Is Media Biased or Unbiased?

Year 1998 stuns our nation and naturally the whole world with the sensational news of the year: Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. But there is another story linked to it. It’s about Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff who happens to be the first reporter to get hold of information on Clinton’s affair with Monica, but to his utter disappointment, even though he has evidence to his claim, his editors refuse to print his story. Somehow Matt Drudge, Internet political gossip columnist, gets hold of it and offers a package of two scoops; the Lewinsky affair and Newsweek cover up.(Grimes, Online Edition) Now the question arises why Newsweek editors refuse to expose the scandalous story of the year? Is it fear of President’s power or is there some kind of alliance with him? Is in a democratic nation like America Media is so biased? I will try to espouse the following question in context to the various media reports that has been appearing since last seven to e ight years and how the biased reporting is being openly covered by various media outlets?Eric Alterman, a cultural critic and an author of ‘What Liberal Media’, gives the answer to this question? â€Å"The current historical moment in American Journalism is hardly a happy one. Journalists trying to do honest work are finding themselves under siege from several sides simultaneously. Corporate conglomerates increasingly view journalism as â€Å"software†, valuable only insofar as it contributes to the bottom line. In the mad pursuit for audience and advertisers, the quality of the news itself becomes degraded, leading journalists to alternating fits of self-loathing and self-pity.Meanwhile, they face an administration with a commitment to secrecy unmatched in modern U.S history. And to top it all, conservative organizations and media outlets lie in wait, eager to pounce on any journalist who tries to give voice to almost any uncomfortable truth about influential A merican institutions (in other words, to behave as an honest reporter) throwing out the old but effective accusation of â€Å"liberal bias† in order to protect powerful from scrutiny†. (Alterman, Online Edition: 4)It is absolutely true if we delve into the current scenario; journalists are finding themselves under pressure from political leaders, police officials and dignitaries forcing them to churn out the news items according to their needs and aspirations.   And it is so surprising to hear that even media outlets are themselves using journalists as objects of their own desires, giving the truth but molding it into the fashion of the influential American institutions.Yet, another story that is making us ponder into the depth of bias reporting in media is the continuous statements of President Bush after September 11, 2001 attacks on World Trade Center. In his fifty minutes speech in a press conference in March 2003, he mentions fourteen times of the connection of a lQaeda and Iraq with the attacks of Sept. 11, 2003. Still no body questions him even though CIA hasn’t put forward any evidence that states any links of AlQaeda with the Iraq attacks.Brent Cunningham, a professor of Journalism, goes to the extent of saying that it appears as President himself has hinted them to write on this subject to justify his action because reporting on aftermath of war even before it occurs is difficult and speculative. (Cunningham, Online Edition) This shows journalists are being molded to meet the needs of politicians. In Oct. 2001, CNN chairman, Walter Isaacson, during a war in Afghanistan sends a memo to his foreign correspondents implicitly stating,   â€Å"to balance reports of Afghan casualties or hardship,† with reminders to viewers that this was, after all, in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept 11.† (Cunningham, Online Edition)But we should not ignore this fact also that the story, which is biased for one can be unbiased f or the other. It’s a most controversial subject in the arena of the journalism world of today because the essence and the nature of the news demand its peculiar perspective. In other words, Journalists carry the stories according to the situation and circumstances in which incidents are unfolding. If any murder has taken place, and the police gets a clue of the murderer, but its not yet proved, journalists can run the story in the following manner as for e.g. â€Å"In a day light on the streets of New Oakland, a man was found murdered.Further investigations revealed that a middle aged man Michael is supposed to be man behind this gruesome murder.† Though no concrete proof has been found out yet the name of Michael appears. The appearance of this name only in print or in electronic media can damage his reputation. But Journalists have to give what they have been told by the police or what they have seen in front of their eyes. This is just one aspect of the bias reporti ng that Journalists can go into or being alleged of having entered into but there is one another angle also of bias reporting. Liberals too are accusing media of being pro conservatives and this question has been under debate thousand times and is still being under continuous discussions.Studies conducted by Media Matters for America reveals, â€Å"Sixty percent of the nation's daily newspapers print more conservative syndicated columnists every week than progressive syndicated columnists. In a given week, nationally syndicated progressive columnists are published in newspapers with a combined total circulation of 125 million. Conservative columnists, on the other hand, are published in newspapers with a combined total circulation of more than 152 million.†(Media Matters For America, Online Edition) Many columnists or reporters have been fired or disciplined because they go ahead with their stories criticizing republicans and placing them in poor light for sake of propagandiz ing for the Democrats.Many cases have also come to light when whole program is stopped from airing because one group or party doesn’t want it to be aired. On 30th April 2004, Sinclair Broadcast Group prohibits its affiliates from airing the Nightline program in which Ted Koppel recites the names of 721 U.S. women and servicemen killed in the Iraq War. This act deprives viewers in eight cities of their right to information and the reason he gives is, â€Å"program appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq.† (Rothschild, Online Edition)This is one of the biggest examples of disservice to the viewers and came to be known as rightwing media bias as lamented by Democrats. Even he orders his news personnel to read patriotic statements at its Baltimore station in support of President Bush after September 11. This is all because he shares a great rapport and friendship with President Bush. In this way, they try to hide the facts from public to justify the decision of Bush to invade Iraq.Hereby, one question comes to the forefront? If we allege Media undertaking bias reporting, then is there any infringement to the right to information and right to express views? Every human being has been enshrined the right to express views and right to information in a democratic set up. If we go by this statement then no news and no views expressed by reporters shall be termed as biased but this is happening and the answer to this is simple. If any report or a story appearing in media infringes personal rights or harms some ones reputation and if some story of national interest is fulfilling the interests of any personal party or organization or person belonging to higher authoritative level is termed as Biased.In 2001, the very next day after the attacks on World Trade Center, Ann Coulter, syndicated columnist spurs out her anguish through her words â€Å"we should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.† This is nothing else than the extreme case of bias reporting increasing the chances of religious disturbances and religious warfare. (Washington Monthly, Online edition)But all in all, everything is not bad in this world; there are several media outlets that are delivering unbiased news and views taking national interest into consideration. As Cunningham also states that, â€Å"but must mainstream reporters by and large are not ideological warriors. They are imperfect people performing a difficult job that is crucial to society.Letting them write what they know and encouraging them to dig toward some deeper understanding of thing is not biased, it is essential. Reporters should be free, as Daniel Bice says, to â€Å"call it as we see it, but not to be committed one side or the other.† Their professional values make them, Herbert Grans argues, akin reformers, and they should embrace that aspect of what they do, not hide it for fear of being slapped with a bias charge. And when actual bias seeps in–as it surely will–the self-policing the newsroom must be vigorous.† (Cunningham, Online Edition)Eric Alterman hits hard at the way reporters are filing the news and are being treated as software and are being used according to the whims of the powerful but Cunningham in a quite positive note encourages the reporters to carry on their duty without any fear and with full freedom and choice. Journalism is the noblest profession and people look at media to express their views and grievances. Media is voice of the people, by the people and for the people therefore media need to write the stories in a responsible way taking the sensitivity and the interest of the masses into view.WORKS CITEDAlterman, Eric. â€Å"What Liberal Media?† The Nation. Internet   (February 24, 2003) Available: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030224/alterman2/4, 25 November 2007.Cunningham, Brent. â€Å"Rethinking Objective Journalism† Columbia Journalism Review July 8, 2003. Internet (2004) Available: http://www.environmentwriter.org/scienceandthenews/docs/cunningham.htm,25 November 2007.Grimes, Linda Sue. â€Å"Media Bias† bellaonline.com Internet. Available: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32136.asp, 25 November 2007.Media Matters For America. â€Å"Black and White and Re(a)d All Over: The Conservative Advantage in Syndicated Op-Ed Columns† mediamatters.org Internet. Available: http://mediamatters.org/reports/oped/ 25 November 2007.Rothschild, Matthew. â€Å"This is Media Bias† The Progressive (Saturday, May 1, 2004) Available: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0501-03.htm, 25 November 2007.Washington Monthly. â€Å"The Wisdom of Ann Coulter† washingtonminthly.com Internet (October 2001) Available: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0111.coulterwisdom.html,25 November 2007

