Describe with examples how different aspects of development can affect one another Essay

Example 1 A family of four attends a large family gathering. Their new addition to their family is 6 month old â€Å"Emily†. This â€Å"Emily’s first time out with people other than her family. While she is with her family, â€Å"Emily is happy, smiling and making cooing and babbling noises. She is aware and alert with the new environment that surrounds her, she is she moves her arms and legs vigorously to show her excitement. As this is her first social outing, she gets upset when someone she is not familiar with talks to her or plays with her. She starts to cry as this her way of showing that she is not familiar with this person and may be a little scared. Emily’s emotions affects her communication. Example 2 â€Å"John† is seventeen from a low wage, single parent family. He has a part-time job while studying to help out his mother financially. Unfortunately the Manager undermines, bullies him and takes credit for his work. â€Å"John† who is not used to dealing with difficult people in a working environment, may become withdrawn and quiet. He may keep his feelings towards his Manager to himself as he is afraid that he might lose his job that he desperately needs. Emotionally he feels depressed and unworthy. He is seen as ‘the man of the house’ and feels he cannot communicate his problems to his mother as he doesn’t want her to have the added pressure of dealing with his problem. His studying may also suffer as he worries about his mother’s financial situation and also his situation at work. Socially he has withdrawn from his friends as they may realise something is wrong is embarrassed to talk to them about it. Intellectually, his studies would have suffered as a result of his manager bullying and undermining him as he cannot concentrate.

Ind Aff

Katie Cornblath Ms. Moore English IV Dual Credit September 30, 2009 IND AFF The narrator’s relationship with Peter is a trying to outdo your sibling relationship with an attractive older man and he regards her as a relief from his problems in his current marriage. The narrator’s sister married a weedy academic professor and the narrator is dating a muscular academic profession which between her and her sister is considered the better of the two academic professor types. The narrator eventually realizes that she does not have the â€Å"inordinate affection† she thought she had. Peter is having difficulties with his wife and having a love affair with a young student is letting him have temporary breaks from his marriage. â€Å"It was a silly sad thing to do, in the first place, to confuse mere passing academic ambition with love: to try and outdo my sister Clare. † The narrator stating this above shows the root of the reason she was in love with Peter because she wanted to outdo her sister’s relationship with her professor. Peter being a muscular academic professor makes him attractive because â€Å"everything works well from the brain to the toes. This makes him good all around while her sister’s weedy academic professor doesn’t have â€Å"enough vital energy† left because the brain uses it all up. The narrator is attracted to Peter because he is better than her sister’s husband making her even more attracted to him other then â€Å"his dexterity and patience. † The narrator comes to her senses when the olde r and gentler looking waiter gave her a reproachful look wondering why she is with this old guy with plenty of young ones out there. This is demonstrated by the good looking waiter that makes her think in a world full of good looking guys what [am] I doing with this man with thinning hair? † That ended the love student professor love affair because the narrator came to the realization this is not true love. Peter, being in a troubling relationship with his wife makes the narrator a relief from his worries and problems. â€Å"Peter liked to luxuriate in guilt and indecision† which is the main reason he had feelings for her as well. It was either between the narrators or his wife and Peter having that indecision show he is still loves his wife even if he doesn’t realize it. There would be fearful personal and practical upheaval entailed if he decided to leave permanently and shack up as he put it with me. † Peter tells this to the narrator but if they were tr uly in love with each other then the â€Å"upheaval† wouldn’t matter to him because he says he doesn’t love his wife so he shouldn’t care what other people think about his actions since he is out of love. The hesitation there, and the caring, and worrying of what others think still shows he has feelings for his wife or otherwise he wouldn’t care if he â€Å"shacked up† with the narrator because he would have loved her more than his wife of 20 years. The narrator loved her professor in order to outdo her sister with the â€Å"attractive muscular academic† and ends up falling out of love when an attractive young waiter makes her question her judgment on Peter. Peter loves her because she is the break he needs from his failing relationship even though he still loves his wife of 20 years deep down because he is undecided to leave his wife for her or not. This was a typical student-professor relationship in the end, no more, no less; just personal reasons tangled up between few people that created â€Å"inordinate affection† between Peter and the narrator.

Gender Portrayal and Prime Time Comedy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gender Portrayal and Prime Time Comedy - Essay Example The proposed portrayal, therefore, was intended to be a young, highly educated attorney whom happened to be female. The cast, however, was broad in terms of characterization and included a number of clearly developed male and female characters. The majority of these characters were attorneys at Ally's law firm. Superficially, at least, the stage appears set for a comedy devoid of gender stereotypes. Ally is a successful attorney and her best friend is a man. She wears pants and is financially independent. A careful examination of the scripts, however, reveals that gender stereotypes remain pervasive even in a prime time television program purporting to be offering a stereotype-free program. I don't believe in equal parenting, and if we have kids I expect you to quit work and while I certainly don't think of you only as a sexual object, I do think of you as someone who should fulfill my sexual needs, and if you put on a hundred pounds, I'd have a big problem there too." (quoted in Lemaster: 2) The gender portrayal is hardly subtle; to be sure, it is a direct statement by a main character to the effect that men should work and women should take care of the home after having children. Billy doesn't believe in equality, he characterizes his girlfriend's duties as including the satisfaction of his sexual needs, and he warns her against gaining weight. So many stereotypes are packed into this simple portion of the television script. The woman must take care of the home, she must be available to satisfy the male's sexual needs, and she must place her appearance at a high level or she will risk losing the man. One can hardly conceive of dialogue which so directly contradicts the aforementioned goal of presenting a modern comedy devoid of stereotypes. The women seem to indulge the men rather than becoming offended or angry; to be sure, when confronted with actions and comments that would most certainly trigger sexual harassment lawsuits in the real world, these female characters instead merely play along. This playing along with the male characters seems to reinforce the stereotypes rather than challenging them or breaking them down. An illustrative portion of dialogue, from Episode 3, involves two of Ally's female colleagues interviewing a male applicant for an entry-level position: Renee: "Would you mind removing you shirt" Male interviewee: "I beg your pardon" Renee: "I just want to see your chest, and your stomach." Male interviewee: "Is that legal" Whipper: "It's illegal to require it, and of course we couldn't do that. Now, basically, the business of law is all about getting clients, now we plan to use our sensuality to do that. Renee and I will provide a little eye candy for the men." Renne: "It would be rude not to have something for the women." Whipper: "Absolutely." (quoted in Lemaster: 4). This dialogue is ironic; it is ironic because the women are at the same time mocking the behavior of their male colleagues and them justifying the use of their sexuality to gain clients. There is no anger or resentment. They may express their views more subtly than did Billy previously, but they see

QUANTUM COMPUTER CHIPS NOW ONE STEP CLOSER TO REALITY Essay

QUANTUM COMPUTER CHIPS NOW ONE STEP CLOSER TO REALITY - Essay Example And the overall costing of this demonstration is $445 million. It is the first time in 34 years that a rocket other than the space shuttle will stand tall at the Launch Pad 39-B. NASA specially modified this pad for the erection of this rocket, which is purposed to carry astronauts to the moon. The test rocket includes a solid-rocket first stage, followed by a mock second stage, and dummy Orion crew capsule atop to stimulate the specified weight and size of Ares I. The Ares I rocket is by far the tallest booster in service and about to fly, and stands about 100 meters (327 feet) high, i.e. 14 stories taller than NASA's space shuttles. Thin and exceptionally tall, the Ares I-X depicts the actual Ares I rocket which will carry the astronauts into the orbit, possibly by 2015. Being a mock up, no person or payload will be on board during the demonstration (Moskowitz) (Dunn). Comparatively, the shuttle is 184 feet tall. The Saturn V rockets were a record-setting 363 feet that ferried astronauts to the moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s. John Shannon, shuttle program manager stated that Ares' first stage boosters is embedded with proven technology; it is the same kind of solid rocket booster used to propel space shuttles.

Student Testing in Elementary Schools in America Essay

Student Testing in Elementary Schools in America - Essay Example The curriculum as of today is far ahead of what the school system was earlier. From learning by rote, now the child is allowed more interaction and freedom to gain knowledge from sources other than the school. The curriculum guides and text books are chosen today by the state and they reflect the State's learning standard and benchmarks for a given grade level. To gauge the progress of a child, there are tests to determine the adequate yearly progress which have to fulfill certain standardized goals by which States and school districts assess the child's progress academically.( Armstrong Thomas, 1987) When there are about twenty or thirty children of diverse learning needs in a class, the academic strengths and weaknesses of a child are most evident during tests. This is referred to as MAP or measures of academic progress. Tests are not an absolute indication of the child's progress or capacity for knowledge. The scoring process is a comparison of the child's responses with his or her peers. Instead of providing a statistical comparison of the child's abilities, it would be better to focus on the level of the skills that the child has acquired, instead of assessing the results of a child's test with a checklist of skills that are expected in a particular grade (Chris Shera, 2007). It is during interpretative question tests that disconnect between classroom activities and results in the end of grade tests required, is evident. Students are not empowered to study anything outside the requisite classroom curriculum. The program needs a balanced literary approach to maximize the child's ability to view tests in positive (Kosar, 2005) fashion. Then an improvement will be seen in the standardized reading and language test scores. The downside of testing : It is important to know that test results can go wrong for a variety of reasons. We can actually question the validity of the entire test result for many reasons. Some of these are elucidated below. 1. Most tests reward experience (Dunn, Rita and Dunn Kenneth, 1978). A child who has had repeated practice at a certain skill will naturally do it with a lot more ease than a child who has not had the benefit of frequent opportunities to do the same . 2. Children from cultural and socio economic minority groups are prone to poor performance on tests for the simple reason that the child may not relate to the subject comprehensively. For example, a child who does not speak English at home does not automatically think in that language and hence suffers when he is supposed to understand the nuances of a subject taught in English. 3. Children can be intimidated by the very prospect of a test at a younger age. The child's performance can suffer due to just the thought of doing a test. 4. Some children are not clued into writing within a particular time frame- especially in elementary schools - and dawdle over the test without finishing it. This does not mean that the child does not know the answer. 5. Some deterrents to academic progress could be a host of conditions that disrupt the normal learning process. These could range from language disorders, learning disabilities, dyslexia, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and

