Arms And The Man Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Arms And The Man - Essay Example The second act takes place four months later after the war ends and Sergius and Major Petkoff return. Though Raina and Sergius declare eternal love, they are only acting and their real feelings are very different. Sergius soon begins flirting with the maid Louka, and Raina’s thoughts keep returning to her chocolate crà ¨me soldier. Bluntschli comes back to return a coat he has borrowed from the Petkoffs and now that the war is over he is welcomed by Sergius and Major Petkoff and even helps them in moving their armies since as a pragmatist, he is willing to fight for whichever side pays. Bluntschli makes fun of Raina's romantic pretentiousness; though he is secretly attracted to her. Things come to head when Louka in trying to get Sergius for her self-tells him about Raina and Bluntschli. Sergius gets jealous and challenges Bluntschli to a duel, he accuses Raina of secretly trysting with Bluntschli, but they both deny this. Bluntschli tries to help Sergius repair things with R aina, but it is too late as Sergius’s philandering with Louka also comes out also. During all this, a letter arrives informing Bluntschli that his father has died and that he must return to Switzerland immediately. Sergius finally rejects his romantic ideals and declares his intention to marry Louka. When Bluntschli discovers Raina is twenty-three and not a teenager as he had thought he quickly asks her parents for her hand in marriage. When they find out how wealthy he is, they agree, and after some token resistance, Raina submits 1.

Hispanics In Governme Gs-13 And Above Essay Example for Free

Hispanics In Governme Gs-13 And Above Essay The federal government is the largest employer in the nation and does not only have the responsibility of serving all segments of society, it also has the added responsibility of treating the Federal employees who come from the various segments of the society in a fair and unbiased manner. In order to oversee such a process is implemented fairly, without any bias, there are boards such as the U. S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) in place and are required by the federal government to make periodical assessment, in order to ascertain the employees of the federal government are treated equitably. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 stipulates that merit should be the cornerstone of evaluating every employee, where the federal government should recruit and promote employees according to their ability, knowledge, and skills they acquired. Another point that is highlighted here is discrimination of any kind and preferential treatment should not be part of the procedure of any of the federal agencies are using in hiring, training, advancing, and retaining employees who could originate from the various segments of society. There had been instances of discriminatory practices in the employment scene in this century that makes it permissible to claim that there had been a negative impact on the representation of minorities in the workforce in proportion to their number. Starting from the year 1978, the employment statistics reveals that there was advancement, as far as the employment status of minorities was concerned. Especially, at the higher grade levels, as well as at administrative positions the area this paper is studying, the promotional process treats everyone, more or less, the same. Yet, it is difficult to say that minorities including Hispanics have attained an equal status with their counterparts the non-minorities despite their equal education level, experience, and according to various merits that are measurable. What this means is the employment and the advancement process is not yet completely free of bias when considering what takes place among the various minority groups and the non-minority groups. The MSAP board had conducted a survey where it claimed to find out that many employees from the minority ethnic groups believe that they had been discriminated and this outlook might be true as the non-minorities who were surveyed had also admitted that there is still some discrimination based either on sex, race, or color used as a determining factor when it comes who to hire, train, advance, or retain, revealing that it is not yet a plain level field for everyone (Morrison, 1992). The statistics, however, shows that there had been some advancement attained in all segments, including the higher grade levels. This paper will present the statistical findings of the stands the Hispanics have in comparison with the other ethnic groups in the nation, especially at the higher GS-13 level and above in proportion to their participation in the overall federal workforce. Chapter I Introduction What is possible to observe in today’s workplace in the U. S. is diversity management is bringing in more Hispanics into the Intelligence Community, although the number of Hispanics in upper management, GS-13 and above might not be representative of the percentage of Hispanics in the workforce. That could be the case even if the civilian workforce in the U. S. could surpass two million. In light of that this research paper will try to find out what the reality is, as there are conflicting findings that are emulating to show why the number of Hispanics in GS-13 and above might not be representative of their number in the federal workforce. It had been a while back, at least several decades since the federal government had started to be fair and equitable in its hiring process, so that what takes place will be representative of the reality, where national origin, race, or sex will not be the cornerstone of the hiring practice. The fact that minorities have become a larger proportion of the workforce that makes up the federal government employees has attested this fact. There is documentation that reveals women used to encounter special barriers in their effort to attain advancement, in spite of their qualification, an area where the other minorities were also suffering from the same fate. Awards and important assignments were skipping them simply because they were member of any of the minority groups that includes African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans. The Hispanic population has to compete with these groups fairly and equitably so that their stand should be clearly established and to enable the evaluation of whether the Hispanics are getting what they deserver according to the proportion of their number in the federal workforce. One good source where to see what kind of discriminatory practices had been taking place is to look at ongoing protests and lawsuits claiming that some kind of disparate treatment had taken place. One such finding was a government survey made in 1992 where 34 percent of African Americans, 30 percent of Asians of the Pacific region, 19 percent of members of the Hispanic community, and 11 percent Native Americans had claimed that they had experienced discrimination at various degree, where they had either been denied jobs, promotions, or benefits that go with jobs because of their race. This could be true because of the fact that it is recently the government had declared that it had become an equal opportunity employer that demonstrates it was not a leader in that endeavor earlier. What brought about a statuary protection for minorities was due to the enactment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. The Act had enabled the government to keep its own house in order, simply because it is the largest employer in the nation. President Nixon’s government had come up with the â€Å"Sixteen Point Program† designed to avail equal opportunity participation for the Hispanic population. Among the efforts introduced, there was intensified job recruitment in the Southwestern U. S. , at metropolitan cities where there is high Hispanic concentration, and colleges where there is a large Hispanic enrolment. There was also effort to reach out in communities where there is a concentration of Spanish speaking population and publicize the availability of federal employments. In addition, there were programs intended to enable Hispanic students to stay in school longer, as well as the establishing of special hiring authorities that will tend for the need of the Hispanic population. The focus had been the recruiting and the upward mobility of the Hispanic workforce once they are under the federal employment. In the year 2000 President Clinton had also come up with an executive order similar to the 16-point plan and this one was OPS’ 9-point plan whose goal was to eliminate barriers that prevent the recruitment of Hispanics into the workforce, as well as to promote them in the managerial and leadership programs. Another Act passed in 1978 was the Civil Reform Act whose claimed policy was to make certain that the federal workforce would reflect the nation’s diversity. What this would introduce in the nation’s workforce arena is the prevalence of a diverse civil service that could be made up of divergent outlooks, possibly accompanied by diverse skills and talents that will put it in a position to handle various problems that come into existence and originate from various groups better (Thomas, 1996). In addition, when there is a diverse workforce in place it is possible to share the social responsibilities equitably making the various policies the government comes up with widely acceptable. Similarly, when the government avails any kind of the various services, such as health care, education, housing etc. the perception would be every member of the society was part of the consideration applied in the process of the decision-making. In the absence of a representative workforce, it will be difficult to instill a positive social conduct on the overall society, in such a way that a particular segment of the society could feel that it is not included fairly in what is accruing and it is possible that the youth could be discouraged when it comes to investing in education or other requirements that will qualify them for federal jobs. If such a practice persists it is possible to introduce in the society a cycle of exclusion where the outcome could be more costly, where adhering to the rules and regulations could also suffer deterioration. The other key point that will bring what this paper is researching on into light is taking the mentioned measures alone where offering equal employment opportunity only is not enough. In order to make it effective there is a need to introduce similar equal opportunity in the training, retaining, and advancing employees who originate from the minority groups. In order to arrive at what is happening in the highest and more influential positions such as GS-13 and above, it is important to look at those who should be allowed to advance into such positions should have to pass through. Because as some of the statistics highlights, there has to be some level of service and experience in place before anyone attains those higher positions. It is also important to examine the hiring procedure in the nation since it is complicated. The age structure of those who are on supervisory and managerial position reveals that there are various factors that would have to come together in order for them to make it to such level, such as the individuals should have been at a particular line of work or other similar work arrangements for at least 20 years before achieving the higher position, as those who are attaining those positions are mostly above 45 years age, where most mangers are between 50 and 54. Hence, there should have been various preparation phases that require surpassing in order to make it to the higher levels. One other point to raise there are exceptions where in the administration and profession job classification it is possible to be hired at the higher level of GS-13 and above, but the requirement would be very stringent as those who are hired for such positions would become supervisors or managers from the outset.

