Case Management Accounting

Although maintaining the current plant- wide rate Is probably not Illegal, its continuation has one purpose: to extract profits from government business. Doug knows the plant-wide rate Is not accurately assigning overhead costs to various Jobs and Is willing to alter the assignments on an â€Å"unofficial basis† for purposes of bidding on private-sector jobs. Fundamentally, ethical behavior is concerned with choosing right over wrong. To knowingly overcharge government for future business certainly seems so wrong.To continue overpricing knowing the new overhead rates would more than make up for any lost profits from the government sector through more competitive bidding in the private sector is a clear indication of greed. While managers have an obligation to maximize profit and shareholders wealth, this obligation must be within ethical boundaries In addition, the solution proposed by Doug Is not ethical as he Is using a plant-wide rate as costing approach for both private an d government business but he uses departmental overhead rate to make balding prices competitive.This arises due to he company having two producing departments, one labor Intensive and the other is machine intensive. This is a violation of at least two major ethical standards: integrity and objectivity. The labor intensive department generates lesser overhead than machine-intensive department. Furthermore, virtually all of their high-volume jobs are labor-intensive. The company is using a plant-wide rate based on their direct labor hours to assign overhead to all Jobs. As a result, the high volume, labor Intensive Jobs receive greater share of the machine intensive department's overhead than they really deserve.This problem can greatly alleviated by switching to departmental overhead rates. But as most of the company's government contract work is done in the labor intensive department and the department overhead will push down the cost on the government jobs, the company will lose re venue. Dual-pricing approach will be used. Plant-wide overhead rate approach for official records and departmental overhead rate approach for bidding in private sector business, which is a practice that is highly unethical. 2. Tanya has an ethical obligation to communicate information and should always make sure that ethical standards are upheld In the company.Tanya should first determine whether or not Gunderson has a corporate code of conduct. She can pursue the avenues suggested by the code. Check the violations committed and how can you address such violations. For example, If Tanya cannot persuade Doug to refrain from implementing his scheme, she should present her objections to Dough's needs to reach out on the higher management level. If no resolution is possible after appealing to all higher levels, the resignation may be the only remaining option. Case 9-55 DRP Roger Jones Cash Budget Cash collection and cash available Less: Cash disbursements Salaries BenefitsThere is more none going out than there is more money coming in. Increase revenue to make up the deficiency or cut down costs or he can implement both. Three approaches can be applied to reach the goal of increasing revenue and cutting down costs. Alternative #1 : Extend office hours so that a total of 40 hours are worked each week. This could increase revenues by as much as $5,340. Based on a four-week month, the current revenue earned per hour is $166. 88($21 ,360/128). Thus, the total revenue increase that is possible is hours). DRP.Jones would need to inform his assistants and receptionists of the increased time ND indicate that each will receive a 15% increase in salary for the additional time. The office is currently open for 34 hours per week. Benefits are primarily PICA, SEA and unemployment insurance benefits, and other insurance benefits would also increase. Other expenses that will likely increase with an increase in sales are dental supplies, lab fees and utilities which is about 31% of the sales. The remaining expenses would be assumed as fixed expenses.In all likelihood, this would require the receptionist to become involved in assisting. This may not be possible without laying off the receptionist and hiring a person that has both sets of skills. Additionally, using the receptionist as an assistant would result in phone calls going unanswered and/or incoming patients being ignored. C. Alternative #3: A third possibility is to increase the free charged for the various dental services. Assuming a variable cost ratio of 31% from Alternative 1, the increase in revenues needed to cover the $2,900 deficiency can be computed as follows: 0. OR = $ 2,900 R = $ 2900/0. 69 R = $ 4,203 The increase would call for fees to increase an average of 19. 7%. Whether this increase is possible or not depends to some extent on how DRP. Jones' charges compare with other dentists in the area. If some increase is possible, then the increase could be combined with elements of the oth er two alternatives. For example, 10% increase in fees and working the extra hours per week, say Tuesday evening. I would expect DRP.Jones to be more likely accept a combination like the one Just mentioned rather than accepting any of the approaches in their pure form. The behavioral principles discussed in the chapter do have a role in this type of setting. DRP. Jones' personal goal must be in line with the goals of his professional organization, and he must have the motivation to achieve those goals. That is, however, a significant difference. DRP. Jones owns and manages the organization. To large extent, his goals must be done the same way as the organization.

Andrew Jackson Was Not a Democrat

People voted Jackson as president with the title of a democratic. He was completely the opposite; his ruling was more like the practice of tyranny. Democracy is a political system in which supreme power depends on citizens who can elect people to represent them, and believe in majority rule. Jackson’s Presidency was not democratic because he lacked the with â€Å"the power of the people† concept, He practiced the Indian Removal Act, the spoil system, and inflames the poor against the rich for the National Bank. DOC G) Democracy is basically known as power to the people, and the majority rule. Methods of electing presidential electors changed when Jackson started ruling. Even though more people were voting instead of legislative (DOC A), Natives were still not allowed to vote. The common people were universal-white-manhood which only benefitted them. (DOC B) To be democratic, all offices must fall under absolute control of the people, (DOC D) which it wasn’t. Jack son didn’t represent power to the people.When Jackson was president, they had the spoil system. The spoil system doesn’t represent democracy what so ever. In the politics of the United States, a spoil system is a system where a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its voters. (DOC C) If Jackson were a true democratic, he would give jobs to people who qualified and deserve them, not just because they are of the same affiliation. (DOC I) Another reason why Jackson was not democratic is because he practiced the Indian Removal Act. DOC J) You can tell it wasn’t democracy because he had one thousand Seminoles, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Cherokee Indians forcibly moved to Indian Territory West of Mississippi. (DOC L) In democracy, it means everyone is entitled to be equal, and Jackson sending people away and taking their land is obviously not treating someone equal. Jackson didn’t support being a democratic because (DOC F) An drew Jackson claims that out of 25 bank directors 5 are chosen by the government and 20 by the citizen stalk holders.He finds this to be an evil to our country when the majority of these people are actually chosen by stalk holders. Daniel Webster claims that Andrew Jackson seeks to inflamed the poor against the rich. (DOC G) This could disrupt a democratic society. (DOC E) The cartoon picture shows that he is willing to use his veto to just stop anything he doesn’t like. This is abuse of power. The picture also shows him as a king, we all know that a king isn’t an elected official.Jackson wasn’t a democratic because he lacked power of the people concept (DOC A,D,H,B,N), He practiced the Indian Removal Act, (DOC L,K,R,M), The spoil system,(DOC C,I) and inflames the poor against the rich for the National Bank (DOC E,F,G). The best piece of evidence that he wasn’t democratic was Jackson’s slave holdings. Jackson served as president starting in 1829. A t that time, Jackson had over 90 slaves. In the mid 30’s, Jackson owned more than 120 slaves. If he truly believed that all people deserved equal, he wouldn’t own slaves. Jackson did not practice democracy like people believed he did.

Arthur Miller’s Symbolism of the Illuminati Mark as Portrayed in His Play, The Crucible

Arthur Miller’s Symbolism of the Illuminati Mark as Portrayed in His Play, The Crucible Survival is key to living, so what will you do for it? I have come to realize that our world is very corruptive that even who we thought was the good can be the bad. Even the innocent will change to the impure just for survival. This symbol of the illuminati sign represents all the evil roaming through Salem Massachusetts and how the illuminati is a group that claims to be the higher and the key to survival. This connects with how everyone in Salem began to start believing that there are witches and siding with this girls will be there only way to survive. This symbol is mainly towards the people who believe there is witchcraft and is accusing others so they aren’t accused even when they know what is right from wrong. The elements in this symbol represent that people will join evil to survive. Arthur Miller shows evil within The Crucible, by showing it through the people of Salem. For example Abigail a girl from Salem knows she has done wrong, but she can’t seem to admit it so she blames it on Tituba a Barbados slave who she knows no one will believe. Abigail says â€Å"I never called him! (Speaking about the devil) Tituba, Tituba† (42). Abigail is blaming Tituba for her actions making it seem as if Tituba has forced her upon the devil and caused her to do her wrong, so she seems harmless and innocent in everyone eyes. Abigail is one of the main reasons of the cause of everything she is in control of everything and seems to be manipulating everyone and mostly the other girls and she tends to control their actions and what’s she says goes because they all are afraid of her. Abigail is what you call a sociopath because she feels without emotions and some say it’s because of her childhood. But Abigail shows that she is a sociopath because when she hurting others she feels without emotion and to her it normal. She is the ring leader and Abigail is in control and she will make everyone fear hear so they can join her This drawing also shows the evil I the eyes of unspoken ones and the ones who speak to be survive. In the town everyone believes there seems to be witches. When Hale begins to integrate Tituba about being a witch. Hale says to her â€Å"who came to you with devil, two, three? Four? How many?† (46). this all started with Abigail accuse he believes that Tituba is a witch and so are many others. Out of cruelty Hale gets some of the town leaders and they began to whip Tituba to have her speak of what she knows. Even though Tituba is truly not a witch out of scare she says what she can only say to save herself, and she says â€Å"There was four, there was four†. Even though Tituba knows that’s not true, but she also knows that was the only ways she could be free out of death. This is when everything begins and other names start to come up, but most of the people who are being accused are not liked nor have no power to stand up for themselves. The main point of this symbol is to represent the cruelty all around Salem, form he accuser to the unspoken. This symbol represents that a lot of people will side with what is wrong from to save themselves rather than do the right thing and stand up to what they believe and know is right. Also it shows that people tend to follow a ring leader and in this case the ring leader is Abigail. She in control of Salem right now and everyone is eating out of her palms so she doesn’t accuse them. In Salem there happens to be witches, these witches are people being accused of something they never done and they are being accused because they are mainly not like by the girls. So there comes where everyone has to justify and say what they believe and everyone begins to side with these girls because they believe the only way to survive this horrifying tragedy is to side with the. This all show that people will side with evil if their life is on the line.