Innovation and Managemnt of Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Innovation and Managemnt of Change - Essay Example Furthermore, structure is also a means to high-performing teams. Mindful awareness to structure and roles in teams will make the team much more successful. When it comes to leadership, structural leadership contributes a critical role in shaping organizations. It can be influential and stable, even though it is more restrained and less heroic leadership compared on other frames. Upon the entrance of Nardelli in Home Depot, there were major changes in hiring of new employees. Nardelli, wants to hire people with military background, ex militaries or even the wives of military officers (Pascual, 2001). Because for him they have a sufficient training and great leadership skills. For Nardelli, . A leader should be credible for him to lead. In addition to this characteristic, a leader should possess honesty, competence, aspiration, and a forward-looking approach. In the business point of view, good leadership proves to be quite beneficial. Good leadership aids in effectively meeting job-related demands, in creating higher-performing teams, in fostering renewed loyalty and commitment, in increasing motivational level and in reducing absenteeism and turnover of employees. Unfortunately, this so-called effective leadership is not that easy to attain; effective management is not as easy as writing down notes. Good leadership entails a lot of hard work, dedication, an d many other factors (Revelle, 2003). This is the reason why there should be proper management flow within the organization. Since an organization's culture is about how much members trust each other, about attitudes and emotions and their impact on team performance, organizations are defined best in these terms and in ideas like change, trust, cohesion, conformity and adaptability. The importance of high work life quality through good supervision, working conditions, pay and benefits as well as challenging and rewarding jobs. As such, it is apparent that the employees need to avail of the opportunities of developing their skills further and enriching their knowledge through the training programs and exercises that their company invests on (Maeir, 2003). As leaders and managers, managing the information that the company uses in its daily operations is crucial in any business organization. Information is the blood stream of every company on which every staff; employee and supervisor work on to be able to meet the demands of the clients and customers of the business. In addition, culture and environment of an organization tend to play a large role in determining structure (Scholosser, 2004). For example, more formal, bureaucratic organizations tend to have formal structures, while less formal organizations often choose flatter structures with dispersed responsibilities. Basically, social interaction is the main essence of living. People gain knowledge of themselves and those with whom they interact based on many characteristics that become salient based on their cultural framework. For example, to an American the car that one drives has symbolic significance, whereas to an Indian, schooling is an important sign of position and status. It is through various types of social interactions that all people define themselves within their social community, and this self-definition lies at the very heart of human endeavor. People struggle with a desire

The Impact of the Theoretical Basis of Nursing on Contemporary Essay

The Impact of the Theoretical Basis of Nursing on Contemporary Practice - Essay Example This paper approves that nursing as a profession accounts for its conscientious, knowledgeable and responsible actions. The profession has extended education avenues, a body of knowledge leading to defined skills, an ability to provide specific service, professional autonomy to make decisions governed by a code of ethics. The theoretical models have served as frameworks for nursing curriculum and practice by increasing the scientific basis of nursing practice. This essay makes a conclusion that nursing profession today demands responsibilities than the past when the principle of a nurse was just to provide care and comfort. Changes in nursing have expanded the roles of a nurse including health promotion and disease prevention with patient’s care as the core element. The growing specialty treatments have a proportional need for a specialty trained nursing professionals. These specialty nursing professionals assist complicated surgeries working in coordination with the specialties. Every Health Care delivery center today provides a report to the patient on the details of the diagnosis of the disease with follow up instructions, the Medicine information and the allergy reactions that could follow; dietary restrictions, dos and don’ts, restrictions and exercises prescribed. They take an acknowledgement either from the patient or an authorized person after receiving the report. This documentation serves a key purpose in medical pr actice. The health record is the written and legal evidence of treatment.

Emerging Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Emerging Markets - Essay Example While developing economies are usually flooded with emerging markets, the concept is not novel to developed economies. It is these emerging markets, which when successful in the future, become economic giants in the industry (Garten, 1997). The emerging markets need to consider a lot of geographical and economic concerns before setting in a foreign country. They may be small enterprises or large projects. This paper seeks to evaluate the industry of emerging markets in the United States and see how successful it has been over the years. It would also analyze how these emerging markets have affected the economy of US and all related economies. Emerging markets have had positive impacts and some negative setbacks and this paper would state both sides of the picture. The US is the third largest country in the world comprising an area of 3.79 million square miles. It accommodates over 300 million people in fifty states, and being so, it remains the most populated region in the world. The US is the most ethnically diverse nation in the world with people from all over the world staying there for work, study or leisure. It has a GDP of 14.3 trillion US dollars which proves that it is a relatively economically stable country in the world. However, about 11% of the US population lives below the poverty line (Juster, 1997). It has a very high rate of productivity and high rate of scientific developments and innovations. Also, the unemployment level in the US is fairly low and inflation is under control too. The US is bordered by the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans making it a favorable site for water travel. Also, it has sufficient nuclear weaponry and a strong army to ensure its defense against the worldly enemies. The US also enjoys fairly good relations with most economies of the world and it stands as a much unbiased nation with a lot of

Colombia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Colombia - Essay Example Colombia is already the 21st largest market for the export activities for the U.S. And now since the approval of U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement by the President of United States Of America, Barack Obama, it is most certain that the existing trading opportunities will increase even more significantly. This agreement ensures that the U.S. interests will be protected while upholding the rule of law in Colombia. Colombia is a very risk adverse country, thus while it will feel no threat to its legal structure and culture, it will help reduce the trade barriers, creating a more stable environment that will lead to cheaper and easier export of products and services for the U.S. traders. According to the statistics stated by export.gov, the U.S. international Trade Commission is forecasting an increase of U.S. GDP by nearly $2.5 billion and U.S. merchandise exports by almost $1.1 billion, because of the probable elimination of tariffs and related encumbrances in Colombia. According to an estimate almost 80% of the export of consumer and industrial products will become duty free and the remaining tariffs will be distributed over a period of 10 years. Especially after the estimated cost of duties of $70 million, from 2008 to 2010, these reductions of charges will significantly lower our costs of trading thus guaranteeing that our products will be distributed on a more cost effective basis and in this way we can focus on a larger distribution plan for our chocolate products in Colombia’s market base. Colombia has signed agreements with EU in 2008 along with many other countries, some of which include Canada, Chile, El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala. So after the implementation of its agreement, the exporters of EU are expected to enjoy a benefit of 4.1% average tariff over the U.S. exporters, but if the U.S. Colombia TPA is brought into action at the same time it will give us an advantage of 1.7% tariff over the EU. So it’s clear that as soon as the se policies are implemented, we will have an advantage over other potential global competitors in the form of cost effectiveness, this way we will be able to focus on our distribution and marketing plans rather than fretting over our unavoidable costs relating to our export. Custom procedures have also been simplified except the fact that the imports are kept in holding for sometime before released, consequentially we will have to make sure that our products are able to survive without refrigerators for a few days Colombia has a population of 45 million. Its largest cities are Bogota D.C. Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla and Cartagena. So we will be focusing on them initially. It has two legislative houses: Senate and the House of Representatives. The president, who is elected only for a single term of four years, is both the chief of state and the head of government. So while we are there we will have to follow the policies accordingly so as to not jeopardize our relations with the gov ernment. The main language of the country is Spanish. Many business people have the understanding of English language but as it is not that widely understood or spoken so we will have to make sure that the labels of our chocolate products read in Spanish. 95% of the population is Roman Catholic but freedom of religion is guaranteed. The people are highly ambitious and status oriented. But the culture as a whole is yet collectivist rather than individualistic. People are very loyal to their own communities or groups and highly competitive towards other social classes. And the more they are tied to highly stabilized and influential corporative groups, as a reward to their performance, the more favors and benefits they can derive from the community. Socially,

Erickson's Timeline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Erickson's Timeline - Essay Example isolation† in comparison to my mother’s â€Å"generativity vs. stagnation† stage. To start with, there are eight stages of life from infancy to late adulthood in Erikson’s psychosocial development theory, where, on each stage is a basic personality conflict faced by an individual. Among these stages, I am 24 years old and belongs to the early adulthood stage (19 to 40 years old) confronted with the opposing conflict between â€Å"intimacy vs. isolation†. Capps (2008, p. 105) emphasized that â€Å"intimacy† in Erikson’s theory connotes that which is private, personal, and close, while â€Å"isolation† connotes separateness experienced in relationships that are personal and close, and not being alone or separate from public. Capps (2008, p. 105) also noted Erikson’s emphasis on having a reasonable sense of identity in order to establish real intimacy with another person; a youth who is not sure of his or her identity tends t o be shy in interpersonal intimacy, whereas, one who is sure of himself seeks it in the form of friendship, combat, leadership, love, and inspiration. In relation to how I interpret â€Å"intimacy vs.

