Response Paper Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Response Paper - Article Example war forced her and her mother to live a desperate life; in a refugee camp in Pakistan and later in a foreign land Chicago, Illinois- America a place where everything was new and different from what they were used to. Thirdly, the war took away Farah’s personal friends and more so her family members. Her dad and other siblings had perished in the war. Her cousins, uncles’, aunts and even her grandmother were no longer alive. The only member of family she was left with was her mother. Farah had to live the rest of her life wishing that the war never erupted. She felt broken after being separated from her family and the only thing left was endless dreams and vivid imaginations of how the life would have been with her father and her brothers and sisters. Life in America was far much different from the life Farah and her mother had in Kabul- Afghanistan. In spite of their peace and safety, a good house and good foods, Farah and her mother still struggled to adapt to the American lifestyle. Everything had suddenly become new and they had to learn from scratch and through the hard way. This was a bit challenging since Farah and her mother spoke very little English. The issue of language difference was quite a challenge to Farah and her mother and in different situations Alyce a friend Farah had met while in the camp regularly chipped in to help them out. Alyce had readily helped Farah and her mother navigate through the medical system before she was sent to Germany (Ahmedi & Ansary, 2005). Of course, in Kabul there never used to be carnival rides. At first Farah thought that the other girls were screaming out of fear of falling from the ride. She without hesitation found herself screaming out loudly when the machine emitted sparks whic h was a part of the entire carnival ride game (Ahmedi & Ansary, 2005). Her mother on the other hand spent a lot of time in the house following her illness. She was really depressed and she had not met any new friends in Illinois. This

Semantic Change Of The Word Gay

Semantic Change Of The Word Gay Language investigation into the ongoing semantic change of the word gay Introduction The meaning of the word â€Å"gay† has changed over time with its current; most commonly accepted use being to describe someone’s sexual orientation. This wasn’t always the case and at the moment is already changing to define something as being â€Å"rubbish or â€Å"unimpressive†. Such a big change as of this has led to me being interested into investigating the word and how over time specifically it has changed. The word gay also interests me language wise because of its importance in referring to someone’s sexuality, it provides a personal connection to some people’s lives as it describes them and who they are, so however the definition changes so will the effect to anyone who is gay. To investigate the semantic change I wanted to get the widest range of results for my investigation on the word gay. I went about choosing a wide range of people to give me the greatest range of views and opinions on the word and its definitions. To get this I asked elderly people who come from a generation where the word was completely different. I also asked people such as my parents who have come from another different generation and then finally today’s generation. I would aim to find a large difference between definitions between the elderly who would have grown up around the 1960s and any teenager I ask today who is currently in a completely different generation. Methodology Data collection: Going about my Investigation I decided the best way to get the most and best results was to produce a number of definitions and let the people who fill out the questionnaire pick one or two. I then would produce some follow up questions around the word ‘gay’ in a questionnaire style layout. I decided that a questionnaire style layout would best suit this investigation because it would be familiar with all the ages I am planning to ask to fill. Anything to complicated could potentially confuse an older person so the results wouldn’t be as reliable. For the first most important question I decided on using the four definitions used by the British Oxford Dictionary and found that gay has four meanings: (A) ‘light-hearted and carefree’ (B) ‘brightly coloured, showy’ (C) ‘homosexual, especially a man’ (D) ‘foolish, stupid or unimpressive’ Giving each of these definitions a letter I would ask the people I was giving my questionnaire to, to choose the letter they thought gay meant. I’d do this in the aim of testing one of the hypothesis that only older people will use gay with the first and second meanings, and only younger people will use gay with the fourth and fifth, most recent meanings. The earliest meaning is letter (B). Dictionaries usually give letter (D) as the most recent meaning. Analysis First Analysis As I expected the results from my questionnaires matched my hypothesis, that the older generation would answer giving the definition of the word gay as light-hearted or colourful where as the generation of today (15-21) defining it as something being rubbish or a homosexual man. Even with this result that the homosexual man definition is still in common use, more 15-21 year olds answered that it meant something being rubbish rather than a homosexual man. The new definition is starting to over shadow the older one. Surprisingly in my results some even went to say they used the word gay not even thinking about the older definition of a homosexual man. Therefore showing the semantic change of the word has changed so greatly that it’s other definitions are starting to be forgotten about and people are using the new definition almost unconsciously as this new definition becomes more common. Though my hypothesis was correct there were some abnormalities with two elderly people who f illed in my questionnaire saying they had picked up on the change of the word gay through their grandchildren and had stopped using it because of the possibilities that the word could offend someone. I also found that the elderly people who were grandparents that had completed my questionnaire talked about experiences where they had use the word to describe something and had been laughed at because of the different meanings that the Grandparents and Grandkids shared. When being asked if they commonly used the word gay, the younger generation used it extremely more