Should Class Attendance Be Required

Word count 780 Should class attendance be a requirement? Many people ask should class attendance be a course requirement for students in college? There are two different opinions. Some people feel that it should be mandatory for college students to attend there classes everyday. Many other people however feel that students should be able to decide whether they want to go to there class or not. As far as I am concerned, no matter what unless the student is sick or has a family emergency they should be required to attend there classes every day whether the student likes it or not. Generally, students who do not like to attend classes have their own reasons. One of the main reasons is, many students feel they can learn some things better on their own rather than being in a classroom. If a student had to attend a class in which the professor teaches something they have already learned on their own, it would be a pointless. Some students that do not attend class, may feel they are able to learn some things better on their own but they may miss a lot of other important information given during a class. A student who attends all of his or her classes does have an advantage over a student who does not attend. In the first place, college professors often teach students many things that cannot be learned from a textbook. Like easier ways of figuring out a problem, or what something means. Many people believe that college is a place where professors are supposed to teach students what they know. In a textbook, normally there is just a lot of information and knowledge. However, how is the student supposed to understand and develop all this information? Students need to attend class; the professor is the best person to help them with these skills. Some students do not learn by just by reading the textbook, some people need things to be explained to them so they fully understand the concept. If the students went to class, the professor would be able to teach them how to learn, how to absorb information and how to apply what they have learned. When students attend class every day it also teaches them responsibility, discipline, and how to work together with other students. This prepares them for having a job, which requires people to work in groups. School starts at a certain time just like a job. Having to be at a certain place at a certain time also prepares students for getting a job in the real word. College is a lot like having a job. Students need to be responsible, and be in class on time just like people need to be at work on time. Being in class everyday and on time with an assignment-completed helps to prepare them for a career. College classes also teach students how to work with the other students in the class. Many times students will be given group assignments. In this activity, students will have to work with people from different backgrounds who they do not even know. In this situation, they learn how to handle working with people different from themselves, which is a very important factor in the work place. When students do not come to class they tend to miss many important things like discussions, due dates on work given during class, and class work. In college, professors teach student many things during discussions. This is when the professor lectures to the class about important things students need to know. During the discussion is the time to listen, learn and write down every thing the professor has to say on the given subject. If a student is not sitting in class to listen or write down information given by the professor he or she may never understand what was learned that day in class. In addition, students may miss due dates on assignments that were given during class which means the student will receive a zero on the assignment, and that is never good. Class work is a very important part of college. If a student does not attend class to complete his or her class there is a good chance that student will fail. I believe that students should be required to attend classes all the time. Student cannot just learn thing from reading a textbook they need a little guidance also. Professors can teach you the method of how to develop and use knowledge learned. In addition, college prepares you for a job by teaching discipline and responsibility. In short, attendance in all classes should be required.

Project Management Project Essay

Question 1 South American Adventures Unlimited SA Adventures Unlimited was formed four years ago by Michael and Jill Rodriguez. Michael was a trained geologist, while Jill had a master’s degree in Spanish. They were both avid outdoor enthusiasts and fell in love while trekking across the Andes in Chile. Upon graduation they seized upon the idea of starting their own specialized tour business that would focus on organizing and leading â€Å"high-end† adventure trips in South America. Their first trip was a three-week excursion across Ecuador and Peru. The trip was a resounding success, and they became convinced that they could make a livelihood doing something they both enjoyed. After the first year, Adventures Unlimited began to slowly expand the size and scope of the business. The Rodriguezes’ strategy was a simple one. They recruited experienced, reliable people who shared their passion for South America and the outdoors. They helped these people organize specific trips and advertised the excursion over the Internet and in travel magazines. Adventures Unlimited has grown from offering 4 trips a year to having 16 different excursions scheduled, including trips to Central America. They now had an administrative support staff of three people and a relatively stable group of five trip planners/guides whom they hired on a trip-by-trip contract basis. The company enjoyed a high level of repeat business and often used their customers’ suggestions to organize future trips. Although the Rodriguezes were pleased with the success of their venture, they were beginning to encounter problems that worried them about the future. A couple of the tours went over budget because of unanticipated costs, which eroded that year’s profit. In one case, they had to refund 30 percent of the tour fee because a group was stranded five days in Blanco Puente after missing a train connection. They were also having a hard time maintaining the high level of customer satisfaction to which they were accustomed. Customers were beginning to complain about the quality of the accommodations and the price of the tours. One group, unfortunately, was struck by a bad case of food poisoning. Finally, the Rodriguezes were having a hard time tracking costs across projects and typically did not know how well they did until after their taxes were prepared. This made it difficult to plan future excursions. The Rodriguezes shared these concerns around the family dinner table. Among the members in attendance was Michael’s younger brother, Mario, a student at a nearby university. After dinner, Mario approached Michael and Jill and suggested that they look into what business people called â€Å"project management.He had been briefly exposed to project management in his Business Operations class and felt that it might apply to their tour business. 1. To what extent does project management apply to Adventures Unlimited? Or, in other words, is this company managing projects? Explain your answer. Answer in a short paragraph (no more than 100 words) using font size 12. Question 2 Answer question #1 on page 147 in the exercises section. Question 3 Pg. 192 Optical Disk Preinstal lation Project Draw the network diagram A – Complete the following table with information from the network diagram:

Burts Bees Essay

A while back in 2007, Burts Bee’s was bought out by Clorox for $913 million. In buying Burts Bee’s Clorox is promising to go green. This was Clorox’s start in buying out other green companies to help them achieve their goal in going completely green. Mr. Shavitz and Ms. Quimby the original owners of Burt’s Bees had a huge fall out that began in the late 1990’s which has been going on ever since. (1) The reason that Clorox was willing to pay almost $1 Billion for Burts Bee’s because they see a big opportunity in the market to make their products green. The Burt’s Bess is really into the whole giving back to the community, and always helping. A few events they have done for the community is Urban Gardening when they teamed up with NEEM, to help make Durham, North Carolina greener, and help them plant more community gardens. Another event that they have done is help create green homes in North Carolina. As I was looking on the Burt’s Bees website on their most frequently asked questions someone asked how they can receive donations, and the answer the company gave threw me aback. â€Å"At this time, Burt’s Bees is not currently providing product or financial donations. We remain committed to supporting local community organizations committed to The Greater Good† (2) Personally in reading this I feel like if they want to help create that customer satisfaction, they should be willing to help everyone go green and not just the community. Since the buyout according to Clorox, their natural care products already account for over $6 billion in sales and is growing at a fast rate. The sales are climbing to a yearly rate of around 9%. As for the stalk holder Clorox states, they rose from $1. 69, 2. 8%. to $62. 69. This was a huge boost for the stockholders, and for people who wanted to buy into the stalk. As of 25th 2013, the stalks are at $83. 25. (3) This was also helping Clorox’s public relations by helping them get well known. Clorox does a whole bunch of press releases to help show that they have turned green. They also do press releases when they win an award or do contests for people to enter. When you go on the Clorox website they give you three options to choose from, Press Releases, Media Resources, and Press contacts. Since working together with Burt’s Bee’s, Clorox is also trying to get more involved in the community which they never used to do. On their website they state, â€Å"Clorox knows that it can’t do it alone and actively seeks partners and other affiliations to help us become a more sustainable company. Clorox also cares. In addition to our work to make Clorox a more sustainable company, we strive to make a positive eco impact beyond Clorox. † (4) Clorox donates nearly $1 million dollars to environmental causes. Some of things they do to help the community is they donate products to the Save the Frogs, and Save the California Oaks. They also have their own foundations to help Keep America Beautiful.

Financial Planning Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Financial Planning - Research Paper Example Financial Planning James Patterson wishes to retire by the age of 56. Nevertheless, if retirement at the age of 56 looked difficult he would consider cutting back to 4 days one year, then 3, and so on. The age pension would start from the time Mr. Patterson attains the age of 65. So it is imperative that Mr. Patterson makes proper arrangement for the financial needs arising during the big gap from the age of 56 to 65. Thus, his prime objective is to accumulate sufficient Retirement Income to fulfil all his responsibilities during that period in addition to fulfilling his personal interests. The interests of James Patterson after retirement comprise of travelling extensively, and attending summer school courses on aspects of ancient history particularly about Greece and Rome among others. He also wants to remain associated with Community Aid and one of his prime responsibilities is to look after his aged mother, and his nephew and nieces. The target retirement income that Mr. Patterson is looking forwar d to is equivalent to 60% of his pre-retirement income. The disposable income of James Patterson at present is $50567, 60% of which would be equivalent to $30340. Thus, the client would require an annual income of around $30340 following his retirement after about 5 years. He could continue to require an income of $30340 for at least the subsequent 9 years, until he attains the age of 65 and his age pension starts.... On the basis of the information provided by Mr. Patterson and the following discussions, his lifestyle objectives and goals were reviewed. The recommendations provided in this financial have been developed to help Mr. Patterson in accomplishing these objectives: Living Expenditure: Mr. James Patterson would like to afford for his living expenses of around $30,500 per year. Holidays: James Patterson would like to expend $5,000 on a travel holiday every year. Family: James Patterson has a large extended family comprising of his mother and five siblings. He intends to take care of her mother and also assist his nephews and nieces financially. Retirement: James Patterson would like to withdraw from full time work in 5 years time when he attains 56 years of age. He is willing to draw down on his capital with the purpose of accomplishing her retirement objectives. Identification of Issues and Problems The total cumulative value of capital and assets owned by James Patterson is equivalent t o $718,781. Assuming the life expectancy level of Mr. Patterson to be 80 years, he needs to arrange for the financial requirements of 25 years. It should be noted that the client intends to retire at 55. He would get some amount of assistance from the Age pension after he attains the age of 65. However, he needs to build a decent corpus of capital for his retirement plans. Mr. Patterson is single and does not have any direct responsibility of a family, but the downside is that he has to prepare for his old age finances on his own. The present level of savings will most likely not be adequate to build up the assets essential for Mr. Patterson to be able to preserve his preferred standard of living post retirement.