To be themselves Essay Example for Free

To be themselves Essay In society today, most people can be themselves. Most do not feel the need to hide who they truly are anymore while some still can only â€Å"half express [themselves]† because they are embarrassed of the â€Å"idea which each of [them] represents† (186). I feel as if there is still too little emphasis on self-reliance and individualism in America today, because some are still ashamed of themselves and rely on others too much. As the years pass, fewer people discriminate, but there are still many that still do, causing others to â€Å"half express [themselves]† (186). Gays and lesbians are afraid to come out of the closet because they were told that it wasn’t right to be anything but straight. Society made them feel ashamed of themselves. They might give off hints and their friends might be able to tell, but they would never actually come out. If individualism was stressed more, gays or lesbians would no longer need to hide who they truly are. Even worse, proposition 8 restricts the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples only. They would be accepted, but as of now, they are not because there is not enough emphasis on individualism. â€Å"No kernel of nourishing corn† will just appear out of thin air; only â€Å"through [their] toil bestowed† will something of that sort happen (185). People can’t expect to receive something when they didn’t work for it. For example, homeless people depend on other people’s sympathy and donations to survive. Rather than getting off their butts and finding a job, they sit around waiting for help to come to them. If self-reliance was strained some more, maybe we’d have less homeless people standing in corners begging for money in the world. They’d be out looking for jobs, but in the meantime, there are homeless shelters and soup kitchens to help them, until they can get back on their feet because there is not enough emphasis on self-reliance. If Emerson were still alive today, he would be disappointed, but he would feel as if he got most of his message through. Even though some are still a little uncomfortable with whom they are and too dependent on others, most people aren’t afraid to show off their individuality or depend on themselves. In society today, there is not enough emphasis on self-reliance and individualism because people still depend on others for help and are afraid to show their true colors. If life was based on Emerson’s ideas, the world would be full of hardworking citizens and discrimination would not exist.