The Compare and Contrast Microsoft DOS with UNIX

As is suggestive of its name, an operating system (OS) is a collection of programs that operate the personal computer (PC). Its primary purpose is to support programs that actually do the work one is interested in, and to allow competing programs to share the resources of the computer. However, the OS also controls the inner workings of the computer, acting as a traffic manager which controls the flow of data through the system and initiates the starting and stopping processes, and as a means through which software can access the hardware and system software. In addition, it provides routines for device control, provides for the management, scheduling and interaction of tasks, and maintains system integrity. It also provides a facility called the user interface which issues commands to the system software. Utilities are provided for managing files and documents created by users, development of programs and software, communicating between users with other computer systems and managing user requirements for programs, storage space and priority. There are a number of different types of operating systems with varying degrees of complexity. A system such as DOS can be relatively simple and minimalistic, while others, like UNIX, can be somewhat more complicated. Some systems run only a single process at a time (DOS), while other systems run multiple processes at once (UNIX). In reality, it is not possible for a single processor to run multiple processes simultaneously. The processor of the computer runs one process for a short period of time, then is switched to the next process and so on. As the processor executes millions of instructions per second, this gives the appearance of many processes running at once. User programs are usually stored on a hard disk and need to be loaded into memory before being executed. This presents the need for memory management, as the memory of the computer would need to be searched for a free area in which to load a users program. When the user was finished running the program, the memory consumed by it would need to be freed up and made available for another user when required (CIT). Process scheduling and management is also necessary, so that all programs can be executed and run without conflict. Some programs might need to be executed more frequently than others, for example, printing. Conversely, some programs may need to be temporarily halted, then restarted again, so this introduces the need for inter-program communication. In modern operating systems, we speak more of a process (a portion of a program in some stage of execution (CIT, 3)) than a program. This is because only a portion of the program is loaded at any one time. The rest of the program sits waiting on the disk until it is needed, thereby saving memory space. UNIX users speak of the operating system as having three main parts: the kernel, the shell and the file system. While DOS users tend not to use the term kernel and only sometimes use the term shell, the terms remain relevant. The kernel, also known as the â€Å"Real Time Executive†, is the low-level core of the OS and is loaded into memory right after the loading of the BIOS whenever the system is started. The kernel handles the transfer of data among the various parts of the system, such as from hard disk to RAM to CPU. It also assigns memory to the various system-level processes that occur whenever the computer does anything. The kernel is also responsible for scheduling the CPU†s operations and for letting the shell access the CPU (PC Mag, 1). The shell is the visible user interface to the OS and is a program that loads on top of the operating system and offers users commands that lets them access the OS. Strictly speaking, the shell is an input utility that offers access to the operating system. Technically speaking, the shell, being a separate program, is not a part of the OS at all. In the UNIX world a number of shells are available, among them the Korn shell, the C-shell, the Bourne shell and the Bourne Again shell (yes, really). In DOS, the standard shell is COMMAND. COM, again nothing more than a program. As different versions of command. com came with different versions of DOS, each added new commands and new things that could be done by the user. For example, DOS 4†³s COMMAND. COM added theP switch to DEL to verify each deletion, and DOS 5†³s COMMAND. COM provided the ability to sort the output of the DIR command. An acronym for disk operating system, the term DOS can refer to any operating system, but is most often used as shorthand for MS-DOS. Originally developed by Microsoft for IBM, MS-DOS was the standard operating system for IBM-compatible computers. The initial version of DOS was somewhat uncomplicated and resembled another operating system called CP/M. Subsequent versions have become increasingly sophisticated, however DOS remains a 16-bit operating system without support for multiple users or multitasking. The earliest forms of DOS were crude and utilized only a few commands, but as computers became more advanced, so did DOS. By keeping up with technology, DOS was implemented into more â€Å"user friendly† operating systems. However, as more sophisticated operating systems were released, DOS became less important. Today, cyberpunks involved with the latest OS trends joke that DOS stands for ‘Dad†s Operating System†Ã¢â‚¬  (Comerford, 23). In 1980, IBM asked the Microsoft Corporation to produce the operating system for its first personal computer, the IBM PC. Prior to this, a company called Seattle Computer Products had sold an operating system called 86-DOS to Microsoft. Microsoft hired the author of 86-DOS, Tim Paterson, in April of 1981 to modify the system, and renaming it MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System), it was released with the IBM PC. Thereafter, most manufacturers of personal computers licensed MS-DOS as their operating system (Brittanica, 1). Limitations of the early PC†s hardware were a big influence on MS-DOS. Although the 8088 model computer had a 1Mb address space, IBM decided to allocate the first 640K of this to RAM, and the rest to ROMs, video boards and other things. Consequently, MS-DOS was set up to support programs whose maximum size was 640K. Version 1. 0 of DOS was released along with the IBM PC in August 1981. It occupied 12K of the systems 640K of memory, was somewhat compatible with CP/M and, much like CP/M, supported only a single directory. By contrast, even the first version of UNIX had a full hierarchical file system. In addition, Version 1. 0 supported only a 160K single sided 51/4-inch floppy diskette. Version 1. 1 was released by Microsoft in October 1982 and supported double sided 320K diskettes. Aside from fixing some bugs, this release was similar to Version 1. 0. Releases such as 1. 1, in which the number to the left of the decimal point is the same as the previous version depict relatively minor changes from the previous release. By contrast, Version 2. 0 was largely a new system. In March 1983, IBM introduced the PC/XT, its first personal computer with a hard disk. It came with a new variant of MS-DOS, Version 2. 0. In this version, Microsoft incorporated many ideas from the UNIX system for which it was also a vendor. For example, incorporating minor changes, the MS-DOS file system was taken largely from UNIX. In addition, the shell was improved, and Version 2. 0 supported a new floppy diskette format, the 360K as well as user installable device drivers, print spooling, system configuration and memory management. At this point, MS-DOS was established as the dominant operating system in PC market. In August 1984, IBM released its first 286 chip based PC, the PC/AT. The PC/AT supported memory up to 16 Mb and had the ability to run multiple programs at once. However, the version of MS-DOS that shipped with the PC/AT was 3. 0, which supported neither of these. Rather, it ran the PC/AT in a mode that simulated the 8088, only faster. Since the PC/AT came with a 1. 2Mb disk drive, battery backup clock, and configuration information in the CMOS, support for these devices was added. What's more, hard disks larger that 10Mb were now supported. In addition, the command processor (shell) was removed from the operating system and made into a separate program. In November 1984, 3. 0 was replace by 3. 1 which provided the first support for networking. In 1987, IBM came out with the PS/2 line of PC which shipped with MS-DOS 3. 3, providing support for both 720K and 1. 44Mb 31/3 floppy disk drives. With Version 4. 0, Microsoft added the DOS shell, a menu driven shell rather than the previous keyboard driven ones. In addition, it now provided support for hard drives larger than 32 Mb. A major new release, MS-DOS Version 5. 0 was shipped in April 1991. Although this was the first version that made any serious use of the extended memory, it still had the restrictions that programs could not exceed 640K. However, it had the ability to locate most of MS-DOS itself in extended memory, so about 600K of the lower 640K was now available for user programs. Version 5. 0 also came with a useful HELP utility, to aid new users. For the first time, MS-DOS was sold in stores to the public (previous versions were only sold to computer vendors who delivered them with their machines) (CIT, 1-3). The MS-DOS 6 family provided more memory management for applications such as Microsoft Windows. In addition, newer utilities were provided for disk-defragmentation, file compression, file backups and anti-virus checking. Other variations of MS-DOS exist, such as PC-DOS by IBM, DOS-V, Dr. DOS and others. There is even a FREE DOS available on the Internet as an MS-DOS clone. Although it can still be found on many computers, MS-DOS is technically an obsolete operating system, being replaced by Microsoft Windows. For personal computers, MS-DOS is a single user, single tasking operating system. Single user means only one person uses the computer at a time. Single tasking means that it essentially runs one application program at a time, and has no inherent support for running more than one application program simultaneously (CIT, 2). If we want to look at the basic DOS operating system itself, there is no need to look further than three system files, command. com, Io. sys and (in DOS6. x and earlier) Msdos. sys. These files are crucial in DOS versions up to 6. 22. Io. sys represents the lowest level of the interface and contains the routines necessary for interfacing the OS with the system†s BIOS. It implements MS-DOS as seen by the hardware and has default drivers for console display and keyboard, printer, serial communications, clock, and a boot disk drive. Msdos. sys handles the higher-level routines such as converting commands from applications into instructions for Io. sys. It implements MS-DOS as seen by application programs. It supports file and record management, memory management, character device input and output, execution of other programs, and access to a real-time clock (CIT, 3). Both of these files are in the root directory, and both are hidden from view by default. The idea is that you are not suppose to see them, so that you don†t do anything destructive to them (such as deleting them). They are also read-only so that they can†t be deleted accidentally. Command. com is the shell program which interprets user commands, presents the shell prompt, and contains a set of internal commands. The rest of MS-DOS consists of a number of utility programs. Although DOS had cornered the PC market, UNIX was still dominant on the larger workstations. The birth of UNIX in 1969 provided the world with its first modern operating system. An interactive multi-user operating system, UNIX was initially developed by programmers for their own use. Working for Bell Laboratories, Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie created UNIX as an operating system for the PDP-7 computer. Designed as a simplification of an operating system named Multics, UNIX was developed in Assembly language, a primitive computer language specific to one type of machine (Osiris, 1). However, Thompson developed a new programming language â€Å"B† which Ritchie enhanced to â€Å"C†, and in 1973 this was used to rewrite UNIX which lended the OS portability (Linux Intl. , 1). The original design philosophy for UNIX was to distribute functionality into small parts, the programs (Theochem, 1). In this way, functionality could be achieved by combining the small parts (programs) in new ways. Moreover, if a new program were to appear, it could be integrated into the system. UNIX was slow to catch on outside of academic institutions but soon was popular with businesses as well. The first five versions were part of an internal research effort of Bell Labs, and it was not until the sixth version, called UNIX Timesharing Sixth Edition V, that UNIX was widely distributed (Osiris, 1). Relatively recent developments are graphical interfaces (GUI) such as MOTIF, X Windows and Open View. UNIX has two major versions. One, jointly developed by UNIX Systems Laboratories (USL) and by AT&T researchers together with Bell Labs, generically known as System V, is the commercial version and is the most widely distributed by major manufacturers. The second, developed by the University of Berkley and Berkley Software Distribution (BSD), is the educational version and is completely focused on research. The USL version is now on its fourth release, or SVR4, while BSD†s latest version is 4. However, there are many different versions of UNIX besides these two. The operating system has been licensed to several manufacturers who in turn developed their own versions of UNIX, based on System V or BSD, but adding new characteristics. Most versions of UNIX developed by software companies are derived from one of the two groupings and, recent versions of UNIX actually incorporate features from both of them. However, UNIX has had an unregulated history with over 200 versions (Berson, 16) existing today. The UNIX system is made up of three primary components, the kernel, the shell, and the utilities (which includes the file system). The central part of the OS, the kernel is the first program to start when the system is turned on and the last program to do anything when the system is halted. In addition to scheduling tasks, it manages data/file access and storage, enforces security mechanisms and performs all hardware access. The name â€Å"KERNEL† represents the fact that it is a program designed as a central nucleus, around which other functions of the system were added. The heart of the operating system, it not only interacts directly with the system†s hardware, but presents each user with a prompt, interprets commands typed by a user, executes user commands and supports a custom environment for each user. The two most common shells are the Bourne shell, default for the System V, and the C-shell used mainly with the BSD version (Osiris, 1). The utilities consist of file management (rm, cat, ls, rmdir, mkdir), user management (passwd, chmod, chgrp), process management (kill, ps) and printing (lp, troff, pr).