Mananging people and Organsiations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Mananging people and Organsiations - Essay Example Employees may be motivated by some other factor, perhaps passion for the job, or good relations with fellow employees, but its clearly not money. Frederick Taylor, father of Scientific Management believes that workers were only motivated by money. His claim came about after conducting an "experiment on immigrant labourers, both from Hungary and Germany" (Gabor 2000). Scores of Europeans flood the western shores "bringing with them a hunger for opportunity and the energy to fuel a young nation's growth" (Gabor 2000). For the immigrants, there was a need to seek a better standard of living in a more peaceable environment. This was absent in Europe at the time. Europe was experiencing changes in its systems of governance, and during the period, the new "German Emperor, William II, favoured out right hostility towards Russia" (Thompson 1982). Therefore, to avoid antagonism, many workers migrated from Europe with the desire to work in the western world. The railroad was a common form of employment for both skilled and unskilled workers. At the same time Frederick Taylor was about to test Adam Smith's belief that men wanted financi al gain. His findings would come to be known as the scientific approach to management studies. However, further evidence and careful examination would reveal shocking results. Taylor observed The Experiment Taylor observed the men for a period of time and after much days came up with a concept to increase productivity. He believed if the workers are paid more they may be willing to work harder. Very aware of these workers financial circumstance and their desire to seek betterment, Taylor took advantage by setting an unreasonable quota and offering "them higher wages if they were able to meet it" (Gabor 2000). The response was not what he may have expected since many workers resisted and call the quota "unreasonable." He managed to get one German immigrant "Schmidt" to meet the quota and who in return "was very happy to collect a few extra cents of extra pay at the end of each day" (Nelson pg 92). Taylor later admitted that this was the kind of "ox like" mentality he sought. The truth, however, is that the majority of workers were either physically incapable of doing the job or simply made no attempt to meet Taylor's demands. The increase bonus did nothing to alter worker's performance. Even their financial circumstance did not provided a strong enough desire for them to work. Taylor did not realized that his method of motivation to increase output was ineffective. Therefore, according to the book The Capitalist Philosophers many of the workers "were fired either way. (2000)" Jobs were loss by the dozens. Even Edward E. Lawer in his book Treat People Right argued that "expectancy theory places great emphasis on the importance of goals in motivation. When employees commit to a goal they are highly motivated to achieve it. However if goals are too difficult workers' motivation is weaken." This was clearly because of the unreasonable quota. To many workers the chance of achieving the quota was "very

Big foot Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Big foot - Essay Example This could seem funny, but to some it is not. Bigfoot has been described as a real cave man. In 2007, Robert Wilson a Vancouver resident stated that he saw a large and hairy man who looked like a cave man. This strengthened the earlier theory that indeed, Bigfoot is a man. Those who dispute the Bigfoot conspiracy justify it by saying that there have never been corpses of bigfeet men found anywhere. But the supporters of this conspiracy use the counter argument that big feet bury their dead, and in fact, they are mentioned in the Bible in the book of Genesis. In 1999, there are those who claim that in the Battle Mountain fires, one Bigfoot was injured and taken away for treatment by government officials. Another theory is that just like there are gay people; it is believed that 10% of bigfeet also known as sasquatches are also gay. This is according to Loren Coleman, a cryptozoologist. But there are also those people who claim that the male sasquatches sodomize male domestic

Major Depressive Disorder Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Major Depressive Disorder - Case Study Example 2008). Major depressive disorder serves as a load on the economic as well as physical well being of the individuals. It serves to be the second most important clinical condition which hinders the normal life of the individuals and impairs them from leading a perfect life. Worldwide major depressive disorder accounts as the fourth most common pathology. This psychological condition is very dangerous because it accounts as a cause for 66 percent of all suicidal deaths and it also raises the risk of pathologies of the heart and associated vasculature (British Columbia Medical Association 2004). In the United States it majorly affects the people who are suffering from a medical condition since a very long time or those who migrate to the United States and females have a greater susceptibility of suffering from this condition (Paul et al 2007). Major depressive disorder patients present with a wide range of psychopathological conditions which differ from one person to another. It is characterized by a very low consideration regarding self existence. A person considers himself to be of no use and does not have a very high opinion of him. The patients have thoughts of remorse and do not consider their existence to hold any value. They have negative thoughts regarding everything. The patient feels low and distressed and has a bad temper along with a feeling of exhaustion and weariness. The patient cannot engage in activities which require him to remain focused and has a tendency to easily forget important things. Sleeplessness is also associated with major depressive disorder but an interesting fact is that some patients might also present somnolence. This contradicting pattern is also noted in the case of eating as some patients present with polyphagia whereas others may be anorexic. The patient complains of gastrointestinal tract

Written Discourse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Written Discourse - Essay Example I would like to undertake more research in this area but with a large group of students and over a long period of research but for now I need to complete a simple experiment. Reading and writing are core skills taught and learnt within both first and second language classrooms and one cannot be considered as more important than the other. Reading however appears to have taken precedence over writing in recent years with numerous presentations and papers published in the area. In terms of teaching and learning of writing on the other hand, there appears to be very few papers in journals or presentations at major conferences, at least in South Korea. In light of this deficit this paper will focus on writing methodology and some of the research undertaken within the area in terms of a process approach and a product approach. From research it seems that although we teach writing formally within the classroom it does not naturally develop along a linear path but develops more in a circular or see-saw fashion, which is in line with the process approach. Literature also shows that early learners often develop their writing with the use of models, which adheres to the product approach. The lesson in this unit however, aims to combine the two approaches in an effort to both allow students to use their own initiative, trialing and feedback but at the same time provide a framework from which they can further develop their writing. Following a literature review this paper will present an experimental unit of writing comprising a series of lessons incorporating both process and product methods which was trialed in Korea. Justification for the selected activities used in the unit design will be provided along with reflection and evaluation of the trialed lessons. The â€Å"origins of the traditional product rhetoric are often said to be found in eighteenth-century Common

W3 Disc Incentive Programs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

W3 Disc Incentive Programs - Essay Example ling to leave for boot camp as soon as possible, for advanced civilian skills, electing to defer their enlistment and more† (Army Bonus and Incentive Overview, 2010, p. 1). According to Cokins (2009), the three components of an effective incentive system are as follows: (1) involvement of employees; (2) setting SMART objectives; and (3) recognition of performance of employees according to well-designed standards. As such, after evaluating the incentive program of the U.S. Army, it could be deduced that the three components are duly integrated. For instance, the Partnership for Youth SuccesS (PAYS) ensures future employment to those who joined the Army through the partner organizations (Partnership for Youth Success (PAYS), n.d.). This program ensures involvement of the members; setting objectives of gaining employment after the service; and giving due recognition to those who served the Army through the provision of ready employment to partner organizations. Overall, the U.S. Army has designed effective incentive programs to those who serve their country, through the presence of the three components, as above noted. As such, a continued supply of qualified and competent recruits and soldiers are being developed and maintained with the provision of monetary and non-monetary awards to them and to their family

