative accessories loving people basically customize their products to their own musical accessories. This suggests that the rising prices of the high definition products nearly seventy five percent would likely to but by end of this coming year. This is because of the online marketing campaign of the marketing professionals and other people who are offering their services in this field. For example, in Germany and USA and Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Muscat, these countries are considered to maintain themselves with the upcoming technological breakthrough with the time of the environment, the main reason of that is the people in these countries are highly paid an average people income is higher than other developing countries. To authenticate the plan and design of the product features and its life cycle, it is highly determined factors that something is very much important and valuable which is deserved to be declared. Even in some all accessible and private owned computer machines and networks whereas the internet is including as well, to authenticate is basically go through the use of the username and pass code. By knowing someone pass code is highly sensitive issue and these private information should be kept safe and never written down on any paper or computer file. Reason of this is because hackers are always in a situation to grab someones ids and pass code to enter into a system where they are not allowed. For example, HSBC bank provides user id and password to their customers and they allow their customers to do online transactions and to do transfer money as well. But when money involved in any matter it become more serious so it should be handled very carefully and log out function plays also an important part there when a user finishes his or her online work they should finish their work. In case if they do not sign out or log out they might come across some hacking experience and fraud interventions in some public computers, so this is very sensitive matter. A concurrent World Wide Web related matters where a user name is entered is the basic mainframe of a user entry website. Database holding applications are very important web links because they hold all the customer information regarding their liking and disliking. Whenever a customer comes to the website, the customer operates and browse different pages and the websites hold the data he or she provide by user name and password by giving submitting the data, so the database holds the customer basic generic data to keep safe and to also keep their interests in their. Data integrity is also important, though, new flash drives have been designed and these drives are working well but there is still some factors involve that it might damage and its reliability can come across to some fatal damage. The basic and conventional method to dissolve this issue is called mirroring, by holding the both copies of the data on two different drives to hold the data. Finally, if Google designers are working on different projects then they should make sure that the world wide web link for their new website should be designed which could gently lead the client through the learning and sales process. The text of sales should be designed and planned to the utmost level of the grammar. Make sure there is well enough amount of text contents on the website to attract the searching engines and to inform respective consumers as well. (Babin, L.A. and Carder, S.T, 1996). Conclusion Hence, this discussion seems to be endless and Googles goals and objectives are the most popular world wide web resources for communication equipment and surfing the web, no matter what the people are accelerating the site of the purchasement and buying signals of the consumers, this is very important and significant factor to show that consumers is about to buy something but they dont know what to buy that the reason they choose the search engine. No doubt the IT and world wide web have some aspects on commercial decisions of the organizations. Corporations are taking huge money to electronic commerce applications but are still facing hard analysis and its effects to the modern infrastructure of the organizations. It clearly shows how a model can go ahead to lead to identify and to give properties of electronic commerce and its operations. We have taken a look that how a schema of recommendations works out and how its providing help to improve Google website can mount the sales targets and the organizations revenues. Google maintains the basic marketing strategy which aims to support the affirmative infrastructure and social ties among different sections of the people. Because when a product is launched, different advertising agencies worked on that and they spend utmost energy to introduce that product to the eyes of the consumers because this the basic step which people want to see the first hand product and finalize their purchase. Google conclude the essential E-commerce strategy which holds the main barriers to the conceivable energy among those people as well who are still neglecting the main stream professional line of the executives, because they are no doubt working on the best to introduce and bring the most beautiful picture to the horizon and even on the buses as well. Consequently, Google is offering services to almost every corner of the todays life and every individual human being or organization. Besides serving the whole global community Google management must have to bring new t echnologies inside their search engines to keep maintaining the latest requirements from the customer to yield the market in this tough marketing criteria.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Concept of primary health care in Nigeria