Compare and contract micheloangelo david and bernini's david Essay

Compare and contract micheloangelo david and bernini's david - Essay Example During the Renaissance period, people rediscovered the skill and knowledge of the ancient worlds of Greece and Rome. The lessons learned from the ancients contributed significantly to the technical developments in ‘realistic’ painting that emerged during this period through the efforts of a variety of famous artists including Masaccio, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. As the period waned, Baroque artists such as Caravaggio, Rubens and Bernini focused more upon natural expression, form and emotion in their work. By comparing representative works of sculpture from each of these two periods, such as â€Å"David† by Michelangelo and â€Å"David† by Bernini, one can get a sense of the difference between Renaissance and Baroque art and attitudes as well as an understanding of why these different approaches can sometimes be confused. Michelangelo's David was created over a space of three years - from 1501 until 1503 - and was carved out of a solid b lock of Carrera marble. The figure of David stands more than 17 feet tall and shows him in contrapposto stance. This means that his back leg is straight and obviously is supporting most of his weight while his front leg is slightly bent with the foot resting on the ground for balance. This was a favorite position for Greek and Roman statuary, which is what Michelangelo was trying to replicate using Biblical instead of mythological figures. This pose tends to throw the hips out of alignment, forcing one up and out and the other down and in, which is seen in this statue. At the same time, his right shoulder dips slightly down toward his out-thrust hip and his head twists to look over his slightly raised left shoulder. Michelangelo's David is completely nude and stands with his sling resting back over his left shoulder as if he is sizing up his enemy for the stone throw that will bring him victory. His left hand supports the sling near his shoulder while his right hand is held tensely down by his thigh. His hand is bent in a way that suggests he could be holding the stone he intends to use. David's chin is slightly down, causing his eyes to glare out from under a wavy abundance of bangs hanging over his forehead and he appears ready for the battle about to begin. Bernini's David was created more than a century later, carved out of marble during a seven month period from 1623 to 1624. This statue is life-sized and shows David in a moment of action, just as he is about to let his stone fly. His stance can best be described as mid-leap although both feet have contact with the ground. His hips and head face forward, but his upper body is twisted around to the side with one arm behind him as he gets ready to launch his missile. Although he is not nude, there is a great deal of musculature visible in his frame, such as in the lines of his exposed legs and the muscles of his stomach where the light fabric of his garment clings to his body. Whether this is because it is wet with the sweat of his fear in facing the giant or because it is being pressed to his body because of the wind of his motions is unclear. It might even be simply because Bernini wanted to demonstrate a fine physique in his character. The muscles of his upper body seem almost alive as they ripple over his rib cage and through his chest while the fabric of his garment bunches around his upper thighs and hips and fastens over his

Milionaire comparision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Milionaire comparision - Essay Example China’s number of millionaires is currently at 1.12 million in 2013 and is expected to rise to 2.1 million in 2018 thus representing an 88% increase. In the last one year, China experienced 90, 000 rising millionaires making her projections for 2018 to be doubled. This essay compares and analyses factors catapulting China and India’s rapid growth in the number of millionaires. China, India and Singapore recorded the highest increase in millionaires in 2011 and the Asia-Pacific experienced a rise in wealth while Western Europe and America encountered a decline in wealth. The millionaire households in China rose by16 percentage and India saw a 21% increase, which represented 1.43 million and 162, 000 respectively. Nevertheless, the millionaires households in America decreased by 129, 000. US seems to lose the number of millionaires to China and India where the percentage increase in overall private wealth in both China and India’s overall private wealth has been at tributed to their strong GDP (Datamonitor Financial, 2012). The two emerging markets tend to drive the future growth of wealth as the US, Western Europe and Japan loses wealth prompting the financial services and conventional wealth managers to look to the new markets for profit maximization. Banks in India and China are preparing themselves to capture their new millionaire clients. Although the United States and Japan rank first and second as the countries with a huge number of millionaires, the rapid growth in millionaires is only evident in India and China (New, 2012). According to Hess (2013), mature markets such as US, Japan and Western Europe experience either slow or negative growth while emerging markets such as China and India ride a wave of very strong momentum steering their people to greater heights. The china’s wealthy people rise at a higher rate compared to other countries experiencing financial crisis recovery. Rapid economic growth experienced in China, India and other emerging markets has largely contributed to the number of millionaires globally. The millionaires in these countries boast cash, stock and cash assets of more than $1 million and the two countries are likely to experience the rapid growth because of their many listed companies. The robust exports linked with both China and India enhanced their GDP growth making the rate triple the once for developed countries. Recent economic growth in both China and India that has resulted to a huge number of millionaires is based on exports mostly to Europe and North America. Upon joining World Trade Organization, China’s export has largely increased making her value of exports between 2006 and 2013 to double from $1.1 trillion to $2.3 trillion. Similarly, India is further expected to experience a growth in exports from $191 billion to $350 billion within the same period (Hess, 2013). The high rate of domestic demand in both countries due to their high population is likely to enh ance their respective economic expansion thus leading to emergence of more millionaires. The decrease in demand from Western Europe and the US because of the financial crisis and the Eurozone’s debt challenges can therefore stall the growth of China’s economy. Interestingly, the impressive economic growth in India and China is unequal making their millionaires to represent 3.0% of the larger population. Rate of unequal

Challenges in the Global Business Environment Essay - 5

Challenges in the Global Business Environment - Essay Example st, antibribery, international trade and antiboycott laws, government affairs and political involvement, operational excellence, competition laws, data privacy, information protection and intellectual property. The role and responsibility of Chevron include following the code of ethics. Chevron expects its employees and the whole Chevron community to be aware of their level of authority. This understanding helps everyone act within the limits. This approach helps to avoid conflicts over authority and hence improves the efficiency. In the event that any Chevron worker is not sure on what to do, it is at his or her mandate to seek guidance from the supervisors, managers or any other department within Chevron that has been mandated to provide guidance. Seeking guidance helps maintain Chevron high standards through making sure that employees are aware on their roles. Every employee of Chevron has a mandate to comply with Chevron codes of conduct (Chevron Corporation, 2014). Failure to do so leads to disciplinary actions. Discipline improves the image of Chevron as compliance with the law improves productivity and efficiency of workers. Within this code is the responsibility of every employee t o report a possible violation. The reporting of a possible violation that could lead to damage of Chevron reputation helps avert this predicament and build on loopholes that may lead to a similar wake. Chevron undertakes the Non-retaliation policy. Chevron does not retaliate on information provided by any employee in good faith (Chevron Corporation, 2014). Similarly, Chevron adopts a code of ethics regarding employees in specific. Chevron has invested in many parts of the world. It employs employees from all lifestyles. As such, Chevron respects diversity and it values the diverse cultures presented by its employees. It also provides equal opportunities to all. As such, Chevron avoids any form of discrimination in its providence of work opportunities and working conditions.

Modern Foreign Languages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Modern Foreign Languages - Essay Example As such learning of MFL should be given prime preference in order to make our young citizens to become global citizens, in the matter of social integration.(http://www.qca.org.uk/qca_7348.aspx, viewed on 14th March 2009). This is why the researcher has intended to analyse the issues such as (i) how is the study of languages implemented within primary schools, and (ii) which languages are offered to primary school children, and (iii) how is this being taught etc., in schools The necessity for teaching of Modern Foreign Languages had not been felt strongly till the beginning of the last decade.The National Curriculum implemented widely in the EU between the 1880s and the 1890s entitled the students between 11 and And therefore this research is focused on the modus operandi of MFL teaching at primary level schools in London. The details of the report on the research conducted by me are elaborated in four main chapters, viz., (i) review of literature (ii) methodology (iii) data collection, and (iv) conclusion. This dissertation is conceived by combining theory and practice propped by the information acquired from the review of literature along with a brief research conducted in primary schools adopting different methods such as survey, observations and interviews. Its aim is to collect data on the study of modern languages at primary levels in London and on how it is implemented by teachers, and how it is conceived by the children. The findings arrived at, established beyond doubt that MFL learning should get the prime position in the National Curriculum, and the present system of teaching must be improved to some extent, so that this will make our young citizens well acquainted with international understanding and harmony through cultural awareness. Such a step will make them ideal citizens. KEY WORDS: Modern Foreign Languages National Curriculum Key stage 2 Additional Language Linguistic Cultural 3 Social Integration DfES (The Department for Education and Skills) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT In the outset I must express my heartfelt thanks to my learned Guide who helped me a lot with timely directions and advice to complete this assignment well in time. And I do extend my thanks to the lecturers and professors of the University as well, who supported me with their revered wisdom and guidance throughout, so as to enable me to fulfil my assignment. I take this opportunity to thank my friends and parents who have imparted their knowledge in a friendly and loving manner, and the librarian of the University, without whom this project would not have been materialised. My

In Favor of the Protect Life Act Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

In Favor of the Protect Life Act - Research Paper Example The litmus test for any efficient law is that it creates a favorable and just society, while leading to a minimal wastage of the tax payers’ money. After seriously deliberating and pondering on the varied aspects of law, American values and the available statistics, I have decided to emphatically support the Protect Life Act. I strongly and reasonably believe that the American tax payers’ money should not be wasted on facilitating, funding and allowing abortions. It is not only contrary the time tested Western ethics, but also does not make a sound economic sense. Many people are perhaps simply not aware of the fact that abortion currently qualifies to be labeled a gargantuan problem for our society that is undermining its values and economy. Every year, 42 million abortions take place in the United States of America. This roughly amounts to a horrendous 115,000 abortions per day. Things will get clearer if one takes into consideration as to whom the people are having t hese abortions. 52 percent of the women resorting to abortions happen to be less than 25 years of age. (The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform: Online)). Moreover, of these, 20 percent happen to be teenagers (The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform: Online). Also, out of all the abortions conducted every year, only 1 percent are performed on women who are victims of incest or rape, and a mere 6 percent of these abortions are performed for reasons classified as potential health risks to the mother or the child (The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform: Online). Astonishingly, 93 percent of the abortions are carried on for social or personal reasons ((The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform: Online). The American society and the American tax payer certainly have ample responsibilities towards people facing health risks and those who are the victims of crime and abuse. But, going by the mentioned statistics, why should the American public be wasting its hard earned money on supporting the abortions of people who simply get carried away by the recreational aspects of their love life, without giving a serious thought to the possible outcomes of their irresponsible attitude. I am no way against unmarried people engaging in sex, and am all in favor of sex education. Yet, I also hold that as people are responsible for the consequences of their career decisions, financial decisions, they are also as much responsible for the outcomes of their coital decisions and choices. Hence, it is they who should be bearing the cost of their irresponsible acts and not the American tax payer. The other thing that needs to be taken into consideration is that is abortion simply a problem or also a symptom of a bigger problem existing in our economic system? Again, it would be realistic and pragmatic to resort to the available and credible statistics. Almost, 29 percent of the abortions are availed by women whose family income stands to be less than $ 15,000 (The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform: Online). 19.5 pe rcent of the abortions are performed on women whose family income is between $ 15,000 and $ 29,999 (The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform: Online). In the case of women whose family income is more than $ 60,000, a mere 13.8 percent of the ab