Spacial-Temporal Continuum of Civilization and Man :: Science Scientific Essays

Spacial-Temporal Continuum of Civilization and Man ABSTRACT: Space and time are considered as attributive features of matter's social form movement that allow to incorporate structure into the world political processes. The notions of wholismatic time and space are established to determine world's entering into planetary interconnected condition. Social space and time are considerate in unity being as coordinates of man and civilization's existence. Methodological approaches to East and West civilization cooperation are defined through varieties of spaces being specified in different types of human activity. Man and civilization interaction is shown in context of future social time as well as choice of development type and modernization of society. A tendency of forming of united, whole world was clearly discovered in the late twenties century. Humanity has risen up to the development stage on which local connections between separate societies, nations and civilizations have grown into global interconnection on a planetary scale. Events that happen in any part of the planet have its direct or indirect influence on people's actions on all other continents. A number of scientists give interpretation that this phenomena is the beginning of new world civilization. Nevertheless, such hypothesis rather seems to be an aspiration for taking what you wish for what actually is. Genuine world civilization is a subject of a distant future. The actual level of social science does not let forecast on what basis it will exist and develop. The fact should be stated on a current stage of social process, that civilization today is not only limited social borderline, or one or several socio-ethnic communities living by themselves, but rather social bodies incorporated into united world process of peoples', states', and their communities' interaction. For purpose of selection of this stage inside of historical process, the terms of "wholismatic time" and "wholismatic space" might be proposed. (Originated from Greek "olos" that means "whole"). This application toward conceptions of time and space is not fortuitous. These allow giving order to complicated picture of changing world. It should be noted here that minded is not a natural time and space (they stay life conditions for man as a biological unit) but display of these attributive features of matter's movement on a social level. Social time and social space are connected with human activity and social relations. They exist in real human life and consequently reflect into people's consciousness. It looks important to distinguish the actual, perceptual and conceptual meaning of social time and space. Spacial-Temporal Continuum of Civilization and Man :: Science Scientific Essays Spacial-Temporal Continuum of Civilization and Man ABSTRACT: Space and time are considered as attributive features of matter's social form movement that allow to incorporate structure into the world political processes. The notions of wholismatic time and space are established to determine world's entering into planetary interconnected condition. Social space and time are considerate in unity being as coordinates of man and civilization's existence. Methodological approaches to East and West civilization cooperation are defined through varieties of spaces being specified in different types of human activity. Man and civilization interaction is shown in context of future social time as well as choice of development type and modernization of society. A tendency of forming of united, whole world was clearly discovered in the late twenties century. Humanity has risen up to the development stage on which local connections between separate societies, nations and civilizations have grown into global interconnection on a planetary scale. Events that happen in any part of the planet have its direct or indirect influence on people's actions on all other continents. A number of scientists give interpretation that this phenomena is the beginning of new world civilization. Nevertheless, such hypothesis rather seems to be an aspiration for taking what you wish for what actually is. Genuine world civilization is a subject of a distant future. The actual level of social science does not let forecast on what basis it will exist and develop. The fact should be stated on a current stage of social process, that civilization today is not only limited social borderline, or one or several socio-ethnic communities living by themselves, but rather social bodies incorporated into united world process of peoples', states', and their communities' interaction. For purpose of selection of this stage inside of historical process, the terms of "wholismatic time" and "wholismatic space" might be proposed. (Originated from Greek "olos" that means "whole"). This application toward conceptions of time and space is not fortuitous. These allow giving order to complicated picture of changing world. It should be noted here that minded is not a natural time and space (they stay life conditions for man as a biological unit) but display of these attributive features of matter's movement on a social level. Social time and social space are connected with human activity and social relations. They exist in real human life and consequently reflect into people's consciousness. It looks important to distinguish the actual, perceptual and conceptual meaning of social time and space.

Biography of William Shakespeare Essay

William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564, in Stratford-in Avon, England. From the year 1594 onward he was an important member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men members of theatrical players. Written records give little information of the way in which Shakespeare’s professional life was his artistry. All that can be said is that over the course of 20 years, Shakespeare wrote plays that intensify the range of human emotion and conflict. Even though birth records don’t exist, church records were found that a William Shakespeare was baptized at Holy Trinity Church on April 26, 1564. From this, it is believed he was born on April 23, 1564, and this is the date known as William Shakespeare’s birthday. William was the third child of John Shakespeare, a leather merchant and Mary Arden. William had two older sisters Joan and Judith, and three younger brothers, Gilbert, Richard and Edmund. Before William’s birth, his father became a successful merchant and held official positions as alderman, an office resembling a mayor. there is no record of Shakespeare attending schools, students have written that he most likely attended the King’s New School in Stratford, which taught reading, writing and the classics. Being a public official’s child, he could have had free tuition if he wanted too ,. But misbelieve regarding his education has led some to raise questions about the authorship of his work and even to wonder if he even was real or a made up character of a great writer whom just made up the name to hide behind the name and keep people wondering . William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582, in Worcester. William was 18 and Anne was 26 she got pregnant of Their first a girl they named Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583. Two years later, on February 2, 1585, twins Hamlet and Judith were born,. Hamlet later died of unknown causes at age 11. By 1592, there is evidence William Shakespeare earned a living as an actor and a playwright in London . In the September 20, 1592 edition of the Stationers’ Register there is an article by London playwright Robert Greene that takes a few jabs at William Shakespeare: â€Å"†¦ there [William Shakespeare] is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers that with his tigers heart wrapped in a Player’s hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you and being an absolute Johannes factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene . Students differ on the interpretation of this criticism, but most agree that it was Greene’s way of saying Shakespeare was reaching above his rank, trying to match better known and educated playwrights like Christopher Marlowe . Thomas Nash or Greene himself. In the 1590s, documents show William Shakespeare was a managing partner in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a acting company in London. After the crowning of King James the 1 in 1603, the company changed its name to the King’s Men. the King’s Men company was very popular, and records show that Shakespeare had works published and sold as popular literature. The theater culture in 16th-century in England he was not highly admired by people of high rank. However, many of the nobility were good patrons of the performing arts and friends of the actors. Early in his career, Shakespeare was able to attract the attention of Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton, to who he dedicated his first published poems â€Å"Venus and Adonis† (1593) and â€Å"The Rape of Lucrece† (1594). It was a four-day ride by horse from Stratford to London, so it is believed that Shakespeare spent most of his time in the city writing and acting and came home once a year during the 40-day Lenten period, when the theaters were closed. By 1599, William Shakespeare and his business partners built their own theater on the south bank of the Thames River, which they called the globe . Shakespeare was very innovative, adapting the traditional style to his own purposes and creating a freer flow of words. With only small degrees of variation, Shakespeare usually used a metrical pattern consisting of lines of unrhymed words , or blank verse, to compose his plays. At the same time, there are passages in all the plays that come from this and use forms of poetry or simple phrase . With the exception of Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare’s first plays were mostly histories written in the early 1590s. Richard II and † parts 1, 2 and 3 and Henry v dramatize the destructive results of weak or corrupt rulers and have been interpreted by drama historians . Shakespeare also wrote several comedies during his early period: the witty romance A and Much Ado About Nothing,† the charming â€Å"As You Like It,† and Twelfth Night. Other plays, possibly written before 1600, were â€Å"Titus Andronicus, The Comedy of Errors The Taming of the Shrew† and â€Å"The Two Gentlemen of Verona. † DEATH Tradition has it that William Shakespeare died on his birthday, April 23, 1616, though many students believe this is a myth. Church records show he was interred at Trinity Church on April 5, 1616. In his will, he left the bulk of his possessions to his eldest daughter, Susanna. Though entitled to a third of his estate, little seems to have gone to his wife, Anne, whom he didnt seem to care much for This has drawn speculation that she had fallen out of favor, or that the couple was not close.

Power and Knowledge Essay

Poststructuralism as one of the contemporary political philosophy gain its popularity because of its radical assumptions that veered away from the traditional structuralist thinking. The project of the renaissance scholars to control everything including nature through the used of knowledge particularly scientific knowledge did not gain much fame in this late century. Structuralism although it offers much in looking how institutions served as parts of a social system tend to believe that society could control the individual with the aid of science. However, the ideas of Jean Lyotard, Michel Foucault and Jean-Luc Nancy proved otherwise. The dream of grand theorists to integrate knowledge and create a unified social system is the very idea that most contemporary theorists avoid. Prior to the development of poststructuralism, discussion on power and knowledge is always a feature seen within the structures and not something that emanates from the individual, this structure-agency pendulum continues to fascinate theorists. Structural functionalists believed that social structures such as religion, culture, and government have strong hold over the individual particularly in their socialization process. Talcott Parsons (1951) for instance, look society as the social system divided by subsystems that have specific functions. Each part of society functions and creates mutual interdependence thus maintaining the dynamism of whole social system(Parsons: 1951). The Contemporary political philosophy opens a lot of venues in analyzing society with proposing meta narratives. Much of the themes of contemporary thinkers would be on the consequences of modernity, globalization among others. Topics on power and knowledge are just two of the basic issues that philosophers continuously are gaining interest. It provides a picture on how the development of knowledge transformed power relations in contemporary society. Contemporary political philosophy as it is advanced by the writings of three philosophers mentioned in the previous paragraph, look at power and knowledge in a different light. Before, the scholars would think that the development of knowledge is in a continuum and that power is exerted by institutions to the individual as if power has a center or a fixed point. In Contemporary political philosophy one can view that the source of power comes from various agencies,and the struggling character of power is in every discourse. Power is not only evident on political apparatus, on the religious order or on the intellectual community but power is seen on all arrays of everyday existence. Our day to day social relations are power relations. One of the contemporary thinkers who would employ much time in discussing power is Foucault. Some thinkers considered him as a poststrcuturalist or a postmodern thinker, because of the fluidity of his ideas. Moreover, there are critics who accused him of relativism because of his theory favors, intersubjectivity, the discursive method, discourse among others. Foucault (2002) did not suggests a central power or a solid one that one can see for instance in an authoritarian society, rather in looking at society, one could see ‘pockets’ of power or a decentralized one coming from various discourses. On the other hand, in his theory of knowledge one can see its deviation from Descartes’ Cogito. Reason as the underlying principle of the enlightenment period, did not escaped the gaze of Foucault. In his Madness and Civilization (1965) he examined that through history, madness became an invention that would serve as the opposite of reason. With the definition on madness as â€Å"non-rational† or irrational, it justifies the power of reason during the enlightenment period. Only through its binary opposition which is madness can reason hold its power. The control of the patient with the development of psychiatry in Madness and Civilization (1965) also served as a critique that looks at how modern society manifests the same features as that one can find in the discipline of psychiatry. There are various means by which society controls the individual. Foucault discussed that in the modern era, exercising power need not necessarily be brute and obvious. One example is his idea of punishment as a result of deviating from the norm. Foucault in Discipline an Punish (1977), discussed in what way torture as a form of punishment in the 18th century was transformed by discipline. With the birth of the prison, instead of attacking the physical body the institution inculcate discipline as a form of punishment. This feature of the prison, and even the birth of the clinic shows how slowly modern society is becoming more authoritarian and all of these are possible because of the different knowledge that people believe as true and moral during their times. Foucault in his Archeology of Knowledge (2002) look at historical development not in a continuum because he did not believed in a unified discourse as proposed by grand narratives such as that of the Parsonian theory. What one can see through history are various realities, are what he called discontinuities. Much of his theory of power and knowledge could also be seen in the History of Sexuality (1990) wherein he is not interested in sexuality per se, but in looking at the underlying struggle within the discourse of sexuality. While in the earlier periods, society repress one’s sexuality, this kind of discourse even propagates it. The more that society for instance repressed homosexuality, the more that people become interested in exploring the topic. In the History of Sexuality (1990)), he sees the reciprocal relation of power and knowledge. One example is the different meanings that society give on sexual relations such as relations out of marriage and the one allowed by the community. These definitions creates divisions in society, thus exercising power over the individual through social norms. By propagating a certain kind of knowledge, this could lead to a power relation between groups. The one who is in control of knowledge will therefore exercise power to the other group. However, it must be clear that the reciprocal relation of power and knowledge is not fixed rather it transform through every discourse. Apart from Foucault, Jean Lyotard also contributes to the debate on the relationship of power and knowledge. In his book, the Postmodern Condition (1979) Lyotard mentioned that the transformation of society into industrialized and complex system leads into the redefinition of the nature of knowledge. In Modern societies, the power of the capitalists to open the market leads to the question that, what kind of knowledge is acceptable or is legitimate provided that there are a lot of choices. Lyotard(1979) sees the complexities in modern times because when one looks at it, it is in no longer a question of simple legitimacy of knowledge but a question of who has the power to decide what is acceptable or legitimate. In addressing the uncertainties of knowledge, Lyotard suggests that one should employ the value of speaking the same language game. How can people speak the same language provided that there are various ways of learning things? Lyotard believes that one must contextualize, and in this part he adopts Wittgensteins’ language game. ’ By contextualizing, the person should be aware of the rules before making considerable actions. Lyotard believes that to be able to analyze knowledge in contemporary society, one must consider what kind of society it is situated. The split between Parsonian theory and that of Marxism will definitely help in looking at the problem of knowledge. Initially one will decide whether to maintain the status quo or radically change it. Because of the ability of language to bind society through communication, Lyotard favors this framework in addressing the issue of knowledge in the postmodern era. Greatly influenced by Heidegger on the other hand, Jean -Luc Nancy (1991) believed that we are thrown into the world therefore we should not rely on God for our existence. Contemporary society according to him is becoming more chaotic in the sense that the harmonious relation in traditional society is transformed into a complex society where there are a lot of uncertainties. Uncertainties are brought by the unintended consequences of modernity. With the advent of globalization, the closed and neatly tied community is transformed into a complex one. While some thinkers consider the development of society into industrialized one as beneficial, still there are paradoxes to this rationality. Nancy in his concept of community critique the grand project of some societies to create a well-planned system such in the case of the socialist state where it only leads to violence. Much of the discussions of contemporary political philosophy dwells on how you can locate the discourse on power as a consequence of the accumulation of knowledge. The Unintended consequences of man’s search for knowledge and the transformation of knowledge into its many forms leads to different power relations. These power relations are seen on every realm of life, on every discourse in society. It is crucial to note that in the analysis of power, power lies to those who have control over knowledge, and in this age of information technology where there is an easy access to all forms of knowledge, it is only logical to think that power is distributed therefore decentralized. While the contemporary era provide a lot of alternatives,undeniably there are consequences that not even scientific knowledge can calculate. Yet the quest for further knowledge continues because beneath those ideas there you can always find power. Various forms of power operates on every realm of life. These are the fascinations of philosophers of the twentieth century.