Bachelor Degree Essay Example for Free

Bachelor Degree Essay The need for competent bedside nurses has drastically increased and so will it continue in the future. The level of basic education that a nurse should have has always been an issue of debate and controversy. The ADN program is shorter and more concise which focuses on the clinical skills and is more tasks oriented. It lacks the theory and science behind nursing as a profession. ADN nurses usually have 2-3 years education and are focused to provide individualized care to their patients based on their diagnosis. The BSN program is a four-year degree, which is knowledge, theory and research based and the emphasis is on the entire picture of the field of nursing. The BSN nurse would use the researching and critical thinking background of her education to care for patients. Many do not realize there is a difference between the two. Both associate degree graduate and baccalaureate degree graduates take the same NCLEX board exam for licensing and enter the same job. Unlike associate-degree nursing programs where the nurses function primarily at the bedside in less complex patient care situations, the BSN program prepares the nurse to practice in all health care settings critical care, outpatient care, public health, and mental health. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has posted a detailed position statement (2000) and fact sheet (2010) on their websites endorsing the position that the minimum entry level requirement for nurses be a BSN degree. The BSN nurse is well-qualified to deliver care in private homes, outpatient centers, and neighborhood clinics where demand is fast expanding as hospitals focus increasingly on acute care and as health care moves beyond the hospital to more primary and preventive services throughout the community. At increasing numbers of hospitals nationwide, baccalaureate-prepared nurses are being utilized in ways that recognize their different educational preparation and competency from associate-degree nurses. In these differentiated practice models, BSN nurses not only provide more complex aspects of daily care and patient education, but also design and coordinate a comprehensive plan of nursing care for the entire length of a patients stay from pre-admission to post-discharge including supervising nurse’s aides and other unlicensed assistive personnel, designing discharge and teaching plans for patients, and collaborating with patients, physicians, family members, and other hospital departments and resource personnel. Evidence shows that nursing education level is a factor in patient safety and quality of care. As cited in the report When Care Becomes a Burden released by the Milbank Memorial Fund in 2001, two separate studies conducted in 1996 – one by the state of New York and one by the state of Texas – clearly show that significantly higher levels of medication errors and procedural violations are committed by nurses prepared at the associate degree and diploma levels as compared with the baccalaureate level. These findings are consistent with findings published in the July/August 2002 issue of Nurse Educator magazine that references studies conducted in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Ohio and Tennessee that also found that nurses prepared at the associate degree and diploma levels make the majority of practice-related violations. AACN and other authorities believe that education has a strong impact on a nurse’s ability to practice, and that patients deserve the best educated nursing workforce possible. A growing body of research reinforces this belief and shows a connection between baccalaureate education and lower mortality rates. Baccalaureate nursing programs encompass all of the course work taught in associate degree and diploma programs plus a more in-depth treatment of the physical and social sciences, nursing research, public and community health, nursing management, and the humanities. The additional course work enhances the student’s professional development, prepares the new nurse for a broader scope of practice, and provides the nurse with a better understanding of the cultural, political, economic, and social issues that affect patients and influence health care delivery. Throughout the last decade, policymakers and practice leaders have recognized that education makes a difference. (http://www. aacn. nche. edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/impact-of-education. References http://www. aacn. nche. edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/impact-of-education. (n. d). The Impact of Education on Nursing Practice . Retrieved May 21, 2013, from http://www. aacn. nche. edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/impact-of-education.

Biological Control as a Pest Management Strategy

Biological Control as a Pest Management Strategy Several researches were carried out by different organisations in Mauritius to implement biological control in Mauritius as a component of our local Integrated Pest Management strategies. However, it can still be observed that most of the natural enemies which have been introduced over the past few years are unable to match up with their expected efficacy on the field. Only a portion of the introduced natural enemies are very efficient in pest control and maintaining their level of infestation below the economic threshold level, for example, natural enemies used in sugar cane field are very effective and necessitates no pesticide and herbicide use to control pests thus, reducing the cost of sugar cane production. However, those vegetables planters in Mauritius that are aware of the principles of biological control tend to misjudge the use of biological control as a method of pest management, they are both right and wrong in certain ways. Based on the data collected during this research, it can be clearly seen that the efficacy of natural enemies differ from region to region. Depending on the natural enemy species, some are more effective in certain regions compared to others. Some natural enemies have the potential of being a very good effective biological control, however, it is seen that their performance on field is not sufficiently satisfactory. Before implementing a new biological control programme, several procedures are followed so as to choose the best performing natural enemies. Threats to natural enemies’ efficacy are present in many forms. The biggest threat and most common one is the application and overuse of chemicals such as pesticides and insecticides. Based on the survey data obtained, it is seen that most farmers apply pesticide every week. The use of chemical pesticides has increased significantly during the past 10 years. The application and pesticide residuals are severe threats to natural enemies, most especially parasitic wasps, flies and predators. A good example would be planter N01 where a sample of Plutella xylostella (L) was collected to evaluate the parasitoid Cotesia plutellae. The farmer makes use of selective pesticides and applies a minimum amount on his infected plants and the rate of pesticide application is every 2 weeks. The efficacy of Cotesia plutellae in his field was seen to be as much as 50% that is, half of the larvae evaluated were parasitized by the wasp. On the other hand, another sample of Plutella xylostella (L) was collected on planter’s W02 field and the efficacy of Cotesia plutellae evaluated was found to be much lower than the N01 sample, 16% respectively. From the survey data, it was seen that planter W02 makes use or a larger selection of chemicals and applies them every week, the rate of pesticide application is twice as more for planter W02 than for N01.Another interesting observation made while carrying out the survey. It was the way some of the planters prepare their pesticide solution, some of them clearly use much more pesticide than the amount recommended. Some of them tend to mix several pesticides together and made a pesticide â€Å"cocktail† out of them, making the final solution have a broader spectrum. Though the prepared pesticide cocktail solution might be effective against the pest, but it also has a negative impact on natural enemies present on the field or the surrounding fields. Due to the â€Å"cocktail effect†, it is possible that chemicals in the mixture might interact to produce an increase in its toxicity. This might be a reason for the low efficacy of natural enemies. Farmer A may be taking good measures of IPM and using less chemicals, but the overuse and misuse of pesticides by the other nearby farmer(s) will sure affect biological control on farmer’s A field. Another case encountered with high natural enemy efficacy is with sample W01 which consisted of Aphis gossypi collected a Saint Martin, a village situated in the West of Mauritius. The efficacy of the parasitoid wasp Lysiphlebus testaceipes was of 48%. The sample was collected on a calabash plant. What was most interesting was that calabash was not the planter’s main crop, only a few trees were planted at the corner of the field and let to grow without taking care of and no pesticide and other chemical application. This might be why the efficacy of the parasitoid was relatively high. A very important cause of biological control failure is the planter’s attitude and knowledge about natural enemies and biological control. Most farmers surveyed had very good knowledge about the pest threat they usually face, they also can identify the damage causing pest and use appropriate measures. On the contrary, it was found that most of them (97%) do not have any knowledge on biologi cal control, they did not know the existence of beneficial organism controlling damage causing ones. For this reason, they cannot be expected to recognise and adopt conservative measures to preserve natural enemies, such as formerly mentioned, reduce pesticide use, habitat management and modify biological and ecological aspects to enhance natural enemies such as elimination of secondary enemies. It is believed that sensitisation by the responsible authorities is important to the planters so as to improve the overall IPM in Mauritius. On the other hand, even if proper sensitisation is made to all planters, it might still be quite challenging to increase the natural enemy efficacy. Most planters in Mauritius have a mindset that makes them disbelief in something they do not see with their own eyes. Also, farmers won’t be willing to abandon their traditions which were passed on to them by their parents and grandparents. The use of chemicals in Mauritian agriculture is far from being regulated. Farmers say that their budget are often limited and that they cannot take risks of trying something new due to the fear of it not being a success and of losing everything. This is due to the fact that biological control does not completely eliminate the pest population but in fact it only reduces the pest level to a minimum acceptable level. This is usually unacceptable to the farmer who wants to see his field entirely free of any pest. If no proper conservative measures and natural enemy monitoring are applied, another pest outbreak may occur inflicting losses to planters. These are reasons why planters in Mauritius prefer to use pesticides as a method of pest control. Also, though most planters are not willing to change their traditional way of pest control, some of them are sometimes willing to adopt new IPM strategies in order to control pests, such as the use of bait traps and sticky traps, but those traps also act against natural enemies, mostly tiny parasitic wasps. Some good agricultural practices also can contribute