A Plan to Decrease the Dropout Rate among School Students

A Plan to Decrease the Dropout Rate among School Students SCENERIO ABC High School has seen a dramatic increase in the number of students who are choosing to drop out of school over the past decade. The reasons are limitless. They range from failure to identify students who may be at risk of dropping out, to inadequate academic programming to accommodate at risk students, to lack of parental concern and involvement. Therefore, the Academic Council has developed a comprehensive plan that will address the issue of the student dropout rate and provide goals and actions to take to decrease the dropout rate among our high school students. For the purpose of this writing, dropout rate is defined as the rate at which students withdraw from school during grades nine through twelve and who do not attain a General Education Degree (GED). TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Scenario Table of Contents Demographics Background Statement of the Problem Members of Planning Committee: Leadership Team Initial Meeting and Future Meetings Mission Belief/Statement Paramet ers Scanning Tools SWOT Analysis Literature Review Goals Strategic Communication to Share Plan Action Teams Action Plans Communication of Results/Outcomes Future Recommendations References/Bibliography Appendix/Appendices DEMOGRAPHICS ABC High School is located at 1234 School Way, Your Town, GA; a rural area in the North Georgia mountains. The student population is comprised of the following: Enrollment 1997 Students per Teacher Ratio 16.4:1 Economically Disadvantaged 51.3% Breakdown by Ethnicity for Students – White 84.0% Black 0.4% Hispanic 13.7% Asian/Pacific Islander 0.5% American Indian/Alaska Native 0.2% Number of students eligible for free and/or reduced meals 1116 Number of teachers 128 Degrees held by teachers Bachelor’s Degree 45.1% Master’s Degree 34.2% Master’s Degree + 30 Hours 15.3% Doctoral Degree 2.7% Description of organization Began in 1934 with 300 students and 13 teachers Eight classrooms Small library Office A partial basement housed classrooms for agriculture and science classes Description of community Businesses in area Automotive repair Carpet industry Computer and electronics Food and dining Home – indoor/outdoor Real estate Travel and recreation Business services Community services Finance Health and personal care Legal Shopping Religious entities 26 churches in ABC High School area Baptist (includes Southern Baptist, Free Will Baptist, Missionary Baptist, Independent Baptist), Methodist, Pentecostal, and Non-Denominational Other educational facilities 1 four-year college within 30 miles of ABC High School Community celebrations (what’s important in this area) Sporting events Town festivals Parent educational levels Number of people who have achieved the following levels of education: No high school 3316 Some high school 4601 Some college 3726 Associates Degree 967 Bachelor’s Degree 1321 Graduate Degree 695 BACKGROUND The dropout rate among high school students has steadily increased o ver the past decade. In several of the largest school systems across the country half of the students are dropping out (Thomas and Date, 2006). Some of the contributing factors to this increase are a lack of appropriate measures to identify students who may be at risk of dropping out, a lack of adequate and appropriate programs that will foster academic achievement for at-risk high school students, and a failure to educate parents on the importance of their participation in the education process of their child. What events have occurred over the past decade that affected the dropout rate? There are less stringent consequences for students who do not attend school, as well for parents who do not actively participate in the educational progress of their child. There is a decrease in parental involvement, due in part to mothers returning to the workforce. There is an increase in the occurrence of teen pregnancy and teen parenthood.

Financial accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Financial accounting - Essay Example Return kind of ratios represents the ability of a company to measure its overall efficiency more so in generating the returns to the shareholders. On the other hand, ratios that indicate margin illustrate the ability of the company to translate its sales dollars into profits. This therefore implies that the main purpose of profitability ratios is to measure the ability of a company to generate its earnings relative to assets, equity and sales. Liquidity ratios indicates the ability of a company to meet or pay off its short term debt obligations or short term liabilities as they fall due. It indicates the company’s low default risk in case the ratios are more than one. The company’s current ratio is increasing over time indicating that the company’s ability is increasing as well. This means that the company is able to meet its short term liabilities with ease hence it is having a high performance. The company’s quick ratio is less than one implying that its most liquid assets are not enough to meet its short term obligations. This means that the company is over-leveraged, collecting its receivables slowly, paying its bills too quickly or struggling to grow or maintain sales. However, the trend indicates an increase in the company’s most liquid assets evidenced by increase in quick ratio. Efficiency ratio assist the company to measure how effectively it is utilizing its assets and or how well its liabilities are managed. These ratios show how efficient the assets of a business are working to generate sales. They therefore assist a business manager conduct business better. They show how quickly a company’s money from credit sales is collected or the number of times a company’s inventory turns over. Their main purpose is therefore to show how effective the management of the company is. The company has a high turnover ratios meaning that it is using few assets to generate more revenue hence it is very efficient in its

Teachers being forced into early retirement Essay

Teachers being forced into early retirement - Essay Example This is the primary aim of teaching. And it is constitutionally justified that it is every person’s basic right to learn. Great teachers are rare. Majority would just make a career out of it because of lineage (a family profession), interest in children, or as a last career to pursue before finally retiring. A good teacher possesses an aptitude or a native capacity for teaching (Salandanan, 11). Kindness, creativity, and a genuine love for children are just some of the endearing traits of a great mentor. A more exceptional teacher would be one who is able to guide a student with intensity and much enthusiasm to make him/her discover his passion, and push him/her to go for it. But what if a good teacher retires? An early retirement option among teachers is now being much publicized and campaigned about to cut on budget costs of maintaining higher paid, senior-level education personnel. Most states in the US are now adopting the early retirement program because it is said to be the more advantageous option in terms of cutting expenses in budget allocations. Teachers should not be forced into early retirement. Early retirement should be voluntary and never forced. If a teacher is still capable of practicing this profession even beyond retirement age, then he/she should be allowed to do so. There are numerous reasons for this claim and these are as follows: * There will be a shortage of teachers as the population continues to boom in the coming years. By the year 2011, the world population is expected to reach 7 Billion (World Population). The increase in population is expected as the world population continues to rise. Parallel to this, there will be a corresponding increase in the population of school age children, hence, this will necessitate an increase in the need for education professionals. Despite efforts exerted by the government sector to limit population growth through various means like

London Millennium Footbridge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

London Millennium Footbridge - Essay Example The bridge is a natural expression of structural engineering and architecture but a city center footbridge is equally about people and the environment; in short, a piece of public architecture. The bridge gives the pedestrians unique views of London, free from traffic and high above the Thames. In September 1996, a competition was organized by a London-based newspaper the Financial Times and London Borough of Southwark to design a new Footbridge across the River Thames. The idea behind the competition was to get the best design in every aspect, therefore, the teams participating in the design were structured to have an engineer, an architect, and an artist. More than 200 teams participated and the competition was won by Arup (engineer), Foster (architect) and Sir Anthony Caro (Sculptor). The height restrictions and the view of the bridge required an innovative design which was provided in the form of a design which included some unusual practices; the suspension design had supporting cables below the deck level. This innovative design was given the name ‘blade of light’ by its designers. A modular design in which several structural members and components can be repeated in the structure, thus reducing the fabrication costs. This can also simplify the maintenance after the construction and allows easy execution of the construction phase. A major issue was the provision of planning advice for gaining the necessary approvals to construct a new river crossing in the heart of London. Moreover, ways of generating the finances for the bridge were also to be considered while designing the bridge. The bridge design is a shallow suspension bridge in which the view behind the bridge is facilitated by keeping the suspension cables below the bridge deck. The bridge is supported on two river piers through two groups of four 120mm diameter locked coil cables which span from one bank to the other.