Talk About Geologic Time in Ma or Myr

Talk About Geologic Time in Ma or Myr Geologists have a bit of awkwardness in their language in talking about the deep past: distinguishing dates in the past from durations  or ages. Ordinary people dont have a problem with the weirdness of historical time- in 2017; we can easily say that an event in B.C.E. 200 happened 2216 years ago,  and that an object made back then is 2216 years old today. (Remember, there was no year 0.) But geologists have a need to separate out the two types of time with different abbreviations or symbols, and there is a debate about establishing a standard way of expressing it. A widespread practice has arisen in the last few decades that gives dates (not ages) in the format X Ma (x million years ago); for example, rocks that formed 5 million years ago are said to date from 5 Ma. 5 Ma is a point in time that is 5 million years from the present. And instead of saying that a rock is 5 Ma old, geologists use a different abbreviation, such as m.y., mya, myr, or Myr (all of which stand for millions of years, in reference to age or duration). This is a little awkward, but the  context makes things clear. Agreeing on a Definition for Ma Some scientists see no need for two different symbols or abbreviations, as something formed 5 million years before the present would indeed be 5 million years old. They are in favor of one system or set of symbols for all sciences, from geology and chemistry to astrophysics and nuclear physics. They wish to use Ma for both, which has caused some concern from geologists, who want to make the distinction and view it as unnecessarily confusing going forward to have Ma apply to both. Recently the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) convened a task force to decide on an official definition of the year to go into the Systà ¨me International or SI, the metric system. The exact definition isnt important here, but the symbol they chose, a, (for the Latin annus, which translates to year) would override geological custom by requiring everyone to use Ma for millions of years ago, ka for thousands of years ago, and Ga for billions of years ago, etc. everywhere. That would make writing geology papers somewhat harder, but we could adjust. But Nicholas Christie-Blick of Columbia University has looked more deeply at the proposal and cried foul in GSA Today. He raised an important question: How can SI accommodate the year as a derived unit when SI rules require that these must be simple powers of base units? The metric system is for physical quantities and measurable distances, not time: points in time are not units. Theres no room in the rules for a derived unit called the year, which would be defined as 31,556,925.445 s. Derived units are things like the gram (10 -3 kg). If this were a legal dispute, Christie-Blick would be arguing that the year has no standing. Start over, he says, and get buy-in from geologists.

Aluminum or Aluminium Element Facts

Aluminum or Aluminium Element Facts Aluminum Basic Facts: Symbol: AlAtomic Number: 13Atomic Weight: 26.981539Element Classification: Basic MetalCAS Number: 7429-90-5 Aluminum Periodic Table Location Group: 13Period: 3Block: p Aluminum Electron Configuration Short Form: [Ne]3s23p1Long Form: 1s22s22p63s23p1Shell Structure: 2 8 3 Aluminum Discovery History: Alum (potassium aluminum sulfate- KAl(SO4)2) has been used since ancient times. It was used in tanning, dyeing, and as an aid to stop minor bleeding and even as an ingredient in baking powder. In 1750, German chemist Andreas Marggraf found a technique to produce a new form of alum without the sulfur. This substance was called alumina, which is known as aluminum oxide (Al2O3) today. Most contemporary chemists of the time believed alumina was an earth of a previously unknown metal. Aluminum metal was finally isolated in 1825 by Danish chemist Hans Christian Ørsted (Oersted). German chemist Friedrich Wà ¶hler attempted unsuccessfully to reproduce Ørsteds technique and found an alternate method that also produced metallic aluminum two years later. Historians differ on who should receive credit for the discovery.Name: Aluminum derives its name from alum. The Latin name for alum is alumen meaning bitter salt.Note on Naming: Sir Humphry Davy proposed the name aluminum for th e element, however, the name aluminium was adopted to conform with the ium ending of most elements. This spelling is in use in most countries. Aluminium was also the spelling in the U.S. until 1925 when the American Chemical Society officially decided to use the name aluminum instead. Aluminum Physical Data State at room temperature (300 K): SolidAppearance: soft, light, silvery white metalDensity: 2.6989 g/ccDensity at Melting Point: 2.375 g/ccSpecific Gravity: 7.874 (20  °C)Melting Point: 933.47 K, 660.32  °C, 1220.58  °FBoiling Point: 2792 K, 2519  °C, 4566  °FCritical Point: 8550 KHeat of Fusion: 10.67 kJ/molHeat of Vaporization: 293.72 kJ/molMolar Heat Capacity: 25.1 J/mol ·KSpecific Heat: 24.200 J/g ·K (at 20  °C) Aluminum Atomic Data Oxidation States (Bold most common): 3, 2, 1Electronegativity: 1.610Electron Affinity: 41.747 kJ/molAtomic Radius: 1.43 Ã…Atomic Volume: 10.0 cc/molIonic Radius: 51 (3e)Covalent Radius: 1.24 Ã…First Ionization Energy: 577.539 kJ/molSecond Ionization Energy: 1816.667 kJ/molThird Ionization Energy: 2744.779 kJ/mol Aluminum Nuclear Data Number of isotopes: Aluminum has 23 known isotopes ranging from 21Al to 43Al. Only two occur naturally. 27Al is the most common, accounting for nearly 100% of all natural aluminum. 26Al is nearly stable with a half-life of 7.2 x 105 years and is only found in trace amounts naturally. Aluminum Crystal Data Lattice Structure: Face-Centered CubicLattice Constant: 4.050 Ã…Debye Temperature: 394.00 K Aluminum Uses Ancient Greeks and Romans used alum as an astringent, for medicinal purposes, and as a mordant in dyeing. It is used in kitchen utensils, exterior decorations, and thousands of industrial applications. Although the electrical conductivity of aluminum is only about 60% that of copper per area of cross section, aluminum is used in electrical transmission lines because of its light weight. The alloys of aluminum are used in the construction of aircraft and rockets. Reflective aluminum coatings are used for telescope mirrors, making decorative paper, packaging, and many other uses. Alumina is used in glassmaking and refractories. Synthetic ruby and sapphire have applications in producing coherent light for lasers. Miscellaneous Aluminum Facts Aluminum is the 3rd most abundant element in the Earths crust.Aluminum was once called the Metal of Kings because pure aluminum was more expensive to produce than gold until the Hall-Heroult process was discovered.Aluminum is the most widely used metal after iron.The primary source of aluminum is the ore bauxite.Aluminum is paramagnetic.The top three countries that mine aluminum ore are Guinea, Australia and Vietnam. Australia, China and Brazil lead the world in aluminum production.The IUPAC adopted the name aluminium in 1990 and in 1993 recognized aluminum as an acceptable option for the elements name.Aluminum requires a lot of energy to separate from its ore. Recycling aluminum only requires only 5% of that energy to produce the same amount.Aluminum can be rusted or oxidized by mercury.Rubies are aluminum oxide crystals where some aluminum atoms have been replaced by chromium atoms.A piece of jewelry in the tomb of the 3rd Century Chinese general Chou-Chu has been found to contain 85% aluminum. Historians do not know how the ornament was produced. Aluminum is used in fireworks to make produce sparks and white flames. Aluminum is a common component of sparklers. References: CRC Handbook of Chemistry Physics (89th Ed.), National Institute of Standards and Technology, History of the Origin of the Chemical Elements and Their Discoverers, Norman E. Holden 2001.