in biological control failure, for example, crop rotation is a good way of reducing pest population, but if the host plant essential for the pest survival is not available, neither will be the pest or their respective natural enemy. The use of pest resistant varieties is also a good way to avoid pest outbreaks but is the crop is too resistant to pests, biological control will be very hard to establish if no other sources of habitat and food are present. Another aspect having an effect on natural enemy efficacy evaluated during this research was the climatic factor in the different regions that is mainly the microclimate present in the different sites selected for sample collection. It was found that climate change has an impact on insect phenology and the distribution of phytophagus insects especially Lepidoptera. This explains the rapid development and vast distribution of the pest Plutella xylostella throughout Mauritius. In the chi square test done and presented in table 3.8 in the previous chapter, it was found that the p-value to be less than 0.05 for the natural enemy Cotesia plutella, meaning that the efficacy of the parasitoid is dependent to the climatic factor in different region. In fact, both the hymenoptera parasitoid evaluated was seen to be dependent on climatic factors compared to the other natural enemies evaluated in the chi square test (Refer to Appendix 1). This describes the difference in efficacy of the parasite around Mauritius. It was found by Nofemela, 2004 that the parasitoid Cotesia plutellae can develop on a wide range of temperatures (8.14oC – 33oC), thus, another deduction that can be made about the efficacy of Cotesia plutellae is that the parasitoid density present in the different regions is not the same. In all cases of planter interviewed, it is found that the planters noticed an increase in temperature and in change in rainfall pattern and intensity. The planters also mentioned that the warmer it is, the more the risk of a pest outbreak, for this reason, they usually apply more pesticides in summer. It is concluded a changing (warming) climate and use of chemicals in agriculture are directly and positively related. Despite the fact that some pests became resistant to pesticides and other chemicals, farmers still apply pesticides knowing that no results will be seen. To some extent, climate change will be responsib le for the increasing overuse of chemicals and agriculture which can in turn lead to a decrease in biological control efficacy. A change in insect phenology might also affect the host and natural enemy synchrony, a fail in synchronisation with the host life cycle might cause drastic decline in biological control for reproductive failure. Other factors which was seen to affect the efficacy of natural enemies was the coexistence of the pest with other organisms which provide protection to the pest against natural enemies. The two species of mealy bug studied, the Paracoccus marginatus and the Icerya seychellarum were seen to coexist with ants in all the pest samples collected. The ants harvest a substance called honeydew from them which is secreted by the mealy bugs, and in return they provide protection against natural enemies, mostly predators. The efficacy of the Paracoccus marginatus predator Exochomus laeviusculus might not be the same on the field than the one evaluated in the lab, on the field, especially on papaya trees where the Paracoccus marginatus samples were collected the mealy bugs were found to be compacted on the trees, stems and fruit, like a large white cottony lump. A waxy texture was present on all the mealy bug colonies, this may explain why the pest is being hard to control. The waxy substance pr events chemicals to penetrate into the colony layer and natural enemies can only feed on the lonely nymphs wondering around with no protection. Also several species of ladybugs and other predators like spiders and sparrows were seen on the same tree. Such cases might generate a competition among predators and the efficacy of a selected predator for example the coccinelid Exochomus laeviusculus may not be the same compared to a scenario where the coccinelid is the only predator preying on the pest. A very low parasitism rate was recorded for the parasitoid Cryptochetum monophlebi biological control of the pest Icerya seychellarum, this might be because of the presence of ants, chemicals present in that particular environment, but also, the Cryptochetum monophlebi being the order Diptera. It is known that Dipterans are the favourite food of lizards and some other insectivorous reptiles. Due to the presence of those reptiles on tree fruits, it can be a reason why the efficacy of the parasitoid is too low. The efficacy of the ladybug Nephaspis bicolor, predator of Aleurodicus dispersus was also evaluated in the lab and its efficacy, just like other natural enemies evaluated was seen to vary from region to region. However the efficacy was seen to be very low, although no ants were present where the Aleurodicus disperses sample were collected, the efficacy of the Nephaspis bicolor was as low as for the Exochomus laeviusculus. Coccinellid are more effective when several of them are present, for an efficient biological control using ladybugs, a high population must be available and maintained in the field throughout the crop cycle on which the pest is present. When no food is present, the ladybug beetle will tend to move away to another area where the pest is present or find another sources of food so as for them not starve to death. If only a few are present, they will only prey on a fewer amount of pests, making no differences to the pest population, also, they might get eaten up by bird s or lizards present on the field. However both the ladybugs evaluated are independent to the climatic factor present in the regions in which they were collected (P > 0.05). It means that the regions from which they were collected does not have an effect on their efficacy. Another aspect of IPM for sustainable pest control would be the use of biopesticides, such as microbial pesticides and botanical pesticides. Only 32% of all the planters interviewed know about the availability of this kind of pesticide. Most of them think they are expensive and ineffective. However, since biopesticides are not manufactured locally, the price of the biopesticides is almost the same as for chemical pesticides. This is a reason why planters prefer to buy chemical pesticide and don’t take the risk of purchasing something they are not sure about. Planters also think it is troublesome to prepare their own botanical pesticides using locally available plants such as neem and citronella and much more. Botanical pesticides do not harm the environment and the efficacy of natural enemies will be sure to be boosted if more planters adopt the use of biopesticides. Another interesting observation made while processing the results obtain. It was that the efficacy of natural enemies evaluated in the different agro ecological zones selected does not differ greatly. The efficacies are in the range of 15.8% to 20.2% respectively. It can be concluded that the natural enemies evaluated have a good adaptability to the local climate, which is a major characteristic for being a good natural enemy as failure to adapt to the climate and environmental factors is among the factors in biological control failure. Nevertheless, it is observed the average efficacy is lower in super humid regions compared to sub humid regions. As mentioned earlier, this might be due to the practices of the planters on their farm and also the difference in temperature, causing changes in both the natural enemy and the host pest’s phenology. In crops producing fields in Mauritius, it was deducted that the use of natural enemies is effective to certain extent, but not as effective to be able to control a pest by themselves. This was the case in every area investigated regardless of the land use diversities. The land use also can prove to be very determining in biological control. An example would be the pest Aleurodicus disperses, the sample (CO5) was collected in Vacoas where the citrus trees were in a field situated in a residential area. The trees were found on the road side and were heavily infected near the stem and underneath the leaves. The beetle Nephaspis bicolor was scarce and very difficult to count. On the other hand, sample CO8 of Aleurodicus disperses was collected at Ripailles, the trees were found in a field surrounded by other vegetable fields and sugarcane. The tree was rich in ladybug population, and the beetle Nephaspis bicolor could be easily collected. This proves that land use and vegetative cover h as an impact on the presence of natural enemies. For example, maize areas have a positive effect on ladybug density present and thus, this explains the low pesticide use in maize crops (Zhou, 2014). Vegetative covered areas provide food and shelter for natural enemies. A region of high vegetative cover will tend to have greater densities of natural enemies compared to a region of low vegetative cover or bare land with no vegetation at all. Other crops or trees have abilities to attract some natural enemies, so planting those trees on the field will tend to enhance biological control. Some farmers, especially large scale farmers often wipe out their field to remove everything left after harvesting, this also is a very bad approach if we want biological control to succeed. With no vegetation to provide shelter, the beneficial organisms will tend to move to another habitat or die out. A good monitoring schedule must be setup in order to ensure the status of natural enemies and their efficacy must be evaluated regularly. This is mainly to make sure that biological control is going on smoothly and whether human intervention is needed to provide a boost to the natural enemies in order to increase their performance. However, none of these seem to be present on the field where the evaluations were carried out. Although a very good method of foreign exploration and introduction of natural enemies were done by local organisations, no further monitoring programs are carried out. In some areas of the country, for example Saint Martin, Surinam and Belle Mare, in all which a pest sample was collected, several small planters are present ad a few large scale planters. Their field are close to each other and can be combined together to form a very large area for crop production. The efficacy of the respective natural enemies was very low compared to other areas. The reason might be because each and every farmer makes use of their own type of pesticides in their own personal ways. And pesticides being applied to such a large area will surely cause toxicity to the land and water resources found nearby. Such a large amount of pesticide application decreases the density of the available natural enemies. A lower natural enemy density and failure to reproduce will lead to a fewer amount of parasitized or preyed pest. Ladybug beetles tend to be very good pest destroyer as both the larvae and adults are voracious eater. However, a very interesting observation was made on a papaya tree infested with mealy bugs. Several species of ladybugs were present on the tree. Some unusual activities were observed. A ladybug larva was seen feeding on another ladybug larva which was of a different species. Cannibalism might also be a factor of low efficacy among coccinelid. This is an issue of host specificity and competition among pest predators. Concerning the parasitoids evaluated no cases of hyperparasitism, multiparasitism or superparasitism was detected.