Analysing Different Teaching Syllabus

Analysing Different Teaching Syllabus In the domain of language teaching, many teaching syllabuses have emerged which can be classified according to their goals. Examples are the grammatical or structural syllabus which focuses on teaching grammar; the lexical syllabus of which the goal is to teach students lexis and the orthography of the target language; the situational syllabus which is concerned with teaching language related to certain situations; the topic-based syllabus, which has as its goal the teaching of specific topics, for example, geographical topics such as global warming. There is also the skills-based syllabus which takes into account the four skills of language learning, namely, listening, speaking, reading and writing; the task-based syllabus, in which the task is the key to acquiring language and the integrated syllabus, which attempts to integrate all types of syllabus into one syllabus. This kind of syllabus is central to the Headway series of books. The focus of the teaching syllabuses in schools and colleges used to be on the grammar of the target language. Priority was given to structural categories, such as word class, and to mastering these categories. It was noted, however, that learners using the structural syllabus lacked the ability to communicate fluently in the target language, because they had little practice in expressing themselves communicatively, even though they had mastered the grammar. They were able only to memorise the structural categories and never engaged in communicating with others. This problem, therefore, could be solved only by producing a new syllabus which could meet learners needs and improve their communicative ability. As a result, a notional-functional syllabus emerged, with new goals and procedures. This paper examines the notional- functional syllabus. In the first part, a brief section seeks to define the word syllabus, followed by a section about the general meaning of a notional-functional syllabus. The second part considers the approach taken in this kind of syllabus and discusses it. The third part focuses on an important aspect in the notional-functional syllabus, namely, needs analysis. The fourth part highlights the strengths and weaknesses of this syllabus. The fifth part shows how the notional-functional syllabus has been influenced by theories of language and learning. The final part, attempts to describe the teaching situation best suited to this type of syllabus and some of its most important aspects. The Notional- functional syllabus: Before we embark on describing and discussing the notional-functional syllabus, we should provide a definition for the word syllabus. What is a syllabus? It is noteworthy that many writers such as, (Brumfit: 1984; Nunan: 1988; Richards: 2001) have sought to define this word. For example, a syllabus is defined as: a specification of the content of a course of instruction which lists what will be taught and tested (Richards: 2001:2). It is defined also by Nunan (1988:159) as: a specification of what is to be taught in language and the order in which it is to be taught. Furthermore, it can merely lay down what is to be taught, or attempt the harder task of organizing what is to be learnt (Brumfit: 1984). Accordingly, it is noted that they agree that a syllabus should be a specified by a plan which leads teaching aims. White (1988) agrees with Nunan (1988), in addition, that a syllabus may include such aspects as, structure, functions, topics, skills and situations. The choice of priority among these aspects will specify the type of syllabus. 1.2. What is a notional-functional syllabus? The first appearance of this type of syllabus was in the 1970s, when sociolinguists and language philosophers first tried to reflect the functional aspects of language in the teaching syllabuses (Nunan: 1988). It is worthy mentioning the the notional- functional syllabus is based on two important aspects, namely, a conceptual or notional aspect and a functional aspect. The first, takes into consideration concepts such as, cause and effect, time, movement and space. The second describes and classifies the intentions behind language use. In fact, neither of these aspects was new for language teaching. They always been of much concern in the language teaching field, yet what was new was the adoption of notional-functional categories as principles in syllabus organisation. As a result, the great stress on grammatical considerations was relaxed, because the communicative categories were taken into account (White, 1988). It is, however, worth mentioning that the Threshold syllabus (Van Ek: 1975) and the Waystage syllabus (Van Ek and Alexander: 1977) are prototypes of notional-functional syllabuses prepared by the Council of Europe. The content of these syllabuses includes notions such as those mentioned above and functions such as are found at the Threshold level ( Ek and Trim: 1990), ( see, Appendix:1). D.A.Wilkins (1976) was the keenest advocate of the notional- functional syllabus. He notes that this type of syllabus should encompass three categories of meaning: first, semantico- grammatical meaning , in which grammatical form is taught by semantics, such as, time, which consists of point of time, duration and relations; second, modal meaning, in which there is a concern with the nature of the speakers attitudes, such as, the scale of certainty, including: conjecture, doubt, conviction and disbelief; and third, the communicative function, in which speakers are expected to provide communicate infor mation, such as, requests and complaints (Wilkins: 1976). The approach applied in the Notional- functional syllabus: It is important to note that there is a contention among such writers in the language teaching domain as, (Wilkins: 1976; Nunan: 1988; Richards: 2001). This contention is about whether the approach taken in a notional- functional syllabus is analytic or synthetic. In fact, Wilkins (1976) is the first writer who has paid attention to the difference between synthetic and analytic approaches in teaching syllabuses (Nunan: 1988). The distinction lies in the fact that the strategy of language teaching in a synthetic approach relies on the process of acquiring language through a gradual accumulation of language parts. These different parts are taught separately until the complete linguistic structure is built up. In contrast, with the analytic approach linguistic control of the learning environment is not important, because language components are not viewed as building blocks. In other words, they are not gradually accumulated. Furthermore, the important forms of language are isolated fro m the contrasting context in which they probably occur. Therefore, the focus of learning is significant aspects of the language structure (Wilkins: 1976). Wilkins goes on to propose that a notional-functional syllabus maybe considered an example of the analytic approach to language teaching. This is because it entails no compulsory exposure to grammar, although we will probably be able to separate particular forms from their language environment in order to learn the grammatical system adequately (ibid, p 19). It emerges that (Nunan: 1988; Richards: 2001) disagree with Wilkinss view that the approach of a notional- functional syllabus is analytic; they consider it synthetic. The reason is that the functional-notional syllabus was an attempt to replace the structural syllabus, yet ultimately, it remained similar to the latter, because, the type of exercise and the content which learners need to master is altogether similar to those of the structural syllabus ,although, the units in the notional-functional syllabus have functional labels(Nunan: 1988). Moreover, it is noted that the notional -functional syllabuses continued to be the same as the structural syllabuses, because they failed to get rid of the need for linguistic control and gradually forms accumulated (Richards: 2001). It is, therefore, agreed with the views of Nunan and Richards, because functional-notional syllabuses are not different enough from structural syllabuses. For example, in structural syllabuses learners have to lear n the different verb tenses gradually. In notional- functional syllabuses, they have to create sentences according to the type of function in a sequence way. Hence, the approach tends to be synthetic rather than analytic. Needs analysis: This term refers to a set of procedures used to collect information about learners and their communications tasks which might help in syllabus design. The question why learners need to learn the target language is not solely the concern of needs analysis. Syllabus planners, however, will need information about such aspect as, the social expectations placed on learners and the possibility of resources to help implement the syllabus. Syllabus designers, therefore, use two different types of needs analysis. The first is learner analysis and the second, task analysis. Learner analysis is concerned with the learners purpose in learning the language and with many other questions through which a great deal of information can be amassed through, for example, data collection forms (Nunan,1988). In needs analysis a syllabus plan is derived from the specifications which syllabus planners or teachers derive from determining the sort of language required. This specifies the ends which the learner s desire (White: 1988). White seems to have considered a needs analysis similar to a blue print for a house build since, in order to drew up plan, an architect needs to look at another house to collect information about the design. The architect, therefore, is similar to a syllabus planner or teacher (ibid, p83). Wilkins, on the other hand, drew attention in notional-functional syllabuses to the learners needs. He proposed that the categories to apply in syllabus should be relevant to the particular population of learners (Wilkins: 1981:84). Consequently, notional-functional syllabuses are based on the learners needs, which are known through needs analysis, for example, from interviews asking learners what they require to learn (see, Appendix: 2). Strengths and weaknesses of the notional-functional syllabus: One of the positive aspects which characterises the notional-functional syllabus is the focus on communicative factors as a starting point in a syllabus plan. For example, in this syllabus, there is a concern for the linguistic elements which learners need in order to communicate. Furthermore, the grammatical and situational factors, on the one hand, are not neglected in this syllabus, because communicative competence will be produced and learners will be motivated by the use of language. On the other hand, all types of language functions could be covered in functional notional syllabuses not solely the typical language functions that might emerge in certain situations (Wilkins, 1976). It is worth clarifying the difference here between grammatical competence and communicative competence. According to Richards (2006), grammatical competence involves a concentration on the sentence as a unit of analysis and the ability of language learners to analyse the form of the sentence in order to create their own sentences in the target language. Communicative competence, however, means a state in which learners can use the language in meaningful communication. Another positive aspect of a notional-functional syllabus according to Widdowson, is the improvement which it represented over grammatical syllabuses, because this syllabus allows an authentic and communicative use of language in the context in which the forms are presented (Widdowson: 1978). However, Finocchiaro and Brumfit (1983) praise the syllabus for giving the communicative purposes of students highest priority. Moreover, adopting a functional-notional syllabus in the language teaching domain provides distinct benefits: First, no compulsory exposure to language grammar; second, the provision of concrete learning tasks; third, the chance for teachers to be guided by some principles of psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and educational theory; fourth, the insistence on the need for language learners to have a real purpose in speaking. Fifth, the widespread progress of target language courses is provided by this kind of syllabus. Sixth, modular and flexible courses could be improved by this syllabus. Moreover, listening and reading activities which are also called receptive activities are provided in this. Furthermore, the communicative abilities of learners will be motivating due to the basic communicative functions which existing in this syllabus (ibid, p36). Hence, we could see that notional-functional syllabus takes into account the importance of communicative activities in language teaching. As Littlewood (1981) indicates, the purposes of communicative activities are, first, to give whole-task practice, whereby students in the target language classroom get practice in completing a whole task with its varied communicative activities. Second, they improve motivation, in that the important target for is to communicate with others; consequently if they recognise that their classroom can serve this target their motivation to learn seems to give them close attention. Moreover, they can create a context which supports learning, because communicative activities encourage positive relationships between learners and their teacher. As a result, these relationships contribute to a propitious learning environment. But, despite its positive aspects, this type of syllabus still has some limitations. One of these limitations is the difficulties which syllabus designers have with respect to grading and selection, because a notional-functional syllabus has much concern for communicative factors. To illustrate, grading is the process of arranging the content of a syllabus from easy to difficult (Nunan, 1988). The items, which should be included in this syllabus, are not chosen on linguistic basis only, but also on the communicative purposes with which learners embark on a course (ibid, p37). Furthermore, because in a functional framework syllabus planners have no empirical evidence to build their selection of exponents and structures, it is thought that their selection is based merely on intuition (White, 1988). In an attempt, however, to solve the problem of grading and selection in the notional-functional syllabus, hybrid syllabuses emerged. These syllabuses combine the structural and notional cat egories in one syllabus, yet even these models of syllabuses have proved problematic, because, as White indicates, there have not been enough evaluate them (ibid, p82). Another shortcoming, with this type of syllabus is that there is no compatibility between function and form, because, in order to decide which function is being explained, we need to know about the context. For instance, in the following sentences: We are thinking of going to see the new Woody Allan film tonight. How about going to see the new Woody Allan film tonight. (White, 1988:76). In these examples, there is confusion whether they should be seen as forms of invitation or function ways of making a suggestion (ibid, 77). Moreover, Widdowson in his critique the notional-functional syllabus notes that the methodology of dress rehearsal results in the activities which aim to produce authentic communication in the classroom. This methodology may enable learners only to convey the items learned in the situations which they can rehearse, but not in new situations (Widdowson: 1987). The notional-functional syllabus also lacks a rigorous use of needs analysis. According to Richards (2001), the term needs is not identified clearly because needs may identified on the basis of intuition and the interests of the syllabus planners. Therefore, the criteria for this term in the syllabus are not clear-cut. Hence, from the limitations of notional-functional syllabus discussed above, it could be seen, that such a syllabus tends to be product- based syllabus, which focusing on what language is learnt rather than process-based syllabus which focuses on how language is learnt. The consequence is that the list of items which a notional-functional syllabus offers is presented to be learnt, yet how they will be learnt is not specified. The influence of language theories and learning on the notional-functional syllabus: Theoretical views of language teaching varied in their ideas. Fore example, there is the structural view in which language is considered a structural system connected with elements for the coding of meaning. This view is considered traditional in language teaching. The functional view, therefore, came as a reaction to it, on the one hand, and an attempt to improve it, on the other hand. Language in the functional view is considered a means of conveying functional meaning (Richards and Rodgers: 1986). Nunan (1988), however, draws attention to the way in which the communicative view was integrated by syllabus designers in the 1970s and at that time attracted a great deal of concern. This view, which is allied to the functional view, asserts that the communicative and semantic dimensions of language are as important as the grammatical characteristics of language. Thus, the content of language teaching is specified and organized by its communicative and semantic dimensions through meanin g and function categories instead of, structure and grammar elements (Richards and Rodgers, 1986). As a result, the notional syllabuses adopted by Wilkins in 1976 came as an attempt to apply this view of language in teaching syllabuses. Hence, the notional syllabuses comprised not solely grammar elements and lexis, yet also specification of the notions, topic and concepts which learners require in communication (ibid, p17). It is noted, moreover, that the functional view tends to be with views such as Hallidays view (1970) which believes that: linguistics à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is concerned with the description of speech acts or texts, since only through the study of language in use are all the functions of language and therefore, all components of meaning, brought into focus ( Halliday:1970:145). Hence, it seems clear that the notional-functional syllabus is heavily influenced by functional and communicative views of language. It is important to note, however, that the notional-functional syllabuses are influenced not only by theories of language, yet also theories of learning. Because, as Richards and Rodgers (1986) observe, the models of structural, functional and interactional approaches in language teaching are considered incomplete in themselves, because they provide only theoretical frameworks for teaching language. Thus, they need educational theories of language learning in order to be complete. According to Richards and Rodgers, there are two types of learning theories, namely, process-oriented theories and condition-oriented theories. The first, is built on the processes of learning namely, habit formation, induction, inferencing, hypothesis testing and generalization (ibid, p18). The second concentrates on language learning from the perspective of human nature and the physical context. Therefore, it is should be noted that communicative meaning comes under the umbrella of condition-oriented theo ries, because, learners need to learn how they can transfer their communicative meaning through language. They could do it through a notional approach to language teaching, because the basis of this approach comes from the belief that what learners need in the domain of language is significantly more important than language mastery as unapplied system (Wilkins, 1976). As a result, it could be seen that a notional-functional syllabus relies heavily on the functional view of language and condition-oriented theories of learning. As Wilkins (1981) emphasizes, what links the notional approach with the communicative language teaching movement is the knowledge of language learning in which the communicative purposes have a great deal of concern. The teaching situation best suited to the notional-functional syllabus: Since, the focus of a notional-functional syllabus is on the development of communicative competence such as language learners need for communication in the target language, Furthermore, this kind of syllabus provides for the teaching of every day language in the world beyond the classroom. It could, therefore, be argued that the notional-functional syllabus is suitable for English for Specific Purpose (ESP) or short English courses. Such as, courses in Business English taught in an oil company. Courses of this kind would be suitable for those who want to visit an English speaking country for a business trip or holiday, where they will need to interact in different situations. This syllabus benefits those who want basic communicative functions, for instance, greeting, asking for directions, or expressing feelings. As Wilkins (1976:71) indicates, actual language courses à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ regarded by some learners as complete in themselves but by others à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ a basis for further learning. I would argue that a notional syllabus is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦can meet defined communication needs while at the same time it is constructing a more widely based linguistic competence. It is, however, important to note that there are some aspects which should be taken into account in the teaching situation suited to the notional-functional syllabus, including the following: 6.1. Language level: Linguistic proficiency among language learners is classified into levels, such as, beginner, elementary, pre intermediate, intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced. It could be, therefore, argued that notional-functional syllabus seems to be suitable for intermediate or advanced learners rather than beginners. The reason is that learners in the early stages attempt to concentrate on vocabulary learning before learning how to express themselves communicatively through functional meanings. Accordingly, it is thought that this syllabus seems to be un suitable for beginners, because intermediate or advanced learners already possess the core vocabulary, however, their focus will be on producing sentences communicatively. Thus, it seems more appropriate for them. 6.2. Class size: It could be argued that since a functional-notional syllabus focuses on learners needs, as Wilkins(1976) indicates, in his notional syllabuses that the categories which need to be applied in this kind of syllabus should be individual to a particular group of learners. It is thought, therefore, that large classes which are composed of dissimilar learners are not suitable for the functional-notional syllabus. This type of syllabus needs a specific group of learners, for instance, when it comes to English for Specific Purpose (ESP) courses. In them are particular groups, such as, Business English learners, engineering English learners or medical English learners. These groups of learners will be suitable for this kind of syllabus. 6.3. Assessment: Since, the goal of a notional-functional syllabus is to improve the communicative language ability of learners, in other words, their ability to use language in their communications. There seems, therefore, to be no need for formal assessment. The reason is that the assessment will focus on the way in which learners can achieve this ability through expressing concepts such as, possibility or affirmation. For instance, in the case of business English courses, the assessment is based on the learners performance in communicative language with customers; that is, how well they can communicate with their customers for instance, in making requests or offering business. Conclusion: Syllabuses in the language teaching domain have varied in their goals and procedures. The traditional ones are structural or grammatical, with a focus on finding ways of learning the grammar of the target language. But this syllabus neglects ways of acquiring competence in communicative language. Hence, as can be seen in the above, the notional-functional syllabus emerged as a way for learners to improve their communicative abilities which would be motivated through its basic communicative functions. It all depends on what we use language to do. Furthermore, we can conclude that the notional-functional syllabus is based on the learners needs, which are discovered through a needs analysis strategy. This syllabus has two main aspects: functions which deal with such the communicative abilities as, requesting, grading, arguing and expressing feelings and notions related, for example, to space, location, time and quantity. It is noted, however, that the main in designing this kind of syll abus comprise: first, the situations in which learners will use the target language, broken down into the place, the time and people who engaged in these situations; second, the topics which are found in every day communication, such as, asking for directions, offering help or shopping. Admittedly, the notional-functional syllabus possesses negative as well as positive aspects. Some of the positive aspects are its focus on communicative factors as a starting point and in its high motivating power, because it enables learners to express their ideas and feelings more easily. Moreover, all types of function could be covered in functional- notional syllabuses, not solely the typical language functions which might emerge in certain situations. It is noted, however, that some of the negative aspects which are highlighted in the present paper are the difficulties in selecting and grading, the functions and forms and there lack of compatibility between function and form, because, in order t o decide which function is being explained, we need to know about the context. Furthermore, needs analysis strategy is not identified clearly, because the identification of learns needs only on the basis of intuition on the part of syllabus planners. We could see, however, that the notional-functional syllabus has been influenced heavily by functional and communicative views of language and condition-oriented theories of learning. Finally, we can conclude that, although this kind of syllabus has some limitations, it is widely used in many countries, because it is effective for learners with special purposes, such as, learners of ESP ( English for specific purposes).