Surgical lesion infection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Surgical lesion infection - Essay Example Preoperative hair removal is one of the risk factors associated with surgical site infection frequency. Orsi, Ferraro and Franchi (2005) discovered that hair removal using razor has a higher risk of surgical site infections. The use of clipping or depilatory creams is considered to be a better option. Furthermore, hair removal should be carried out immediately before surgery in order to decrease the risk of SSI. Tanner, Woodings and Moncaster (2006) also tested the hypothesis that preoperative hair removal is the cause of surgical site infection (SSI) in patients. However, the results demonstrated no dissimilarity in SSI between patients who have had undergone hair removal before surgery and those who have not. This study also supported the view that removal of hair using depilatory creams or clipping results in a few cases of SSI as compared to hair removal by with the help of a razor. Duggal , Beaumont and Jenkinson (2002) assert that it is essential to prevent and control infectio n in order to promote a safe environment which is a chief requirement of health care expert during clinical practice. Patients who are hospitalized are more likely to develop infections which can be due to organ transplantation, persistent procedures, immune suppressive drugs, etc. Damani (2003) states that nosocomial infections are the outcome of microbial growth in health care settings and negligence in procedures of infection control along with a weakened immunity system of patients. Bdareen (2011) explains that a study by WH shows high rates of nosocomial infections in ICUs and orthopedic and surgical wards. The common infections acquired in hospitals are urinary tract infection, infections of the gastrointestinal tract, skin and soft tissue disease, septicemia and infection of the lower respiratory tract. Widespread organisms are the general cause of most nosocomial infections. For instance, coliforms are the cause of urinary tract infections, S.aureus is the reason behind woun d infections, pneumonia is due to S.pneumonae and the most serious and fatal septicemia is due to S.aureus, S.epidermidis and coliforms. Hospital-Acquired versus Community-Acquired Bacteria. Online image. Available from

Financial Analysis Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Financial Analysis Report - Essay Example The auto industry is one of the largest and most profitable industries in the world. There are over one billion vehicles worldwide and in the United States there are approximately 240 million cars (Tencer, 2011). These vehicles often breakdown and require maintenance. Due to the massive amount of vehicles in the United States there is a huge demand for auto parts. One of the biggest players in the auto parts industry is AutoZone. AutoZone has been in business for over 30 years. The organization was founded in 1979. The company is committed to providing the best parts, prices and customer service in the automotive aftermarket industry (Autozoneinc, 2012). The company believes in the value of providing great service in order to increase its customer retention rate. Based on Pareto’s 80/20 rule firms obtain 80% of their business from 20% of their customers (Hafner, 2001). AutoZone is a publicly traded company sold in the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AZO. The stock as of August 3, 2012 was selling at a price of $360.33 (Yahoo). The firm began to sell its stocks in the open market in 1991. The market capitalization of the company is $13.71 billion. Market capitalization is calculated by dividing total stocks outstanding by market price. The company is a member of the Fortune 500. The fact that AutoZone is a publicly traded company gives this firm an advantage in this industry due to the fact that the company always has the option of releasing a secondary stock offering to raise capital. The auto parts industry is extremely fragmented with thousands of independent auto parts stores across the nation. AutoZone has grown a lot since its inception 33 years ago. The company today is the market leader in the auto parts industry in the United States of America. The corporate headquarters of AutoZone are located at 123 S. Front St. Memphis, TN 38103 (Ecorporateoffices, 2012). The auto parts chain

Should Japanese Yen be appreciated or depreciated against U.S. Dollar Research Paper

Should Japanese Yen be appreciated or depreciated against U.S. Dollar - Research Paper Example Over the years owing to crisis US has adopted unconvincing monetary policies as a measure for bailout and recovering from the miserable economic situation. This has made dollars almost worthless. Under such circumstances Japan has also adopted the mechanism of quantitative easing leading to appreciation of Japanese Yen. But it has not helped the Japanese economy much. Credit growth has been on the slower side (Zarathustra). Taking this as backdrop the paper intends to trace out the effective exchange rate policy for Japanese economy, whether it should be appreciation or depreciation, and citing various reasons and arguments for it. Japanese Yen is such a powerful currency that it has appreciated even under conditions of quantitative. This phenomenon has continued in Japanese economy for 10 years. In contrast there has been depreciation of Pound Sterling by almost 50 percent of Yen. Depreciation list includes many other important currencies like Euro. Japan has also maintained a low interest rate of 1.092% even in the era of debt crisis. But the ongoing recession has caused economic growth in Japan on the slower side. This has deleveraged private enterprises. This requires Japan to reconsider and frame an effective exchange rate that can lead to economic growth (Zarathustra; Japan Intervenes to Tame Soaring Yen Ahead of G20). New York has suffered a fall in recent times which had raised questions on status of US recovery. But ultimately it has been to recover to 88 yen as per the current Tokyo deals. Tokyo has brought back dollars recently and this had helped United States in overcoming recent downturns (Dollar recovers to 88 yen zone in Tokyo after sharp falls in N.Y. +). Currently Japanese Yen is going at 0.0128086 USD. Data from the months in 2011 gives the lowest value as 0.0122797 USD which was for the month of July and the highest value of 0.0131979 USD was traced for the month of October. Average has remained at 0.0129061

Liturgy Essay on Religion and Theology Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Liturgy on Religion and Theology - Essay Example The term Liturgy simply refers to the religious performances made by the Christian community publically; it also includes prayers and worshipping, feasts and communion, i.e. Sacrament of the Eucharist. The feast is attributed to the Last Supper taken by Holy Jesus Christ in the Upper portion of Zion, where he declared bread as his body, and wine (or water) as his blood (Anderson, 2005, pp. 302-303). It is therefore, every newly baptised, newly married and recently repentant receives Communion from the Church minister as a holy feast associated with Christ. According to the Coptic Orthodox Church, â€Å"the Sacrament of Communion is a Holy Sacrament by which the believer eats the Holy Body and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, presented by the Bread and Wine. This Sacrament has the greatest importance among the Seven Church Sacraments.† Since the Communion maintains imperative significance, as Christ has declared that â€Å"He who eats My Flesh, and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him† (John 6:56), it is revered and observed by the Christians en masse wherever they work, reside and migrate.    Liturgy seeks its roots in earliest Christian era; the apostles, saints and true followers of earliest centuries A.D. celebrated the same in the light of the Biblical teachings and the noble sayings of Jesus Christ. As a result, the worshipping rites are accepted and embraced by the future generations without violating any aspect related to its fundamental principles. Kavanagh notices that â€Å"the apostles did it, and so did the Fathers of the Church and her pastors far into the Middle Ages† (1982, p.3). However, some of the critics are of the opinion that liturgy is actually adapted to culture, and seeks inspiration from the state or country in which the Christians reside and practise the same. It is partially because of the diversity in worship methodology as well as multiplicity of the style adopted by the Christian community. Hence, cultur e is more dominant feature than religion in their eyes. Famous sociologist Robert Wuthnow has shown that although the Christian teachings lay stress upon ethno-racial equality as a religious value, yet that value was not transmitted into actual behaviour (Hall, 2007, p.2). Actually by critically examining the history of the civilisations at large, it becomes crystal clear that cultural traits leave their indelible impact upon the individual and collective life of the people belonging to one specific social establishment or the other. The same tradition is not confined to one specific area or region only; rather, it is a universally accepted fact that the norms, mores and customs, prevailing in a culture, can sometimes affect the religious cult and worship practices of the followers of divergent spiritual faiths. Macionis (2008, p. 68) rightly states that cultural traits are so influential that they aptly prevail over the family traditions, religious conventions and statutes of the e xisting laws even. It is because of the very reality that they are being observed collectively in one region for the last several centuries, and do not allow an easy intrusion of social change being introduced in the physical and social environment. It is therefore, the Christians and Muslims adopted several features of Hinduism while their interaction with the Hindu community of Indian culture (Latourette, 1975, pp. 79-80). Consequently, the activities related to Communion are differently performed in Asian, European and African countries. Somehow, it does not mean