Impact of AirAsia on Indias Economy

Impact of AirAsia on Indias Economy Summary: AirAsia is the world’s best low cost airline which is Malaysian based. This group operates scheduled international domestic flights in 22 countries and around 100 destinations. AirAsia expanded its operations in India in 2012, in joint venture with TataSons. Since Indian government allow an FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) of 49% in Airlines, the company hold 49% stake with TataSons having 30% and Telstra Tradeplace’s Arun Bhatia acquiring 21% stake. AirAsia has decided to invest 30 million dollars to 50 million dollars to start up the airline in India. The company in 2013, as a promotional tool to penetrate into the Indian market, has announced booking of 2 million seats from some of south Indian cities (like Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Tiruchirapalli) to south east destination like Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur etc with a very low coat ranging from Rs 3300 to Rs5500. The company has a standard practice to open booking of seats a few months in advance at nominal price and then increasing them as the day passes to come up to ten times near the flight day. This is to assure filling of certain percentage of seats with low fare and then going to highest level. This practice reduces the gap between demand and supply as only little number of seats go vacant. The offer of the company is quite different from Tiger Airways, which provided 10 seats on every flight for Rs 2700 to Singapore from Banglore, Hydrabad, Kochi, Chennai, Tiruchirapalli and Thiruvananthapuram. Fares offered by the company on different routes are shown below: . (Source: Economic Times, 2013) The company is specially targeting the upper middle class customers, travelling by train, competing in budget carrier space which is dominated by SpiceJet and IndiGo. However, gaining a profitable position would be quite challenging for the company in the Indian market which is already incurring huge losses in spite of recent discount on fares offers of existing Airline Company. It has incurred a combined loss of $400 million to $450 million in the quarter of July to September. Another challenges are high fuel prices in the international market, stiff competition, high operating cost and political opposition, regulatory pressure and uncertainty in India as Indian Aviation Industry was opened to foreign investors recently. Competition: The company will face strict competition on route of Kolkata from SpiceJet, Jet Airways, IndiGo and Air India which combines offer 56 flights on weekly basis (Rai, 2013). The competition will get fiercer on Bangalore where 101 weekly services are offered by the stated four. Structure of Indian Aviation market: Since the Airline industry is an oligopolistic market structure with few big players, the fare cutting move of AirAsia company will definitely copied by other firms to remain in the competition, as it is one of the basic feature of oligopolistic market that fare cutting or increasing move by one is followed by other sooner or later. This will create a fare war among the companies, benefit of which can be reaped by customers. The company has taken this step as low cost airline companies have predicted to have greater potential in Asian countries like India whose population is above one million and the population of middle class is growing day by day which proves to be a huge market potential for the company to grow. (Upadhyay, 2013) According to the regulation of Indian Government, a foreign company can enter to Indian Airline sector with 49% stake only in the form of FDI, the regulation normally need a carrier to have domestically operated for at least 5 years with twenty aircraft fleets before starting its operations internationally (Singhal, 2013). Therefore on this basis international market opportunities for the company will concentrate on those routes where highest traffic volume already exists. Company’s step to reduce operating cost and gaining economies of scale: The company will focus on South India which is a tourist attracting area and an unaltered and underserviced market by other airline companies. The company will not operate to Mumbai and Delhi airports as these airports charges high Airport Development charge. Also Mumbai has extremely high air congestion leading to time consuming landing of aircrafts. In this way company would be able to avoid high navigation landing charge and aircraft parking charge The company has benchmarked its base fare against Indian Railways tickets and prices only Rs 1000 more than rail fare which will attract rail consumers to switch over to airlines, increasing company’s revenue. For keeping low operating cost, the company have planned to have a lean staff structure initially targeting up to 80- 100 employees per aircraft. Whereas competitors of the company presently have a ratio ranging from 102 to 185 employees per aircraft. Company also offer point to point service and uniform fleet for operational savings and provide internet sales of tickets for overhead savings. Upcoming opportunity for the company: On the basis of macroeconomic metric based on the population of city, Surat (Gujrat), Patna (Bihar) and Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), which are largest Tier 2 cities of India, are not connected to Chennai. Surat has a population of around 4 million, Patna has 1.6 million populations Bhopal has 1.8 people living there. (Balasubramanyam, 2013) Therefore AirAsia India can also plan to consider its services to these cities to meet up the potential demand. Benefit to Indian Economy: India will get benefit in the following ways: Increased revenue for government in the form of taxes. Since it is a Foreign Direct Investment, Indian economy will get benefitted through infrastructural development by the company, increased employment opportunities for Indian people as company will hire people to provide its services. Since the company is offering low fare tickets to customers, other firms will also follow the move, offering better opportunities for customers to avail airline services at low cost. AirAsia’s move will break the status quo in pricing policy, commercial and marketing strategy of Airline companies in India as presently Indian Airline companies lack innovation in pricing their services due to which about twenty percent of the seats go on empty in most of the flights. Overall this move of the company is good for economy as well as customers as it will allow maximum customer to avail airline services and create ripple effect. Also Indian market has potential as its size is expected to grow in next 10 years from sixty million passengers to around 450 million passengers which is also a good news for the company References Balasubramanyam, K., (2013), Sky wars, [Article], Available: http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/airasia-tieup-with-tatas-impact-india-aviation-sector/1/192745.html [Accessed 1 May 2014] Rai, S., (2013), Why AirAsias Entry Is Good For Indias Aviation Sector, [Article], Available: http://www.forbes.com/sites/saritharai/2013/07/11/why-airasias-entry-is-good-for-indias-aviation-sector/ [Accessed 1 May 2014] Singhal, M., (2013), An airline for the people, [Article], Available: http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/air-asia-to-enter-india-aviation-sector/1/197970.html [Accessed 30 April 2014] Upadhyay, A., (2013), AirAsia offers two million cheap tickets to South East Asian cities, [Article], Available: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-04-02/news/38218326_1_siegtraund-teh-airasia-group-chief-commercial-officer[Accessed 1 May 2013]

how do you view religion? Essay -- essays research papers

How do you view yourself? How do others view you? Do you really care? The answers to all these questions are shaped by the culture you were raised in. for the most part, scientists agree that culture plays a very important role in how a person develops. A woman raised in India might grow up to be a traditional woman who marries young, works part time, and who devotes the majority of her life to her family. The same person, if raised in a more Western-thinking country, might attend college, pursue a career, and not get married until after she’s thirty. All cultures have certain things in common, but still have differences that make them very distinct. There are four main criteria anthropologists use when examining cultures. I hope to show these criteria, explain them in a way that is easy to make sense of, and also show how cultures can evolve.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Culture shows up in the social norms, customs, symbols, humor, expectations, beliefs and communications practices. Culture plays a large role in shaping a person’s personality. As humans we are born with little or no specific instincts. A person’s culture will shape those instincts and train the person on how to survive traditionally. One of the most astonishing things about vulture is the fact that it can be changed in one generation but then keep those changes intact through many hundreds of generation after that.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the Merit Student’s Encyclopedia (page 375), culture is defined as â€Å"the patterns of behavior acquired by man though social learning.† Nearly all recent studies preformed to find out how culture affects people seem to infer that culture is a learned trait, rather than one passed down through genes (sometimes called â€Å"genetic memory†) as some anthropologists previously thought. What different types of cultures are there? There are regional cultures, religions cultures, and many others that are considered â€Å"sub-cultures†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Culture can be broken into four main components. Orientation to time: whether focus is on the past, present, or future. Orientation to people: orientation to the environment: whether it’s here to serve us, or we’re here to serve it. Values and Philosophies: what’s most important in life, what your values are, whether religion is important or not.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Christianity is one o... ... decides their values.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Islam, according to the Quran, any interaction between men and women who are not related or married is forbidden, although many families chose not to observe this law.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this paper, I mostly used the Christian religion to explain the four criteria for examining cultures, and to explain cultural evolution because, for me, it was the easiest thing to relate those topics to. However, Christianity was just used as an example. The criteria of cultures apply to every part and culture in the world. By understanding how cultures are examined and classified, you increase understanding them, and with increased understanding comes increased acceptance, and maybe fewer problems that result from the current misunderstanding between people of different cultures. I showed you how cultures can change, sometimes over a long time, sometimes over a period of less then fifty years, and told you the four main criteria used for examining cultures, so the next time you hear something about people from one area or religion being stereotyped, you can hopefully get your own information and look for things for yourself.

Comparing Love and Acceptance in I Stand Here Ironing and Everyday Use :: comparison compare contrast essays

Love and Acceptance in I Stand Here Ironing and Everyday Use Tillie Olsen's I Stand Here Ironing, and Alice Walker's Everyday Use, both address the issue of a mother's guilt over how her children turn out.   Both mothers blamed themselves for their daughter's problems.   While I Stand Here Ironing is obviously about the mousy daughter, in Everyday Use this is camouflaged by the fact most of the action and dialog involves the mother and older sister Dee.   Neither does the mother in Everyday Use say outright that she feels guilty, but we catch a glimpse of it when Dee is trying very hard to claim the handmade quilts.   The mother says she did something she had never done before, "hugged Maggie to me," then took the quilts from Dee and gave them to Maggie.   In I Stand Here Ironing the mother tells us she feels guilty for the way her daughter Emily is, for the things she (the mother) did and did not do.   The mother's neighbor even tells her she should "smile at Emily more when you look at her."   Again towards the end of the story Emily's mother admits "my wisdom came too late."   The mothers unknowingly gave Emily and Maggie second best. Both mothers compare their two daughters to each other.   In Everyday Use the mother tells us that "Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a fuller figure."   She Fahning -2-speaks of the fire that burned and scarred Maggie.   She tells us how Maggie is not bright, how she shuffles when she walks.   Comparing her with Dee whose feet vwere always neat-looking, as if God himself had shaped them." We also learn of Dee's "style" and the way she awes the other girls at school with it. The mother in I Stand Here Ironing speaks of Susan, "quick and articulate and assured, everything in appearance and manner Emily was not." Emily "thin and dark and foreign-looking at a time when every little girl was supposed to look or thought she should look a chubby blonde replica of Shirley Temple." Like Dee, Emily had a physical limitation also. Hers was asthma. Both Emily and Maggie show resentment towards their sisters.   The sisters who God rewarded with good looks and poise.   Emily's mother points out the "poisonous feeling" between the sisters, feelings she contributed to by her inability to balance the "hurts and needs" of the two.

Greek Crisis

The Greek crisis: opportunity for Greek to rebirth The dubious distinction of history’s first recorded sovereign default belongs to Greece—the same nation at the forefront of the world’s second major financial crisis in five years. The crisis raised a question: Whether the crisis is a tragedy or opportunity for Greek? I believe even Greek have taken measures to reform, this crisis would continue until Greek government come up with solutions which are not created by other countries and international institutions to protect their benefits. Trouble in Public Finance Greece faced deep economic problems.Most notorious was public-sector deficit. (See Exhibit 1) The debt-to-GDP ratio measures a country’s ability to pay off the entire debt with one year’s income, regardless of the nation’s wealth or total debt outstanding. Exhibit 4 shows the possibility that Greeck default is increasing. Two most outsized component of government expenditure were emp loyee compensation and pensions. Greek government has taken austerity measures to reduce the deficit and meet the request of the international institutions who provide financial aid to Greece. The weaknesses of the economic modelThe global economic crisis of 2008 has found the Greek economy with several fundamental weaknesses: †¢ Reliance on ‘easy money’ (such as from the stock market or property), as well as on over-inflated private consumption, which has in turn relied on loans in recent years. †¢ The disproportionately central role of construction as the ‘driving force of the economy’ dating back to the 1960s. †¢ Particularly high public debt, which remains undiminished despite the widespread privatisations of the last 20 years. †¢ Over-reliance on sectors directly affected by the international crisis, such as tourism and shipping. Excessive dependence on oil consumption, an energy-wasting, pollution-generating energy model and the pr ospect of high-cost ‘emissions rights’ from 2012 onwards. †¢ Abandonment of mountainous and disadvantaged regions, which represent two thirds of the country, and overcrowding and overuse in the remaining third. †¢ An absence of genuine protection of natural resources in sectors such as water, forest land, fisheries resources and the countryside and biodiversity. proposals to exit the crisis A fundamental priority is TO SIMULTANEOUSLY INVEST IN THE EXIT FROM ALL THREE ASPECTS OF THE CRISIS: the economic, the social and the environmental.We focus on three basic priorities in parallel with the efforts for fiscal viability and the fight against corruption and tax evasion: †¢ Sustainable revitalisation of the countryside, with emphasis in the production of biological agricultural goods, and resurgence of the local and regional level economy, including the abandoned mountainous and disadvantaged areas. †¢ Promotion and upgrade of collective goods and servi ces as compensation for the loss of purchasing power of people, in order for quality of life to become again a right for everyone as a kind of ‘parallel social wage’. Urgent turn in the energy sector to eliminate the dependence on oil and lignite, promotion of solutions alternative to car use, but also investments in energy saving and in renewable energy sources, drawn so that they offer additional incomes for the maximum possible number of households. Specific policies having these priorities need to be developed and applied in order to create funds and engage creative social forces: †¢ A just tax reform that will use the taxes as tools for encouragement or not of activities depending on their repercussions on the environment and the society. Measures for transparency and fight against corruption and tax evasion should aim at the re-establishment of a sense of social justice. †¢ Reduction of military spending and negotiations withTurkey for even larger mutual reductions. Given the Turkish candidacy for integration into the EU, it is logical to ssume that the EU should become more involved in the efforts to resolve Greek-Turkish differences. †¢ The promotion of a social and solidarity economy is of central importance to us. The reconnection with the tradition of the ‘ecology of the poor’ becomes again particularly relevant. Exhibit 1