How Cultivation Theory Applies To Racial Problems Media Essay

How Cultivation Theory Applies To Racial Problems Media Essay Introduction American cartoons comprise the most popular film product industry for children worldwide, and have gained considerable attention in terms of educating children. As an excellent medium for storytelling, children learn the basic concepts of what the world is like and what love and ethics are from the fairy tales they watch. I am currently studying one of the communication theories, namely, cultivation theory. American cartoons, particularly Disney movies, are classic objects of study. The cultivation theory developed by George Gerbner and Larry Gross of the University of Pennsylvania states that the more time people spend living in the television world, the more likely they are to believe the social reality portrayed on television. Therefore, heavy television viewers have a higher estimation for a particular social reality (e.g., violence, prostitution, affluence, occupation, and marital discord) than what real-world phenomena can justify. Thus, to make the theory applicable to the real world, the study emphasizes the harm that television shows might bring to people. In my opinion, early education is essential to the development of an individuals personality; it also determines his/her later ideology. Thus, the effects of cartoons on childrens self development are worth studying. American cartoons and animation movies have benefits, particularly in teaching children the values of honesty, bravery, and friendship, and the fact that justice and good will triumph over evil. However, we can also see that the protagonists often use violence to defeat evil. Along with violence, gender problems and religious issues also show up in most films more than we think, and children learn about them without guidance. Children could easily confuse reality and fantasy, particularly in our current society where parents who are busy with work and socializing use video games and television shows as substitute companions for their children. In a nutshell, studying American cartoons is crucial for us because they may drastically affect childrens upbringing by presenting negative messages. The cultivation theory deeply focuses on the effects of violence on the behavior of people. In this paper, I will analyze the issue of racial discrimination in cartoons to make the study of the cultivation theory more complete. Discrimination is another essential topic that has been largely neglected due to the focus on violence in cartoons. Literature Review Dixon (2006) believes that heavy viewers of television are more likely to think that an African-American suspect is guilty; they also view the world as a more dangerous place than it actually is. Television encourages violence and aggression. Durkin (1985) supports the view that children obtain information on gender roles and racial views from television and model their behaviors based on television characterization. Gerbner describe the process of blurring, blending, and bending that is experienced by individuals with heavy viewing habits. (Griffin, 2011). Heavy television viewers create a common outlook through constant exposure to the same images and labels. In movies, the heroes and the victims are always fair-skinned, whereas the criminals or villains are always black- or dark-skinned. Mastro and Stern (2003) add that races other than whites are under-represented, negatively depicted, and are often targets of mockery. From Larsons theory, the more children watch television programs, the more likely they are to develop and entertain more traditional gender and racial stereotypes based on what they view in the media (Larson, 2002). Waver (2011) analyzes racial related-phenomena in American movies and finds that the race of the actors clearly affects the desires of white audience members to see the films. The higher the percentage of black actors in the movie, the less interested white individuals were in seeing the movie.   Analysis Most Disney movies feature gorgeous princesses, including The Little Mermaid, Snow White, and Rapunzel, who are all depicted as Caucasians. The princess in the film The Princess and the Frog was dark-skinned but her prince was a white man. Most heroes in these movies are all fair-skinned, but the skin tones of the villains are diverse. In the movies, the storylines usually start with a white man who breaks into a new cultural environment, changes the locals points of view and customs, and leads them defeat the bad guy, after which he becomes the hero. Tarzan even became king of the forest. This stereotype exists in numerous American movies. According to the cultivation theory, children may subconsciously develop behavioral stereotypes, although what they view could be biased, distorted or misleading (Oliver, 2001 , Smith, 1994). American cartoon movies also add their own value to foreign cultures, which may adversely affect childrens knowledge of the actual status of other nations. For instance, the song of the Disney movie Aladdin (1992) used inappropriate words to describe the hometown of Aladdin. In the song, the words à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦where they cut off your ear if they dont like your face. Its barbaric, but hey, its home offended the Arab Americans, who believed that the lyrics are a misrepresentation of the Arab culture and should be removed. In 1993, the New York Times published a critique of the said movie, which was entitled It is racism, but hey, its Disney. The article pointed out that To characterize an entire region with this sort of tongue-in-cheek bigotry, especially in a movie aimed at children, borders on barbaric (New York Times, 1993). Another Disney movie, Mulan, twisted certain facts of the Chinese culture. In the movie, Mulan was characterized as an independent, liberal woman who suggeste d to that the princesses chase love bravely. Although this is an accepted idea in modern society and could be deemed proper by most people, it is not the real ideology in ancient China; it is not part true history and real tradition. In another animation movie, Pocahontas, the love story was exaggerated and deviated from what actually occurred in history. The contents of some American cartoons are more suited to adults. For instance, the show South Park features sarcasm, dirty words, and improper content that could easily be misunderstood by children. In an episode in the 11th season of the show With Apologies to Jesse Jackson, the word nigger was used 43 times. Although the purpose of this episode was not to humiliate black people, as the episode was in fact highly accepted by blacks, children may misconstrue the purpose of this cartoon and learn a new word that they could abuse. Another Disney movie entitled Song of the South featured a song called Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, which won the Oscar for Original Score in 1946. However, the movie had racist tendencies when viewed from the criterion of today. The story takes place in the South after the Civil War, and Uncle Remus, a freed slave, tells stories to children and makes them laugh. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. viewed the portrayal of the happy life as a slave with suspicion and posited that it is humiliating to minorities. Disney did not publish the DVD in the United States to avoid eliciting resentment from the public. à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Griffin (2000) describes the effects that media can have on the audience as being similar to a cue ball. The effect of the cue ball exists regardless of the distance of the cue ball to the other balls. A similar effect can be seen in the posters of most movies, where the characters outlook is already published before the audience even sees the movie. For instance, in the movie Aladdin, the skin tones of Aladdin and Jasmine are fairer than those of the other people in the movie, and Jafars appearance could already give a general impression of his villainy even before the movie is viewed. Fair skin can thus be mistakenly connected to purity and kindness, whereas black or dark skin could be associated with criminality and craftiness. The problem is not limited to movies alone. The audience has its own personal interest, which causes the racial issue in movies to become an infinite loop. According to the study by Weaver in 2011, white people are more inclined to choose movies with white cast members than movies with cast members from other races, thereby decreasing opportunities for white children to see more movies from different aspects, as well as the opportunities for them to change their stereotypes. White audience members that practice selective avoidance if they perceive that a film has a black theme is precisely the concern that black actors such as Will Smith have expressed, especially when it comes to romantic leads in movies (Jones, 2005). Last year, only two of the 30 highest grossing films featured major non-white characters. According to the cultivation theory, when audience members repeatedly view the same scenario from various television shows and movies, they will associate it with the outside world in their mind. Racism is a phenomenon that cannot be completely eliminated, particularly in a country with so many ethnicities, such as the United States. The high rate of positive roles that white people portray indicates the constancy of racism in the future. Conclusion Children from all over the world watch Disney and other American cartoons. Thus, these movies and shows have far-reaching effects. Growing up exposed to many classic and fantastic stories have kept children well entertained and educated, as they come to appreciate the stories being told and the excellent techniques and artwork used in the telling. The positive influences that these movies have on children are undeniably more immense than the negative influences, as they teach children to be independent, tough, and patriotic. Advocating liberty, human rights, and American ideology is necessary for a nation to unite and educate people. However, praising American culture while criticizing others is not respectful. Racism is not a concept that children should learn. We can strengthen their idea of equality by using the cultivation theory, which could result in a decrease in conflicts between races, genders, and other issues. As embodied in the cultivation theory, when television predominates the lives of children, its influence can permeate the behavior, language, thoughts, and actions of children. Moreover, negative messages tend to be received more easily than positive messages. Thus, the effects of media on children should be studied, and possible modifications should be introduced. Recent American cartoons already manifest some changes. For instance, the main character in the movie Megamind has blue skin, and the classic image of the superhero is the one being mocked. An upcoming movie entitled Escape From Planet Earth will feature stories of several blue characters. Guidance from parents is also essential in eliminating or mitigating the influence of cultivation effect on children. A childs knowledge of the world and his ability to tell right from wrong are not yet mature, so parents can help their children understand what is on screen by explaining the contents of television shows to them. The movie rating system should be used worldwide. The cultivation theory also clearly posits that the cultivation effect occurs only after long-term, cumulative exposure to television (Weimann2000). Thus, decreasing the amount of time children spend watching television is also necessary.

Korean Pollution :: essays research papers fc

Deadly particles are circulating within our air supply. They are â€Å"the most life threatening for of air pollution.† These are tiny particles of soot and other matter released from diesel engines in lorries, buses, and coaches. They are believed to have played a role in the premature deaths of 8,000 people. Other pollutants known as GMM’s are causing such damage. GMM’s are genetically modified micro-organisms. These micro-organisms are released from factories and laboratories and go into the atmosphere, and water supplies. They are most life threatening to elderly, and already ill people. (McCarthy 1) Large clouds of these particles were originally believed to originate in Britain, but studies show now that they may also originate in continental Europe. These large clouds drift across the English Channel, and into the North Sea., thus contaminating the sea. Some of the main pollutants are as follows: Benzene, 1,2-butadiene, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, a nd sulfur dioxide. There have been different goals set to lower the amount of these pollutants, however some aren’t expected to be decreased until 2008. In this time many lives may be lost prematurely. England, who is still believed to be the primary contributor of such toxins is planning to take action, but slowly, still maintaining that cleaning these pollutants is â€Å"unachievable, even if every engine on British roads was turned off.† We believe that this is more harmful than Britain realizes, and more action must be taken. Such pollutants may kill animals, and lower the food supply, especially fish in the North Sea. More time and money must be dedicated to the immediate removal of such contaminants, and new emissions standards should be set.