Examine it from 1978 (the year China adopted a capitalist economic Essay

Examine it from 1978 (the year China adopted a capitalist economic system) to present. Analyzing the country from the 1990s to t - Essay Example Introduction Before 1976, China’s economic ideology was purely communism. The death of Mao Zedong in 1976 precipitated leadership decisions, which were significant. No one would foretell that the end of Maoist Socialism in China would result into what modern scholars refer to as China’s great transformation (Wang & Coase 1). China became capitalist and mostly productive (Shaw 1). It became one of the most democratic income distributors to the rest of the world. Despite the rise of the Chinese economy, existing statistics reveal that most Chinese are still poor; in fact, most Chinese still face challenges in exercising their freedom and protecting their rights. Tony 1 postulates that one of the most overlooked astounding narratives about China is that, since the economic resurgence of china in 1978, the country has become an unequal society to the extent that it rates high in the Asian continent. Since 1978, the Cina's Gini coefficient of general family income distributi on surpasses both Indonesia and India, and it is now approaching Malaysia and the Philippines, which are unequal in Asia. This paper seeks to document a hallmark feature of china’s capitalism, with close review as to how the economy has reformed. i. Politics and Policy Deng’s skeptical slogan of ‘Letting some Chinese get rich first’ marked the outset of inequality in China. This became a source of concern for his predecessors, who prompted political moves to distance themselves from their predecessor. Between 1995 and 2002, a development strategy, popularly known as ‘Great western Strategy’, which gave greater emphasis on investing in poor provinces, was adopted (Jane 1). The program also included alleviation of rural poverty through support to farm production, rural educational and training, and emigration into ecologically sustainable areas. The implementation of these policy initiatives has yet faced numerous challenges. For example, tax re bates for local governments tend to be biased towards urban areas, this leaves rural areas depressed out in the cold thus, not doing anything on the urban-rural gap. The complexity behind Chinese politics is worth noting. A debate as to whether the Chinese Government should worry about political destabilization to compact inequality is intriguing. The political elites, the protagonist’s side of Jiang, argue that it is not a pressing problem while Hu and Wen argue it is. With Hu and Wen ruminating openly that inequality is a threat to political stability, their opponents take comfort because they understand that the relationship between poverty and inequality, and protests against social movements are often attenuated (Tony 12). ii. Inequality and Poverty According to Shujie, Yao and associates, China’s largest component of inequality is best illustrated by the rural-urban gap. In 2002, for example, the average urban: rural per capita was expressed in the ratio 3: 1 (Bl echer & College 3), which economic analysts described as staggering, and almost unheard in developing nations. However, China’s extremely egalitarian distribution of land has reduced rural inequality, coupled with its policy on land reform and collectivization, the approach that those molded the collective land distribution to households in the 1980s, and the ongoing restrictions on the growth of a farmland market. Today, rural inequality in Chin

Heredity, Genetics and Protein Synthesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Heredity, Genetics and Protein Synthesis - Essay Example In ancient times, people wondered how babies were born and why they share many characteristics of their parents. For long it was a mystery, until Gregor Mandel, an Austrian monk introduced some principles that formed the basis of modern genetics. He explained that these characteristics or heritable properties are transferred as units called genes. (Sharma 2005, p.2). With the development in science and availability of modern research techniques, it was soon confirmed that these genes are nucleotide sequence in a DNA molecule. This sequence is like an instruction manual of how characteristics will be developed in an individual. As Mandel had explained earlier, one characteristic or gene is inherited from each parent. But where are these genes located and how they are transferred from parents to offspring? This was the question that was soon answered following a year after Mandel’s death. It was initially proposed that genetic material is located in nucleus. Walter Sutton and Th eodore Boveri proposed in 1903, that genes are carried in special structures called chromosomes. (Sharma 2005, p.14). Genes are set of instruction carried by special molecules called Deoxyribonucleac Acid or DNA. It is this molecule that winds around histone proteins to form a chromosome. DNA has a unique structure that enables it to preserve and transfer genetic material. DNA is a double stranded, anti parallel helical structure with a deoxyribose sugar and a phosphate backbone. Each nucleotide has either a purine or pyramidine nitrogenous base attached to it. Guacine pairs with cytosine and thymine pairs with adenine on complementary strands. This variable sequence of base pair is actually the genetic code. A specific gene is present at fixed location on a chromosome called locus. There are 23 pairs of chromosome present in a somatic cell of a human being and each parent contributes one chromosome to form that pair. How these chromosomes are transferred from parents to offspring? The answer is simple; gametes of each parent contain 23 chromosomes and when two gametes fuse these chromosomes are added together in one cell called zygote. All the subsequent cells that are formed from zygote by the process of mitosis contain identical genetic material. So any somatic cell has a pair of same chromosome, one from mother and one from father. As mentioned earlier, genes are present at fixed locations on a chromosome. If there is a pair of chromosome it means there will be two sets of same gene, one from each parent present at the same loci. The base sequence of these two sets of genes may not be same and this variation in gene is called an allele. (Kail & Cavanaugh 2007, p.44). Now important question is which of these two genes will be expressed in the offspring? Remember that genetic makeup of an individual is called genotype and its physical expression is a phenotype. In most cases, both alleles are expressed to produce a phenotype. Sickle cell disease is caused by mutation in the beta haemoglobin gene. When this gene is expressed it forms an abnormal protein which causes alteration in the shape of red blood cell from biconcave disk to sickle shaped (Bloom, 1995). As part of previous discussion, this gene also has two alleles inherited from each parent. An individual with only one mutated gene will not get this disease because the other normal gene will also be expressed and compensate for abnormal gene. This is a very good example of how genes are key determinants of human characteristics. Not all sequences in a DNA represent a gene. All the genetic material in nucleus and in mitochondria together is called a genome. Only 1% f this genome is actually genes. Thousand of these genes guide species in growth and development of other characteristics. One gene

Factors of Planning and Other Functions of Management Essay Example for Free

Factors of Planning and Other Functions of Management Essay With over 300,000 people world wide, ATT is truly a global Fortune 500 company with a significant presence in the communication industry. With impressive growth, executives and managers need to develop a strategy that allows ATT to connect with their customers and manage the contributing factors to their success. As stated in the ATT Annual Report (2007), ATT was able to increase their annual income by 98.3%. This amazing growth occurred in all sectors of their revenue stream and made 2007 a historic year financially for ATT. ATT Chairman, CEO and President, Mr. Randall Stephenson also states in the annual report (2007, p. 8) there is one word that best describes what ATT does and it is connected. A simple vision that clearly describes what ATT does for their customers to drive growth in their organization. In order for a company to succeed in todays market, the product appeal to a global audience is imperative. Although ATT did not begin as a business that offered products and services globally, ATTs network now includes 38 internet data centers on four continents across the globe (ATT, 2008). ATT offers a variety of communication products and services that appeal to individuals and companies. The demand for these types of products and services is on the rise, especially within major corporations. Given this demand, ATT has developed and maintained an advanced and powerful communications network. ATT is an industry leader of communication services, which serves millions of individuals and businesses on six continents (ATT, 2008). The economy is an external factor that influences how ATT manages rapid change. For example, with home foreclosures at a record high, the demand for landline telephone service is decreasing. Meanwhile the demand for wireless service is increasing. ATT continues to focus on advancing wireless products (ATT, Vonage, 2008). ATT has acquired many smaller wireless providers, which allows them to become the top provider of wireless services in the United States. Cingular wireless is one of the wireless companies that ATT bought out. After the purchase of Cingular wireless, ATT began, promoting the new ATT, the one-stop shop for all kinds of communications  and entertainment services (Goodbye Cingular, 2007). As early as 1885, ATT began providing telephone service in the United States. To see the vast growth in their technology over the past 100 years is amazing. The service initially started with one-line calls or the ability for only one person to make a telephone call at a time and it now services over 70 million customers. The costs have decreased significantly over the decades as well. In 1892, a long distance phone call from New York to Chicago would cost about $9 for the first five minutes; rather expensive for that period in time. Today, ATT has grown to be the worlds largest communications carrier and provides services for a broad spectrum of customers from residential to commercial, like the Fortune 1000 companies. Other than the typical local and long distance voice services for the residential customer, ATT also provides high speed internet access, home networking, Wi-Fi, and wireless voice and data services. According to ATTs website (2008), they provide businesses with access to one of the worlds most advanced IP networks. ATT provides the corporate community with technologies, such as, Voice over IP (VoIP), enterprise mobility solutions and Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections. To keep up with todays vastly growing field of technology, ATT (2008) †¦recently switched on the nations first coast-to-coast IP/MPLS network†¦ In the United States alone, ATTs wired network encompasses 61.6 million access lines and has 14.2 million high speed internet subscribers. In 2008, ATT plans to expand their current 64,000 Wi-Fi hot spots to more than 70,000 locations also launch more of their multi-screen services. ATT embraces technological innovation to convert ideas rapidly into useful products and services. ATTs management and planning functions focus on the company and its customers while applying principles of sound, responsible and forward-looking stewardship to the needs of society. Today, ATT is rethinking management functions and planning in terms of the Internet and new culture and capabilities. E-business (electronic business), derived from  such terms as e-mail and e-commerce, is the conduct of business on the Internet, not only buying and selling but also servicing customers and collaborating with business partners. E-business allows ATT and other companies to use the Web to buy parts and supplies from other companies, to collaborate on sales promotions, and to participate in joint research. ATTs involvement with technology innovation such as e-business influences a range of criteria, including customer relationship performance, sales-based outcomes, and a general measure of organizational performance. The moderating role of ATTs management teams involvement suggests that management championing the initiatives is crucial for successful results of the e-business market tendencies and new business development possibilities (ATT, 2008). Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call to Watson about 150 years ago. One century ago, there were 10,000 telephone companies battling for their share in the voice communication market. ATT battling in the communications market, realized in order to continue innovation, a sustained research and development component was needed. Early in 1925, ATT determined they could not do this alone and made a series of strategic acquisitions and uniform standards. In the late 20th century, ATT acquired Bell Labs that focused on computers, information and communications science. According to ATT (2008), Recognized as a pioneer in the IT revolution of the late 1990s, direction of innovation at ATT Labs influences not only the ways we live and work today but our lives and the workplace of the future. With these guiding principles, our work in development, creativity and innovation lead to improved social, economic and environmental opportunities for ATT communities. ( ¶13)ATT has made significant innovative contributions to the history of American business and global technology. Listed are a few of these accomplishments including:High-fidelity recording (1925), First TV transmission (1927), Trans-Atlantic radiotelephone (1929), Radio astronomy (1933), The transistor (1937), The first computer (1939), The laser (1960), Optical fiber communication (1977), Cellular technology (1983), Speech recognition and synthesis (1992), Voice over IP technology (1995), Quantum computing (1999), Internet Project predictive and proactive  network security (2005) (ATT, 2008) . ATT noted on their website (2008), Despite its pioneering efforts in other areas of the company, including diversity, customer service and human resources, ATTs reputation for innovation remains closely tethered to ATT Labs.( ¶ 4)ATT realizes that diverse, talented and dedicated people is key to the companys success. In fostering diversity and inclusion, ATT has created a better business environment, one that makes the company an employer of choice, a preferred business partner and important contributor to the community. The companys philosophy is to provide employees with continued opportunities to grow and develop their careers. Management is charged with successful implementation of various diversity initiatives as part of this philosophy. ATT leaders are expected to understand the importance of cultural competency. To support this principle, ATT provides career development initiatives. ATTs commitment to diversity remains a top priority for the company. ATTs diverse workforce is an asset to the company and a result of its commitment to recruit and hire the very best talent. ATT currently conducts business in more than 150 languages and advertises in top languages in selected states. ATT leaders and employees practice respect for differences in their daily interactions. By understanding the various regions served, ATT management is better positioned to plan for and meet the unique needs of customers wherever it does business (ATT, 2008). With over 300,000 working for ATT ensuring ethical behavior is very important. Ethics and Governance are the standards in which the company, including all employees, must adhere to in all aspects of conducting business internally and externally. ATT has adopted a simple statement Do what is right as their motto for ethical conduct by all employees and directors. (Governance, 2003-2008)ATT has four guiding principles stated in their Code of Ethics and Guiding Principles manual on how to treat customers, investors and employees. Those principles are; Talk straight and Follow Through, Lead by Example, Work Together, and Deliver our Future. These four statements are the fabric to ATTs principles and make it clear as to what is expected when working for or dealing with ATT. In todays  environment, ethics have become a serious issue. Directors and managers, as well as employees, are becoming more liable with respect to moral decisions they make at work. Enron is an example of how deceit by a few individuals caused such a ripple effect on the finances of many. Companies like ATT need to touch the moral being of each employee to ensure its customers, shareholders and all parties vested in them are not affected by ones poor judgment. In concluding, with this impressive growth, executives and managers needed to develop a strategy that allowed ATT to connect with their customers and manage the contributing factors to their success. Through innovation and diversity, ATT has grown from a company that started with one-line calling to a multi-million conglomerate, servicing millions of customers around the globe. In keeping up with technology and continuing to implement new corporate strategies, ATT will continue to grow both financially and globally. ATT will continue to be a leader in their field for many years to come. References ATT Inc., (2008), All about ATT Company, Retrieved April 8, 2008, from att.comATT Inc. (2007) Annual Report, p. 8, 29. ATT, Inc. (2008), retrieved April 8, 2008, from att.com/gen/investor-relationsATT. (2008). Enterprise Services. Retrieved April 6, 2008, from att.com/gen/general/ATT Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility (2003-2008). ATT Knowledge Venture, Retrieved April 10, 2008, from att.com/corporate/citizenship/htmlATT, Vonage, Comcast spool the economy. (2008, January). TelecomWeb News Break. Retrieved April 6, 2008, ProQuest database, University Library. Goodbye Cingular, hello again ATT; ATTs acquisition of Bell South began process. (2007, May 21). The New York Times, Grand Rapids Press, Grand Rapids, MI, Retrieved April 9, 2008, from ProQuest database, University Library,