Digital and Analog TV Essay

On February 17, 2009, the Congress of the United States mandates the full shift to digital television transmission. The law is perceived to bring several benefits to the US viewing public. Broadcast frequency bands will be available mainly for public safety purposes, for example, police and fire department concerns. Remaining portions of the old TV broadcast spectrum can be offered for technologically advanced applications such as wireless broadband. The use of digital-capable television sets allows American viewers more choices of what programs to watch, since digital broadcasts can accommodate so much more programs (Federal Communications Commission, 2008). The law is not expected to be received openly by the television viewing public, 100 percent. Since it leaves them no choice but to convert millions of TV sets from analog to digital and give up the true fidelity that analog audio signals offer. This paper aims to point out the differences of digital and analog TV. By doing so, advantages and disadvantages of each can be compared and the individual viewer can make a better choice. Robert Silva (2008) lists differences between analog TV and Digital TV. He says these these differences lie mainly in the manner of transmitting broadcasts, signal content within a bandwidth in the broadcast spectrum, and the ability to broadcast in widescreen (16Ãâ€"9) format. Transmission Analog television transmission is based on and started after World War II with black and white broadcasts. It complied with the US analog TV standard known as NTSC. After several years, color broadcasting was introduced and accommodated under the NTSC system. The video is transmitted through the AM radio band while audio is transmitted through the FM band. The reception quality depends on the distance from the television station transmitters and obstacles in between. The farther away from the transmission station the TV reception is more prone to ghosting and other video disturbances. Although analog transmission can accommodate all the technicalities of high fidelity reception, the assigned bandwidth to a television channel restricts and limits broadcast quality. Digital TV is based on modern digital technology. It was designed for BW and color broadcasts as well as audio. It handles information in the same manner as computers: on (with a binary value of â€Å"1†) or off (with a binary value of â€Å"0†). Digital broadcasts allow viewers to see uniform reception quality regardless of the distance from the transmitter. Either the digital television receives the broadcast or the TV screen remains blank (it does not receive anything at all). Signal Content Digital TV broadcasts can accommodate complete video, audio, and other information signals within the same bandwidth. Furthermore, digital television can accommodate advances in technology like High Definition (HDTV) signals. In contrast, analog TV broadcast can only send limited traditional video signals. Format The development of wide screen format programming allows the broadcast of the 16Ãâ€"9 format. Today, widescreen LCD television are getting more popular; but still expensive. It offers the advantage of portraying on the TV screen wide footages of events without the camera lens distortion caused by distances. Furthermore, the widescreen image occupies the whole digital television screen. On the other hand, analog television sets will show widescreen images with portions on top and below blacked out. The widescreen format may not be important to the regular TV viewer. For millions of television watchers, the old analog screen is good enough. Conclusion Paul Wotel (2008) gives an objective assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of both digital and analog television. Some people may opt for the old traditional analog equipment such as phones while others prefer the cordless digital phones. If you want sound fidelity, he recommends the old phones. For more advanced applications, such as the PABX systems, he recommends a digital system. The same reasoning may be applied to television sets. However, the present situation requires new priorities which did not exist before. Today, there is much concern on security and priority is given to police and fire department communications. By requiring television stations to convert to digital transmission, most of the broadcast bandwidth can be assigned to security applications. The advantages of digital television allow the viewing public to benefit from the information age we find ourselves in. Digital television can also take advantage of the internet which has become part of the lives of many, particularly the young generation. Considering the continuing evolution in information and entertainment technology we just have to follow the trend – out with old, in with the new.