Computer Science :: Graduate Admissions Essays

Computer Science I remember the day as if it were yesterday. During my second year in college, I was attempting to transmit a group of characters comprising my name from one computer to another. I connected the computers using RS-232 cable, wrote the necessary programs and executed them. I typed my name on one terminal and rushed to the other to see the results. "Wow, this is magic!" I exclaimed as I read 'Tom' on the screen. While I realized intuitively that a complex version of this elementary network could achieve much, at the time I had no real idea what. Now, four years later, I know that Networking makes possible a plethora of applications, from video-conferencing over the Internet to linking banks through private networks. It still seems like magic. Or rather, a grand adventure - one that I most certainly want to be part of. My interest in applied science dates back to my school days. During high school, I was fascinated with electronic gadgets. Soon thereafter, designing and building basic circuits started as a hobby. Along the way, however, I realized that the problem-solving aspect of making electronic gadgets was what I enjoyed the most. Engineering was a natural career choice after this. During my undergraduate studies at the Electronics & Communication department of M.K. College of Engineering, subjects like Microprocessors, C-Programming, Computer Networks interested me the most. I was awestruck by the potential of Intel 8086 microprocessor, more so by the manner in which its faster and more powerful cousins revolutionized the working of computers in a decade. I was now determined to focus on microprocessors during my Final Year project. I elected to do the project at National Space Research Organization (NSRO) as it has an outstanding infrastructure setup and a stimulating, world-class research environment. This enabled me to work with some of the best minds dedicated to engineering research in my country. I gained a lot from this association - in particular, an idea of how rewarding and meaningful a career in research could be. The more tangible benefits have been a deeper insight into architecture and working of microprocessors and thorough C-programming skills. Sometimes I spent more than ten hours a day at NSRO, reading manuals and troubleshooting circuits and debugging code. I am glad to say the effort paid off in the end.

Reinventing Government in the United States Post Service :: Politics Mail Papers

Reinventing Government in the United States Post Service In this research paper, I will discuss an overview of reinventing government in the United States Postal Service. The purpose of reinventing government is to make government work better, cost less, and get results. I will also provide examples of how reinventing has effected the organization. I will touch upon some of the history of the United States Postal Service, some of its plans for the year 2000, and how the concept of reinventing government has improved the voice of the customer, employee and the business. President Bill Clinton, January 27, 2000 stated the â€Å"we reinvented government, transforming it into a catalyst for new ideas that stress both opportunity and responsibility, and give our people the tools they need to solve their own problems.† History United States Postal Service dates back to 1775 when the Continental Congress named Benjamin Franklin the first Postmaster General. The United States was a weak confederation of colonies scattered along the eastern seaboard. The postal system that was created by Congress helped bind the new nation together and made possible the growth of commerce. In 1971 the Post Office Department was transformed into the United States Postal Service, a quasi government corporation. It became an independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States. The mission of the Postal Service remained the same, as stated in Title 39 of the U.S. Code: â€Å"The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal service to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient service to patrons in all areas and shall render postal service to all communities.† Today, William Henderson is the 71st Postmaster. He was appointed the PMG and CEO of the United States Postal Service on May 16, 1998. The USPS is an agency that employs 800,000 career and 100,000 temporary employees. There are 40,000 Post Offices, and USPS maintains some 300 plants nationwide. The Postal Service fuels the nation’s economy and delivers hundreds of millions of messages and billions of dollars in financial transactions each day to eight million businesses and 250 million Americans. The United States Postal Service is becoming more businesslike and responsive to customer needs. In the process they are better able to compete with other carriers, such as, Federal Express and United Parcel Service (UPS).

Removal of tea breaks in the company Essay

It has been noted that many employees have been taking their tea break for more than an hour. The tea break is only supposed to be for thirty minutes, from 10h00-10h30. The customers have been complaining about poor service and it has come to my attention that the reason poor service is being provided to our customers is because of the long tea break hours. This gives a very bad impression to the customers and visitors and it reflects badly on the company. Staffs are reminded that tea breaks will no longer be taken as from 10 September 2012 until further notice. The decision to remove the tea breaks was taken by 70% of the staff members, who all voted to remove tea breaks. Staff should note the following points: * Because of the removal of the tea breaks, lunch has been extended for an extra thirty minutes. As from 10 September 2012, lunch will begin at 12h30 -14h00. * All employees are expected to be in their offices at all times, from 08h00 until lunch time. Should any of the employees feel like taking a break during working hours, permission should be asked from their immediate supervisors. * The company kitchen will be open and available for use at all hours, however, employees are asked not to stand around and chat in the kitchen during working hours. * No eating is permitted in the offices during working hours. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions.

Responsible Dog Ownership Editorial Essay

Ð mÐ µriÃ' Ã °ns hÐ °vÐ µ Ð µmbrÐ °Ã' Ã µd thÐ µ jÐ ¾Ã'Æ's Ð ¾f Ã' Ã °ninÐ µ Ð ¾wnÐ µrshiÃ'€ fÐ ¾r Ã' Ã µnturiÐ µs, frÐ ¾m GÐ µÃ ¾rgÐ µ WÐ °shingtÐ ¾n Ð °nd his Ð mÐ µriÃ' Ã °n FÐ ¾Ã'…hÐ ¾unds tÐ ¾ GÐ µÃ ¾rgÐ µ W. Bush Ð °nd his Ð…Ã' Ã ¾ttish Ð ¢Ã µrriÐ µrs. Ð ¢Ã ¾dÐ °Ã'Æ', thÐ µrÐ µ Ð °rÐ µ Ð °Ã'€Ã'€rÐ ¾Ã'…imÐ °tÐ µlÃ'Æ' 73 milliÐ ¾n dÐ ¾gs in thÐ µ U.Ð…. Ð °nd thÐ µir rÐ ¾lÐ µs in sÐ ¾Ã' iÐ µtÃ'Æ' hÐ °vÐ µ shiftÐ µd frÐ ¾m huntÐ µr Ð °nd wÐ ¾rking LÐ °brÐ °dÐ ¾r RÐ µtriÐ µvÐ µr tÐ ¾ fÐ °milÃ'Æ' Ã' Ã ¾mÃ'€Ð °niÐ ¾n.WhÐ µn wÐ µ hÐ µÃ °r Ð ¾f unfÐ ¾rtunÐ °tÐ µ inÃ' idÐ µnts invÐ ¾lving dÐ ¾gs, suÃ' h Ð °s Ð ° bitÐ µ, it’s Ð ¾ftÐ µn Ð ° rÐ µsult Ð ¾f Ã' Ã °rÐ µlÐ µssnÐ µss Ð ¾n thÐ µ mutt Ð ¾wnÐ µr part tÐ ¾ tÐ °kÐ µ rÐ µsÃ'€Ð ¾nsibilitÃ'Æ' fÐ ¾r thÐ µ Ð °nimÐ °l thÐ µÃ'Æ' Ã' hÐ ¾sÐ µ tÐ ¾ Ð ¾wn. Ð ¢hÐ µrÐ µ Ð °rÐ µ twÐ ¾ Ð µnds Ð ¾f Ð µvÐ µrÃ'Æ' lÐ µÃ °sh Ð °nd rÐ µsÃ'€Ð ¾nsiblÐ µ Ã' Ã °ninÐ µ Ð ¾wnÐ µrshiÃ'€ bÐ µgins with thÐ µ mÐ °n nÐ ¾t thÐ µ bÐ µst friÐ µnd.ЕÐ °Ã' h Ã'Æ'Ð µÃ °r thÐ µ Ð mÐ µriÃ' Ã °n KÐ µnnÐ µl Ð ¡lub hÐ ¾sts RÐ µsÃ'€Ð ¾nsiblÐ µ DÐ ¾g ОwnÐ µrshiÃ'€ DÐ °Ã'Æ' Ð ¾n Ð…Ð µÃ'€tÐ µmbÐ µr 17 tÐ ¾ Ð µduÃ' Ã °tÐ µ thÐ µ dÐ ¾g-lÐ ¾ving Ã'€ubliÃ'  Ð °bÐ ¾ut thÐ µ imÃ'€Ð ¾rtÐ °nÃ' Ã µ Ð ¾f bÐ µing Ð ° rÐ µsÃ'€Ð ¾nsiblÐ µ LÐ °brÐ °dÐ ¾r RÐ µtriÐ µvÐ µr Ð ¾wnÐ µr. Just sÐ ¾mÐ µ Ð ¾f thÐ µ tÐ ¾Ã'€iÃ' s thÐ µsÐ µ Ð µvÐ µnts Ð °ddrÐ µss Ð °rÐ µ sÐ °fÐ µtÃ'Æ' Ð °rÐ ¾und dÐ ¾gs, thÐ µ right brÐ µÃ µd fÐ ¾r Ã'Æ'Ð ¾ur lifÐ µstÃ'Æ'lÐ µ, trÐ °ining Ð °nd Ã' Ã ¾mÃ'€Ð µtitivÐ µ Ð µvÐ µnts fÐ ¾r Ã'Æ'Ð ¾ur dÐ ¾g, tÐ °gging/miÃ' rÐ ¾Ã' hiÃ'€Ã'€ing ID Ð ¾Ã'€tiÐ ¾ns, LÐ °brÐ °dÐ ¾r RÐ µtriÐ µvÐ µr hÐ µÃ °lth Ð °nd muà ' h mÐ ¾rÐ µ.Ð ¢hÐ µ Ð KÐ ¡, thÐ µ nÐ °tiÐ ¾n’s biggÐ µst rÐ µgistrÃ'Æ' Ð °nd lÐ µÃ °ding nÐ ¾t-fÐ ¾r-Ã'€rÐ ¾fit Ð ¾rgÐ °nizÐ °tiÐ ¾n dÐ µdiÃ' Ã °tÐ µd tÐ ¾ thÐ µ wÐ µlfÐ °rÐ µ Ð ¾f Ã'€urÐ µbrÐ µd dÐ ¾gs, rÐ µÃ' Ã ¾gnizÐ µs thÐ °t dog Ã' Ã ¾mÃ'€Ð °niÐ ¾nshiÃ'€ is nÐ ¾t Ð ¾nlÃ'Æ' Ð ° right but Ð °lsÐ ¾ Ð ° Ã'€rivilÐ µgÐ µ thÐ °t must bÐ µ rÐ µsÃ'€Ð µÃ' tÐ µd Ð °nd nurturÐ µd. In rÐ µturn fÐ ¾r this Ã'€rivilÐ µgÐ µ, Ã' Ã °ninÐ µ Ð ¾wnÐ µrs nÐ µÃ µd tÐ ¾ rÐ µsÃ'€Ð µÃ' t rÐ µÃ °sÐ ¾nÐ °blÐ µ, Ð µnfÐ ¾rÃ' Ã µÃ °blÐ µ, nÐ ¾n-disÃ' riminÐ °tÐ ¾rÃ'Æ' lÐ µgislÐ °tiÐ ¾n gÐ ¾vÐ µrning thÐ µ Ð ¾wnÐ µrshiÃ'€ Ð ¾f dÐ ¾gs, suÃ' h Ð °s lÐ ¾Ã' Ã °l lÐ µÃ °sh lÐ °ws, Ã' urbing Ã'€Ð ¾liÃ' iÐ µs Ð °nd liÃ' Ã µnsing rÐ µgulÐ °tiÐ ¾ns. Ð ¢hÐ µ sÐ °Ã'Æ'ing Ð ¾nÐ µ bÐ °d grÐ µÃ µn Ð °Ã'€Ã'€lÐ µ Ã' Ã °n sÃ'€Ð ¾il thÐ µ whÐ ¾lÐ µ bunÃ' h rings Ð µsÃ'€Ð µÃ' iÐ °llÃ'Æ' truÐ µ in tÐ µrms Ð ¾f mutt Ð ¾wnÐ µrshiÃ'€. Ð ll dÐ ¾g Ð ¾wnÐ µrs Ð µÃ °silÃ'Æ' bÐ µ misjudgÐ µd bÃ'Æ' thÐ µ dÐ µÃ µds Ð ¾f Ð ¾nÐ µ thÐ ¾ughtlÐ µss individuÐ °l. WÐ µ hÐ ¾Ã'€Ð µ Ã'Æ'Ð ¾u’ll tÐ °kÐ µ timÐ µ this mÐ ¾nth tÐ ¾ bÐ ¾nÐ µ up Ð ¾n rÐ µsÃ'€Ð ¾nsiblÐ µ dog Ð ¾wnÐ µrshiÃ'€ whÐ µthÐ µr Ã'Æ'Ð ¾u Ð °rÐ µ lÐ ¾Ã ¾king tÐ ¾ Ð °dd Ð ° Ã'€uÃ'€Ã'€Ã'Æ' tÐ ¾ thÐ µ fÐ °milÃ'Æ' fÐ ¾r thÐ µ first timÐ µ Ð ¾r Ð °rÐ µ Ð ° lifÐ µlÐ ¾ng dog lÐ ¾vÐ µr. LÐ µÃ °rn whÐ °t it tÐ °kÐ µs tÐ ¾ bÐ µ Ð ° rÐ µsÃ'€Ð ¾nsiblÐ µ dog Ð ¾wnÐ µr. YÐ ¾ur bÐ µst friÐ µnd is Ã' Ã ¾unting Ð ¾n Ã'Æ'Ð ¾u.