Alcoholic beverage Essay Example for Free

Alcoholic beverage Essay ? The book ,The History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage is a book dedicated to beverages and there impact on cultures and civilizations. Tom Standages intent for this non-fiction novel was to show six insignificant products that we see, use or have heard of in everyday life and bring them into a different light. Showing how they have sculpted our cultures and ways of life in the modern world. These six products were beverages ; beer, wine , spirits, coffee, tea, and coca-cola. These drinks affected more than just the diet of people it changed their societies and ways of living. Standage’s theory is that each one of these drinks brought on a new cultural stage. Each beverage showing different eras and how the beverage of that time impacted their way of life eventually impacting ours. Starting with beer in the first civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Then going to wine with Greece and Rome and spirits in the colonial times with Europians and eventually getting to America. Next, their was coffee that started in the Arab world traveling throughout Europe and finally Coca-cola which started selling its drink in America and out broke to throughout the rest of world. His intent was to show the history of the world in which humans were not nomadic in the view of six different drinks. Standage presented his thesis in a very interesting and intriguing way throughout this novel. There are six main Chapters in this book ;Beer in Mesopotamia and Egypt, Wine in Greece and Rome,Spirits in the colonial Period, Coffee in the Age of Reason, Tea and the British Empire, and Coca-Cola and the Rise of America. Each main chapter has two mini chapters in them for example in the chapter Tea and the British Empire the two mini chapters are ; Empires of tea and Tea Power. Standage’s writing mostly focased on the beverages causes and effects in the different areas and lands they were most popular and developed but he would add things about the people of these times and their way of living. He also added some traditions that we have in today’s culture that were created in ancient times such as clinking glasses together for good health and happiness before drinking a glass of beer. His book shows how six measly little drinks changed humans from nomadic people who were hunter- gatherers to people who lived in cities and developed writing, government and farming. Standage showed the history of the world in six drinks hence the title A History of the World in Six Glasses. Most everyday people would think these drinks were Sarah Bedell 9/4/14 A. P. World History Mrs. Spampinato The History of the World in Six Glasses : Book Review The book ,The History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage is a book dedicated to beverages and there impact on cultures and civilizations. Tom Standages intent for this non-fiction novel was to show six insignificant products that we see, use or have heard of in everyday life and bring them into a different light. Showing how they have sculpted our cultures and ways of life in the modern world. These six products were beverages ; beer, wine , spirits, coffee, tea, and coca-cola. These drinks affected more than just the diet of people it changed their societies and ways of living. Standage’s theory is that each one of these drinks brought on a new cultural stage. Each beverage showing different eras and how the beverage of that time impacted their way of life eventually impacting ours. Starting with beer in the first civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Then going to wine with Greece and Rome and spirits in the colonial times with Europians and eventually getting to America. Next, their was coffee that started in the Arab world traveling throughout Europe and finally Coca-cola which started selling its drink in America and out broke to throughout the rest of world. His intent was to show the history of the world in which humans were not nomadic in the view of six different drinks. Standage presented his thesis in a very interesting and intriguing way throughout this novel. There are six main Chapters in this book ;Beer in Mesopotamia and Egypt, Wine in Greece and Rome,Spirits in the colonial Period, Coffee in the Age of Reason, Tea and the British Empire, and Coca-Cola and the Rise of America. Each main chapter has two mini chapters in them for example in the chapter Tea and the British Empire the two mini chapters are ; Empires of tea and Tea Power. Standage’s writing mostly focased on the beverages causes and effects in the different areas and lands they were most popular and developed but he would add things about the people of these times and their way of living. He also added some traditions that we have in today’s culture that were created in ancient times such as clinking glasses together for good health and happiness before drinking a glass of beer. His book shows how six measly little drinks changed humans from nomadic people who were hunter- gatherers to people who lived in cities and developed writing, government and farming. Standage showed the history of the world in six drinks hence the title A History of the World in Six Glasses.

Cultural And Structural Theories

Cultural And Structural Theories Defining health has always been relative; sometimes it is defined in terms of good health (feeling fit), bad health (free from pain and discomfort), and in terms of rang of task an individual is able to perform (functional). However, WHO (1948) Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. A resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities. The medical dictionary define illness as disease of body or mind; poor health; sickness. Culture is the way of life of a group of people, society or community, it consist of beliefs, behavior, values, norms, customs, language, institutions etc common to the members of the group, society or community. Culture can influence the definition of health and illness. Cultural approach explains that health differences can best be understood in terms of our way of life as society and as an individual and on the social class in which we find ourselves, the lower the social class the worse the health issues. Cultural approach is of the opinion that poor health is due to our diet, habits life style. In some non western culture, a big person is seen as healthy and the slim person is seen as ill, and is encouraged to eat more, where as in the western world, been fat is seen as a death warrant. Some cultures do not believe in going to the doctors when they are ill, they rather use a local remedy. Cultural approach completely blame the individual for his /her health problems because they do not follow a healthy life style, the black report (1980) also accepted this explanation, but acknowledged the fact that even does that lead a healthy life, still suffer from same ill health as those that does the opposite e.g. non smokers at the risk of lung cancer. The report suggested that differences in social class factors only account for 25% of social class inequities in health and illness. More so, the structural approach, accepts the behavioral explanation to health differences, but claims that the behavioral approach fail to look at the broader context of inequality. Thus, poor health is as a result of the working condition to which some people have no choice but to be subjected to given the present income distribution and access to opportunity. In explaining the structural approach, the Marxist perspective of health and illness will be analyzed. The key assertion of Marxist is the relation of production (structure of the society) which brought about division of labor, which in turn reflect in the derivation of social classes. Marxist believes that health outcomes for any society are influenced by the economy system in two ways; Level of production: industrial diseases and injuries, stress- related illness, environment pollution, processed food, chemical additives. Income distribution: standard of living is measured by wealth and income-living condition, access to health care, diet, educational opportunities, and recreational opportunities. The black report (1980) also agrees with this view, as finding continues to show that adverse social condition is significant to the social pattering of health and illness in the society. Task 2 EVALUATION OF THE EVIDENCE OF REGIONAL VARIATIONS AND INEQUALITIES IN HEALTH AND ILLNESS This essay will be outlining and evaluating the evidence of variation in health and illness. To evaluate these issues two material evidences from the Guardian News paper will be analysed. The first is LOCAL INEQUALITIES MARK MAP OF WELLBEING (24/09/2008) will be referred as APPENDIX A. This essay will also evaluate sociological explanations for health inequalities such as cultural, structural, functional perspectives. Reports produced by the government and independent research will be applied in evaluating these regional variations. Appendix A covered the disparities in the health and behaviour of people in different parts of England. The findings made by the report regarding health disparities are: Women in Blackpool are 8 times more likely to smokes during pregnancy than women from Richmond upon Thames. Average 5year old in Blackburn suffers 7 times more tooth decay than 5year olds in Lichfield and Staffordshire. Teenage pregnancy rate in Lambeth south London is more than 6 times that of Rutland. Obesity rate among children starting school in Hackney, east London is 3 time the rate in Teedale. The research was done using 30 key indicators, of which none was mentioned in the report. The report agreed that despite government effort to eradicate health inequalities, the gap in health between the social classes in society keep increasing. The report agrees with the structural perspective, which blames health inequalities on the economy system (capitalist state) of the society, as captured in paragraph 5 lines 4-6, addressing the issue of child poverty the tax system. This can be backed by the finding of the Black report (1980) which opined that health standard is directly linked to social class and social economics factors such as poor housing, education, income and environment. The findings in Appendix A, was published and distributed to every local councils in the UK, so health worker in every region can devise solution to curbing their respective health issues. Finding made by the report (APPENDIX A) regarding behaviour cannot be explained entirely by relative poverty. The findings on behaviour are: Lambeth despite having the worst teenage pregnancy problem in England, it also has the best figure for breastfeeding. More than 90% of mothers breastfeed in Lambeth compared to 33% in Knowsley, Merseyside. Malvern Hills, west Devon and south Shropshire, almost all children of school age engage with at least two hours of high quality PE /school sport a week compared to only 2/3 of children in Newcastle-under Lyme and Surrey Heath. Kensington and Chelsea has the highest life expectancy, for both man and women compared to Manchester and Liverpool, they eat the highest proportion of fruit and vegetables and the lowest rate of premature death rate caused by cancer. But was in the bottom 10 in England for problems relating to substance abuse among people aged 15 to 64. The above findings can be related to the cultural approach, which lay emphasis on the cultural choices of the individual / group such as; life style, diet, cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. And partly in relation to the structural approach, for Lambeth, there was increase of awareness on the importance of breastfeeding, for Malvern Hills, there is also the increase of awareness of the importance of exercise as for Kensington and Chelsea abuse of substance might be due to life style and mostly because they are wealthy. Task 3 MOST SIGNIFICANT FACTORS INFLUENCING THE HEALTH AND ILLNESS IN A COMMUNITY Many factors influence health and general well being of a community. These range from individual factors, such as generic make up, age, gender and lifestyle, socio-economic, cultural and environment factors. Despite the above factors, the once that are most significant influence on a community health and well being are referred to as the wider determinant of health. These are educational attainment, employment status, housing and the environment. Because these wider determinants interact with other factors it is difficult to evaluate the respective contribution of each determinant to eventual health outcomes. Educational Attainment: From various perspective of sociology and the finding of the Black report (1980), it is evidence that educational attainment plays an important part in the overall well being of the society. According to the Black report (1980), while, the general health of the nation had improved, theses improvements have not been equal across all the various social classes. And the gap between the lower and higher social levels continue to widen. The report on Appendix A also highlighted this difference, when Knowsley borough found it difficult to educate mothers to on the importance of breastfeeding (paragraph 17). The situation in Knowsley can also be interpreted as a cultural trend within the women. Employment Status: Cultural approach opined that those in social class four and five eat less nutritious diet than those in social class one and two, structural argues however, that, due to income inequality, those in lower classes cannot enjoy the lifestyle of the rich in society and suffer more illness as a result of their job. Appendix B indicates that unemployment brings about poverty and social exclusion. It also shows that Barnet borough unemployment rate increased from 68.7% in 2006 to 71.2% in 2007, but remained below England average. Task 4 BALANCING HEALTH AND ILLNESS IN A COMMUNITY Keeping the community well: Prevention they say is better than cure. Unhealthy habits are passed on from generation as indicated in Appendix A, paragraph 7, lines 4-5. Barnet council plans to support their community to live a healthy lifestyle, to stop them from getting avoidable Health workers in the various county/ boroughs should work in preventing the particular health problems of their local population as indicated in Appendix A paragraph 3. Government should embark, on health plans that are long term.