Concept of primary health care in Nigeria Introduction The concept of primary health care (PHC) was formulated by the 134 countries that met at the Alma-Ata conference in Russia on September 12, 1978 which was organized by the World Health Organization. Primary health care is a part of the three-tier system of health care in Nigeria. These are the tertiary health care, which the federal government is in charge; the secondary health care, under the auspices of the state government and the primary health care, controlled by the local governments. In the late 1980s there was a national initiative to overhaul the primary health care system through the adoption of a new national health policy, in the context of which the federal and state governments issued directives giving local government areas full jurisdiction over the delivery of primary health care services.1, 2 The local Government, the State Government and the Federal Government respectively are responsible for all financial aspects, including personnel costs, consumables, running co sts and capital investment. The Federal government through the federal ministry of health sets overall policy goals, co-ordinates activities, ensures quality, training and implements sector programmes. â€Å"Primary health care according to the world health organization means essential health care based on practical scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology, made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost which the country can afford to maintain at every stage of their development in the spirit of self reliance and self determination. It is the first level contact of the individual and community in the national health system, thus bringing health care as close as possible to where people live and work and contribute the first element of a continuing health care process†.3 It is essentially aimed to promote health, to cure diseases and to rehabilitate. Nigeria is one of the few countries in the developing world to have systematically decentralized the delivery of basic health and education services to locally elected governments.4 BACKGROUND: Nigeria has an enormous population of around 120 million in 20035, with a growth rate of about 2.9% per annum. It is hailed as the giant of Africa and yet ranked among the poorest nations of the world.6 The management of the health sector has been poor and this has affected the quality of services to the general populace. Although Nigeria has an extensive national health infrastructure, it lacks the resources needed to function effectively Nigeria is now decentralizing its health system and clarifying the responsibilities and services at each level, which should result in better management and coordination. In addition, its health policy has been guided by the Bamako initiative to encourage and sustain community participation in primary health care services.7 The evidence base for primary care orientated health care system Primary care that is, care from the viewpoint of the doctors who has been in contact exclusively to the patients appearing for care- has apparent limitation. From the evidence given by the World Bank table and world health report 2000. It shows that Nigeria is one of the very poor countries. It has a clear symptom of imbalance between resources in poor performance, deteriorating facilities and low working moral among staff. There a high mortality rate in child and adult. The structures of the economy have fallen from 2004, raised a little bit in 2005 and remain constant between 2006 and 2007. This shows that due to lack of adequate resources in will affect the orientation of the health care system. The development of primary care in Nigeria An effective primary care system is critical for any country, developed or developing, to maximize outcomes and minimize costs.8, 9 Accurate and relevant data gathering and information processing are necessary for any field of endeavour whether in health care or any other field. It has long been recognized that clinical issues in primary care in Nigeria are different from those in other types of care. For example, the predictive values of symptoms may be quite different in different settings and clinical evidence derived from other settings may have limited applicability to primary health care and delivery. This is due not only to differences in the prevalence of specific diseases, but also to the fact that patients in primary care have many problems and the clinician must prioritize the diagnosis and management of all of these together over time, often in a setting where continuity of care plays a crucial role.10 Primary care is the backbone of Nigeria health system. Primary care plays a vital role in deployment of all resources through appropriate channels in promoting, maintaining as well as improving health. All these confirm the definition of primary health care which states that â€Å"essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound, as well as socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community by means acceptable to them and at a cost that community and country can afford to maintain at every stage of their development in a spirit of self-reliance and self determination. It forms an integral part of both the countrys health system of which it is the central function and the main focus of the overall social and economic development of the community. It is the first level of contact of individuals, the family and the community with the national health system, bringing health care as close as possible to where people live and work and constitutes the first element of a continuing health care process†11. This implies that patients or individuals have a direct access to the appropriate source of care. It equally shows that it deals more with common and well defined problem in a community setting as well as affordable. Though, the development if primary care in Nigeria has improved immensely but it still shows some major defects. Reasons for the current status of primary care within the health care system The coverage is inadequate: it is estimated that 54% of the population have access to the modern health care services. The rural communities and the urban poor are not well served due to inadequate staff and infrastructure. Lack of basic health data is a major constraint at all stages of planning, monitoring and evaluation of health services. The basic infrastructure and logistic supports are often defective owing to inadequate buildings maintenance, medical equipment and vehicles and unreliable supply water and electricity also poor management of medicines, vaccines and other supplies system. The financial resources allocated to the primary care services, especially to some priority areas are inadequate to permit them to function effectively. Distribution of resources in Nigeria: The Federal and State