Early Literacy in Education Essay

Introduction â€Å"Literacy learning has a profound and lasting effect on the social and academic lives of children. Their future educational opportunities and career choices are directly related to literacy ability. Since early childhood is the period when language develops most rapidly, it is imperative that young children are provided with a variety of developmentally appropriate literacy experiences throughout each day, and that the classroom environment is rich with language, both spoken and printed. Early childhood teachers are responsible for both understanding the developmental continuum of language and literacy and for supporting each child’s literacy development. Literacy learning begins at birth and develops rapidly during the preschool period. The main components of literacy—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—should all be encouraged and supported through conversations and activities that are meaningful to the child and that involve adults and peers. Each child’s interest and motivation to engage in literacy-related activities are evident before that child is able to read or write conventionally. Children should be provided with environments that encourage literacy exploration and their emergent reading and writing behaviors should be valued and supported by their teachers. Effective language and literacy programs provide children who do not speak English with opportunities for listening, speaking, reading, and writing in both English and the home language. It is important for the teacher to recognize the need to make modifications in the presentation of vocabulary, directions, storytelling, reading, and other oral language communication when working with children who do not speak English as their home language. These modifications may include the use of visual aids, scaffolding, repetition, rephrasing, and modeling. † (NJ Department of Education, 2009) Gone are the days in which manual labor was the backbone of our society. We are a people living in the information technology age. Everything that is done from brewing your morning cup of coffee to setting your I-pod to wake you up morning and everything in between requires reading. Without reading a person will face great adversity in day to day living let alone success. It is now critical that every child and adult be able to read and comprehend. Over the past ten years, the amount of information that requires one to read, utilize writing skills, problem solving, and critical thinking has grown enormously. Studies have shown that one of the strongest indicators of a child’s success in school is the educational attainment of his or her parents. As you can imagine, this can plainly effect more than the person who is illiterate. This can also be a death sentence of poverty and destitution as the child grows into adulthood just as doors open for the life-long reader. Today we will discuss: what is needed to prepare children to read, the methods used to help recognize phonics and begin the transition into emergent readers, and what can be done to encourage reading in the future. Preparation In order for a child to begin reading parents must begin assisting their child from an early age. â€Å"Every step a child takes toward learning to read leads to another. Bit by bit, the child builds the knowledge that is necessary for being a reader. Over their first 6 years, most children †¢Talk and listen. †¢Listen to stories read aloud. †¢Pretend to read. †¢Learn how to handle books. †¢Learn about print and how it works. †¢Identify letters by name and shape. †¢Identify separate sounds in spoken language. †¢Write with scribbles and drawing. †¢Connect single letters with the sounds they make. †¢Connect what they already know to what they hear read. †¢Predict what comes next in stories and poems. †¢Connect combinations of letters with sounds. †¢Recognize simple words in print. †¢Sum up what a story is about. †¢Write individual letters of the alphabet. †¢Write words. †¢Write simple sentences. †¢Read simple books. †¢Write to communicate. †¢Read simple books. Children can take more than one of these steps at the same time. This list of steps, though, gives you a general idea of how your child will progress toward reading. † (Helping your child become a reader) While these ideas may seem structured, it is also important to allow children to be creative and use their imagination. Although reading is imperative, too many arrangements and rules can turn a child off and lead to feelings of resentment, anger, and resistance. Reading should be set to the tone and pace of the child. Emergent Readers As the standards of education change a consistent factor remains the focus on reading. Early childhood educators must provide an atmosphere that is both developmentally stimulating to the student while also meeting the standards of education. The methods used to help recognize phonics and begin the transition into emergent readers vary from student to student. Without the foundation of phonics research shows that a child will not learn to read. All children must know the alphabet in order to communicate effectively. Phonics cannot be drilled into the child. This will only produce memorization. Instead, educators must understand a child’s individual needs as well as balance. There is no true need to teach phonics as a separate subject. Most children will develop a sense of curiosity from their own knowledge, ideas, and interest. There will of course be a select few that may benefit from a more formal instruction. When children have a reason to know this will provide enthusiasm. For example: The first letter and sound a child typically learns may be his or her own name. A teacher may ask Billy to identify the first letter of his name. â€Å"B† replies Billy. â€Å"What sound does the letter B make? † â€Å"Buh-buh-Billy exclaims the child. Billy is now inspired and driven to want to learn the other sounds the letters make. Parents and teachers must also realize that reading will contrast greatly as children grow. Below is a list that may help each parent as well as teacher: â€Å"Infants †¢Talk, read, and sing to infants–they learn from everything they see and hear even in the first stages of life. †¢Take your baby to the park, zoo, and the store with you. Bring her attention to objects, signs, and people. †¢Always make books a part of your baby’s toy selection, even if he enjoys handling books more than being read to. As your child grows, point out pictures of objects and offer their names. Eventually, your child will be able to name the pictures, too. †¢Encourage associations between symbols and their meaning–as they get closer to toddlerhood, children may begin to recognize familiar signs for products and logos for cereal or fast food restaurants. Toddlers †¢Help toddlers make the transition from baby talk to adult language by repeating their words and expressions correctly without reprimanding them. †¢Let toddlers â€Å"read† their favorite picture books by themselves while you remain close by to comment. Or, pause before a familiar word as you read to your toddler, and let her fill in the missing word. This works especially well with rhymes or repeated refrains. †¢Provide magnetic and block letters to introduce a toddler to the spelling of his name. †¢Before you take your toddler on a new type of outing, read about the events you are about to witness. Talk with your child about the experience, and follow up with further reading to reinforce learning. Preschooler †¢Add new books to your child’s collection, but keep reading old favorites. Your preschooler may know them by heart now–this represents an important step in learning about reading. †¢Continue to take children shopping with you, and let them help identify products with coupons. Let preschool children join in as you follow a recipe. †¢Take books on long trips with you to encourage reading as entertainment. School-age children †¢Continue to read to your child, even if she has learned to read already. Take turns reading pages of your favorite books. †¢Encourage story writing by listening to the stories children tell. †¢Play word games like Scrabble or Boggle with children and introduce them to crossword puzzles. † (NAEYC, 1998) Encouragement â€Å"The first step in teaching a child to read is encouraging them to read. † – Unknown. This is a proven fact in the development of children. A child that is encouraged has no limit on what he or she can achieve. As educators and parents the responsibility begins early. Reading will encourage children to develop a life-long love for learning. If knowledge is power, books are full of it. Why is reading so important to children? â€Å"The Media Awareness Network emphasizes the potentially negative effects watching television can have on kids. This includes increased exposure to violence, sexual content, and adversely affecting a child’s course of development. In addition, watching television teaches children habits that promote a sedentary lifestyle, contributing to childhood obesity. Meanwhile, reading has been proven to enhance a child’s life by assisting cognitive development and helping children build language skills. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization points out that reading helps children develop a sense of empowerment. It can also help children develop social and communication skills. Furthermore, good reading skills increase educational opportunities and may dramatically increase a child’s chances for academic and lifelong success† (Lendabarker, 2010) There is a vast assortment of options for parents to help encourage reading at home. One of the longest running programs to encourage reading is Pizza Hut’s â€Å"BOOK IT† program. â€Å"This provides an incentive to motivate children to read. BOOK IT! runs every school year from October through March. The teacher sets a reading goal for each child in the class. A tracking chart and reproducibles are included to make it that much easier. As soon as a child meets the monthly reading goal, the teacher gives him or her a Reading Award Certificate. † (Pizza Hut) Flexible BOOK IT! goals are based on reading ability. Number of books, number of pages, or number of minutes – they all work. BOOK IT! can also be used with the reading curriculum or as support for comprehension or intervention programs. For children not reading independently, the goal can be set where a parent or others read to the child. Fun Pizza Hut is proud of all BOOK IT! readers! The restaurant manager and team congratulate every child for meeting the monthly reading goal and reward them with a free, one-topping Personal Pan Pizza, BOOK IT! card and backpack clip. Other ideas to encourage reading include: †¢Make a habit of reading to your child every day, whether she is a one-year-old or a 10-year-old. †¢When your child is able to, have her read to you. You can take turns reading chapters in a simple chapter book, for example. †¢Get a library card for your child. Go to the library every week and take out several books. †¢Be aware of your child’s interests and direct your child to related books. †¢Try to find a series that she really likes and will want to continue reading. †¢Provide a comfortable reading area, with good lighting, in your home. †¢Discuss books with your child. †¢Buy books for your children that are related to their special interests. †¢If your child is a reluctant reader and not reading on grade level, buy her hi/lo books (books with a high interest level, low vocabulary). †¢Talk to your child’s teacher and ask for suggestions. †¢If your child likes incentives and the computer, enroll in an online book group. †¢If your child really enjoys a particular author, check with your librarian about other authors or books she might enjoy. †¢Children also often enjoy the opportunity to read children’s magazines As parents and educators, it is more important to spend time reading with your child on a consistent on-going basis. The method you select is not nearly as important as the time spent actually reading together. Conclusion Show me a child that can read and research will show you a child on his or her way to succeed. Parents, educators, grandparents, aunts, uncles all need to take time to read to a child. All too often parents rush out to buy the latest video game or latest toy. Where is that enthusiasm for the love of reading? How many children even see their parents read? We live in an age where technology surrounds us at every given moment; that does not negate the need to read and to take an active role in the education of children. The research speaks for itself. Reading equals succeeding. Works Cited Bagert, B. C. (1993). Helping your child learn to read. Retrieved February 25, 2010, from Kids Source: http://www. kidsource. com/kidsource/content/learread. html Lendabarker, K. (2010, January 3). Encouraging Children to Read. Retrieved February 25, 2010, from Suite101: http://earlychildhood. suite101. com/article. cfm/helping_children_develop_good_reading_habits NAEYC. (1998). Phonics and Whole Language Learning. Retrieved February 25, 2010, from Education. com: http://www. education. com/reference/article/Ref_Phonics_Whole/ NJ Department of Education. (2009, Unknown Unknown). Retrieved February 16, 2010, from www. state. nj. us: www. state. nj. us/education/cccs/2009/PreSchool. doc Pizza Hut. (n. d. ). Pizza Hut. Retrieved February 25, 2010, from Pizza Hut BOOK IT! program: http://www. bookitprogram. com/bedtimestory/ Uknown. (n. d. ). Literacy Guide. Retrieved February 24, 2010, from Bankstreet: http://www. bankstreet. edu/literacyguide/early2. html Unknown. (unknown, unknown unknown). Helping your child become a reader. Retrieved February 19, 2010, from Ed. gov: http://www2. ed. gov/parents/academic/help/reader/part4. html.