How Ballast Water Systems Work

How Ballast Water Systems Work A ballast water system is essential for the safe operation of a ship, but the operation of these systems causes significant threats to the environment and local economy. What Is a Ballast Water System? A ballast water system allows a ship to pump water in and out of very large tanks to compensate for a change in cargo load, shallow draft conditions, or weather. The capacity of ballast water tanks might be millions of gallons on a large vessel. This allows vessels to carry a light or heavy load while maintaining ideal buoyancy and handling conditions in all situations.A ship might discharge all ballast water tanks to pass a shallow area or forward tanks only to raise the bow in rough open seas.Physical components of the system include; raw water intakes, large and small strainers, pumps, distribution pipes, ballast water tanks, treatment system, discharge system, and all the valves, sensors, and controls to run the equipment. Invasive Species in Ballast Water Invasive species are a significant threat to ecosystems and the economies of the affected areas. Researchers think that about one-third of all documented invasive plants and animals are able to travel in the ballast water tanks of ships. Zebra Mussels were introduced into Lake Saint Clair in 1988 when a ship emptied ballast water into the Great Lakes System. The Great Lakes hold nearly twenty percent of the earth’s fresh surface water in a watershed system. The non-native mussels eliminated native varieties once used by industry and have caused an estimated 7 billion dollars (US) in damage by encrusting or clogging underwater equipment essential to industrial and recreational activities.Sea Lamprey and ​Spiny Water Fleas are organisms which feed off of host fish or compete with young fish for food. Many species of fish impacted by these invasive species have significant commercial or sporting value. These animals and others can live in fresh or salt water and may spread into inland waterways from saline ports and harbors.Plants can also travel long distances in ballast water. Eurasian Milfoil is a surface plant which can clog equipment and deter recreation where it forms thick mats. Eurasian Milfoil was introduced to the United States in the 1940s. Because the plant can produce large colonies from only one small fragment it is likely the plant was introduced in the ballast water of a ship. Resolving Ballast Water Issues For years amateurs and professional researchers have experimented with a huge array of weapons to combat invasive species in a ship’s ballast water. Most of the difficulty is due to the fact that huge volumes of water must be treated in a reasonably short period of time. Many land-based systems for treating public supplies takes many hours or days to pass water through their treatment systems. A ship, on the other hand, must be able to discharge ballast water as quickly as cargo is loaded. In emergency situations, ballast tanks need to empty as quickly as possible. A quick pass through most ballast water treatment systems is not enough to kill all the organisms that may be present. Ballast Water Treatment Solutions and Shortcomings No Discharge or Ballast Exchange Rules: International, National, and Local law govern ballast water discharge. Some areas require ballast tanks to be sealed while others allow ballast to be exchanged. Ballast exchange allows tanks to be filled with local waters. Sealed ballast tanks may need to be emptied in an emergency situation and exchange is hindered by the fact that foreign waters must be discharged in close proximity to ​the sensitive area for vessels to operate safely.Mechanical Filters: Filters which are fine enough to remove the small immature young and eggs of invasive species clog quickly and require constant maintenance.Thermal Treatment: The idea is to heat ballast water to kill any unwanted organisms. Unfortunately heating such a huge volume of water is impractical due to time and energy constraints.Other Energy Treatments: Ultraviolet, sonic, and other radiation have all been tried but have similar problems to a thermal treatment; limits on time and energy.Chem ical Treatments: One of the earliest and most dangerous of all the methods used to control invasive species in ballast water. Chlorine bleach and other toxic chemicals will kill existing organisms but the release of these chemicals on the scale necessary to treat every ship would reach toxic levels for all aquatic life near the discharge points. The Future of Ballast Water Treatment Researchers are pursuing this difficult and financially lucrative goal at institutions around the world. In 2011, a team announced their successful small-scale test of a two-phase ballast treatment system which eliminates unwanted organisms and produces sodium bicarbonate as a byproduct. The system is undergoing full-size tests in the Great Lakes. The test for a scalable system is expected to perform well. It is not clear how regulatory agencies around the world will respond to the potential discharge of industrial amounts of sodium bicarbonate into their waters. Sodium bicarbonate is a common and safe chemical in small amounts, but studies must be conducted to assure this method is safe for long term use.

Operation management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Operation management - Essay Example A trend is observed in the x bar chart for size of the dolls making it a focus area for the company. There have been a lot of customer returns due to inconsistencies in the colour and the size of the dolls manufactured in the plant. In order to analyze the situation, the company recorded 2 sets of data. The first set contains the number of colouring defects over a period of 30 days. The second set contains the sizes of 3 dolls selected at random daily over a period of 30 days. The company needs to find out whether its processes are in control or not. C-chart is the most appropriate control chart for the number of defects found if the sample size remains the same throughout. For the first data set the sample size for testing in each of the 30 subgroups is 200. Thus, using c-chart makes absolute sense. The 3 sigma control limits for a c-chart are calculated as: In the R-chart and x bar chart for height of the dolls, many observations lie outside both the control limits. This shows that the process is out of control. R-chart is shown in Figure 3.2 and x bar chart is shown in Figure 3.3. The manufacturing process of the toy plant is out of control for both the number of defectives in colour and the heights of the dolls. Since, only 1 observation is out of limits for colour defects, it may be considered as a one-off deviation and can be neglected. However, the company must still aim to decrease the mean number of defects. This could be done by replacement of the machine which would require a capital expenditure. The ultimate aim of the company must be to go for zero defects as proposed by quality experts. This is also a key philosophy of Lean Management and Six Sigma. From the point of view of heights of dolls, the process is completely out of control. Sharp trends are visible in the R chart and x bar chart. This implies a problem with the production process. This variation is a controlled variation and rectifying the production process will

Using foreign financial statements Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Using foreign financial statements - Article Example The article is about a very important field in contemporary financial world,the skills' requirements to read financial statements of foreign companies and extracting information of interest from these financialsThe article presents some techniques that organizations usually employ when their financial statements are provided to foreign users. This ranges from doing nothing (in which case the financial statements might be in non-English language with figures shown in local currency and might not follow Generally Accepted Accounting Principles - GAAP, or International Financial Reporting Standards - IFRS) to a completely new set of statements, explicitly prepared for United States. Known as secondary statements, these are developed to provide statements in United States English, with the use of either US GAAP or international standards on Accounting. The purpose is to give users a similar sort of statement that they are used to deal with in United States.The article moves on to identif y the differences in financial statements' presentation layout and style that might appear in financial statements of a foreign company based on its particular location, usage of accounting standards, and norms in the country. A CPA or financial analyst must be equipped with relevant skills and necessary expertise to be able to deal with these differences in the financial statements presentations.... The article, too, describes the importance of being able to read and understand the financial statements of a foreign firm. Similarly, as per CON 2, the information that should be provided in financial statements should have a comparability aspect; that is, it could be compared with information from other entities to make an informed decision. As noted in the article, one of the purposes of developing a secondary statement is to enable the readers to compare statements of one company in one country with statements of others that might be in some other countries. If the currency, form and presentation, and standards of which the financial statements are developed are similar, it will provide an ease in comparing apple to apple. Otherwise, one might end up comparing US Dollars with Japanese Yen. Similarly, other elements of the coursework like financial accounting environment, financial statements like balance sheet and income statements and their forms, and the reporting standards are discussed in the article with a perspective of foreign financial statements and international reporting. 3. Learning Lessons The article provides common approaches the companies take when they provide their financial statements to foreign users. These approaches include doing nothing (explained above), developing primary statements using United States GAAP, translating the financial statements into English for easy reading, some might also change the currency to US dollars to provide the ease of comparability that might be required (convenience statements), others might include the details of this conversion and show the rate at which currency is converted (limited restatement). In addition, companies might completely redo their statements to align these

Human Resource Management PT 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Resource Management PT 4 - Essay Example Secondly it states the functions of the advertised position, this is usually the lengthy part and details what the job really is all about and can be quite particular .The third importance is that it contains attributes that are required for that particular job and provides some of the insights into what kind of work environment an employee is trying to maintain. This part also details any educational or technical requirements that may be desired or important (Philip, 1989). The fourth importance of a job description is that it stipulates clearly particulars on the one to report to and organizational structure. The fifth importance specifies the criteria for evaluation and helps clarify what is really important both for the employee and the organization. The sixth importance helps the employee understand the type and span of compensation including the benefits to be derived from the post and finally the seventh importance is all about physical surroundings and location of the place of work. Apart from the above, job descriptions also assist organizations to better understand the skill base and experience required to improve the victory of the company. They assist in recruiting, hiring, evaluating and possible termination of employees. Job descriptions are valuable because they save time, are useful in aspects of labor management and as crucial references if an applicant, government or employee agency disputes a hiring or some additional employment decis ion (Sharon, 2008). A sample job description of my previous job is that of a registered nurse and is as follows; identification of patient care needs by establishment of personal rapport with possible and real patients and other individuals in a capacity to comprehend care needs. Establishment of a compassionate atmosphere by provision of emotional, spiritual and psychological support to patients, families and friends. Promotion of

Principles of Economics Gross Domestic Product Essay

Principles of Economics Gross Domestic Product - Essay Example During the base year nominal and real GDP are equal. Therefore real GDP reflects both prices and quantities of goods and services produced by an economy, whereas nominal GDP reflects the produced quantities only. GDP does not reflect accurately the nation's productivity. There are products that GDP excludes, because it is difficult to measure them. For one thing, GDP includes all items produced and sold legally in the market. This means that products that are produced and sold illegally cannot be traced and measured by the GDP. Additionally, GDP does not include products and services that are actually produced by households but never enter the market. These are, for example, home grown fruit or vegetables that are used within the households that cultivate them. Also, GDP excludes other immeasurable variables like the quality of the environment or leisure time and does not reflect the distribution of income within an economy.