Government allocate 15% of the state budget to health services. Within the available resources, high priority shall be accorded to primary health care with particular reference to the less privilege areas and groups. Community and financial sector resources shall be mobilized in the spirit of self help and self reliance. How the resource should be used in future: In the light of importance of health in socio-economic development: all the governments of the federation should review their financial allocation to health in relation to the requirements of other sectors of the economy. High priority programmes for primary health care should have the first consideration on any additional resources that may be available Within the health care system, effort should be made to redistribute the financial allocation among health promotion, preventive and curative health care services. This is to ensure that adequate emphasis and awareness are placed on health promotion and preventive services without comprising curative health services Governments of the federation should explore additional avenues for financing the health care system especially health insurance schemes and health development levies. The users should pay for curative services while the preventive services should be subsidized. Governments of the federation shall encourage employers of labour and the financial sectors to participate in the financing health care services. Workforce and resource issues in Nigeria: The workforce and resources issues have been a theme of discussion in the country. Earlier health services was focused primarily in the urban areas, this made them to be experiencing adequate health care delivery than rural areas. Even though health institutions such as leprosaria and dispensaries had been established for rural areas, these did not cater for the communities outside their immediate zones. The problem is that rural people were effectively overlooked in health care delivery, since the existing institutions were inaccessible to them due to cost and logistic constraints. Another basic problem is the inadequate staff situation to meet the needs of the country. But after training the staff most of them get a job in urban area where they are paid more. Quality of care issues in Nigeria: Quality of care varies among patients, politicians, managers, clinicians and other actors within the health care system12. She stressed that quality occurs when good decisions regarding care are made so that resource are utilized effectively and better health outcomes are produced. Quality of health care is a multidimensional and multifaceted concept interwoven with value judgements about what constitutes good quality13. There have been several definitions of quality of health care. â€Å"Quality of care is the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge†14. Accessibility: assess to hospitals or medical centres from the rural areas can be problematic from the patients due to geographical or financial barriers. In some rural areas there are little infrastructure for primary care but there are no qualified doctors. This is due to the fact that most of the doctors are aboard or in the city trying to earn comfortable and decent living. Comprehensiveness: Nigeria health system can be categorized into the Public and the Private health services. The public health sector is further divided structurally into the Primary Health Care (PHC), Secondary Health Care (SHC) and the Tertiary Heath Care (THC). Though, World Health Organisation (1978) suggests that in order for primary care to be comprehensive, all development- oriented activities should be interrelated and balanced so as to focus on problems of the highest priority as mutually perceived by the community and the health system, and that culturally acceptable, technically appropriate, manageable and appropriately selected interventions should be implemented in combinations that meet local needs. This implies that single- purpose programs should be integrated into primary health care activities as quickly and smoothly as possible.11 In Nigeria, there are referrals but the problem the patients (either rich or poor, over 60 of age or not) faces is that they must pay pa rt of their hospital bill before any treatment can be commence. In United Kingdom most of the treatment the NHS pays the bills. Co-ordination of services: there is no co-ordination of services because of the way things are in Nigeria there is no accountability of the patients medical history. Patient can decide to move from one doctor to another without any referral. The system is not like in United Kingdom where the technology is computerized that you can pull out people medical records anywhere. Equity: in Nigeria there is no equity. This is country full of corruption even in the hospital. For instance Jane to the hospital around 8.00am, then John and Amy went around 8.30am and 9.00am. Because they are related to the staff in that particular hospital they will see the doctor before Jane. In United Kingdom people wait for their turn unless is on emergency bases. How could quality of care issues be made better in Nigeria over the next 10 years? Quality of care issues can be made better by monitoring and evaluation of the health care system, with minimum categories of indicators as follows: Health policy: proper distribution of health resources, financial, manpower, physical facilities to reflect the degree of equity by geography and by urban/rural ratios; government should devise appropriate mechanisms for supporting and involving the communities in the planning and implementation of health services; an organizational framework for managerial process. Health status: proper documentation of patients health status for instance nutritional status as indicated by weight of babies, weight and height measurement of infants and children in relation to age. Socio-economical indicators related to health and living standard: such as sanitation, housing condition, work condition, food availability, and adult literacy. Provision and utilization of health care indicators: immunization this includes the percentage of children at risk who are fully immunized against the major childhood diseases; the incidence of the six diseases in children under 5 years of age and the mortality rate