How to Plan for a Listening and Speaking Lesson

How to plan For a Listening Skill Lesson Teacher | Observer | Date | Lesson number | Class level Elementary| Number of students| Timetable fit| Previous lesson: Reading and speaking skillThis lesson: Listening and speaking skillNext lesson: Listening and speaking skill| for the teacher)| To provide an engaging lessons for students and improving their listening skill. * To monitor closely and make sure the lesson is successful. | Objectives (for the students)| By the end of the lesson the students will: 1) Have practiced listening for gist of a radio program. 2) Have learnt the vocabulary related to professions/jobs.Language AnalysisForm Meaning PronunciationLexis in text Guess (v, present simple) supposeQuiz (n, sing) a test of knowledgeTeam (n, a group of playersUnemployed (v, past) Writer (n, sing)Guest (n, sing) a person who is invited to take part in a function by other personDepends (v, simple present) relyUniform (n, sing)Special qualifications (special= adjective, qualificati ons = noun, pl)A lot of (phrase) manyActor (n, sing) role player in drama or filmProfessional (adj) a person who has a professionFootballer (n, sing) who plays footballDo you work†¦? Where? When? How? Topic vocabularyJobs/professions| Assumed knowledge| The students know about different professions like doctor, footballer, and artist. They also know the difference between profession and hobby. | Anticipated problems | 1) This is a radio program some students may not understand it. Students may want to repeat it. 2) Weaker student may not understand the phrases and some of the vocabulary. 3) This can prevent them from completing the comprehension tasks. Solutions| 1. Check elicit before students listen. 2. Include review of vocabulary at the beginning. | Materials | Radio program: Guess the jobFlash cards/pictures of various people doing different jobsOther handouts: (comprehension Qs) – teacher’s own| | Interaction| Procedure| Rationale| 7 mins4 mins3 mins4mins| T -SS-ST-SST-S(pairs/triplets)| 1. Context setT elicits vocabulary related to jobs using picture. Drill if required. A) Where do people work? B) How do they work? When do they work? What kind of information you need to find out what is somebody’s job. Feedback- Pre-teach guess, Quiz, a lot of, unemployed, special qualifications. 2.Prediction taskStudents look at the picture and a) say what they can see and b) what is going on in the program. Feedback- teacher clarifies/elicits and write a brief summary on the board. | To motivate the students so that they take part in the lesson. To prepare the students for what is coming up. | Lesson Content Timing| Interaction| Procedure| Rationale| 3 mins3 mins3 mins 3 mins | SS-Ss-sT-SS| 3. 1st Listening (gist)Students listen to the program and tell whether they recognized the vocabulary. Did they find program what they have guessed before similar to the written on the board? Task- students write the answers in y/n on the handouts. Check wi th the partner. Feedback-check as class. | To know that the students have understood the program. |

Green Purchasing and Procurement Strategies

The publication mainly discussed sustainable procurement by applying a highly effective and long-term investment strategy which is called green purchasing. This is defined as the approach to purchasing products and services that considers the economical, environmental and social impacts of buying choices (Little, Green Purchasing & Procurement Strategies 1). It includes best value-for-money considerations; applying the price, quality, availability and functionality of a required product or service. The thrust for green purchasing in the company is spearheaded by regulation which is mainly the European Union and national government policies. ; through the expectation of the customers, consumers and other legitimate stakeholders; and most importantly the tangible and beneficial effect of sustainable procurement in the business which are the cost reduction, lowered risk to business, provides options through innovation and preferences by potential customers, insurers, credit sources and others. (Little, Green Purchasing & Procurement Strategies 2). This conclusion is generated from the survey conducted from major Italian utility companies by Arthur D. Little. The companies perceived the three most valuable benefits of a sustainable procurement system to be: protection from environmental risk or disruption; attraction of environmentally sensitive customers; reinforcement of brand reputation. (Little, Green Purchasing & Procurement Strategies 2). The approach to sustainable procurement was also tackled as well as the influence of the CEO’s overall accountability which can be used as wider strategic choice of a company. The role of the CEO and his accountability to the overall performance of the business, the overall response of the stake holder’s expectations and his duty to build the value of the company through cost reduction, minimizing risks and protection of revenue. The CEO cannot transfer the accountability for sustainable procurements but can typically delegate responsibility for making it happen in the Chief Procurement Officer. (Little, Green Purchasing & Procurement Strategies 3). Three strategic choices for sustainable procurement are the following: Reactive- the company is forced to comply by regulation or loss of business; Compliant- allows revenue protection but fails to encourage new revenue generation; Anticipative- systematic evaluation of the company and procurement options followed by implementation of measures designed to maximize the business benefits delivered through procurement. (Little, Green Purchasing & Procurement Strategies 4). The strength of the publication is that it tackled a lot of ideas regarding sustainable procurement and offered a comprehensive explanation based on research and survey conducted from Italian Utilities companies. Contact information for possible additional clarifications was cited. There were too many points for strategic procurement that the explanation of green purchasing is not explained fully. It is not explained in detail how an organization can implement green purchasing. The publication stresses on the achievement of sustainable procurement through green purchasing power and the role of the CEO in the organization to realize this goal. To be able to effectively attain a more sustainable procurement is through the identification of: †¢ The stakeholders’ expectations †¢ The business ambition for the way of doing business †¢ The barriers that prevent the company from adopting a sustainable procurement strategy †¢ The comparison between the company and the other organizations’ performance in the field of sustainable procurement. Little, Green Purchasing & Procurement Strategies 7). Green purchasing is highly recommended by experts to be implemented in the company because it offers a lot of advantages in terms of cost reduction and also revenue generation which would result to sustainable procurement in the long run. [1] ———————– Works Cited Little, Arthur D. Green P urchasing Power Cost Reduction and Revenue Generation through Sustainable Procurement, 2008. Web