RA #6 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

RA #6 - Assignment Example Several possible solutions, including technical issues, computer failure, sick relatives, and acceptance of the mistake were presented. We agreed on accepting our mistake and seek for additional time. The other creative problem solving technique in a group set-up is the excursion technique. It is very useful for triggering group members to develop innovative thought patterns for formulate strategies. This method takes place in four five basic stages. In the first step, the consultant asks members to go for an imaginary excursion and take note of what they see. The second step involves creating analogies to what they saw with the problem at hand. Thirdly, each of these group members has to try and develop a solution from the analogy they created with what was seen in step one. In the fourth step, the participants share their experiences of the excursion: what they saw, analogies created, and solution. The final stage is more or less like brainstorming where the most suitable solution is

Principles of Economics Gross Domestic Product Essay

Principles of Economics Gross Domestic Product - Essay Example During the base year nominal and real GDP are equal. Therefore real GDP reflects both prices and quantities of goods and services produced by an economy, whereas nominal GDP reflects the produced quantities only. GDP does not reflect accurately the nation's productivity. There are products that GDP excludes, because it is difficult to measure them. For one thing, GDP includes all items produced and sold legally in the market. This means that products that are produced and sold illegally cannot be traced and measured by the GDP. Additionally, GDP does not include products and services that are actually produced by households but never enter the market. These are, for example, home grown fruit or vegetables that are used within the households that cultivate them. Also, GDP excludes other immeasurable variables like the quality of the environment or leisure time and does not reflect the distribution of income within an economy.

Why ERP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Why ERP - Essay Example The similarities between two companies exist in terms of the product they produce i.e. furniture. The difference between companies existed in terms of the use of software. The company in North Carolina used MRP that did not yield effective results. On the other side, company in Ohio used ERP system that was helpful in employees’ training. The difference between two companies also exists in terms of volume of production. The per day production of the plant in Ohio is more than that of N. Carolina. There were different reasons that resulted in the success of SAP R/3 in Ohio. First of all, the system received the support of a number of employees, managers, and customers. The customers of the company encouraged the implementation of SAP R/3. The employees were involved in the development process that increased the effectiveness of training. ASAP is an approach that is used to implement R/3 software. The approach provides a company with steps or major phases. These steps include Project Preparation, Business Blueprint, Realization, Final Preparation, and Go Live and Support. I would have suggested the involvement of more people in order to develop the systems. Billy was not very persuasive when explaining the problems to Mr. McDougle. If I were in this situation, I would have tried my level best to analyze the decision of software implementation from both sides in order to persuade others. I would also have spent more time on getting an insight of the system in order to persuade

Current Intellectual Property Rights Essay Example for Free

Current Intellectual Property Rights Essay They say the internet is best source of information when in reality it translates as the best source of information that can be stolen. Current intellectual property rights laws seem to be just pile of papers under a politician’s secretary’s desk. The irony is that it lacks the capability to respond to violations it was intended to contest. If the present conditions continue, new ideas are in danger of being copied and thus hampering their developments. Intellectual property right basically means legal entitlement to intellectual works—such as names, inventions, trade secrets and written and recorded media— thus keeping it safe from being stolen. This is quite problematic because there the notion that no one can be original anymore exists and people don’t seem to care about a work being original at all. Sometimes violations may come in a form of reconstruction of a work, using another person’s work as a model, but if studied closely, they are merely imitations. Violating other’s intellectual property is needless to say a very unethical action. Opportunists save themselves time and the very difficult task of coming up with something original. These violations can be simply called theft in the realm of physical property. Legal problems concerning physical property are much resolved compared to the vague realm of intellectual property. Violations such as theft can be easily charged to the violator of a physical property not legally entitled to them and the properties are properly given legal protection. Protection of intellectual properties is the main objective of the law, but the broadness of the description of the law weakens its credibility. The term â€Å"intellectual property right† is one of the most controversial terms of the present era. It is still disputed and still globally unresolved. It is only half a millennium since the first patents and copyrights were made. Current laws seem to be unqualified to be the solution of eradicating violations to intellectual property rights. The formulation of such laws is obviously inadequate and requires in depth revisions since the problem is still rampant. On the other hand, some critics of the laws says that intellectual property are just present because of they serve a utilitarian purpose. These laws are passed because it would be much convenient to everyone than having them not exist at all. Still, many argue that it is not utilitarian at all because it can only be put into use by cases in which evidences can give support. Unfortunately, ideas can’t be sealed in a plastic bag and presented to the court. And even if these laws are present, a system that can monitor the World Wide Web seems to be far from the capacity of current technology. Since this an international problem, there is no legal system to resolve intellectual property violations if the parties involved are from different countries. Another big question is: who will be enforcing this law? There a group that is capable and has the resources to apprehended violators spread across the globe, so violators are still Not all authors have enough resources to have their work patented. Many authors don’t even bother to have their works copyrighted because they view the process of it as bothersome and expensive. Some even view it as inadequate and has weak credibility. Many are resorting to publishing their work through the internet which is the feeding ground for violators. This poses a threat to the development of new technologies. Companies are now, more than ever dependent on the internet. Violators are not merely copy-and-paste people, some are high-skilled computer hackers that may be employed to steal vital information from the competition. The realistic solution is not to be dependent much on the internet until the intellectual property right law is enforceable and serve its original function. Many is in doubt whether that time may come, but the important thing is that all of us should respect not just the law but the rights of our fellow human beings to create original works and be granted legal rights to those works. References Andersen B. 2006. Intellectual Property Rights: Innovation, Governance, and the Institutional. USA: Edward Elgar Publishing Christensen C. M. 1997. The Innovators Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Harvard Business School Press