due to the six disease in children under 5years of age. Prevention and control of epidemic diseases indicators shall specify disease specific incidence and prevalence rate. Adequate provision of the essential drugs. The coverage by referral system indicators shall state the proportion of population in a given with access to the within 5 kilometres or 1 hour travel time, the proportion of the referred cases who made use of the services and availability of referral services. Promotion of health in school. Recommendations for the development of primary health care: The national health policy: the aims are to achieve health for all Nigerians based on the national philosophy of social justice and equity. Therefore, a health system based on primary health care is adopted as the means of achieving the goal. Since health development contributes to and results from socio-economic development, the sectors should mutually be supportive and together contribute to the ultimate goals of the nation. All the governments of the federation should review their financial allocation to health in relation to the requirements of other sectors of the economy. High priority programmes for primary health care should have the first consideration on any additional resources that may be available More staff should be trained and an increase in wages for those who will agree to serve in the areas Facilitation of monitoring and evaluation data collection system within the nation. In conclusion: Primary health care in Nigeria have evolved through a series of historical developments. Though, it is the backbone of Nigeria health system but has been judged to be unsatisfactory and inadequate in meeting the needs and demand of the public as reflected by the low state of health of the population. The population should abide by principles primary health care based on equity and justice. However, if the services are available accessible as well as acceptable to and affordable by every individual, community and the nation; if the masses concentrate on solving those health problems that take the greater toll of life.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Internet Appliances Have Arrived :: Essays Papers

Internet Appliances Have Arrived This article was about a new kind of devices referred to as â€Å"Internet Appliances†. These devices look like small PCs but they only come with the online essentials: a screen, a keyboard, a modem, and a browser (no hard disk or floppy drive). These devices are directed at consumers who are interested in only using the Internet. Three devices were tested and described: Microsoft Network Companions from Compaq and Vestel, and the New Internet Computer (NIC). The two Microsoft Network units were very similar in design. They both have an embedded mouse and keyboards with short cut keys. A bad point of these machines is that they only function with Microsoft Network as the Internet service provider, which can result in a large amount of money as an overall investment. As far as price is concerned, the Vestel unit did not have a set price at the time of publication while the Compaq retails at $599.00. Up to $400.00 of that amount is available for Microsoft Network rebate. The rebate amount varies with the length of the contract. Overall both machines should be sufficient for first time Internet users. The third device, â€Å"The New Internet Computer† (NIC) is the opposite of the Microsoft network machines. NIC is the most computer-like of the three appliances. Included with the device is a small vertical case, two stand-alone speakers, a tabletop mouse with a mouse pad, and a full size keyboard without shortcut buttons. The price for the NIC is a modest $200.00 plus $130.00 for the 15† monitor. NetZero is one of the unit’s default Internet service provider options.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Doing the Right Thing in Hamlet :: The Tragedy of Hamlet Essays

Doing the "Right" Thing in Hamlet      Ã‚  Ã‚   When an individual has taken a certain course of action, who is to determine whether that action taken was right or wrong? And what basis should the individual passing judgment use to decide whether that action was right or wrong? Should the individual passing judgment consider the other individual's purpose or intent in taking the action, or should he consider the resulting consequences of the other individual's actions? If the individual passing judgment were to choose to do the first of these two alternatives, he would be taking a deontological stance, as compared to the later which describes the consequentialist view. As Stephen J. Freeman explains, consequentialism is the belief that "actions and/or rules are right as long as they produce the most favorable consequences for those affected by the actions or rules" (Freeman 63). Consequentialists view the morality of a consequence in two aspects. One aspect is what is called ethical egoism. Ethical egoism is "the idea that morality is defined as acting in one's own interest and in such a way as to maximize the consequences of good over bad" (Freeman 49). In contrast to ethical egoism is utilitarianism. Utilitarianists view morality as when an action promotes the greatest balance of good over bad for all people. "Utilitarianism is a teleological, goal-directed theory emphasizing happiness as the end result of human action" (Freeman 49). In Freeman's book on ethics, he discusses Holmes' proposal of two types of teleological ethical theories that apply to these two differing consequentialist views. Holmes' proposal is that of micro and macro ethics. Micro ethics regards the happiness of the individual as the highest good and defines what is right as the action that maximizes that end. By definition, micro ethics is very similar to the belief of ethical egoism. On the other hand, macro ethics views happiness as the well-being of a group as a whole and defines what is right as the action that maximizes that end. As used here, a group can be those people of a specific city, state, nation, or race, and any particular group has "greater importance than any particular individual or subgroup within it, because its good exceeds the sum of any and all of its parts" (Freeman 49). Those in support of macro ethics would justify the sacrifice of an individual or part within the group, as long as it brings about beneficial conseque nces for the group as a whole.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