Fast Food Advertisements Essay Example for Free

Fast Food Advertisements Essay 1.Junk food advertising does not force parents to buy the food Just because junk food is advertised does not mean that parents should buy it for their children or give their children the money to buy it. It is important to recognise that parents have the final say, and also are ultimately responsible for what their children eat. We should place greater responsibility on parents, and if we are concerned that they are buying junk food for their children, we should attempt to address that problem. But, this has less to do with junk food advertising and more to do with informing the health decisions of parents. 2.If we apply the principle of individual responsibility, advertising is fine It is important not to hold businesses and advertisers responsible for the choices of individual consumers. If a consumer wants to purchase a good, the supplier should not be blamed for supplying it. The buyer wants to be pulled in by junk-food advertisements, and does not hold back their mind from unhealthy food. There are ads for health foods, buy consumers don’t want to buy vegetables or fruits, and therefore hold back their mind from buying them. It is solely how to consumers want to react to their own decisions, and has nothing to do with the supplier. If a producer advertises their good, they should not be blamed for the consumer finding their good attractive. There are people who don’t like junk food at all, and they control their minds like that. It is simple how the person controls their mind to think. Just like in movies, or in the real world, there is or always needs to be some components of good and bad. The people themselves decide on which group they want to be in. Sadly though, these days, majority of people decide to be in on junk-food. We must maintain the notion of individual responsibility, or people will start blaming each other for their own bad choices. 3.Parents must talk to their children about health eating habits The truth is that ‘there is certainly a place for junk food in every diet’. Elizabeth Berger, author of â€Å"Raising Kids with Character† says, â€Å"Parents must talk to their children about the healthy amount. In the real world, children will be exposed to all sorts of advertisements and their parents will not always be able to protect them. Therefore, their parents must begin to teach them while they are still children†. 4 .Children have little or no money It is not sensible to aim advertisements at children because they have little or no money, and can’t afford to buy the junk food anyway. Also, by the time children do have enough money, and are able to transport themselves to a fast-food place without their parents, they will have grown older and have the age to take the correct decisions for themselves. Even if they do take the wrong decision, then it is completely their own fault, as they are old enough and responsible enough to make their own decisions. Children that are much younger need their parents for help. Also, when you are growing older with some pocket money, learning to manage money for the correct causes and reasons is a part of growing up. 5.Discipline plays a big part Believe it or not, discipline plays a big part in this whole issue. Fast food advertising has no magical power to create unnatural desires for food. Children who nag are simply badly brought up. Poor parenting and undisciplined children cannot be solved by banning food advertisements during children’s television shows, as children have many other influences which can still stimulate these desires. 6.Children naturally like foods that are rich in fats, proteins and sugar. Their craving is not started off by advertisements. They give them the energy to play energetically and grow healthily. It is true that eating only such foods is bad for people, but this is again a problem of bad parenting rather than the fault of food advertisements. And off course, it advertising junk-food is banned, than children will grow naive, and as they enter into the real world, they will then become inundated with ads, because they will have not learnt the skills of ignoring ads when younger. 7.Fast food advertisements appear not only on TV, but you can also hear them on other sources, such as radios. Say the government does ban fast food advertisements during children’s TV shows. Children also watch many other programmes that adults also enjoy, but these programmes still have fast food ads during them, remember. Does this mean we should extend this ban to all television advertising? And, why stop at television when children are also exposed to radio, cinema, the internet and billboards in the street as well? But, any restrictions will be impossible to enforce, as television is increasingly broadcast by satellite across national borders and cannot be easily controlled – nor can the internet. 8.Banning advertisements is a severe restriction upon freedom of speech Companies should be able to tell the public about any legal products (such as fast-food). Children also have a human right to receive this information from a wide range of sources and make up their own minds about it. They are far from being brainwashed by advertisements, which form only a small part of their experiences; family, friends, school and other television programmes are much more important and all give them alternative views of the world.

Epidemiology and Surveillance Essay Example for Free

Epidemiology and Surveillance Essay Scott L Tomar, a profession at the University of Florida describes public health surveillance as the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of data regarding a health-related event for the use in public health action (Tomar, 2007). The information collected from surveillance is implemented in planning, evaluating and to put together research hypothesis (Tomar, 2007). He explains that this surveillance contributes and aids in the decrease of not only morbidity and mortality, but also the supervision in health improvement. Surveillance is a component of communication and organization for monitoring and preventing diseases and illnesses. The United States does not have a surveillance program in place for periodontal disease. It is not being monitored state, country wide or even locally. These systems have been used for decades for other diseases; fortunately periodontal surveillance is just in its beginning stages. The Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors and the centers for disease control and Prevention’s Division of Oral Health created the NOHSS, National Oral Health Surveillance systems. This program assists in monitoring and determining the responsibility and/or consequence of oral diseases, delivery system and the water fluoridation at state and national levels. NOHSS also has implemented signs to look for in the surveillances which are, adult dental visits, tooth cleaning, tooth loss, fluoridation status, child caries experience, child untreated caries, dental sealants and cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx (Tomar, 2007). The risk factors for periodontal disease according to the NIDCR, National Institute of Dental Craniofacial Research are smoking, hormonal changes in girls and women, diabetes, diseases of cancer or aids and their treatments, medications, and genetic susceptibility. If these factors would be monitored and put into a data base this desased can be prevented or treated more accurately. It would minimize the adverse affects or health risks it can cause to the population. Surveillance can measure what is orally, to be more exact periodontal with the population. The future of the treatment and prevention of this disease can benefit from search and awareness of the problem. Surveillance can obviously help reach this goal. Once all the factors, information and data are collected and analyzed by the surveillance dentist, hygienist and oral surgeons can be more informed and educated about this growing problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has partnered with the American Academy of Periodontoly to initiate the CDC Periodontal Disease Surveillance Project. This project concentrates on population-based surveillance at all levels. Surveillance has improved tremendously and has developed valid self-reported This initiative has made significant advancements toward the goal of improved surveillance, including developing valid self-reported measures that can be obtained from interview-based surveys to predict prevalence of periodontal issues in populations. The project’s goal is to confirm and find validity These eight questions will be field tested in the United States population in two phases. As noted in the article, a pilot will use a small convenience sample of United States subjects to lay the groundwork and justify further testing of these questions in a national survey. The key objective of this pilot phase will be as follows: 1) to confirm that these questions, or a subset of them, have sufficient validity for predicting periodontitis in this sample of the United States population; 2) to determine whether non-response rates to these questions differ among racial/ethnic groups; and 3) to assess the logistical aspects of conducting the pilot. I am a firm believer that surveillance should be used on many aspects of public health. Your health is determined not only by your own genetics and personal choices, but also by the environment around you. We all strive to live long, healthy lives and where we live, work and play affects our health. If you care about your health, the length and quality of your life, and the health and lives of your friends and family, then you should care about public health and the one week out of the year dedicated to bettering the lives of you and your surroundings. Surveillance makes it easier to view ones surroundings.