Issues of social balance and mixed communities

Issues of social balance and mixed communities Interest in social balance and mixed communities has arisen as a response to both increased management issues in social housing and to concepts of the underclass and social exclusion. The identification of significant and persistent inequalities between areas at the ward and neighbourhood level in recent research (e.g. Meen et al., 2005) has triggered a shift in housing strategy and policy. Social balance is now entrenched within English housing and planning policy where it provides a correction to the housing markets natural tendency to segregate (Goodchild and Cole, 2001). Although this state interventionist approach has come under-fire from academics such as Cheshire (2007), who argue that spatial policy cannot correct deep-rooted social and economic forces and that the focus of policy should be to reduce income inequality in society not just treat the consequences of it, social mixing has gained popular support in urban policy. This literature review outlines the mixed community approach to urban gentrification in urban policy by discussing its latest iteration, the MCI. The MCIs place in UK policy discourse is then analysed as a way of exploring its conceptual and theoretical ideologies for area regeneration. Finally, an in depth review of the literature is conducted which reengages with Mixed Communities as an approach to area regeneration Since 2005, the mixed communities approach to gentrification and the renewal of disadvantaged neighbourhoods has become firmly embedded in the UKs housing and planning policy. The approach was first announced in January 2005 in the Mixed Communities Initiative (MCI) which formed part of New Labours five year plan for the delivery of sustainable communities. The MCI has four core components (Lupton et al., 2009); A commitment to the transformation of areas with concentrated poverty, to provide a better housing environment, higher employment, better education, less crime and higher educational achievements. To achieve these through changes in the housing stock and attraction of new populations, whilst improving opportunities for existing populations. Finance development by recognising the value of publicly owned land and other public assets. Integrate government policies to produce a holistic approach which is sustainable through mainstream funding. Initially the MCI was delivered through twelve demonstration projects situated in the most deprived neighbourhoods in the UK. However, more recently the concepts behind the mixed community approach have grown beyond these projects and are now advocated by planning authorities in a diverse range of areas. Consequently, mixed community developments are emerging without demonstration project status and as such mixed communities have become an approach to area regeneration in addition to being a government policy initiative (Silverman et al., 2006). In response to this policy development the purpose of this literature review is two-fold. Firstly, through analysis of the theories of poverty, place and gentrification in policy discourse it is possible to gain an understanding of the rationale behind the mixed communities conception of the causes place poverty. Review Secondly Theories of Poverty and Place in Urban Policy Any form of urban regeneration reflects a specific theoretical understanding of the causes of place poverty. Throughout the 20th Century UK urban policy has undergone a transformation in its understanding of the causes of place poverty and consequently the approach to urban regeneration has altered. A broad distinction can be made in the UKs approaches to regeneration; between early regeneration by the Keynesian welfare state and that advocated by conservative governments. The former looked to correct the crisis of the neighbourhood through neighbourhood improvement. This approach understands the problems of declining areas as a product of the economic structures which cause spatial and social inequality (Katz, 2004). In response they looked to improve living conditions and try to equalise life chances through redistributive social welfare programmes. In contrast to neighbourhood improvement is the neighbourhood transformation approach, a discernibly neoliberal approach advocated by conservative governments. Here the problems of disadvantaged neighbourhoods are understood as the product of market failures rather than underlying economic structures. The creation of mass social housing estates and overly generous benefit regimes are some of the market failures which reportedly trap the disadvantaged in social cultures of dependency (Goetz, 2003). In the neighbourhood improvement approach these areas are seen as a barrier to market forces; occupying inner city areas with good commercial and residential property investment potential. According to Lupton and Fuller (2009:1016) the neighbourhood improvement approach understands the solution to be: not simply the amelioration of conditions in these neighbourhoods for the benefit of their current residents, but the restoration of market functionality through the physical change and transformation of the position of the neighbourhood in the urban hierarchy Perhaps the best example of this is the role of Urban Development Corporations which brought about the transformation of the London Docklands in the 1980s. Their presence instigated a fundamental change in the role of the state in urban development, from a regulator of the market to an agent within the market. The state was now responsible for fostering the economic conditions under which the economic productivity of areas and communities could be improved. In 1997 New Labours urban regeneration policy was hailed as a divorce from this transformational approach and a return to the improvement approach. The government pioneered an array of new, enhanced public services under the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal. Included was the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit and the New Deal for Communities (NDC) which facilitated interaction between local agents on neighbourhood improvement. Whilst this strategy had the appearance of a strong local focus which prioritised residents, other elements of New Labours policies were characteristically neoliberal. As Fuller and Geddes (2008) remark, Labours urban interventions focus on an equality of opportunity agenda which aspires to greater social cohesion and inclusion by devolving responsibility to local citizens. However, by not matching these responsibilities with appropriate state powers within the NRU and NDC there has been little support for local citizens except to merely compensate the indiv iduals and places put at risk by market forces. As such New Labours initiatives have failed to deliver major redistributional interventions which relinquish local state agents from neoliberal targets, cultures and forms of control (Jessop, 1990). Neoliberal theories of poverty and place within the MCI Within this policy discourse the MCI exists as a more characteristically neoliberal initiative. It is clear in its understanding of the problem, concentrated poverty, and the solution, de-concentration through gentrification and neighbourhood transformation. By doing this the MCI subscribes to a policy discourse which understands concentrated poverty as a spatial metaphor (Crump, 2002). This metaphor inherently undermines complex economic, social and political processes and uses the individual failings of the poor within concentrated spaces to justify their dilution or removal. The concentrated poverty thesis originated from the US (e.g. The Hope VI Urban Revitalisation Programme) where it provides legitimacy to policies which alter cities spatial structures through market forces. Such influences have encouraged British policy makers to adopt a more radical approach to urban regeneration and advocate extensive demolition and gentrification to restore functioning housing markets, imposing a neoliberal agenda on struggling housing environments (Imbroscio, 2008). The MCIs focus on market restoration is clearly articulated: the aim is that success measures should be choice. Reputation, choice of staying and that people want to move in its about market choice (Senior CLG official in Lupton et al., 2009:36) The government realises that while public service improvements will help create this market, it is not enough alone physical change is required to enhance peoples attraction to the neighbourhood and its market. The states role is therefore not just to invest directly but improve and diversify the housing stock whilst decreasing public housing ratios with the explicit goal of stimulating market processes. However, a further consequence of this is the re-population of The mixed communities approach requires the state to fund the improvement of services, in many cases to attract better-off residents, and sell or gift land to the private sector. The removal of social housing through its gift to the private sector inherently creates a spatial fix for poverty and incentivises the development of mixed-income housing developments. In such a situation there is potential for the private sector to change social housing in co-ordinance with market dynamics and consequently complex and marginal developments will be neglected (Adair et al., 2003). CONCLUDE and develop a little mention gentrifiction Impact of Mixed Communities As long as 30 years ago, Holcomb and Beauregard (1981) were critical of the way it was assumed that benefits of urban revitalisation through social mixing would trickle down to the poor. Despite the consequential academic debate, which disputed whether gentrification leads to social exclusion, segregation and displacement, it has become increasingly popular in urban policy where it is assumed that its application leads to a more socially mixed, integrated, and sustainable urban environment. The following review will explore the literature which questions whether moving middle-income populations into low-income neighbourhoods or vice versa has a positive impact on residents urban experience. link to mixed communities Schoon (2001) identifies three rationales behind social mixing in policy debates. Firstly, there is an assumption that the middle-class are more likely to attract public resources and as such the lower-income household will fare better in socially mixed communities. Secondly, mixed income developments are in a better position to support a local economy than areas of concentrated poverty. Finally and most controversially, the networks and contacts argument advocated by Putnam (1995) poses that socially mixed neighbourhoods create an environment which improves the bridging and bonding of social capital between social classes. Consequently, lower-income residents have more opportunities to network and break out of poverty than they would in areas of concentrated deprivation. The Social Exclusion Unit (1998:53) expands on this: [socially mixed neighbourhoods] often brings people into contact with those outside their normal circle, broadening horizons and raising expectations, and can link people into informal networks through which work is more easily found. These three arguments are the cornerstone of a global policy discourse which has received very little critique in the UK. One of the reasons for this is the way it is framed. The social mixing agenda which has been prominent in western efforts to decentralise poverty is a discourse which actively avoids the word gentrification. Instead it uses terms like urban revitalisation, urban regeneration, and urban sustainability to redefine itself as a moral discourse which helps the poor (Slater, 2005; 2006). By doing this the discourse deflects from the class restructuring processes which define its implementation. Previous Studies As of yet there is little consensus around the ability of gentrification to achieve the goals asked of it, neither is it clear what type of social mix is most desirable or the outcomes of different mixes (Walks and Maaranen, 2008). For instance, Tunstall and Fenton (2006) who claim to amass the best UK research on social mix conclude that although knowledge gaps exist the founding arguments for mixed communities remains valid. Yet, in contrast, Doherty et al. (2006) undertook quantitative analysis of the UK census and Scottish Longitudinal Study and concluded that there is little evidence to support the mixing of housing tenures in developments with the premise of improving social well-being. Purpose sentence Randolph and Wood (2003) note that much of the research conducted so far has concentrated on social mixing in public housing estates (Atkinson and Kintrea, 2000; Cole and Shayer, 1998) and there has been little exploration of the social mixing occurring in new build developments. Does Gentrification bring about social mixing? Contrary to the assumptions which link gentrification to improved social mixing, most research suggests that gentrification is likely to reduce social mixing at the neighbourhood level. Interviews conducted by Butler (1997), and Butler and Robson (2001; 2003) suggest that local middle-income gentrifiers engaged in little social interaction with lower-income residents. Their research found that gentrifiers generally sought out people with similar cultural and political interests which often lead to little interaction between middle and low-income residents. Accordingly, they found that interaction was greatest in areas where gentrification had homogenised an area and pushed out other groups. In areas where this had not occurred, Butler and Robson (2001) reported that, the difference between tenants resulted in tectonic juxtapositions which polarised social groups rather than integrating them. In their later research, Butler and Robson (2003) not only reinforced their earlier findings but found that children formed a key facilitator in resident integration: there was no evidence that the children played outside these middle class networks, our fieldwork strongly suggests that the middle class preschool clubs were highly exclusionary of non-middle class children (Butler and Robson, 2003:128) Although Butler and Robsons research rightly questions the role of gentrification in a policy discourse which looks to foster a sustainable urban environment it does so primarily through the experiences of the gentrifier. Davidsons (under review) research of new build, middle income development on the River Thames, London engaged with both gentrifier and non-gentrifier to reinforce scepticism over the ability of housing type to influence class relations. Davidson found no evidence to suggest that any of the developments desired outcomes had been achieved through the introduction of a middle class population. Both the temporary nature of new build residents and the spatially segregated nature of the development itself meant the development fostered little integration between low and middle income residents who do not work in the same place, use the same transport or frequent same restaurants or pubs. In a similar study Freeman (2006) researched two black gentrifying neighbourhoods in New York City. Like Davidson, Freeman found that social networks rarely crossed and that gentrifiers and longer term residents generally moved in different spaces. Additionally, Freeman experienced that residents were hesitant to pass comment on social mixing, they rarely expressed their opinions in overly positive or negative tones. In accordance with this literature it seems unrealistic to assume that different social groups will integrate when living together. As some of the authors have highlighted, increased neighbourhood diversity does not correlate with increased social interaction and can in some cases promote social conflict as much as it does social harmony. Mention how its all based on a class representation of society The mixed communities policy agenda has been used to help improve inequality in social housing (estates managed by local authorities, housing associations, and other non-profit housing agencies) and more controversially to regenerate social housing. This concentration on social housing comes out of a Since its conception social housing in the UK has experienced slow residualisation a tendency to house only certain types of household; the poor, unemployed, those in debt, with a history of mental illness and experiencing a relationship breakdown (Cole and Furbey, 1994). For much of social housings history this process has been ignored and consequently has been accompanied by a sorting process forcing the most vulnerable households into the most unattractive housing (Willmott and Murie, 1988). MIXED COMMUNITIES DEFINE EVERYDAY EXPERIENCE what is encapsulated within this? Social interactionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Previous Studies There are three studies which are relevant to this research. They examine the impact of mixed community housing on social interaction: Atkinson and Kintrea (2000) conducted an exploratory study which analysed diaries made by 38 households. The research suggested that patterns of social life vary by tenure and as such little interaction occurred between residents of owner occupied housing and social housing tenants. The neighbourhood was seen as a focus of interaction for social housing residents only. Cole and Shavers (1998b) survey of 52 residents in a new build, mixed-tenure redevelopment in Sheffield again found only weakly developed social networks. Jupps (1999:10-11) analysis of interviews with over 1,000 residents living in ten-mixed-tenure estates in England, concluded that the street is a more significant social unit than the estate. The case studies analysed often had social and private housing located on different streets and consequently there was little mixing reported between the two groups. Jupp reported that fostering social interaction would extremely difficult because of the overwhelming belief between residents: they do not think that they share many common interests with their neighbours. Individually these studies offer little scope, but taken together they provide a consistent view that mixed tenure developments foster little social interaction between residents of different social backgrounds. However, it must be realised that these studies only examine the grass-roots neighbourhood, that is to say that they often ignore the way external perceptions have defining role in the developments success. Atkinson and Kintrea (2000) identify it as a key area for future research when they report that residents welcomed the influx of higher income residents because they improve the reputation and appearance of the area. There is one fundamental understanding that underpins urban policy in the UK; as stated in the foreword of the Urban White Paper: How we live our lives is shaped by where we live our lives