The Communications Decency Act :: essays research papers fc

The Communications Decency Act The U.S. Government should not attempt to place restrictions on the internet. The Internet does not belong to the United States and it is not our responsibility to save the world, so why are we attempting to regulate something that belongs to the world? The Telecommunications Reform Act has done exactly that, put regulations on the Internet. Edward Cavazos quotes William Gibson says, "As described in Neuromancer, Cyberspace was a consensual hallucination that felt and looked like a physical space but actually was a computer-generated construct representing abstract data." (1) When Gibson coined that phrase he had no idea that it would become the household word that it is today. "Cyberspace now represents a vast array of computer systems accessible from remote physical locations." (Cavazos 2) The Internet has grown explosively over the last few years. "The Internet's growth since its beginnings in 1981. At that time, the number of host systems was 213 machines. At the time of this writing, twelve years later, the number has jumped to 1,313,000 systems connecting directly to the Internet." (Cavazos 10) "Privacy plays a unique role in American law." (Cavazos 13) Privacy is not explicitly provided for in the Constitution, yet most of the Internet users remain anonymous. Cavazos says, "Computers and digital communication technologies present a serious challenge to legislators and judges who try to meet the demands of economic and social change while protecting this most basic and fundamental personal freedom." Networks and the Internet make it easy for anyone with the proper equipment to look at information based around the world instantly and remain anonymous. "The right to conduct at least some forms of speech activity anonymously has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court." (Cavazos 15) In cyberspace it is extremely uncommon for someone to use their given name to conduct themselves, but rather they use pseudonyms or "Handles". (Cavazos 14) Not only is it not illegal to use handles on most systems, but the sysop (System Operator) does not have to allow anyone access to his data files on who is the person behind the handle. Some sysops make the information public, or give the option to the user, or don't collect the information at all. The Internet brings forth many new concerns regarding crime and computers. With movies like Wargames, and more recently Hackers, becoming popular, computer crime is being blown out of proportion. "The word Hacker conjures up a vivid image in the popular media." (Cavazos 105) There are many types of computer crime that fall under the umbrella of "Hacking". Cavazos says, "In 1986 Congress passed a comprehensive federal law outlawing many of the activities

The Constitutional Issue of Abortion :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

The Constitutional Issue of Abortion Three Works Cited Many people believe abortion is only a moral issue, but it is also a constitutional issue. It is a woman's right to choose what she does with her body, and it should not be altered or influenced by anyone else. This right is guaranteed by the ninth amendment, which contains the right to privacy. The ninth amendment states: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." This right guarantees the right to women, if they so choose, to have an abortion, up to the end of the first trimester. Regardless of the fact of morals, a woman has the right to privacy and choice to abort her fetus. The people that hold a "pro-life" view argue that a woman who has an abortion is killing a child. The "pro-choice" perspective holds this is not the case. A fetus is not yet a baby. It does not posses the criteria derived from our understanding of living human beings. In a notable defense of this position, philosopher Mary Anne Warren has proposed the following criteria for "person-hood": 1) consciousness (of objects and events external and or internal to the being), and in particular the capacity to feel pain. 2) reasoning (the developed capacity to solve new and relatively complex problems) 3) self-motivated activity (activity which is relatively independent of either genetic or direct external control) 4) the capacity to communicate, by whatever means, messages of an indefinite variety of possible contents, but on indefinitely many possible topics. 5) the presence of self-concepts, and self-awareness, either individual or social, or both. (Taking Sides -Volume 3). Several cases have been fought for the right to choose. Many of these have been hard cases with very personal feelings, but the perseverance showed through and gives us the rights we have today. Here are some important cases: 1965 - Griswold v. Connecticut - upheld the right to privacy and ended the ban on birth control. Eight years later, the Supreme Court ruled the right to privacy included abortions. Roe v. Wade was based upon this case. 1973 - Roe v. Wade: - The state of Texas had outlawed abortions. The Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional, but refused to order an injunction against the state. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court voted the right to privacy included abortions.

Electronic Stimulation :: essays research papers

Medicine and electronics are rapidly becoming a common partnership. Electronics and medicine has been around for over a hundred years. This application can be seen in early X-ray machines, as well as early doctors and healers who felt that electricity possessed something special that assisted the healing process of many illnesses and injuries. But it has not been the last forty to fifty years that the development and refinement of electricity as medical agent has occurred. Today the medical field can not imagine itself without the assistance of electricity and electronic components. In recent years some of the major development has occurred in one particular field of Medicine, electric stimulation. Electric stimulation is the application of electric current in treatment without the generation of intense heat. This includes electric stimulation of nerves or muscles, passage of current into the body, or use of interrupted current of low intensity to raise the threshold of the skin to pain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Studies suggested this therapy is applied to conditions such as ulcers, traumatic or burn wounds, osteoarthritis, and cancer. Electrical stimulation is simply the application of electrical pulses to the body, whether it is for function or therapy. The classical and common example is that of the cardiac pacemaker. The range of clinical uses of electrical stimulation has and is growing wider and includes: pain relief (often known as TENS - Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation), maintaining or increasing range of movement, muscle strengthening, facilitation of voluntary motor function, and orthotic training or substitution.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) is a branch off of electrical stimulation. The term FES is applied to systems, which attempt to restore, lost or impaired neuromuscular function. This would include such things as standing and walking in cases of paraplegia, by the application of electrical pulses to neural pathways or, but less often, directly to muscles. FES is also sometimes known as Functional Neuromuscular Stimulation or FNS. (http://medicaledu.com:80/estim.htm, 1999)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the electrode-tissue interface, where the electrode and actual body come into contact, a conversion occurs between the current of electrons passing through the wires and the current of ions moved within the tissue. Then through this externally applied current, the depolarisation of nerve and muscle to threshold is produced by the transport of ions across the tissue membrane. There are several factors that determine whether sufficient current flows is taking place: impedance of body tissues, electrode size and position, and stimulation parameters.