History of Art Essay

Discuss the evolution of the idea of beauty through the history of art. The idea of beauty, the perfect human body, is a result of culture: religious functions, advertisements, economy, and other factors. The definition of beauty is not an inherent concept, since every age, place and social class formed its own ideal of it. This evolution of beauty is shown explicitly through the history of art. Art, in different periods, was influenced mainly by history and religion. I will discuss this transition from the Middle Ages to Renaissance, from Impressionism to Expressionism and later Cubism. I will discuss artworks by various artists such as Giotto, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Degas and Picasso. I will analyze the way they depicted their ideas of beauty, compare and contrast the concepts the artists used to transmit their ideas. Giotto Di Bondone (1266/7 – 1337) was an Italian painter and architect from Florence in the late Middle Ages. In the transitional period between Internation al Gothic and Renaissance, Giotto was among the first to make use of proportions to represent human figures. He worked on perspective and rounded sculptural forms that appear to have been based on living models rather than on idealized conventional human figure. Giotto rejected the long, elegant lines of the Byzantine style and went for a more realistic representation. He based his works on the real rather than the divine and idealistic. Painted in 1300 for the Church of San Francesco in Pisa, The Stigmatization of St. Francis illustrates stories from the life of the saint, who was a particular inspiration to Giotto. In this signed panel, Giotto uses the realistic human form, space, colour, gesture and placement of figures to tell the story in a new, human-like way. It remained for Masaccio (1401 – 1428), a century later, to expand upon Giotto’s monumental style. Masaccio applied mathematical laws in his paintings and created an illusion of space and distance. Masaccio was and still is considered a genius and is best known for the fresco of The Holy Trinity with the Virgin and St. John (1425 – Santa Maria Novella, Florence), the first successful depiction in painting of the new concept of Renaissance space. When he joined atmospheric perspective with linear perspective later that century, a greater illusion of reality was achieved. Also, his figures show weight mainly by use of drapery folds. In the peak of Renaissance, Botticelli (1445 – 1510) was one of the most prominent artists of the time, with Birth of Venus (1486 – Uffizi Gallery), being arguably one of his most famous works. It is also one of the most treasured works of the Renaissance period. In it, Venus (the Roman goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility, prosperity and victory – Known as Aphrodite in Greek mythology), one can see the graceful way Botticelli composed the goddess. Venus is illustrated as an immaculate, pure being. Also, her nude depiction is significant in itself. At that time, were almost all paintings were based on Christianity, Botticelli was almost considered as revolutionary, as nude women were hardly ever portrayed. Furthermore, Botticelli portrayed figures having steep shoulders and long hands as he wanted to idealise the human figure. In 1492, Michelangelo undertook the study of anatomy based on the dissection of corpses. In the time of high Renaissance, Michelangelo used different methods to portray figures. As a result of his intense study of the human body, he depicted figures with extreme details, and enlargement of the muscles and tissues. This technique can be noticed through his works such as David (1500-1504), found in Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence. In the 19th century, art took a different course. This was the way towards what we call Modern art. In the 1870s, Impressionism was at its peak. Impressionists no longer focused mainly on beauty but rather preferred to focus on the nature of light. Impressionism is a style that seeks to capture a feeling or experience rather than to achieve accurate depiction. Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917) was an Impressionist who’s known for his artworks involving nudity. It is interesting that in his artworks he never seeks to make the subject identifiable. Instead he often portrays them from their backside and as they engaged in daily tasks, such as The Bathers. Later in history, a new art movement arose – Expressionism. After the horror of the First World War only practicability is important. The difference between the sexes vanishes for the first time in art history. Curves are no longer an ideal. Expressionists focused mainly on getting their message across by means of colour and distortions. This is why artworks from this period are misshaped and altered, rather than focusing on realism and beauty. Expressionism is a very explicit example of art being used as means of communication. Many consider art from the 20th century to be revolutionary, with Cubism being the result of this. Cubism was an innovative movement and was very influential to the art produced later. Being a pioneer of cubism, Pablo Picasso was criticized and his works led to controversy. Cubism involved the use of geometric shapes and this can be seen from one of Picasso’s works, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Picasso was very influenced by the social situation at that time, were prostitution, sickness and instability were amongst the flaws of society. That is why he chose to portray the women with deformed figures, some of them even with African-like masks. Through this brief analysis of the story of art, one can see how each period portrayed beauty in different ways. It all, mainly, depended on the social situation, economy and religion at that point in time. It is clear how the conventional idea of beauty lost its control over art as we approach the present. Also, the realism and detail used in earlier stages, was almost irrelevant in more modern times. One should appreciate how art evolves according to the time and the people producing it, and how powerful it really is for the observer.