Comparing A Turn with the Sun and A Separate Peace :: comparison compare contrast essays

Essay Comparing A Turn with the Sun and A Separate Peace  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although many similarities exist between A Turn with the Sun and A Separate Peace, both written by John Knowles, the works are more dissimilar than alike.   A Separate Peace is a novel about the struggle of a senior class in the face of World War II, and it focuses on two best friends, Gene Forrester and Phineas.   A Turn with the Sun is about a young man who struggles to fit in as a freshman in the closed microcosm of a senior dominated school who struggles, vainly, to make a name for himself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Knowles wrote A Turn with the Sun in the third person.   His character, Lawrence is trying to make a name for himself as an underclassman.   He suffers from a poor self image, as "Lawrence sensed once again that he was helplessly sliding back, into the foggy social bottom-land where unacceptable first-year boys dwell." (A Turn with the Sun:12) He sees his achievements and failures as analogous to his worth as a person.  Ã‚   He feels that he is a failure, yet is thankful that, "...the hockey captain had never invaded his room, as he had Fruitcake Putsby's next door, and festooned his clothes through the hall; he had never found a mixture of sour cream and cereal in his bed at night, no one had ever poured ink into the tub while he was bathing.   The victims of such violations were genuine outcasts." (A Turn with the Sun: 12) The other boys see Lawrence as an annoyance rather than an exile, while he feels that he is better than the other boys at Devon. This is reinforced when he thinks, "When he plunged from the railing he had been just another of the unknown new boys, but when he broke the surface of the water in that remarkable dive, one that he had never attempted before and was never to repeat, he became for his schoolmates a boy to be considered."   (ATurn with the Sun:13) The dive serves as an inauguration into the school's social system.   It is symbolic of risk, achievement and imperfection; it brings together the gap between the river, which represents the unknown, and the bridge one stands on, the tangible world where the boys feel secure.   Lawrence, like Leper who will be discussed later, "...merely inhabited the nether world of the unregarded, where no one bothered him or bothered about him.

Noy: A glimpse of our society’s status Essay

The movie ‘Noy’, directed by Dondon Santos and starred by Coco Martin, allowed us to take a look into the lives and different problems of an ordinary Filipino. This brought us the chance to have a closer look to the issues of this country concerning drugs, poverty, education, crimes, family and many others. ‘Noy’ showed us how one’s decisions and actions can affect the lives and beliefs of many people. This reaction paper is not about how good the movie was, in terms of how well it has been directed or portrayed by the actors, not in a perspective of a movie critique but in a view of an ordinary student and a concerned citizen. This would be about the social issues and problems that has been sited in the film and are very relevant nowadays. In the movie, Noy is living in an uncomfortable and struggling life with his manicurist mother, crippled brother and a smart sister. Their family lived in a house floating on flood water. He faked some of his documents, his diploma and demo reel, and posed to be a journalist to the hope that their status in life would change. He started working on a documentary about Senator Noynoy Aquino which was way back then, running for presidency. Later on, his brother has been involved to drugs and his sister got blind. After that, everything got messy and he eventually got killed by the drug pushers/addicts. As what has shown in the movie, education, poverty, crimes and drugs, these four things are interrelated with each other. Why? Most Filipinos was not able to go to school, not because they chose or wanted to, but because they cannot afford; because of poverty. As a result of this, they are opt to fool other people, to do crimes, to be involved in drugs. This scenario has been a cycle in our society and has always been the main problems. Upon knowing those things, what can we do? How can we lessen these scenarios? That’s what we need to figure out.Yes, these problems are not simple. It’s a nation’s problem, but if each of us will take an action to at least resolve  these, it may help a lot. There’s a large number of jobless Filipinos especially in poor, rural areas. We can put up community projects in which they can be involved ,like for example establishing nurseries, making recycled crafts (to help in segregating waste that is considered to be one of the factors for flooding), weaving and others. With this projects, they can earn and at least be helpful in their daily expenses. These can also be beneficial to take them away from doing crimes and drugs as well. We can be or have volunteer teachers for out-of-school children. We may not be able to send them to school, but at least we can teach them the basics, how to count, read and write. We can lend them books for them to practice and study. We can communicate with LGUs and the local government to help in giving those children other resources or even scholarships for them to have a formal education. Though, we should not always be dependent in the government, as what has also shown in the movie. We can make a change. We can help other people if we want to, even a little unselfish act will do as long as we will do it wholeheartedly. We all have the shared responsibility in serving this nation. Let us all be involved in empowering every Filipino in any way we can do. Ignorance is a plague in our society. We should set our eyes open to the reality that this world keeps on hiding from us. Stop being ignorant , instead be vigilant.