Pabst Brewing Company action memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pabst Brewing Company action memo - Essay Example Therefore, I think a well-defined technological appliance would be a recipe for the success of the company. PBC would adopt the cloud based solution which focuses on channel of migration of the PBC datacenter to enterprise web based applications and its identification, extracted and channelize clouding activities for effecting clients web based internet speed and data acquisition. For the years PBC has been in business, it has major been offering competency outsourcing production, which focuses on marketing and promotion of services through internet marketing and distribution of data across world wide websites. This company has been and will be operating on virtualized datacenter because this technique has brought numerous changes to the company as far as digital technology is of concerned. Additionally, the company through the ICT department has been working closely with its customers to ensure that it provides the services on time. Concerning our customers, PBC assesses, prepares, and socialize with its clients via social media such as Facebook in order to enable effectiveness and realization of problems that may affect the business. Further, the company utilizes metrics configurations routine initiating cloud computing applications and operations to remove any forms of complexity dilemma. It provides its subscribers with salient margin minder application which assist in balancing inventory market demands on both sales and data integration. Further, the business offers its clients with free and customized six unique application services. This service includes a total of 28GB migration data space, entailing 4,152 files on system drive and 6,644 files on data drive. Some of the articulations that PBC has initiated in its business that favors, and creates conducive environment to its customers are; i. AppZero slashes the time and complexity of migrating complex, enterprise applications. ii. AppZero leaves the source machine and application untouched. iii. It mak es no change to the source application and requires no AppZero software on the source machine. iv. All AppZero software is on the destination machine in the Rackspace cloud. v. AppZero’s speed maximizes the productivity gains possible during limited maintenance windows vi. AppZero effectively stands in as the application subject matter expert in the absence of documentation or institutional knowledge, discovering and reproducing application inter-dependencies. vii. AppZero results in a clean installation build on the destination machine. viii. Identity Essential’s expertise marshaled technologies and talent to effect the migration. ix. The effort carried a big payload. Overhead is minimized; IT costs are decreased/controlled while its agility and flexibility are increased. PBC is now well positioned to use IT too aggressively and effectively provision fast changing business opportunities. Following its service provision to people, the firm has been accredited as the be st service provider for all gateway services, a service that is credited by the government and limited to the third party companies. I would like to state that Rack Mount Company has the freedom to go independent in order to accomplish their goals. I would also like to bring to your attention that some of the IT policies that the company need to

Individual report 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Individual report 1 - Essay Example I also looked at the systems for supporting decision making, and in particular, I looked the DSS system and how it is used in the company. This information was retrieved from prior reviewed books and from the internet. The main challenge faced throughout the research period is getting time to go through the books in order to get the information. With the tight schedule at the University, it was somewhat challenging to go through all the available books that are related to this study. This would have further improved on the report. Another challenge that I faced when writing the report is; not knowing where to begin from. This is because, there is a lot of information on the topic and picking out the most crucial and relevant information was giving me some challenges. It was crucial that I do not lose focus in the specific area of attention in order to make sure that the whole report has a clear flow of ideas so that the readers do not get confused. In future I plan to reduce and even overcome these challenges by taking a number of steps. To begin with, proper planning will be crucial in the success of any future project. This is by allocating a time in a day to complete a section at a time. This will help me be able to balance all my class assignments. The second step of overcoming the challenges is to read and understand the requirements of an assignment. This will make sure that when I gather information, I do so with an aim of getting certain information. This will save on time and will reduce the risk of getting confused. This is because, instead of gathering a pool of general information about a topic, I will be able to only gather information that is relevant to the question asked under a topic. Finally, time management will be crucial; this is by starting on an assignment immediately other than assuming that there is plenty of time to do it. This will help me deal with any unexpected issue that may arise while working o n a paper. This

Religion and theology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Religion and theology - Assignment Example This is specifically evident in the Scopes trial. Through this trial, it became clear that many people began to question religion and as a result, the government and strong supporters of religion sought to ensure that religious values are enshrined even if it meant passing laws. The significance of religion and particularly Christianity is seen through the role that Graham played. He not only pushed for Christianity but also offered counsel to many presidents and this affirms the role and perception that the American societies have had over religion. There have been debates of the 20th century brought enlightenment and questioning of religion but through the efforts of people like Graham, there is clear attempt to salvage the significance of religion in society. Graham used his influence by ensuring that his ideologies were shared with the people who held the highest offices in the society.he offered counsel to presidents and this shows how influential he was and still remains. Despite the skepticism that many had over religion as demonstrated by Ingersol and people like him, the role of people like Graham in cementing religion cannot go unnoticed. The belief system as portrayed through the views of Ingersol and Graham demonstrated the society’s overall view of religion. Even so, most members of the society still hold religion in high esteem. Skepticism and cynicism over religion have not over showed the significance that of religion; at least, going by what has been discussed here in.

Operation Fine Girl Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Operation Fine Girl - Essay Example lt my stomach turn, I wanted to throw up as I sat listening to the accounts of how parents were killed or made to watch as their daughters were raped. As the video stated, Sierra Leone is classified as the poorest country in the world and it shows in the way that they treat their women and the way that a majority of the country obviously lives in abject poverty. I feel that the United Nations Human Rights Commission should step into this situation and put an end to the atrocities and sexual abuse against women. The women of Sierra Leone need to be saved and shown that they actually have a future even though they are rape victims. They need to be taught that the rape was not the end of they are. Rather, it is only the beginning of their lives. They are not the enemy of their country but its backbone. They are not sex slaves, but women who deserve all the respect that should be accorded to them as the givers of life. They do not deserve to be raped, held hostage for years on end, and then discarded like a piece of

Antibiotic Sensitivity Testing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Antibiotic Sensitivity Testing - Essay Example The principle of the disc diffusion method is that when a filter disc is impregnated with a chemical that is placed on the agar, the chemical in the agar diffuses around the disc. The solubility of the chemical and its molecular size determines the size of the area if chemical infiltration around the disc. When an organism is placed on the agar around the disc, if it is susceptible to the chemical then there would be no growth around the area where the chemical is diffused and this area is called as the "zone o the inhibition". This inhibition can be measured and compared with a standard control strain and normal tables, Stokes and Kirby-Bauer method respectively. The factors that affect in this method are the concentration of the bacterial inoculums, the depth and types of agar, the incubation conditions and the time of incubation. All this factors should be always taken into account while performing the test. An alternative test that can be performed is the determination of the amount of antibiotic required to either inhibit the growth of organism or to kill the organism which is done by incubating a fixed concentration of the organism in increasing concentrations of antibiotics and checking for growth after 24h of incubation. The as3. Methods. The assigned culture was swabbed onto the agar plate in three directions for maximal coverage. The plates were allowed to settle for 10 mins, followed by impregnating the antibiotic discs by pushing the dispenser over the agar. The antibiotic and the disc code were noted and the plates were kept in incubator at 37C. 4. Results. The results obtained from Test 1 and Test 2 are displayed in Table 1 and 2 respectively. RESULTS: TEST 1 RESULTS: TEST 2 5. Discussion: Antibiotic susceptibility of given strain was determined by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Disc diffusion method is widely used across the laboratory to determine the effect of any anti- microbial agents like antiseptics, antibiotics, bactericidal or bacteriostatic compound etc. To avoid any lab to lab variation standardized protocol was developed that was recommended by National Committee for Clinical laboratory standards like Meuller-Hilton Agar is used as growth medium; plates will be incubated at 37C for 18-24 hr, while turbidity of bacterial suspension will be set at 0.5 McFarland method or 1.0 OD by spectrophotometer. The biggest advantages of disc diffusion method over other methods are that it is rapid, efficient, cost effective and reliable. While there are certain limitation of this methods like any variation in cell number, incubation time, diffusibility of antibacterial compound, media etc, which leads to very high variation in final results. Similarly, it gives only quantitative idea and determination of bactericidal concentration or MIC need to be back calculated. For pathological determination serum to antibiotic ratio must be taken in to consideration to evaluate effective dose. In this practical, we evaluated three cultures for its Antibiotics susceptibility against various antibiotics. Among these Pseudomonas

Open topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Open topic - Essay Example Democracies can either be direct or representation. In direct democracy, the public is allowed to directly participate in their government. In representative democracies, citizens are always allowed to elect representatives who will represent them in the decision making processes. Despite being popular, democracy cannot be referred to as the best form of governance. This paper aims at proving that democracy has greatly failed as a form of governance. Democracy can be said to be faulty in the sense that it is a form of governance that it is always determined by what the majority wants and not what is good for the country. The question here is what will happen in a situation where the majority is wrong. This will mean that whatever will eventually take place will not be the best thing for the country at large. The majority can always be wrong as a result of misinformation or being fed with completely wrong information by influential figures for their own selfish gain. This will definit ely lead to a governance error that might haunt the country for decades affecting even generations that were not part of the faulty decision making (Diamond and Plattner 184). Democracy can also be said to be a highly expensive form of governance. There are a lot of resources that always go to literal waste during democratic processes. A country always spends a lot of money just trying to make sure that democratic elections are always free, fair, and accurate. Despite all these efforts, there are always complaints about elections not being free and fair. This would raise the question of whether democracy is really governance by the people as is commonly referred to. Other resources also go to waste in the form of resources used during election campaigns. These resources are usually used for the purpose of influencing the choices of the public during political elections. The resource used during the political campaign would rather be used for other activities that are much more profi table and productive. In comparison to a monarchy form of governance, democracy would be definitely unreasonable expensive. Democratic processes can also be said to be faulted by baseless preferences of leaders. Democratic elections involve a battle for supremacy of races, ethnic groups, religions and many other forms of grouping. People will always vote for certain candidates on the basis of their ethnicity, race, religion, and not their capability to be good leaders. This leads to situations where the ethnic, racial, or religious groups with the highest number of citizens always carry the day. The obvious result of such an election is a government that lacks diligence and expertise. As much as one group might pride of being successful during the elections, the consequences of having incompetent leaders will be faced by the whole country( Adler and Weismann 221). Democracy can lead to the imbalanced development in a country. Since the leaders are always elected by the majority, the y will always strive to those who voted for them at the expense of those who did not vote for them. For instance, if a leader was highly voted for in a certain region of the country and rejected in others, they will always tend to favor those who voted for them when it comes to developmental projects. This is mainly due to human nature, which makes it almost impossible for a person to respond to bad deeds with good ones. In the same manner, it will be