Friday, August 16, 2019

How is ICT Used in Schools and What are the Effects? Essay

Introduction I have chosen to do a report on the effect on schools and colleges. I chose this topic because I attend school every day and I can find out a lot about schools. I can also find out about the use of ICT in colleges because my mother works at a college. I will be able to find out information to include from many sources. I think finding out about the development of ICT is very interesting and I can compare the ICT facilities. I will also be able to find out information about how ICT is used in schools. To do this I am going to use a range of sources, for example, books, the Internet and people. How has ICT changed over the last 30 years? Computers can be changed for interactive learning, unlike 30 years ago. The only disadvantage to this is the pupils will not be as motivated as they would with a teacher. Computers have changed dramatically over the last few decades. Computers started appearing in schools in 1983. At this time there were very few, they were called Caltext Word Processors. They were larger, slower, had less memory, the programs were not advanced. Now there are hundreds of machines, printers, scanners etc. Modern computers have more processing power than the larger, room-sized computers, which were around in the 60’s and early 70’s. How has ICT changed in schools? ICT is used in schools for many purposes, for example, recording grades and attendance. All the information for attendance is input into the computer and a spreadsheet is made. The percentage is calculated by the computer and a new monitoring system phones parents at regular intervals during the day to enquire about absences. It keeps phoning until there is a reply. School libraries use ICT for bar code readers and the librarian can access data about who has which book, the book on loan and the return date. It can also be an efficient form of identification. For example Hillcrest, our card system is an efficient way to but dinner. The cards can also be used for library cards because they have a photo on them. This is taken from a digital camera and was input into a computer and put on to a card. This is useful because they can be used as identity, because the coloured stripe shows which year each pupil is in. The black stripe along the back of the card stores information about the name, year and the amount of money on the card. An advantage to this system is it doesn’t show who has free meal, the information is not available to other pupils. As well as ICT being available to other pupils, it is also useful for teachers, because a database can be kept of all the details of the pupil such as the date of birth, emergency contact numbers, and progress in lessons and behaviour. With ICT help can be given in other subjects. Programs such as Encarta, The Way Things Work, and especially the Internet. The Internet is helpful because pupils can access any educational site and web page filters such as The Birmingham Grid For Learning, stop offensive pages being shown. The Internet also has a useful site for teachers, where they can input students work into the site and it tells them how much has been copied of the Internet. This helps to prevent Plagiarism. Teachers can also access prepared lesson plans and schemes of work. Students can also save their work on the network, in their own area. Which can be accessed from any network computer and it is also secure because each persons account is password protected. Schools can use Digital Cameras to put a photograph into the computer to put photographs on to the website, art students can include graphics into their work and the photographs can be used for swipe cards or identification cards. What are the historical aspects of the changes in ICT in schools? Years ago, computers may only have been used in computing, but now they are used in many other subjects, for example, Maths software, Science software, homework and revision programs, and business forecasting tools. Computers have become more developed, e.g. when computers were first put into the education system there may not have been printers in schools, but now there are many in each classroom. Computers are also much more advanced, the old dot matrix printers have been replaced by Ink Jet and Laser Jet printers which give a much better quality, are better value for money because printing off large amounts of paper is cheaper. It also has a higher resolution, which means the print out is better. What are the technological breakthroughs, which have helped in schools? Breakthroughs in ICT are helpful in schools for a number of ways. Bar Code Readers are useful in the school library to check out books; Voice Recognition could be useful for teachers who do not want to type a worksheet/handout. This is an advantage for disabled people who find it difficult to use a keyboard. They could dictate a worksheet into a program called Voicepad. Scanners are a breakthrough and any picture that is input into a computer can be edited, changes in colours, change the size etc. Also, Smart Cards are a breakthrough and are used in schools as identity cards as well as library cards. What technology is