A Study on Libya and its Education System

A Study on Libya and its Education System Libya is an Arabic country located in North Africa on the Southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The economy of Libya is highly dependant on oil as it has many reserves of oil. The total area of the country is approximately 1,759,540 square kilometres (i.e. 679.182 sq miles). It also has the longest coastline among the littoral states of the Mediterranean Sea with a length of approximately 1.955 km. Libya is surrounded by a number of countries: Egypt in the east, Sudan in the south-east, Chad and Niger in the south, Algeria in the west and Tunisia from the north-west, and it is a member state in a number of organizations, regional groups and international organizations such as the United Nations, the African Union, the Arab Maghreb Union, League of Arab States, Non- Aligned Movement, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and OPEC (Oxford Business Group, 2008; The Peoples Committee for Education, 2001). Libyas population is approximately 6,310,434 which is considered a small nu mber compared with the countrys area. This number also includes tens of thousands of non-citizens who migrated to the country in search of work opportunities, particularly after the discovery of oil and the attractive offers provided to foreign professionals, especially at the universities and higher education institutions (Hanley and Mayfield, 2001). 1.1.2 Education in Libya: The Libyan Government has embarked on a developmental program aiming to the expansion, upgrading and modernisation of its fundamental infrastructure, where education is of high priority (Hanley Mayfield, 2001). The Libyan secretary of education (2000) stresses that education, health and social services are the highest priority for Libyas infrastructure development programme. According to Hanley Mayfield (2001), The Gaddafi Development Foundation has taken the responsibility for developing education system and infrastructure in Libya, accordingly 5,000 existing schools and colleges directed to be modernised and enhanced. This enhancement requires various equipment and expertise at all levels to create model educational establishments for the future Libyan generation. In addition, their agenda will include the following points: Improvement of the curriculum in schools and universities including the scientific journals, periodicals and books. Opening the door for merging Libyans with the global community through many programs, such as providing a great number of young Libyans the opportunity to continue their studies abroad and to gain international qualifications. The initiation of an 18 month plan to provide one million computers to one million Libyan children. The initiation of a program to connect Libya with global educational community through broadband Internet. Every major hospital will become an educational hospital managed by an already established international hospital that will provide training of hospital management and process etc for the next five years with 20 hospitals currently targeted for this purpose. Initiation of one million companies for one million Libyans. To do this, our young entrepreneurs need to be trained and enabled to help them be successful in their new ventures. The establishment of e-government where registering a new company will not take more 30 minutes to complete. Opening the door for cooperation between local universities/educational interests and international educational interests through cooperative contracts and memorandum of understandings. Gaining funding for the educational development of Libya through donations, and various forms of foreign investment. Offering full scholarships to the top students in the country to 990 students for undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Most scholarships are in the medical and engineering field. The major countries considered are mainly the UK, North America (Canada and the USA), Malaysia, Egypt and Australia. In academic year 1975/76 the number of university students was estimated to be 13,418. Today, this number has increased to more than 200,000, with an extra 70,000 enrolled in the higher technical and vocational sector. The rapid increase in the number of students in the higher education sector has been mirrored by an increase in the number of institutions of higher education. Since 1975 the number of universities has grown from two to nine and after their introduction in 1980, the number of higher technical and vocational institutes currently stan From its inception the revolutionary regime placed great emphasis on education, continuing and expanding programs begun under the monarchy. By the 1980s, Libya had made progress, but the country still suffered from a lack of qualified teachers and enrolments in vocational and technical training lagged. Both of these shortcomings have resulted in a reliance on foreign-born professionals to fill teaching posts, technical positions in many sta te industries and service sector jobs in fields such as health care (Secretariat of Education, 2000). In 1980, to redress the balance, Libya enacted what was known as the New Educational Structure. School curriculums were restructured in favor of technical subjects and, in the humanities, Arabic language and Koranic education were particularly emphasized. The study of English from the seventh grade was also initiated. At the high school level the plan enabled the creation of specialized vocational and technical schools in addition to traditional academically oriented schools. The new structure also required the establishment of technical and vocational education at the tertiary level, which has led to the creation and strong growth in the number of higher technical and vocational institutions In March 2000, the General Peoples Committee for Education and Vocational Training was dissolved and all of its responsibilities transferred to the regional peoples committees (Secretariat of Education, 2000). 1.1.2.1 General education: According to the Economist (2009), most of the governments of the Arab countries are well aware that their university and school systems were and still doing badly, Arab governments including Libya have been struggling to improve their education infrastructure and facilities. In 1996, students were estimated to constitute 27% of the Libyan population, where the number of university students was 13,418, a considerable number of those students are immigrant learners who entered Libya with their families, or as employees and then joined the education institutions. Currently, the numbers of students in primary and secondary education are rapidly increasing driving the number of university students to exceed 200,000, in addition to about 70,000 who joined the technical and vocational sectors. The strategy to redress the balance which called the New Educational Structure, has been implemented in 1980, consequently, the schools curriculum was reformed in order to introduce and emphasize tec hnical subjects in addition to Arabic language and Qurans studies and humanities. The strategy intervention at the secondary education emphasised the launch of vocational and technical schools beside the traditional academic schools. This strategy also emphasised the initiation of technical and vocational institutions in different regions of the country which has contributed considerably to the development of these regions (Country Review 2006; and El-Hawat, 2003). The previous educational system in Libya was following a 6-3-3 pattern for the primary, technical and pre-university education (i.e. primary stage begins at age 6 and continues for six years, followed by three years of preparatory school and three in secondary school),while the current system follows 2 nursery, 9 basic education and 3 or 4 secondary education according to the specialisation (Clark, 2010). Eventually, successful candidates get General Secondary School certificates or alternatively, in the case of technical school a diploma. In addition, there is a training/vocational branch that follows the preparatory cycle and lasts for two or four years. Those who successfully pass with sufficient high marks can proceed into higher education that is provided by sixteen institutions, nine universities and seven advanced learning institutions (Al Gaamatti, 2005). Moreover, in our time, and according to Sophie (2009), the Libyan government is working on one of the biggest projects in the country. The government is embarking on the worlds largest university building programme for the purpose of motivating the next generation of education seekers to choose to study and work at inside Libya rather than travelling to other countries. Another reason for this project is to reduce the large number of intelligent Libyan students who have left the country in the last few decades in order to gain higher university degrees oversees. As part of this project, and in 2006, the Education Ministry created a five-year strategic plan running from 2008-13 to upgrade the countrys educational facilities and infrastructure. In addition in 2007, the Organisation for the Development of Administrative Centres, which is a state department that manages strategic infrastructure projects, declared its intention to build or enlarge 25 Libyan universities. New strategic joint venture and partnerships between a number of Libyan universities and well-recognized foreign universities were made in order to enhance education. For example, the partnership that was created between Sebha University in Libya and Edinburghs Heriot-Watt University in the UK, which offers high-level teaching and experience from its Institute of Petroleum Engineering. 1.1.2.2 Higher Education in Libya: As mentioned earlier in this report, and according to Sophie (2009), the rapidly growing numbers of students at all levels of education required an expansion in the numbers of education institutions, especially the higher education institutions. For example, the number of universities has increased from two universities in 1975 to nine in 2003, while, the number of higher technical and vocational institutes has reached 84 since their initiation in 1980. The first university initiated in Libya in 1951 after the countrys independence, in Benghazi. It had only one college of Arts and Education, until the Faculty of Science was established in Tripoli in 1957. The main objectives behind initiating universities at that time was not more than providing teachers of intermediate and secondary schools with training, and building the capacities of the government employees (Peoples Committee for Education, 2000). These colleges were followed by the initiation of the college of Economics and Commerce in 1957, followed by the College of Law in 1962, the College of Agriculture in 1966. By 1967, the Libyan higher education witnessed a significant expansion when the College of Advanced Technical Studies and the Higher College of Teachers Training. The expansion continued with the initiation of the College of Medicine in 1970, Al-Bayda Islamic University in, and with the flourish of oil production, the Faculty of Oil and Mining Engineering was founded 1972. The Libyan University was divided into two universities in 1973: Tripoli University and Benghazi University. Currently, these universities have been expanding and named El-Fateh University in Tripoli and Gar-Yunis University in Benghazi. But, since 1981 the number of universities has been increasing in order to serve the growing number of students enrolling in higher education, the universities were subject to new educational management policies and accordingly the number of universities increased to 13 in 1995. These successive expansions of higher education in Libya required the country to encourage the migration of skilled and intellectual people to migrate to Libya and join its education institutions (Al-Shapani, 2001). As such, higher education in Libya is offered in both public and private universities, as well as higher institutes, and since 2000 the peoples committees, have been responsible for the management of education in the Libyan regions, where the overall management of educational policies in the country is the responsibility of the General Peoples Committee (El-Hawat, 2003). Higher education in Libya is managed by the Higher Education Peoples Committee, while each university is managed by its own University Peoples Committee with a secretary assigned to manage the university and deans as head of faculties and departments, each head department is a member in the Peoples Committee of faculty, while the secretaries of the faculty peoples Committee are automatically members in the university Peoples Committee, where as there are Peoples Committees for the students established to manage the students affairs and activities (Secretariat of Education, 2000). Higher education institutes and unive rsity colleges were introduced by the private sector and local public administration (Shabiat), were the higher education policies in Libya permitted that in order to handle the growing number of students at the age of university, however, to the local public administration sponsors of these private higher education institutes were responsible to mobilise their financial resources from local community sources, while the government had no any obligations towards the private sector. As a result, more than five private universities were built by the local administration authorities during 1997-2000 (Al falugi, 2008). 1.2 The learners of immigration: 1.2.1 The global context: Migration all over the world has become a distinguished feature and characteristic of globalization (IOM, 2003). That flows of immigrants are in most cases a response in one hand to the low income offers and limited employment opportunities at the countries of origin, and on the other hand to better opportunities and attractive offers at the countries of destination (Kuptsch and Pang, 2006). Thus the process of migration is thought to have joint benefits for both the sending countries of the migrants and the receiving countries; these benefits include sharing the capacities of the innovative migrants and disseminating knowledge among nations, while on the other hand the financial contribution of those intellectual migrants to their countries of origin is no doubt a considerable contribution to the national income, however those migrants themselves and their children achieve further benefits when they settle in the country of destination and become part of its social and education sys tem, as such they become learners of immigration. These flows of immigrants have enforced the receiving countries to adjust their educational management regulations and laws from being restrictive and hindering to become flexible for the immigrants to integrate. (Kuptsch and Pang, 2006). These attempts of integrating the immigrants in the education systems of the receiving countries include some programmes designed by the receiving countries specially to facilitate the immigrant students in learning the language and become totally integrated in the society (Winzhen, 2000). Recently, immigration is best used by several countries to enhance various public and private sectors, to build the capacities of the local labour force, to share knowledge and experience, to learn from successful and best practices, and to produce new generations of intellectual and skilled citizens. However the trend of learners of immigration is prominent in several countries of the developed world, supported by the immigration schemes launched some developed countries for various political, economic, demographic and other reasons. Several countries have utilised their repute status in different aspects such as the rich economy, educational reputation, etc to attract the most intelligent people in the world, where the integration of their children in the educational system of the receiving countries is a big incentive and attractive offer, where the new trend in this regard is to utilise the incentives instead of affording easy procedures and limiting the restrictions (Kuptsch. an d Pang, 2006). In this regard, in 2002 Norway implemented a scheme which provided high skilled foreigners three months permit to stay as job seekers, so that they can enter Norway to seek for job, and whenever they have found job and decided to settle they may bring their families to settle with them and then join the education in Norway (Kuptsch and Pang, 2006). Among these schemes, the trend is more obvious in the United Kingdom, where its Programme of Highly Skilled Migrant launched in November 2006 witnessed a major amendment, so that a new point system was implemented to select those applicants of the most highly qualifications, who can contribute to the countrys national economy, this programmes has provided the highly skilled migrants permit to enter and seek job or establish their own business in a period of two years (HSMP, 2009). The highly skilled migrants system has also been adopted by Canada where it was significant to stimulate the highly skilled and talented in the developing countries to immigrate to Canada. Other developed countries have implemented similar different policies to encourage immigration, such as The United States and Australia. However, although the components of these systems and their procedures of implementation are different, they show sound success in attracting the most qualified people (Winzhen, 2000) an d in integrating their children in the education systems without being hindered by linguistic or cultural barriers. 