ICT has changed the way people live, work and communicate

Information Communication Technology ( ICT ) has significantly changed the manner people live, work, communicate and learn. Therefore, ICT influences many parts of our plants and lives, every bit good as many of our free clip activities. The fact is it includes a assorted figure of tools like computing machines which help to better human life. In instruction to be more specific it has been proven that ICT is a really of import portion of instruction and acquisition procedure. ICT creates new signifiers of larning that can be customized to pupils demands. Using ICT tools, such as multimedia, e-mail, synergistic presentation, CD-ROM, computing machine simulations, computing machine lab and www-based resources, can form learning so that the pupils can command the acquisition procedure. Lessons that based on the scholars ‘ accomplishments can be designed in new and more effectual ways.A Enhancing collaborative activities among pupils utilizing networked computing machine labs. Stud ents can discourse subjects specified by the teacher utilizing on-line treatment forums. Scientific surveies are going easier through computing machine simulations and ocular tools enable pupils to better understand constructs ( Morrison, Lowther and DeMeulle, 1999 ) . The integrating of ICT in the instruction sector is of import to run into the challenges presented by new tendencies, particularly with the planetary communicating of cognition. It is of import that the pupils become familiar with the construct and usage of ICT in order to fit them for future occupation market. Besides, the instructors can accomplish better quality in learning methods.A A1.2 Education system in Saudi ArabiaThe primary instruction system began in Saudi Arabia in the thirtiess. By 1945, King Abdulaziz bin Abdelrahman Al-Saud, the state ‘s laminitis, had initiated an extended plan to set up schools in the Kingdom. Six old ages subsequently, in 1951, the state had 226 schools with 29,887 pupils. In 1954, the Ministry of Education was established, headed by so Prince Fahd bin Abdulaziz as the first Minister of Education. Primary, intermediate and secondary schools are handled by the Ministry of Education, but policies sing third instruction are handled by the Minist ry of Higher Education, established in 1975 ( Ministry of Education, 2010 ) . The kindergarten in Saudi Arabia is non-mandatory. It starts when kids aged 3-6 old ages. Nurseries and kindergartens are supervised, established and developed by different sectors ; the private sector, the Ministry of Education, General Presidency for Girls Education, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Ministry of Health and governmental and private universities. The official instruction in Saudi Arabia starts from primary schools and above. A brief description for each phase is as follows: Primary schools in Saudi Arabia consist of six classs ( from age 6 to 12 ) . Get downing from this phase the male child and misss are separated in different schools. Middle schools in Saudi Arabia or intermediate schools consist of three classs ( from age 13-15 old ages old ) . In Saudi Arabia there are different sorts of secondary schools like general secondary schools, commercial, proficient and vocational secondary schools which are under The General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training. The general secondary schools consists of three classs 10, 11 and 12 ( from age 16-18 old ages old ) ( Ministry of Education, 2010 ) .1.3 ICT in Saudi ArabiaDeveloped and developing states have responded to the challenge by originating national plans to present computing machine engineering into instruction. Saudi Arabia made great paces in the countries of computing machine usage in instruction. With respect to the computing machine usage as learning stuff within the course of study of general instruction or its usage in the disposal of the educational procedure. Saudi Arabia takes the advantages of computing machines and introduced it in instruction since 1996 as a tool and course of study to heighten instruction system. Consequently, Computer l abs have been established in secondary schools to learn computing machine scientific discipline as a topic. Many undertakings were implemented beside part from private sector to the airing of computing machine civilization in line with the Ministry of Education programs ( Computer and Information Centre, 2008 ) . The Ministry of Education ten-year strategic program was established in 2004. It stated that its Information and communicating engineering ( ICT ) end is to develop the substructure of information and communicating engineering and its employment in instruction and acquisition ( Computer and Information Centre, 2008 ) . This comprehensive program for the integrating of engineering in instruction, through many undertakings such as: King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz undertaking for the development of public instruction was in 2007. It has a budget of SR 9 billion and aimed to vouch the handiness of a extremely skilled and motivated work force in the hereafter. The undertaking will get down with making a hi-tech schoolroom environment in the Kingdom in six old ages. More than 400,000 instructors will be trained to manage categories in the hi-tech manner ( Ministry of Education, 2008 ) . The Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia identified 39 stairss to implement this undertaking which includes course of study development, professional development programmes for instructors, betterment of the educational environment and the extra-curricular activities for pupils of the more than five million pupils ( Ministry of Education, 2007 ) . The execution of this undertaking required the readying of course of study, digital electronic books and educational elements of the course of study, and constructing proficient criterions integrating into the course of study, course of study development at all phases, get downing from primary through to secondary school. In fact, MOE identified nine stairss to better the educational environment including associating all schools through high-velocity digital communicating and supplying webs within schools with the necessary waiter, and supplying portable Personal computer ( laptop ) devices to each instructor for readyings and lessons. The Saudi authorities ‘s end is to intermix ICT with instruction ( Ministry of Education, 2007 ) . As a consequence, the Computer Based Labs undertaking has been established in schools across a scope of different engineerings. One of the Ministry of Education precedences is the development of Learning Resource Centre ( LRC ) in each school to supply information through ICT. LRC purpose to supply appropriate acquisition environment that allows the scholar to take advantage of several different types of beginnings of acquisition and make self-learning chances and heighten his accomplishments in research and geographic expedition, enabling the instructor to follow the modern methods in the design of the lesson and develop stuffs, execution and rating. This twelvemonth is the 3rd stage of the constitution of Learning Resource Centre in the public schools. Therefore, this undertaking contributes to increase pupils ‘ technological civilization and the effectivity of lessons. Fu rthermore, the authorities encourages the investing in E-learning or â€Å" distance instruction † to supply instruction and preparation of national workers. In short, Saudi MOE gives precedence in heightening instruction and acquisition procedure and developing educational environment with all updated engineerings.1.4 Statement of jobThe hereafter of the computing machine engineering as an educational tool which allows the interaction between the scholars and lesson, distinguishes computing machine engineering than the remainder of the educational tools that came before it. Furthermore, Banathy ( 1996 ) asserts that the integrating of computing machine engineering in learning and acquisition is an educational invention that touches all facets of a school system such as course of study, instructional patterns, learning schemes and techniques, schoolroom scenes, stuffs, resources, instructors ‘ preparation and professional development, appraisal, etc. Teachers are an of import factor in the execution of computing machine engineering integrating in instruction. Without the engagement of instructors, most pupils may non take advantage of all the available possible benefits of computing machine engineering on their ain. The educational system in Saudi Arabia keeps increasing the attending in recent old ages on developing instructors and course of study. Promoting the usage of modern learning AIDSs such as computing machines and develop instructors ‘ accomplishments. The Saudi Ministry of Education has launched ambitious programs to incorporate engineering in instruction, and attention was given to both instructors ‘ and pupils ‘ computing machine accomplishments, like set uping the Learning Resource Centres which to a great extent depending on computing machine engineering to supply information for scholars, computing machine labs and computerized scientific discipline labs to research its assorted applications in t he Fieldss of instruction ( Computer and Information Centre, 2008 ) . Teachers ‘ phases of concern about this invention are an of import component to promote instructor to incorporate computing machine engineering in their instruction. Without the cognition of instructors ‘ phase of concern in this invention it will be hard how to continue in the execution of computing machine engineering integrating in instruction and acquisition among instructors in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, because instructors play cardinal function in the diffusion of educational invention it is indispensable to cognize their phase of concern about this invention while most of the surveies investigate instructors ‘ attitudes and degree of usage of computing machine engineering in learning and larning. Besides, teacher preparedness is a cardinal to measuring a instructor ‘s ability to originate, develop or follow a given invention ; it is utile for decision makers and pedagogues to understand instructors ‘ concerns, both before and during the execution stage of an invention ( Fullan, 1999 ) . Harmonizing to Hord, Rutherford, Huling-Austin, and Hall ( 1987 ) , alteration is best carried out by single instructors, and, therefore, placing instructor concerns about an invention is indispensable in easing the acceptance procedure and besides they recommended the usage of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model ( CBAM ) to steer invention execution to a successful point of acceptance. A few surveies about instructors ‘ phases of concern in The Arabic context like Al Shammari ( 2000 ) in his survey in instructors ‘ concern about computing machine engineering execution in the intermediate schools in Kuwait. He indicates that instructors with many old ages of experience expressed higher impact concerns, while instructors with few old ages of experience reported lower ego concerns. On the other manus most of the surveies focus on one learning country like scientific discipline instructors ( Dass,1997 ) , English instructors ( Aziz,2008 ) , computing machine instructors ( Al Shammari,2000 ) and societal surveies instructors ( Al-Aghbari,2007 ) . †¦ †¦ Therefore, the job of this survey is because of the deficiency of information sing Saudi secondary schools instructors ‘ phases of concern about the integrating of computing machine engineering in learning and acquisition.1.5 Research aimsThe purpose of this research is to look into Saudi secondary school instructors ‘ phases of concern about the integrating of computing machine engineering in learning and larning. The research aims are: To place Saudi secondary school instructors ‘ phases of concern about the integrating of computing machine engineering in learning and acquisition. To place the differences between Saudi secondary school instructors ‘ phases of concern about the integrating of computing machine engineering in learning and larning in footings of learning experience. To place the differences between Saudi secondary school instructors ‘ phases of concern about the integrating of computing machine engineering in learning and larning in footings of country of learning country.1.6 Research inquiriesThe information of this survey will be analyzed to reply the undermentioned inquiries: What is Saudi secondary school instructors ‘ phases of concern about the integrating of computing machine engineering in learning and larning? Is there a important difference between Saudi secondary school instructors ‘ phases of concern about the integrating of computing machine engineering in learning and larning in footings of learning experience? Is there a important difference between Saudi secondary school instructors ‘ phases of concern about the integrating of computing machine engineering in learning and larning in footings of learning country?1.7 Significance of the surveyDeriving an grasp of the instructors ‘ phases of concern about the integrating of computing machine engineering for learning and larning may supply utile penetrations into engineering integrating and use of engineering in learning and larning. It is expected that the consequences of the research will steer future research and development in the state and sketch the importance of the usage of information and communicating engineering in instruction for instructors, pupils, and decision-makers. Besides, this research will lend to the research on instructors ‘ concerns about the acceptance of an invention. The findings of this survey can assist the facilitators of alteration to do appropriate determinations on when and how to supply support to single instructors during the execution of ICT integrating in Saudi instruction.1.8 Restrictions of the surveyThis survey is conducted with the undermentioned restrictions: it is applied in Saudi general secondary schools in Al-Hassa state. The private general secondary schools, the proficient and vocational establishments and the schools in rural country are non included in this survey. Another restriction of this survey that the sample is from the male childs ‘ Secondary schools instructors merely because the educational system in Saudi Arabia is gender-based. Data will be collected from Secondary schools instructors in Al-Hassa state in Saudi Arabia by utilizing lone Phases of Concern Questionnaire ( SoCQ ) as a study instrument of this survey. Therefore, the consequences from this survey can non be generalized to all the Saudi secondary schools.1.9 Operational definitionsSaudi Secondary school instructors: this refers to instructors who teach in the 3rd phase of general instruction system in Saudi Arabia. This phase consists of classs ( 10-11-12 ) where the pupils are in the age from age 16-18 old ages old. Teachers in this survey are in different learning countries. Computer engineering: This term refers to the full scope of digital hardware and package used to back up instruction and acquisition across the course of study, runing from desktops, laptops, handheld computing machines and applications, local web and the cyberspace to digital peripherals such as cameras, scanners and adaptative devices. It does non include older parallel media such as movies ( Centre for Applied Research in Technology Education, 2005 ) . The integrating of Computer engineering: The incorporation of engineering resource ( computing machines and specialised package, network-based communicating system and other equipment and substructure ) and technology-based pattern into day-to-day modus operandis, work and direction of schools ( Christensen,1997 ; US Department of Education,2002 ) . It refers to the usage of computing machine engineering to heighten instruction and better the pupils larning ( Baker, 2003 ) . Phases of concern: It refers to the phases of concern in CBAM which includes Awareness, Informational, Personal, Management, Consequences, Collaboration and Refocusing.