Cultures in apa style Essay

As businesses become global, limitations between cultures and environments crumbled little by little. However, within the vastly developing globalization, business observers discovered many ‘unpredictable’ phenomena. These phenomena come to the scope of observation, only after globalization is widely accepted by firms all over the world. One of these phenomena is the success of corporations from unfamiliar cultures, which were previously never expected to generate notable business growth or extraordinary innovation. Some of those companies are IKEA, Volvo, Electrolux, Scania, Hennez and Mauritz, etc. All of these mentioned corporations are Swedish in origins. Nevertheless, there are also significant developments displayed by those cultures which are predicted to dominate future global markets, like the Chinese market. The Chinese business culture and the Swedish business culture represented two different business cultures in terms of common expectations. The Chinese culture has been long predicted to be one of the fastest growing economies in the world due to the size of its markets. The Swedish culture on the other hand, represented a culture which is not predicted to become one of the dominant players in the global economy. In this paper, I am comparing these two business cultures in order to discover their differences and similarities, and thus understanding the origins of their competitive advantages. The comparison between the two cultures will be performed by observing studies that have been previously published and professional websites that develop business guidance to foreign countries. The comparison between the two cultures will be performed by comparing these specific traits, which are: decision and deal-making, conversation, making appointments, perspective regarding profit. 2 Discussions If we are using a specific research method, then within this paper, we are using the qualitative research method, in the sense that the research will not involve numbers and other objective measurements and the results will not be simply defined. In a qualitative research, the purpose is not to generalize an answer to other circumstances, but merely answering a specific question within a specific condition and context. Thus, the answer would be in the form of deep and meaningful explanations and contains discussions that would generate bias if the readers are not diligently capturing the context. As mentioned previously, the comparison between the two cultures will be based on specific traits, which are: ? Decision making ? Business culture ? Perspectives ? Authority ? Implementation of Regulations ? Leadership ? Cultural Context 2. 1 Similarities Both the Swedish and the Chinese culture treat outside information very cautiously. Nevertheless, after proven that the information and the person or the organization providing that information is reliable, than the person or the organization will most likely by a long-time friend of the company. In terms of relationship with the government, both cultures have high respect toward the authority of their government. Thus regulations are highly respected in both countries. Another similarity is the tendency to preserve the dignity of others by avoiding conflict as much as possible 2. 2 Differences 2. 2. 1 Decision Making In terms of deal and decision making, the Chinese people have a weaker respect toward the language English compare to the Swedish. Swedish businessmen generally speak English and ones that do not have the capability to speak English are considered lacking a competitive advantage. In China however, such a perspective has weak powers or even the perspective does not exist at all. Thus, businessmen generally bring an interpreter to China to prevent conversational stuck during negotiations or lobbying. In Sweden, due to the fact that most of their end-customers are American in nationality, English is accepted as a language of business conversation (Alexander, 2006; Bary, 2005). 2. 2. 2 Business Culture Another reason that adds to the importance of taking into account of cultural characteristics of a country is the issue of communication. Different cultures have different styles of business communication. For instant, western managers are generally recognized in their expertise for assembling words. Western managers are generally more talkative than any other. On the other hand, managers from Asian countries do not share the same trait. They prefer actions rather than words. If they choose to say anything, it would generally be short and to-the-point (‘American-Japanese’, 2005). Other communication differences might lie in body languages like nodding, smiling and other manners of speaking and listening. Managers of eastern countries generally have a unique manner of speaking and listening. American managers unaccustomed with these differences usually find it hard to comprehend the meaning of each gestures. Furthermore, politeness in some cultures might involve reversing the meaning from ‘yes’ to ‘no’ or the opposite. In regard of the importance of communication in the business realm, understanding these differences is an important requirement of a good manager. Another cultural aspect that created the differences of managing in different regions is the issue of gender. Surveys indicated that American companies are more liberal in nature, where women had more access to managerial positions rather than any Asian companies like Japanese or Chinese that just performing programs that encourage female leaders to take their stand (Japan’s, 2005). In addition, the Chinese business culture is also very much hierarchical. In a sense, they prefer that people respect them in accordance to their position within an organization. Thus, businessmen promoting a product or an agreement must generally performed presentation in different levels of the organization. In Sweden on the other hand, such a troublesome process is most likely avoided. Business presentation is generally performed only once or twice because all officers from different levels within an organization do not have problems with sitting side by side to each other (‘Making Appointments, 2008). 2. 2. 3 Perspectives Chinese people tend to make decisions using subjective point of view and personal feelings. This is the common design of a high context organization, where respect and unwillingness to confront with leaders slow down quality development. In Sweden on the other hand, decisions are made by both objective and subjective point of views and using both rationality and intuition, however, the basic difference is that the Swedish culture does not have a value of high respect toward leaders that will hamper democracy or objective considerations of the fact (‘Background to Business in China’, 2008). 2. 2. 4 Authority Despite having the same feeling of respect toward the authority of their government both cultures implement their regulations in different intensities. In order to suppress corruption that has been plaguing the country several decades in the past, the Chinese government decided not to go half way in punishing people who broke Chinese business laws. Some punishments are even performed in public to prevent similar occurrences. That is why there is a saying in China that most companies in China use logic, evidence and common sense, only if they do not contradict with the government’ doctrines and rules. In Sweden however, even though the regulations about breaking business laws are clear, the implementation still much ‘softer’ that it is in China (Alexander, 2005; ‘Chinese Deal Making’, 2008). 2. 2. 5 Implementation of Regulations In terms of decision making, the Chinese business culture generally recognize a collective decision making process. The leader will only be decisive and harsh in implementation the collective decision. Before any decision has been made, Chinese leaders have only a slightly higher decision making power compare to their subordinate. Nevertheless, even though the decision has been approved collectively, individuals within the group are still held accountable for his/her suggestions. In the Swedish culture on the other hand, 2. 2. 6 Leadership Leaders in China are meant to lead and even though they have the full right to punish their subordinates, they are expected to take full responsibilities when facing a higher authority. In Sweden on the other hand, leaders are not meant to tell people what to do, they meant to listen and than decide based on the collective decision. This example can be discovered in many types of organizations in Sweden. Even in the sport environment, a Sweden trainer would understand that his/her job is to work with the athlete and performing the trainings his/her way. On the other hand, a Chinese trainer might be furious if the athlete refuses to follow any of his/her orders Gernet, 1996). 2. 3 Cultural Context As mentioned previously, the China business culture is actually a high context culture, in which people are accustomed to be very subtle and shoring very little emotion when expressing a rejection, or a new claim. Sweden on the other hand, is basically a low-context culture, in which managers would prefer that every managerial activity is performed as informal as possible. Not like the United States however, in Sweden people strive more to avoid looking as an individual person, although he/she might have great ideas, it is till the collective thought that would prevail in most meetings. 3 Conclusion According to the previous researches, Sweden and China has quite huge differences, mainly in how they perceive the role of the authority and leaders. Further studies are required to understand the true correlation between these differences and business development in the future. Bibliography Alexander, John. 2006. Swedish Message. Retrieved August 21, 2008 ‘American-Japanese Communication 101’. 2005. WIN Advisory Group. Retrieved August 21, 2008 from http://www. winadvisorygroup. com/AmericanJapaneseComms101. html ‘Background to Business in China’. 2008. World Business Culture. Retrieved August 21, 2008 from www. glo-bis. com/china. htm Bary, Theodore de. â€Å"†Constructive Engagement with Asian Values†Ã¢â‚¬ . Archived from the original on 2005-03-11.. Columbia University. Chinese Business Deal Making. Nd. Los Angeles Chinese Learning Centers. 2008 Retrieved August 21, from chinese-school. netfirms. com/deal. html Gernet, Jacques. A History of Chinese Civilization. 2. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. ‘Making Appointments’. Nd. Los Angeles Chinese Learning Centers. 2008 Retrieved August 21, from chinese-school. netfirms. com/deal. html

Apple brand Essay

Apple Inc. uses the Apple brand to compete across several highly competitive markets, including the personal computer industry with its Macintosh line of computers and related software, the consumer electronics industry with products such as the iPod, digital music distribution through its iTunes Music Store, the smart phone market with the Apple iPhone, magazine, book, games and applications publishing via the AppsStore for iPhone and the iPad tablet computing device, and movie and TV content distribution with Apple TV. For marketers, the company is also establishing a very strong presence to rival Google in the advertising market, via its Apps business and iAd network. Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-Founder, described Apple as a â€Å"mobile devices company† – the largest one in the world (Apple’s revenues are bigger than Nokia, Samsung, or Sony’s mobility business). For several years Apple’s product strategy involved creating innovative products and services aligned with a â€Å"digital hub† strategy, whereby Apple Macintosh computer products function as the digital hub for digital devices, including the Apple iPod, personal digital assistants, cellular phones, digital video and still cameras, and other electronic devices. More recently, the full impact of a very well throught out brand strategy has come into focus – and one in which customer experience is central: the Mac is no longer the hub of all things Apple. Now, Apple offers a harmonised, synchronised, and integrated user experience across all of its main devices (iPad, iPhone, and Mac), using iCloud as the hub. It is in the process of extending this experience outside Apple-controled environments by introducing deep integration with Facebook and Twitter on iPad, iPhone and Mac. Apple’s core competence is delivering exceptional experience through superb user interfaces. The company’s product strategy is based around this, with iTunes, the iPhone (with it’s touch screen â€Å"gestures† that are re-used on the iPad), and the Apple Apps store all playing key roles.

Fashion Film

Rules and Regulations As fashion film is a new addition to the fashion installment, there aren't any specific rules and regulations that the filmmakers have to follow because fashion is all about expressing opinions, feelings etc. However there are a few ethics that they should be aware of, with any film such as violence, drug abuse, discrimination etc. The filmmakers need to be aware of these ethics because the last thing you want the film to do is offend anyone because then the company, or in this case designer, could get a bad reputation and not become successful.Other things that should be considered when putting together a fashion show is the location because you want the show to be memorable to the audience and a unique location will help make it more memorable. The set is another important thing to think about because if there is a theme such as ‘nature' being carried out though the fashion then you'll want to back that up with a nature themed set; this will also make it more memorable to the audience.Seating should be considered because you want the audience to have a perfect view of the fashion and the film hat they will be seeing though out the show so that they can fully take in what they will be seeing. Lights are an important part of a fashion show because you want the catwalk to be lit up perfectly so the audience can see the clothes perfectly especially if there is any fine detail in the clothes.Music is something to consider because this can really add on to the theme of the show and create the sense of escapism that some audiences crave for; for example if there is a nature theme in your show then it could be a good idea to add some slow classic music with some wildlife sounds. The air and make up of the models is key to a fashion show because this can complete the look of the whole fashion show and really enhance the theme of the fashion show. One fashion show that really has been thought out to every detail is the Alexander Macaque show Homeowners SIS 10 in Paris.The title of the show was ‘Plat's Atlantis' and was inspired by concepts of environmental destruction, stem-cell technology, ‘mutation of the fittest' and the underwater kingdom of Atlantis. The location of this fashion show is unknown but it was performed in Paris during Fashion Week at the end of October 2010. I would hold my fashion show in Paris because it is considered the fashion capital of the world. Paris is a great place to hold a fashion show because the fashion history is so strong compared to other cities like London or Tokyo.The set of the fashion show consists of a very long, white, wide catwalk to represent a laboratory to expand the theme of Stem Cell Technology; there was also a 60 foot LED screen at the back to display the fashion film and two twenty foot robotic cameras along side of the catwalk where one of the cameras displayed the footage it was getting onto the giant screen. I really liked this set because it enhanced th e theme of a laboratory really well from the Petri dish like catwalk, the fashion on the models making them appear to be the experiments in the lab and the cameras acting like the scientists observing what was going on.The lighting used for this show was simple and even, this allowed the audience in the fashion show to see each outfit perfectly. This is a great way to install lights and I would defiantly use it in a fashion show because it doesn't take the attention of the viewers away from the fashion. The music for this fashion show sounds like it would e played in an opening scene for a blockbuster movie set underwater; it contains a lot of heavy synchs and long slow drums.I like this music and would use it in a fashion show because it adds to the theme of the show ‘Atlantis' and gives the audience a sense of escapism. To be able to broadcast my fashion film with music, I need to follow the rules set by The I-J Copyright Service. The law set by them states 1. Using the work of others If you use samples of music by other authors in your work, ensure that you get permission to use the work before you attempt to publish or sell your work. Similarly, f you use loops or samples available via sample collections etc. Ensure that these are licensed as free to use, or obtain permission first. 2. Obtaining permission If you need to get permission to use a piece of music, normally the best place to start is with the last know publisher for the work. They will certainly know how to get permission to use the work, (as they must have permission themselves), so they will certainly know who you would need to contact. If the work is by an U. S. Artist, you could contact the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, IBM (Broadcast Music, IncBand members agreements Where music is written as a group effort, we recommend that you draw up an agreement to clarify issues, such as which rights belong to which member, and how royalties would be distributed in the event that members of your group leave. For successful commercial bands, incorporation is also an option. As with a normal incorporated company, the band members would own shares in the band/company. In this situation, a band member would typically sell his shares to the other members if he decided to leave. This states that I need to obtain permission by the DC/Producer that produced this song.