1.2.2 The Libyan context: The term learners of immigration used in this study refers to the immigrants to Libya who then decide to study in the country. This include the children of immigration that then enter the school system, as well as the adults who move to Libya as migrants whether they are social migrants or economic migrants, and then may be work or may not be working. They then decide to enter University education as full time or part time students. No doubt it needs to understand the challenges that the educational system and the educational management may face when various people from various cultures join the same educational system. Educational managers who are involved in planning and development of managerial thoughts and knowledge production should be aware of such challenges and how to manage and organise through official channels in a framework that is a part of an existing system structures such as colleges and universities. These channels provide studies for academics and allow them to go for further research which seeks to achieve and acquire skills by examining the output field in order to help to determine the shape and nature of the theory for enhancing the effectiveness of the educational system in order to link between the real local life options and intellectual work taking into consideration the dynamics of the corporate strategies that could facilitate the integration of the immigrant learners in the educatio n system (Gunter, 2003). In this trend of learners of immigration, Libya is not an exception; as such, the period of the oil boom in 1963 witnessed a significant augmentation in educational expenditure, and in the period between the seventies and eighties, the Department of Education in Libya stimulated skilled and intellectual migrants to come with their families and settle in the country through offering attractive contracts (Al gaamatti, 2005). In this regard, as suggested by The Libyan General Peoples Committee for Education (2005), The Libyan policy to stimulate intellectual migrants is supported by a number of pulling factors that is capable to stimulate professionals and talented migrants to enjoy comfortable life and settlement in Libya. These pulling factors which may distinguish Libya and encourage the intellectual migrants to prefer from other countries of the region may first include proximity of the Libyas location to Europe and the enormous opportunities there, alongside with the offered relati vely high income and competitive contracts, minimum to exempted taxes, simple procedures of visa and travel procedures, efficient network of telecommunication, high levels of security and safety for the migrants and their families, and low risk of racism and social discrimination as well as the easy integration in the education. The Libyan government implemented a policy in the early 1980s that encouraging intellectual immigrants and professionals from the region and from all over the world, so as to improve the capacities in different sectors of the government, with special consideration to the education sector which is believed to be the potential producer of intelligence and prosperity through the production of intensive knowledge and the achievement of an improved educational management. Beside the attractive offers provided to the intellectual immigrants, that policy aimed to ease the employment visa procedures for those who acquire the targeted skills and experiences. The policy of open doors implemented by Libya in the 1980s alongside with the oil boom at that period attracted vast investments to the country and large numbers of migrants stimulated to immigrate to the country by the employment opportunities created and the competitive offers afforded, and the education opportunities provided for them and their families. It is obvious that, the Libyan Government didnt adopt any of the aforementioned schemes, however the Libyan Ministry of Education and the Immigration Authorities implemented a policy in early 1980s to encourage foreigners to enter Libya and work in its different sectors, with special consideration to the education sector, this policy has a significant impact on the flows of immigrants attracted to Libya at that time, whereas these flows continued until the beginnings of this decade where the international political and economic embargo took place and the subsequent sanctions affected these flows and reduced its level (Al falugis, 2008). 1.3 Educational management 1.3.1 The concept of educational management: No doubt, management is an essential requirement for every human activity. It comprises the scientific research methods in all domains such as planning to achieve revenue with reliance on talent and intellectual creativity. Also, the concept of management is not different from the concept of control in terms of the general framework of the management process. But this difference can obviously be noticed in the application and practice. In the literature, there seems to be many definitions for management. For example, Druker (1974) described management as one of the most significant innovations of the 20th century, even though the roots of disciplines of management go back 150 years. Management is a multi-purpose function that aims to manage a business, manages managers and work. Management is also tasks, people and discipline. The field of educational management, according to Gunter (2002) and Bush (1995), is an area of study and practice that is mainly related to the operation of educational organizations and mainly concerned with the aims and objectives of education. These aims and objectives provide the crucial sense of direction to underpin the management of educational institutions (Bush, 2006). The field of educational management is also a term that is used to describe and understand intellectual work. This field of study was basically developed from what was known in the UK and internationally as Educational administration. Management of educational practice is as old as the human being. However, it has been growing gradually with the development of knowledge of human beings until it became a science in its own which has its theories and practice. In the past thirty years, however, the field of education management has grown rapidly in many countries especially in England and Wales, with members pos itioning themselves in all parts of the education system (Gunter, 2000). Elements of educational management may include but not limited to the following subjects: planning; management; coordination; routing; follow-up and calendar (Angus, 1994). In addition, education management focuses on a number of aspects such as: developing female talents in the field of educational management; understanding the purpose of competition; identifying the differences between leadership and management; thinking of what and how directors of education do; trying to understand the school as one way of educational management; and focusing on values and the basics of developing educational management. During the 1950s, there was no evidence for formal educational management structure; nevertheless, there were a president, deputy president and a secretary of mystery. This was the norm until 1956 when Burnham established the hierarchy of management and created all other managerial positions. It was believed that management includes the following aspects: understanding; empowerment; identification of what could be better and change (Gunter, 2002). Management was not identified as a science until the late 19th century. Bush (2003) stated that Educational management as a field of study and practice was derived from management principles first applied to industry and commerce, mainly in the United States. Theory development largely involved the application of industrial models to educational settings. As the subject became established as an academic discipline in its own right, its theorists and practitioners began to develop alternative models based on their observation of, and experie nce in, schools and colleges. By the twenty-first century the main theories of education management have either been developed in the educational context or have been adapted from industrial models to meet the specific requirements of schools and colleges (Bush, 2003). In addition, Bush (2003) classified the main theories of educational management and identified six major models: (formal, collegial, political, subjective, ambiguity and cultural) which have been subject to a degree of empirical verification in British education (Bush, 2003). Whereas, his classification may differ with other scholars views. However, his models remain significant in the literature of educational management. Moreover, Educational leadership and management has progressed from being a new field dependent upon ideas developed in other settings to become an established discipline with its own theories and significant empirical data testing their validity in education. This transition has been accompanied by lively argument about the extent to which education should be regarded as simply another field for the application of general principles of leadership and management or be seen as a separate discipline with its own body of knowledge (Bush, 2003). 1.4 Education management and learning diffusion In general, and according to Gunter (2003), any inquiry into learning diffusion and knowledge production requires interaction with, a description of, as well as understanding of the different people who receive the learning. Knowledge workers both use and produce knowledge creation and development of thoughts and knowledge could be managed and organised through official channels in a framework that is a part of an existing system structures such as colleges and universities to suit the diversity of cultural backgrounds among the learners. These channels provide studies for learners and allow them to go for further to achieve and acquire similar skills by examining the output field in order to help to determine the shape and nature of the theory for enhancing the effectiveness of the educational system in order to integrate both the native learners and those who joined the education system recently taking into consideration the importance of implementing the dynamic appropriate strate gies. Many people focus on management before moving into higher education which looks for the forms of activity by reading a magazine or a book and then understanding what is happening. Then allowing new insights to open the way for alternative practices since the academic perception is concentrated on the ability to analyse and become creative before the ability to train (Gunter, 2003). Based on the abovementioned discussion, it can be concluded that: there is a need to consider the link between development and emerging phenomena; such as learners of immigration and educational management; evolving relationship between theory and analysis in the field of educational management; follow the management approach that takes into consideration the changing culture and emerging phenomena; what knowledge and skills those have the potential to be improved via migration; and the role of field experiences and views of academics on the effect of migration on the improvement of educational management. 1.5 Migration and educational management in Libya The interest in management has led to the expansion of educational management and the educational improvement in Libya (Al Jiar, 2007). Migration has a significant impact throughout the Libyan history, the origin of the term Libya which was used to describe the region of North Africa which is located between Egypt and Tunisia, was derived from the Libyan tribes Lebo that inhabited this region for thousands of years, emigrated from Crete, the Greek islands around the 8th century BC. The Greeks founded the major cities in Libya which were the most prosperous cities in Africa in that era. The main ethnic groups in Libya are the Arabs and Berbers, who make up about 97% of the population, the rest belong to various ethnicities. However, historical records indicate that Libya was inhabited by ancient tribes of the Phoenicians who migrated from the coast of the western Mediterranean. In the 5th century AD, Libya was concurred by the Vandals and then the Byzantines, while in the 6th century AD, Libya became a Muslim territory. In the 7th century AD, the capital city of Tripoli was occupied by the Spaniards and then the Knights of St. John and was then liberated by the Ottoman Turks. The significant and noticeable impact of migration on the Libyan education was evident during the beginning of the Ottoman Empire occupation to Libya in 1865 which updated and developed many aspects of life both at the headquarters and the rest of the Caliphate. Moreover, the Knowledge Act was promulgated in 1869, to be a regular approach in schools which relied mainly on charity contributions of parents for the purpose of educating their children; bearing in mind that the curricula used both Arabic and Turkish languages and the le ngth of study was only three years. Afterwards, the Italians occupied Libya, changing the medium of education from Arabic to Italian. On the other hand, there were the Quran schools initiated by the Arab migrants, which concentrated on the Arabic language and religious studies. This instability of education resulted in high levels of illiteracy in Libya (UNESCO, 2002). Although, no accurate estimates are available about the numbers of immigrant learners in Libya, however, it is known to be considerable number in different educational level (Al falugi, 2008). Thus this study will attempt to provide an estimation of those immigrant learners, and its focus will be on the universities and higher education. Nasser Nations University was established in to accept the foreign students especially from the African and Arab countries, and then in it was opened for the Libyan students as well. The University has a special office to supervise the universitys cultural program that is concerned with the Universitys relations with educational institutions and follow-up agreements with universities outside Libya. Cultural and scientific agreements were held with: 1. University of Nouakchott and the