Studying in Group at High School in Beijing: a Survey

Studying in group at high school in Beijing: A survey LV YUJIA Louisa Student Number: 09010022 Name of the Lecturer: Edwin Baak Date: 12/26/2011 Renda B 09 Acknowledgements Thanks for my friends Zhao Shanshan and Hu Surui helping finish the research questionnaire to students. I am very grateful to teacher Mr. Baak to his useful guidance to write this paper. Table of Contents Abstract†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 1. Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦. 5 1. Background†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. â € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 2. Statement of the problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 1. Review of the literature†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2. Design and measurement used†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 3. Results†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11 4. Discussions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦.. 12 5. Conclusions †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 13 6. Recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 14 1. Research recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦.. †¦14 2. Issued-related recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 14 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦15 Appendix A†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 17 The Abstract: Nowadays, with the speeding up of world economy, the world is becoming smaller and smaller, so that the competition among people from different ountries is becoming fierce, which is the motivation to promote people to study hard so as to survive in the competitive world. People always try to find the suitable study methods to upgrade the effectiveness. Either studying in a group or studying alone is the better way has caused public debate. Some people hold that there is no denying that studying in a group exerts positive impact on many aspects. First and foremost, studying in a group, the principal methods in many schools, is beneficial to mutual understanding, which will enhance students’ communication abilities.Besides, the efficiency of solving problems will definitely be improved, for they can get he lp from partners. Last but not least, Student can study well when he is studying with a group of students because he can get good ideas from others which he don't know and more over he will not feel bore while he is studying. If he got any doubts while studying, he can clarify the doubts immediately. Other people strongly claim that there are many students who have got great achievements by studying alone insisting that independent study is feasible and more effective. To put it another way, one can study without any disturbance.While studying alone he can't get good ideas. If he got any doubt, it cannot be clarify by his own. Then it will be time waste for him. For example, while he is studying alone if the subject is not interest to him, his mind may get divert from the subject and concentration will be lost. First, I will go to the school to do a survey about study in the class. Second, the questionnaire topic is probably about do you think study in group? And, which way is bette r for you? Is studying in group or studying alone? Third, I would ask some questions to some parents and teachers.Key word: good way to study, group study, study alone, high school, distance education, one-on-one tutoring 1. Introduction 1. Background In the 21st century, most of the family has an only child out of the police in china. Such a child is an apple in the eyes in a family. It is every parent's desire to give their children the best start in life, they would like to search a best way to their children and get a great education. Almost all students were tutored by one-on-one. And some students have an experience of distance learning. At the same time, the traditional educational means confronts a huge challenge.Some parents support their child study alone because of they believe that it is a good way to concentrate on his or her study. Currently there has been a fierce debate over whether students should go to school study in group or study alone at home. Views on the hot issue vary greatly. Advocates of studying alone hold the benefits of students are well documented. Students who study at home by themselves are often described as more confident, independent and worldly wise than schools’ student counterpart. Because of they need to independently read more books and webpage to look for more information.Moreover, there are many ways to acquire knowledge, such as distance learning, one-on-one class and soon on. Students can choose a good way to study according to different situation. Worst of all, reports are often heard that some students committed suicide or murdered their roommates. So that, some people choose to study alone and even gave up the opportunity of go to school due to severe pressure from the student will be compare with others. On the other hand, innovative as distance-learning technology may be, it can supersede classrooms altogether. True education should not be confined to the delivery of information.It should involve the cul tivation of effective learning habits, the development of group discussion skills and the encouragement of collaboration as well, which we cannot find in online course. More importantly, campus-based education tend to foster a mentoring partnership between educators and learners while in reality, distance education rarely helps to establish a mentoring relationship between the faculty members and the students, due to the long physical distance. Amid these people who have argued in study ways the high students take up quite large proportion.According to a net of education, at least half of high schools’ students go through tutoring alone. And most students’ parents willing to spent money on study alone. Thus if you want to research the good way to study, you must focus on high school students. There are many reasons to choose the students of high school as respondents. Firstly, students have more experience than other school of basic education. Secondly, there is bitter competition for student. As is well know the college entrance exam is a real challenge to students, students want to do their best to meet the challenge.Thus they will choose a good way to study at any cost. Finally, and above all, the competition is fierce and the nine-hour test is offered just once a year and is the sole determinant for admission to virtually all Chinese colleges and universities. Moreover, the college entrance examination is seen as potentially life-changing. If you enter a university through the exam, your life career and future life will be decide. Everyone attaches great importance to this exam. In recent years, the field of education becomes a hot industry. Meanwhile, more and more problems appear in education.For school study, they always make a ranking and everyone can see the results of other students to see all the students of all grade rankings. This measure will undoubtedly bring them great pressure to study, even affect health and life. We often read the news student suicides of form the news paper. However, student is more confidence who study alone at home. They can get the tutoring which is face-to-face. It is a very good and effective way of learning. But it is not a good way to good communication skills and has team work spirit. 2. Statement of the problem Each one has its own superiority.During the researching course, I try to analyze and study to this problem from different point of view. I research many different questions, such as which ways of study of you like, do you think some problem exist in study in a group, how long you will study at home everyday and soon on. I survey this question due to we need know whether students more efficient who study alone, whether more and more student don’t like study at school, whether there are some problems exist in tradition education, whether study alone is better than studying in a group, whether parent sand teachers of students support to study alone and so on. . Review of literature According to this literature, there are other factors affect students. Its action cannot small inspect. Firstly, it’s important to spend your time productively. Students need to make a clearly plans and schedule, meanwhile, they should to learn the top student has no intrusions on study time. Secondly, every student should seek out a method of learning which is suit to him/her. They cannot copy other people’s ways due to the different level of different students.Finally, if you don’t have any interesting in study and even don’t know why you need to study, you cannot get a high score even if you stand in a good group or have a good tutor. They need improve their skill and have fun. Indeed, study skills are not the most important things. But there are the bases of study. When you finish it, the environment will become more important. To be sure, people are different. Everyone should to choose a way which is adapt to him or her to study. For t his literature, we know that there are main ways to study. One of this is belong to studying in a group and others are belonging to study alone.They are group study, one-on-one tutoring and distance education. Group study is benefit to establish the confidence of students. It can easily build team spirit among classmate. If you are one member of a group, you will be watching by other members in the group. You will have to try harder due to you wanting to more successful and getting the credit for. Moreover, a group likes a piece. Everyone will do their best to help you when your stand in the same group. Solving problem will become easier, because you're not alone, and there is strength in numbers! At the same time, a problem exists in the group.A member of group in charge of a part so that they cannot understand the whole of one topic which is his or her group researched. If you study alone, you need do anything by yourself. It is a better way to acquire new knowledge and research q uestions. The tutoring of one-on-one is benefit to everyone due to the pertinence of student. When you distract to some things, you will not worry didn't hear what the teacher was saying. If you could not compass the simplest problems, you could ask your tutor and do not worries to be laughed by other classmate. And teacher will follow you and choose the best way and important course to you.However, we cannot overlook the disadvantage of this way. First, if you choose tutoring of one-on-one, you will lose the power of activities with other classmates. I maybe feel tired and boring for study alone. Second, it is not easy to find out a textbook to adapt you. Third, you do not know the level of tutoring teacher. You maybe cannot meet a teacher which tutor is suit to you. Distance education has the advantage of low-cost and easy to save time. Students can study on anywhere and any time. Compare with one-on-one tutor is a good way to save money and get pointed comments on study.But it st ill has some problems. First, there are a lot of tutor from 3rd world due to they want to save money. They do not know the system of your country and cannot give you a good idea of study. Moreover, sometimes we cannot meet the on-line tutor to know about teaching level. Lastly, teaching on-line is not a good way to communication with teacher. Because the internet is not very stability, the speed is very slow. Sometimes we will loss some information due to the latency. If you can learning of face-to-face, you can use the body language explain your mind. 3. Design and Measurements usedThere are three kinds of people are relative to this survey. They are parents, teachers and students. Thus, the questionnaire includes three aspect questions to different people. However, the high school students who will accept more in-depth questions as the main respondents. The questionnaire consists mainly of three parts. In the first place, the question is about the basic information of all particip ants. And, the participants will be arranging to different groups according to the basic information. For example, girls and boys will have different choice when they face to some things.If students can choose the school, girls maybe focus on school uniform which school’s is more beautiful and boys will be attracts to excellent sporting facilities. In the second place, the question is about the extant problems and advantage. Such as, what problem you face in study in a group or study alone. This part will be conducive to we find out the problem in the two ways and help us solve current problems more correctly to choose a good way to study. Finally, the investigations are focus on the expectantly things. Such as, which ways you want to add in your study process.We need know which ways of study of people like in further and therefore further research. 4. Result The survey shows that there are seventy percent students choose studying in a group is a good way to study. There are two reasons: Two-thirds of this people gave reason is that they cannot make a good plan and control themselves. One-thirds of this people gave the reason is that they can make new friend and have activities with others. But sixty percent of these persons have experience to study alone by one-on-one tutoring. And nearly ninety people would like to try to study alone in future.Students who support study alone are a good way to study about thirty percent. Most people think that it is a great help for my quick improving the score. However, nine out of ten people claim that it is a method to help study but it is the main way to study. One ninth of the students choose to get the tutor by one-on-on due to they need to be target. A tenth of the students choose the on-line tutoring. They believe that it can save money and easy to control the teaching time. The last part is about the parents and teachers of students. Almost all parents and teachers support study in a group.But they always bel ieve that if their children and students would like to improve the level of student they will to encourage these students. 5. Conclusion My question is that what is better way to study? It can be found there are many ways to study. Firstly, study skills are important whatever you studying in a group or study alone. Secondly, the research show that most people think group study is better to study. Lastly, studying alone only as the assistant study method. However, some students are favor to study alone who are an average student or a poor student.They believe that they can get the effective guidance from the one-on-one tutoring. Other students are support studying in a group who are top student. They claim that it is unnecessary spent to a private teacher. For teachers and parents, they have the same viewpoint. Study alone is a way to help student to improve themselves, but it is not the best way to study. If the student can understand the knowledge in the class, study alone is not n ecessary. 6. Discussion The survey only includes the high school student, and only search the answer form my brother’s class.The class only have 60 members is not enough to a prefect research. For the party of teacher and parents, the research is more imperfection due to small group in search. So the study is no authoritative answer to these questions. And there also have some problem in this research. For example, there have many ways to study, such as, study in a teaching center, study by yourself and soon on. But I only search the study in group. And the way of study alone also has many ways. This paper only aim to a small group who study in high school. Actually, there has a small group study alone now.All in all, the survey has its limitation. [pic] 7. Recommendations 1. Research recommendation Firstly, you need to read a lot of articles what you want to research. Because this can help you gain a main idea of the field. Meanwhile, you will get the different perspectives from different authors. Moreover, making notes is also important to search a problem. Due to we need to understand what the articles say. It is not only to copy it. Next, most information is coming from the Internet which is not regular compare with other academic books. We should go to the library to find information.Lastly but not least, the investigator needs to search from different groups in a particular community and different level. One fields people is different to other fields. 2. Issue-related recommendations First of all, the people should focus on a variety of ways to ask questions. For example, Likert scale guarantees a survey to including the overall aspects of the problem which is very useful. We can ensure that the length of the questionnaire, which respond may a few time. And, there has a easy way to ask questions of the model. Another example is APA style, it is also a good way to sure where the literature.It not only useful to writer to found out more point, but a lso telling the reader where the point from. It is a good way to make you researcher more regular and have authority. References * Brain Stocker: How To Study Alone, August 26, 2008 from http://www. test-preparation. ca/study-center/how-to-study-alone/ * Francois Betim, Reference and Education †¢ Published: December 9, 2008 How to Study Alone and Pass Exams, from * Dr. Bob Kizlik,(1997) Effective Study Skills. How to Study and Make the Most of Your Time September 19, 1997,from http://www. adprima. com/studyout. htm * Wikipedia contributor(2011) Distance education, from http://en. ikipedia. org/wiki/Distance_education * Tutorfi(2009), Benefits of One on One Online Tutoring: Specialized Teaching Methodology. From http://www. tutorfi. com/OnlineTutoringDefined/oneononeonlinetutoring * Merryjazz(2006),The Advantages and Disadvantages of Study Groups, From http://www. studyskillsblog. com/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-study-groups/ * Grace Fleming(2009), Would Group Study Impr ove Your Grades? About. com Guide, from http://homeworktips. about. com/od/homeworkhelp/a/study. htm * Bruno Linhares(2005), Distance education or distance learning, from http://en. wikipedia. rg/wiki/Distance_education * Anton Lebedev(2011), The Disadvantages of Online Tutoring, from http://ezinearticles. com/? The-Disadvantages-of-Online-TutoringHYPERLINK â€Å"http://ezinearticles. com/? The-Disadvantages-of-Online-Tutoring&id=4781285† â€Å"http://ezinearticles. com/? The-Disadvantages-of-Online-Tutoring&id=4781285†³id=4781285 * Guestbook(2001), Group Tutoring vs. One-on-One Tutoring, from http://www. squidoo. com/group-tutoring-vs-one-on-one-tutoring Appendix A Questionnaires What is the better way to study? 1. Tick your gender group. Please choose only one of the following: ?Male ? Female 2. Tick an age group. Please choose only one of the following: ? 16-19 ? 20-23 ? 24-27 ? 28+ If none of these, please state what you think here__________ 3. Please take your grad e in school or your child(or students) in? ?G1-G6 ? G7-G9 ? G10-G11 ? G12 or over 4. Tick where do you study now: ?School ? Home ? Others 5. Tick you get good grades in school: ?Great ? General ? Lower-middle ? Bad If you like you can write you score__________ 6. Do you think the academic environment is important? ?Yes ? No ? Doesn’t matter . Which is better way for you or child? ?Studying in a group ? Studying alone 8. Do you please a tutor of one-on-one? ?Yes ? No ? Never 9. Could you listen attentively and carefully in class? ?Yes ? No ? Most ? less 10. Do you want to study alone? ?Yes ? No 11. Are you always discussed the problem with your classmate? ?Yes ? No ? Sometimes ? Never 12. What would you like to do at home? ?Study ? Play ? Housework ? others 13. Do you think the distance education is a good way to study? ?Yes ? No 14.How many hours did you have for learning everyday? ?1-4hours 4-8hours ? 8hours or over 15. Are you always reviewing your lessons carefully after g oing back home? ?yes ? no ? sometimes 16. Do you have the initiative for learning? ?Active learning ? Can finish ? Can not finish 17. Do you have confident in your ability? ?Yes ? No 18. Do you always attend the discussion in the group? ?Always ? Sometimes ? Never 19. For study, do you to send from your classmate? ?Always ? electric toys ? camera ? other 20. Do you have a good plan for study?