Higher Education Essay

The report is based on information and impressions which the delegation obtained during the study tour. Information was also gathered from sources such as the websites of the organisations and institutions visited and from agencies including the National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (NOOSR) in Australia, World Education Services (WES) in the USA, IAU and UNESCO/IAU among others. At several places in the text, sources have been specifically mentioned. An additional list of sources can be found in the appendices. 3 The report describes the system of education in India and the quality assurance system. Chapter 1 introduces the administration of the school system and the organisation of primary, secondary and higher secondary education, while Chapter 2 provides information about technical and vocational education. Chapter 3 outlines the system of higher education by reviewing the institutional structure with a discussion of both public and private education. Information on degree structure and grading systems is included, as well as examples of some bachelor degree programmes. In Chapter 4, teacher training at higher secondary level and at university level is described. Chapter 5 presents India’s response to globalisation in the higher education sector. The last chapter deals with the quality assurance work in education, both at secondary and higher level. Impressions and reflections about the education system and how it functions are incorporated into the report in frames where appropriate. Country Profile India is one of the world’s oldest civilisations, dating back to 2,500 B. C. Aryan tribes from the northwest invaded the country in about 1,500 B. C. ; their merger with the earlier Dravidian inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. Arab incursion starting in the eighth century and Turkish in the twelfth century were followed by those of European traders, beginning in the late fifteenth century. By the nineteenth century, Great Britain had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands. Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru helped end British colonialism through non-violent resistance. India achieved independence in 1947. The Republic of India was established in 1947 and comprises 32 states and Union Territories, the latter controlled by the central government. The country covers about 3. 3 million square kilometres with a population of 1. 029 billion and dominates southern Asia. It is slightly larger than one-third the size of the United States. India is home to 17% of the world’s total population, accommodated in an area that is 2. 4% of the world’s total area. India has the world’s twelfth largest economy and the third largest in Asia behind Japan and China, with a total GDP of around $570 billion. Services, industry and agriculture account for 50. 7%, 26. 6% and 22. 7% of GDP respectively. The United States is India’s largest trading partner. Bilateral trade in 2003 was $18. 1 billion. There are some 16 official major languages and 844 dialects. Among these languages, English enjoys associate status, but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication. Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people. The other official languages are Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit. Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language. Hinduism (80. 5%), Islam (13. 4%), Christianity (2.3%), Sikh (1. 9%) are the major religions in the country. The literacy rate is 52% (of the total population of age 15 or older). 4 Chapter 1 General Education Administration of Education The central and the state governments have joint responsibility for education, with freedom for the state governments to organise education within the national framework of education. Educational policy planning is under the overall charge of the central Ministry of Human Resource Development which includes the Department of Elementary Education and Literacy and the Department of Secondary and Higher Education. The Ministry is guided by the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) which is the national level advisory body. The education ministers of all the different states are members of the board. The National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) (1961) defines the National Frame Curriculum for classes I – XII. It also functions as a resource centre in the field of school development and teacher education. State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) are the principal research and development institutions in all the states. At secondary level, school boards at state level affiliate schools and set examination standards in accordance with the national framework. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) cover all India besides the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). National Policy on General Education Under the national constitution, education was a state matter until 1976. The central government could only provide guidance to the states on policy issues. In 1976 the constitution was amended to include education on the concurrent list. The initial attempts of designing a National Education Policy were made in 1968 but it was only in 1986 that India as a whole had a uniform National Policy on Education. The National Policy on Education 1986, modified in 1992, defines the major goals for elementary education as universal access and enrolment, universal retention of children up to 14 years and substantial improvement in the quality of education. The National Policy of Education of 1992 also aims at vocationalisation of secondary education and greater use of educational technology. The policy has been accompanied by several programmes such as the District Primary Education Program (DPEP) launched in 1994 and the National Campaign for Education for All (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) launched in 2001/2. A proposed bill on the right to education (draft, November 2005) stresses the right of all children from age 6 until their 15th birthday to receive elementary education either in school or non-formal education (NFE). The Indian government is preparing the universalisation of secondary education (USE). The main aim is to provide high quality secondary education to all Indian adolescents up to the age of 16 by 2015, and senior secondary education up to the age of 18 by 2020. 5 Crucial problems in India are teacher absenteeism, noted by UNESCO in 2005; high teacherpupil ratios; and inadequate teaching materials and facilities, particularly in rural areas. At the other end of the scale, children attending urban schools, especially middle and upper class children in private schools, are subjected to extreme competition from a very early age in order to qualify for admission into the best schools. In 1979-80, the Government of India, Department of Education launched a programme of Non-Formal Education (NFE) for children of 6-14 years age group, who cannot join regular schools – drop-outs, working children, children from areas without easy access to schools etc. The initial focus of the scheme was on ten educationally backward states. Later, it was extended to urban slums, and hilly, tribal and desert areas in other states. Source: – UNESCO: India, updated August 2003 and Annual Report 2004/5, Ministry of Human Resource Development, India (overview). – Newsletter, October-December 2005, International Institute for Educational Planning, UNESCO. Learning without Burden, NCERT, 1993, reprinted 2004. – Annual report 2004/5, Ministry of Human Resource Development, India (annexes). School Education A uniform structure of school education, the 10+2 system, has been adopted by all the states and Union Territories (UTs) of India following the National Policy on Education of 1986. Elementary school, Class I – VIII, is recognised as the period of compulsory schooling, with the Constitutional amendment making education a fundamental right. A majority of the states and Union Territories (UTs) have introduced free education in classesI-XII. In states/UTs where education is not free for classes IX and above, the annual fee varies considerably. The pre-school covers two to three years. The elementary stage consists of a primary stage comprising Classes I-V (in some states I-IV), followed by a middle stage of education comprising Classes VI -VIII (in some states V-VIII or VI -VII). The minimum age for admission to Class I of the primary school is generally 5+ or 6+. The secondary stage consists of Classes IX-X (in some states VIII-X), and a senior secondary stage of schooling comprising classes XI-XII in all states. In some states/UTs these classes are attached to universities/colleges. The number of working days of school education in a year is generally more than 200 days in all the states/UTs. Participation in primary and secondary education The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), which indicates the number of children actually enrolled in elementary schools as a proportion of child population in the 6-14 years age group, has increased progressively since 1950-51, rising from 32. 1% to 82. 5% in 2002-03, according to statistics published by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in India. The rate of increase in GER of girls has been higher than that of boys. The dropout rate at the primary level (Classes I-V) declined from 39% in 2001-02 to 34. 9% in 2002-03. However the GER only covers 61% of children from classes VI to VIII. 6 In 2002/3 the dropout rate was estimated at 34. 9% at the end of lower primary classes and 52. 8% at the end of upper primary. The dropout rate was 62. 6% at the end of secondary school (Class X). There are wide disparities among the different states in the number of children completing primary and secondary school from less than 20% to more than 80%, according to the central statistics from the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Source – Selected Educational Statistics 2002-03. Provisional. Ministry of Human Resource Development, India – Annual Report 2004/5. Ministry of Human Resource Development, India – Secondary Education. Department of Secondary and Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, India (information on the Department’s website) National Curricula. The National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) formulated the first Curriculum Framework in 1975 as a recommendation to the individual states. NCERT was accorded the responsibility of developing a binding National Curriculum Framework through the National Policy on Education (NPE) (1986). NCERT reviews the curriculum every five years on the basis of consultations within the whole school sector. The core areas of the curriculum are common. Teaching of English is usually compulsory in classes VI-X in most of the states/UTs. NCERT published a New National Curriculum framework in 2005. The New National Curriculum will be introduced in textbooks in three phases: Phase one, 2006-07: classes I, III, VI, IX and XI. Phase two, 2007-08: classes II, IV, VII, X and XII Phase three, 2008-09: classes V and VIII NCERT has gradually been changing the curriculum from traditional information provision to be more learner-oriented and competence-based. National Curriculum Framework 2000 The National Curriculum Framework 2000 operates with the concept of the Minimum Levels of Learning (MLLs) identifying certain essential levels of learning for each stage of school education. Pre-primary education The National Policy on Education defines the objective of early childhood care and education (ECCE) as being the total development of children in the age group 0-6 years. Early Childhood Education (ECE) or pre-primary education (2 years), part of the ECCE, shall prepare children for school. Teaching at this stage, according to the National Curriculum Framework, comprises group activities, play–way techniques, language games, number games and activities directed at promoting socialisation and environmental awareness among children. Formal teaching of subjects and reading and writing are prohibited. However, NCERT strongly criticised the actual pre-school programmes for exposing children to structured formal learning, often in 7 English with tests and homework, in the introductory notes to the new National Curriculum Framework 2005. The competition for the best education starts at a very early age. Newspapers from September 2005 in India report of tremendous pressure on three-year old children being prepared by their parents for nursery interviews and competing with a huge number of other children for places in the most prestigious private pre-schools. The newspapers report on private persons/institutes that offer help to parents in preparing their children for nursery interviews. Other newspapers report the need for psychological support for children having developed speaking difficulties after having been exposed to onerous preparation by their parents for nursery interviews. Primary education At the primary stage, emphasis is on the process of understanding, thinking and internalising. The National Curriculum contains the following subjects: Subject Language(s) Lower primary Classes I-II The mother tongue/regional language. Lower primary Classes III-V The mother tongue/regional language Upper primary Classes VI-VIII Three Languages — the mother tongue/the regional language, a modern Indian language and English All kind of creative activities including the child’s own creations Essentials of mathematics for every day activities, including geometry – Art education Mathematics Art of healthy and productive living Woven around the world of the learner Creative education, health and physical education, work education, value inculcation Integrated approach Environmental studies – Health and physical education – Science and technology Social sciences – Work education – Integrated approach to music, dance, drama, drawing and painting, puppetry, health and physical education, games and sports, yoga and productive work Experiences to help socio- emotional and cultural development with a realistic awareness and perception of phenomena occurring in the environment Games and sports, yoga, NCC and scouting and guiding Key concepts across all the disciplines of science, local and global concerns Social, political and economic situation of India and the world, including Indian cultural heritage. Academic skills social skills and civic competencies Agricultural and technological processes including participation in work situation Source: National Curriculum Framework 2000 8 In all language education programmes, the stress is placed on the ability to use the language in speech and in writing for academic purposes, at the workplace and in society in general. The duration of a class period may be around 40 minutes and, according to NCERT, the school year should be a minimum of 180 days, and â€Å"†¦A primary school should function for five hours a day out of which four hours may be set aside for instruction. For the upper primary and secondary schools, the duration of a school day should be six hours out of which five hours should be kept for instruction and the rest for the other routine activities. † Secondary education (2 years, grades IX-X) In grades IX-X the scheme of studies should include the following subjects: three languages (the mother tongue/the regional language, a modern Indian language and English), mathematics, science and technology, social sciences, work education, art education, health and physical education. Foreign languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Russian, French, German, Arabic, Persian and Spanish may be offered as additional options. The curriculum in mathematics should take into account both the learning requirement of learners who will leave school for working life, and of students who will pursue higher education. According to the NECRT Secondary School Curriculum 2002-2004 (Vol.1, Main Subjects) the suggested number of weekly periods per subject in grade X is as follows: Subject Language I Language II Mathematics Science and technology Social science Work education or pre-vocational education Art