Greece :: Greece History Geography Greek Essays

Greece Greece†¦most people think that Greece is just a vacation paradise, but to its inhabitants, they might not think the same because how hard it is to live there. Greece, located between 41.8  ° N and 35  °N, 19.8  ° E and 28.2  ° E, is the country I am going to inform you about. The country of Greece has no other name besides just â€Å"Greece.† There are some different technical names that Greece can be associated with. The conventional long form that you can call Greece is the â€Å"Hellenic Republic,† while the short form is â€Å"Greece.† The long form in Greek is â€Å"Elliniki Dhimokratia† and the short form is â€Å"Ellas.† The former country name is â€Å"Kingdom of Greece.† Greece’s capital is the largest and most populated ancient Athens and is situated in Central Greece at approximately 38 ° N 23.7 ° E. Athens is now known as one of the safest and most affordable cities in the world and is also the world-renowned home for the ancient Acropolis- (acro: edge, polis: city), the home of the statues of the gods and goddesses like Zeus and Athena. The majestic statue marvels are no longer in the Acropolis, but in local museums because of the threat of pollution. The city of Athens has become Greece’s largest center for industry as well as an urban center.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Greece shares many boundaries with other countries, as well as borders with the seas. The bordering countries are Albania to the northwest, Macedonia to the north, Bulgaria to the north, Turkey to the northeast, and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north. The bordering seas are the Mediterranean Sea, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Aegean Sea to the east. The Mediterranean Sea serves as a quick route to the major trade routes and the Red and Black Seas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The country of Greece is actually not that small of a country. It occupies a comparative statistic in area to the American State of Alabama. It may be considered very similar in area to Alabama, but it occupies a water area many times more than that of Alabama’s with 1,140 sq. miles. The land area occupied by Greece is approximately 130,800 sq. miles, including the Greek mainland and all the Greek islands, large and small. The total area of Greece’s land and water area is 131,940 sq. miles.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The population of Greece compared to the population of America’s is extremely minute with a total population of about 10,662,138, based on a July, 1998 estimate.

Baldwins Insights of History in Notes of a Native Son Essay -- James

Private Insight into Public History James Baldwin had a talent of being able to tell a personal story and relate it to world events. His analysis is a rare capability that one can only acquire over an extensive lifetime. James Baldwin not only has that ability, but also the ability to write as if he is conversing with the reader. One of his most famous essays, â€Å"Notes of a Native Son,† is about his father’s death. It includes the events that happened prior to and following his father’s death. Throughout this essay, he brings his audience into the time in which he wrote and explains what is going on by portraying the senses and emotions of not only himself, but as well as the people involved. This essay has a very personal feeling mixed with public views. Baldwin is able to take one small event or idea and shows its place within the â€Å"bigger picture.† Not only does he illustrate public experiences, but he will also give his own personal opinion about those events. Throughout â€Å"Notes of a Native Son† Baldwin uses the binary of life versus death to expand on the private versus public binary that he also creates. These two binaries show up several times together showing how much they relate to each other. Baldwin makes certain readers understand the states of the issue at once; his essay starts by describing his father’s funeral in the aftermath of the Harlem riots of 1943. Baldwin states, â€Å"As we drove him to the graveyard, the spoils of injustice, anarchy, discountent, and hatred were all around us. It seemed to me that God himself had devised, to mark my father’s end, the most sustained and brutally dissonant of codas† (63). Yet as Baldwin mourned the death of his father, he celebrated the birth of his yo... ...e â€Å"big picture† in the world. Some events may not seem significant, but they are somehow related to other events that are going on in the world. Baldwin also took events that coincidentally happened at the same of his father’s death and analyzed them, giving his own personal opinion. Baldwin also had a constant motif of life versus death throughout his life story and his analysis of events. Baldwin’s creative writing skills show through his style of writing and makes the reader feel as though he is being directly spoken to. He gives the audience the opportunity to feel the emotions that he felt during these events. It is this ability that made James Baldwin the celebrated talent that he became. Works Cited Baldwin, James. â€Å"Notes of a Native Son.† 1955. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 63-84.

Choosing the Right Application of Multiple Intelligence Theory Essay

Throughout the last fifty years, educators have debated what methods of teaching are most effective. These methods include many extremes, from the more traditional method of teaching, in which teachers lecture, students listen, and are expected to learn, to experiential education, which usually requires students to take a hands on approach to every lesson. Both of these extreme methods have too specific of an approach. A combination of learning styles, or multiple intelligences, is required to teach successfully. The introduction of the multiple intelligence theory has positively benefitted teaching by encouraging educators to stimulate each student’s learning strength everyday; regardless of the traditional teaching methods more commonly used. The multiple intelligence theory was created by Howard Gardner, and has been summarized nicely by McCain and Weiten (2004). â€Å"He suggests the existence of a number of relatively autonomous human intelligences. To build his list of separate intelligences, Gardner reviewed the evidence on cognitive capacities in normal individuals, people suffering from brain damage, and special populations, such as prodigies and idiot savants. He concluded that humans exhibit eight intelligences: logical-mathematical, linguistic, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist† (p. 380). Mr. Gardner has made efforts to prove that every student learns his or her own way. He says that, â€Å"Students learn in ways that are identifiably distinctive. The broad spectrum of students, and perhaps the society as a whole, would be better served if disciplines could be presented in a number of ways and learning could be assessed through a variety of means.† (Gardner, 1991, p.... ...sate for their weaker skills, with their stronger ones. Educators debating whether to use the multiple intelligence theory need to consider that â€Å"it involves creating rich experiences in which students with different intelligence profiles can interact with the materials and ideas using their particular combinations of strengths and weaknesses.† (Moran, Kornhaber, & Gardner, 2006, p. 27). The Key School in Indiana believes that all children should have his or her type of intelligence aroused every day (Gardner, 1991, p. 215). Completing a school day knowing that students will have all had a chance to feel like successful learners must be a goal that educators strive to achieve. This is a belief that would allow all learning pieces in a child’s mind to be stimulated, every day. This also builds students into being the most multi-faceted individuals possible.

My Role Model

MY ROLE MODEL Almost everyone has a role model in their life. They could be a parent, a friend, a teacher, or a sports hero. They could be the D. A. R. E officer who works in your school. He could be someone you read about in a book. A role model is hard to define, because it can be different for everyone. Who your role model is depends as much on you as it does on the person you admire. Often, it is someone you would like to be like when you get older, or someone who does something you find hard to do. They might be somebody who performs outstanding volunteer work.They might be a community leader. They might be your mentor. Maybe they are generous and kind. Maybe they performed an extraordinary feat or accomplishment. They might be someone in your neighborhood, or someone in another country. Typically, a role model is brave, smart, strong, kind, thoughtful and fun. Not that every role model is perfect. Unless it is someone out of a storybook, role models are people who might be outs tanding in only one or two areas. Or maybe it is someone who is far less than perfect, but is working to improve himself or herself.I personally believe that a good role model should have certain qualities, and he should†¦ * Have a good personality * Be humble * Be respectable * Be ambitious When we had to choose a role model, one name appeared clearly in my head. I didn't see, and couldn't see, anyone else but Gandhi. Indeed, in my opinion, it's this man who gives meaning to the expression, â€Å"role model. † I don't think there's a more charismatic role model in history. Indeed, he accomplished such important and brave things that he must be one of the most well-known heroes in the world.Gandhi was born in India in 1869 during the period of colonies. He lived under the English occupation and, as a consequence, suffered from oppression and the authority of colonists. However, what disturbed him the most was the fact that his country, or rather his nation, couldn't make decisions by itself anymore and hope to evolve and grow. Gandhi, who was lucky to have been educated, was the first man in this painful period who dared to refuse the British authority using pacifist methods. Indeed, boycotts and other peaceful ways like hunger strikes enabled India to get its independence from the United Kingdom.As far as I am concerned, Gandhi is really an exemplary man. I feel that Gandhi was a positive role model in society because he enabled India to get its independence, but his influence didn't stop at this moment. his ideas of independence kept on living beyond the borders and reached all the other colonized countries. His influence was such that many nations took their independence just after India did. Thanks to him, all of those people were able to hope again and, in my opinion, it's one of the qualities that the definition of a role model requires.If we followed his example in life, we would stop killing each other and, instead, discuss and resolve prob lems together without useless violence. It may take a long time, but I think it's worth trying. All of this shows that Gandhi is actually someone who can be considered as a role model. He was both brave and intelligent. Indeed, not only was he courageous because he defied the authorities, but he was also talented because he didn't use physical strength to get what he wished. All in all, for my part, Gandhi must be considered as one of the most important personalities history has ever known. I think he deserves to have this status