used and what is available for use? What is available to buy? Is it available in schools/ colleges? Who uses it? Scanners Available Might not be available to students Printers (laser and colour) Available to teachers and students, although some schools may have to restrict printing to save on resources which is an environmental issue Students and teachers, because they need to print their work. Photocopiers Available Students may have to ask a teacher to photocopy for them Computers Always available, though the ratio between schools may vary Teachers and students will need to use them for work A school network Available to every computer in the school Teachers and students will need to have an account Internet Available to most computers Will be limited for students because of the web page filters put in place by teachers Joystick May not be available in schools, but may be available in colleges May only be available for older pupils or teachers use Touch Screen May only be available in schools for children with disabilities. Would only be used with children who can not use a keyboard Light Pen May not be available at all May be available for teachers only What effect has ICT had in schools, and how would this be done without the use of ICT? ICT has had a big effect in schools and colleges for example e-mail is sent through the phone lines and is very quick. In my mothers’ work the students e-mail their work to the lecturers and have a reply with answers and their mark. The students with an e-mail account can contact the teachers and other students even when they are on study leave. In universities, worksheets, course details/notices and other important notices are e-mailed to group e-mail addresses, for example, all first year business students or all of first year computing rather than addressing it to each individual student. Tutors set up group e-mail accounts. All university e-mail addresses can be forwarded to home e-mail accounts. If ICT were not available pupils would have to go into college to find the teachers when they could be using that time to study. They would have to keep checking noticeboards for important information. The Intranet is useful because anyone who has a username and password within the school or college can find announcements, messages and company documents. Most universities have a program called â€Å"Blackboard† where the students can find notes assignments, web page links, and past exam papers. They can also find information from off-campus. This is very important for 2nd and final year, and also placement year students. How has ICT improved facilities in the area? Interactive whiteboards enable teachers to demonstrate and not have their backs to pupils. Touch screens can be used in education centres, not necessarily just in schools. Tests should be completed on touch screen computers because they will also tell you how much time you have left and they allow you to change an answer as many times as you like. It will record the answers you give. They use these on driving theory tests. How has ICT affected the way people work? ICT can affect the place where you work because with e-mail and Intranets you can work from home. The pupils could use distance learning. This is also available for adults who enrol on Learn Direct courses. Also, working from home is convenient because you can change the hours you work, and where you work to what is more comfortable for you. This benefits you because your stress load will decrease because you can e-mail work to the person in charge. This would be useful for someone who is unable to attend school/college and needed to make up the work with homework assignments because they can e-mail the completed work to the teacher. Although, working from home would cut off contact with people you see everyday at work. Learning in school means people have advantages when they go into work, e.g. having word processing skills means people need less training in basic skills. Teachers can carry around mobile phones and laptops to keep in contact with other colleagues when they are not a t work because they are on courses. Students can type up homework, coursework and revision notes. They can research on the Internet. They can also back up pieces of work, and if the first version was lost, they could retrieve the backup copy and continue to work from that. They can also carry between home and school, this dramatically reduce the amount of paperwork the pupils have to carry to and from school. Although, they must remember to take care of the disk and not subject it to extreme heat (by putting it near radiators) or magnets because they could destroy the disk. What rules and regulations need to be put into place to use ICT? Teachers will need to restrict Internet usage and put filters on offensive pages. This prevents them from being shown to students. The Internet can be useful for students work and revision, e.g. finding past exam papers. Although using copyright material is illegal, security is not always good on the Internet because people can hack into the Internet and find anything. Using computers for a long period of time can have a health risk: radiation, backache, wrist pain and eyesight.