education Suggested number of periods in grade X 7 6 7 9 9 3 + 2 to 6 periods outside school hours 2 The boards, however, according to NCERT, often offer limited or no optional courses: two languages (one of which is English), mathematics, science and social sciences are the typical examination subjects. A few boards encourage students to choose an optional course from a range that includes economics, music and cookery. Higher secondary/Senior secondary education (2 years, grades XI–XII) The curriculum at this stage is divided into an academic stream and a vocational stream. Academic stream The objectives of academic courses are to promote problem-solving abilities and convey higher levels of knowledge. The curriculum at this stage comprises foundation courses and elective courses. Foundation courses consist of (i) language and literature, (ii) work education, and (iii) health and physical education, games and sports. The study of language prepares a student to both learn and use language in the classroom, the community and the workplace. The choice of the language to be studied is decided by the learner. Work education includes e. g. developmental projects in a village or city. Generic Vocational Courses (GVC) aim at developing employment-related generic skills regardless of the persons’ occupations. The student should choose three elective courses out of the subjects 9 prescribed by the boards. Elective courses may include bridging courses between the academic and vocational streams. The list of courses may include modern Indian languages, Sanskrit, classical European languages and their literatures, English (academic and specialised), other foreign languages, subjects in the sciences and mathematics, computer science, accountancy, business studies, engineering, political science, history, sociology, psychology, philosophy, fine arts and others. NCERT prescribes that courses should be listed together without dividing them into mutually exclusive groups. Nonetheless, several boards restrict the combinations in the form of a ‘science stream’, ‘arts stream’ and ‘commerce stream’. Some schools tailor their classes to medical and engineering courses. Universities restrict admissions based on the subjects and combinations of courses studied in the +2 stage. Sixty percent of the instructional time is devoted to the instruction of elective subjects and forty percent to the foundation course. Vocational stream The introduction of the vocational stream was recommended by the central Kothari Commission (1964-66). The National Policy on Education, 1986 (revised 1992) set a target of twenty-five percent of higher secondary students in vocational courses by 1995. So far, enrolment is far below this. The courses for the vocational stream consist of: †¢ A language course †¢ A general foundation course †¢ Health and physical education, and †¢ Elective vocational courses Vocational education covers areas like agriculture, engineering and technology (including information and communication technology), business and commerce, home science, health and para-medical services and humanities. Language courses are organised to cover the grammatical structures and additional vocabulary particular to the trade or vocation. The general foundation course for the vocational stream comprises general studies, entrepreneurship development, environmental education, rural development and information and communication technology. Vocational electives are organised according to employment opportunities. Practical training is an essential component of the vocational courses, according to the National Curriculum Framework, with seventy percent of time devoted to vocational courses. The certificate issued should mention the competencies acquired and the credits earned. Organisation The organisation of teaching is based either on an annual or semester system. In most cases, a year’s course is divided into two parts to be covered in the two halves of an academic session in the annual system. Marks are accorded to a certain number of periods; the total mark is an average of marks accorded to the different parts of curriculum in an annual or semestrial examination (e. g. a paper corresponding to a 3-hour written examination). 10 The example below copied from the Senior School Curriculum 2007 (Central Board of Secondary Education) illustrates a typical curriculum (in history) and the maximum marks accorded to the different parts of the curriculum. History/Class XI Paper One Unit Part A – Ancient India 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 30. Total Introduction Paleolithic Cultures and Beginning of settled Life Harappan Civilization The Early Vedic Period Later Vedic Phase and Iron Age South and North-East India Religious traditions Mahajanapada Mauryas Society, Economy and Culture during Mauryan period Post-Mauryan India The age of India from Guptas and after The Society and Culture in the age of Guptas and Harsha †¦ Project Work 100 marks 8 4 8 8 5 2 10 4 10 6 6 8 8 †¦ †¦. 5 8 9 5 2 7 7 Time: 3 Hours Periods 100 Marks Marks. In the semester system, recommended by NCERT, students take a number of credit hours corresponding to their requirements and capacity, and at their own pace. However, only a few institutions have adopted the semester and credit system. National Curriculum Framework 2005 The National Curriculum Framework 2005 points out the need for plurality and flexibility within education while maintaining the standards of education in order to cover a growing variety of children. The Framework recommends that learning shifts away from rote methods and that the curriculum reduces and updates textbooks. Peace education is included as a dimension in education. The new curriculum proposes a broader spectrum of optional subjects, including the revalorisation of vocational options. Courses may be designed to offer optional modules, rather than trying to cover everything and overfilling courses too much. The National Curriculum Framework 2005 also proposes changes within the examination system (examinations for classes X and XII) allowing reasoning and creative abilities to replace memorisation. The children should be able to opt for different levels of attainment. Textbooks 11 Most states have legislated to create bodies for the preparation of syllabi and textbooks. The states have established various mechanisms for the preparation and approval of textual materials. However, a study in 2005, undertaken by the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), of textbooks used in government schools (not following the CBSE syllabus) and in nongovernment schools (including social and religious schools) showed that many textbooks reinforce inequalities and neglect rural, tribal or female realities. According to NCERT’ Newsletter, in 2005, CABE proposed the institution of a National Textbook Council to monitor textbooks. Source: – National Curriculum Framework 2000, National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), India – National Curriculum Framework 2005, National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), India – Newsletter July 2005, National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), India – Senior School Curriculum 2007, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), India, 2005 Examination and Assessment In all the states and Union Territories, public examinations are conducted at the end of classes X and XII by the respective State Boards of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education. Ministry of Human Resource Development has published a list of recognised state boards for secondary and higher secondary education. The minimum age for admittance to the Secondary School Examination generally varies from 14+ to 16+. The minimum age for Higher Secondary School Examinations varies from 16+ to 18+ years. Some states/UTs do not have an age restriction. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), established by a special resolution of the Government of India in 1929, prescribes examination conditions and the conduct of public examinations at the end of Standard X and XII. The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), Delhi, was established in 1958 by the University of Cambridge, Local Examinations Syndicate as a self-financing national examination board. The Council conducts the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (Standard X) and the Indian School Certificate (Standard XII) examinations. CISCE affiliates schools using English as a medium of instruction. The title of the final qualification varies depending upon the examining body. The titles used by the central examining boards are: CBSE: †¢ All India Secondary School Certificate (Standard X). †¢ All India Senior School Certificate (Standard XII). 12 CISCE: †¢ Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE Standard X). †¢ Indian School Certificate (ISC Standard XII). †¢ Certificate of Vocational Education (CVE XII). Information from the procedure of the All India Senior School Certificate (Standard XII) (extract): The Board conducts examination in all subjects except General Studies, Work Experience, Physical and Health Education, which will be assessed internally by the schools based on cumulative records of students periodical achievements and progress during the year. In all subjects examined by the Board, a student will be given one paper each carrying 100 marks for 3 hours. However, in subjects requiring practical examination, there will be a theory paper and a practical examination as required in the syllabi and courses. A candidate may offer an additional subject that can be either a language at elective level or another elective subject as prescribed in the Scheme of Studies, subject to the conditions laid down in the Pass Criteria. A candidate will get the Pass Certificate of the Board, if he/she gets a grade higher than E in all subjects of internal assessment unless he/she is exempted. Failing this, result of the external examination will be withheld but not for a period of more than one year. In order to be declared as having passed the examination, a candidate shall obtain a grade higher than E (i. e. at least 33% marks) in all the five subjects of external examination in the main or at the compartmental examinations. The pass marks in each subject of external examination shall be 33%. In case of a subject involving practical work a candidate must obtain 33% marks in theory and 33% marks in practical separately in addition to 33% marks in aggregate in order to qualify in that subject. A candidate failing in two of the five subjects of external examination shall be placed in compartment in those subjects provided he/she qualifies in all the subjects of internal assessment. A candidate who has failed in the examination in the first attempt shall be required, to re-appear in all the subjects at the subsequent annual examination of the Board. A candidate who has passed the Senior School Certificate Examination of the Board may offer an additional subject as a private candidate provided the additional subject is provided in the Scheme of Studies and is offered within six years of passing the examination of the Board. A candidate who has passed an examination of the Board may reappear for improvement of performance in one or more subject(s) in the main examination in the succeeding year only; however, a candidate who has passed an examination of the Board under Vocational Scheme may reappear for improvement of performance in one or more subject{s) in the main examination in the succeeding year or in the following year provided he/she has not pursued higher studies in the mean time. He /she will appear as private candidate. Candidates who appear for improvement of performance will be issued only Statement of Marks reflecting the marks of the main examination as well as those of the improvement examination. Central Board of Secondary Education Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is one of the three national boards of secondary education in India. CBSE has affiliated around 8,300 schools including government and independent 13 schools. It also affiliates schools in some 20 African and Asian countries. About 200 new schools are affiliated each year. Study teams conduct regular inspections of the affiliated institutions. CBSE has a central office and 6 regional offices. Permanent affiliation is obtained after a number of years. Affiliation is granted according to strict criteria. A list of affiliated schools can be found on CBSE’ s website: http://www. cbse. nic. in. The major objective is to prescribe conditions of examinations and conduct public examinations at the end of Classes X and XII and to grant certificates to successful candidates of the affiliated schools. All affiliated schools follow the national scheme of 10+2. Here is an example of testimonial for All India Senior School Certificate Examination from 2000: CBSE is regulated but not financed by the central government. Financing is assured by fees from the affiliated schools. CBSE accepts private candidates. CBSE develops its curriculum on the basis of the national curriculum framework. The curriculum is revised every 5 to 10 years. Two of the front line curriculum subjects are revised every year. According to CBSE, it strives notably to adapt current teaching methods and content of teaching to an innovative and creative society in the form of subjects such as functional English, bio-technology, entrepreneurship, life skills education, and disaster management. An important objective is the destressing of education, including no homework or examinations in grades I and II and only achievement reports in grades III-V. Information technology is compulsory in grades IX +X. Language studies include a possible 27 different languages besides Hindi and English. One teacher may teach four subjects up to grade X. The board uses the term learner (for student) with emphasis on the learner’s role in learning. Two subjects undergo a performance analysis (marks, questions, learning) each year to cope with poor performance. 14 Examination is monitored and organised to avoid fraud. CBSE issues duplicates of certificates under certain conditions. CBSE also organises in-service training of teachers and special programmes for new principals. Grading Both Standard X and XII are normally marked on a percentage basis. The minimum passmark varies depending upon the subject. According to the UK NARIC, the following marking scheme is used in most states for the Standard XII examinations, in comparison with that used by the central boards. Performance CBSE assessment 85%+, 80-85%, 70- Excellent, Superior, Very A1-A2, B1 80% good 60% – 70% Good B2 50% – 60% Satisfactory C1 40% – 50% Average C2 35% – 40% Pass D Percentages Source: India, International Comparisons, UK NARIC CISCE One, two, three Four Five Six seven Documents The pass-document is issued by the relevant Board of Secondary Education. It shows the type of programme (academic or vocational), the subjects passed and the marks obtained out of total marks as well as the aggregate marks, percentage obtained, and result as well as the overall grade/division. National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) National Institute of Open Schooling (previously known as the National Open School) was established in November 1989 as an autonomous registered society. The institute provides basic programs such as secondary education courses and senior secondary education courses on an open education basis. NIOS conducts examinations twice a year and candidates can appear in one, two or more subjects. Credits are accumulated until the certification criteria are fulfilled. NIOS has at its disposal a network of accredited study centres all over India providing support to learners. Source – India, International Comparisons, UK NARIC (Website) – Secondary Education. Department of Secondary and Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, India (information on the Department’s website) 15 Islamic Education India also has a system of Islamic education. Several different sects have their own schools where they teach Islamic subjects and Arabic to mainly (but not only) Muslim children.