with it almost being a day to day phase. The older generation were not the same with all but one of the people I asked not using it at all. Semantic Change Through back up questions I learnt that such semantic change was becoming more popular through the school; people see that if homosexuality has become more accepted into today’s society they have no need to put a label on homosexuality. Therefore the word gay is losing its original meaning and connection to the word homosexuality. School also plays another part in this because it is teenagers (school pupils) who have changed the meaning of the word gay, it was first seen as an insult. But the word has been so overused that it has lost its original meaning. In the majority of schools where pupils aged 15-18 and possibly even younger call each other gay it was here that the word gay was popularised with students first using it as an insult. Being gay was seen as being bad, so it picked up this derogative term but as time processed and the semantic change also, it transformed into having an overall meaning that something is stupid. An example of this would be that in my questionn aire I was given â€Å"school† as something which is gay. If we used the definition of a homosexual man this would make no sense but because of the semantic change this definition has completely changed meaning anything this person didn’t like could be gay. It is not just in school that the word gay had been used. Radio and television shows although rarely are using the word gay to define something which is lame or rubbish. One example is Chris Moyles, a former DJ on BBC Radio 1, he received complaints from listeners after he used the word gay to describe a ringtone that he didn‘t like. The BBC released a statement after the incident saying that the word gay may now mean rubbish.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬- The BBC said that the DJ was just keeping up with developments in English usage. Chris Moyles show was one the most popular at the time, his and the BBC statement about the incident would have given many people a new way to define the word gay and the fact a DJ such as Chris Moyles could use it in this way would have led to many people using it also While finding out that gay meant something as being stupid through the eyes of 15-18 year olds, I asked these people whether or not they saw gay meaning this because of the fact that being gay has been seen as a bad thing for many years and is only now being understood and more regularly accepted. I wanted to see if at the beginning of ‘gay’ starting to change semantically, it took on a negative connotation since many opposed homosexuality especially in schools and whether or not this had an effect on the semantic change, almost trying to understand that if being gay was never seen as being bad would the word gay had even changed semantically at all? In conclusion into this secondary research I found that many people in the 15-18 year old category were honest and admitted that at the start the semantic change could have been put down to the fact it carried a derogatory meaning. But now is seen more as ‘play ground speak’ and the increase with this new meanin g is led by the youth culture with many 15-18 year olds using the word because others do and may not even have a bad view on gay people. This semantic change In which I questioned was also being devolved through media and social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook where some of the 15-18 year olds would commonly use the word gay to describe something being stupid, as with schools people copy what everyone else does and this is maximised with the huge number of young people who have social networking sites. Along with this my research found that films such as ‘The Hangover’ where the term gay is used as a joke by an actor. In this film it is used as an insult, this could promote the semantic change. As that film was hugely popular a lot of people saw the scene and saw the new definition in which this word was used. The scene and the words the actor used in this joke have been copied many times and just show how films have an effect on semantic change because of the huge influential value on society. Patterns in the Language The word gay like all words are not set elements of language and are changing all the time. The word gay has been put as starting from the 14th century, when the definition was â€Å"stately and beautiful splendid and showily dressed. Through the late 14thcentury, it changed to define â€Å"full of joy, merry, light-hearted, carefree† this meaning was one of the definitions I gave in my questionnaire and the one I found was mostly used by the older people who answered my questionnaire. During the 19th century the word gay came to describe a woman who was a prostitute or a man who slept with prostitutes. This definition is obviously not used at all today and shows how one word can change so much based whether or not people use it. In the 1920’s the first use of it for referring to a man who slept with another man came about and this use has stuck till today. Although the definition started then, it was not used commonly until the 1980’s when this definition over shadowed all others. Until 2006, the word gay was still defined as a homosexual male until the definition changed meaning something is stupid. As with my research, the new definition describes having nothing to do with the previous definition and perhaps no offence is intended when using it to describe something as rubbish. This trait in changing words is also seen in the word â€Å"sick† which is changing from defining as being ill to something being cool. These words that are changing are most commonly used by the youth culture, this shows the great power that the younger generations have over the English language and what a word means. It seems to be very rare that an older generation define what a word is defined as. Alongside my research I read into Emily Jelsomeno’s â€Å"Bitch,Nigger and Gay: Exclusive Language? The semantic shift of Pejorative Words and Reclamation† and this gave me the view that the pattern in which the word ‘gay’ changes grammatical category and is used seems to go from â€Å"positive to negative† and is now currently negative. With its newest meaning, something being stupid, it gives me the idea that this is a negative. With being able to see this shift, it enables me to make the assumption that there are at least three kinds of semantic change ‘gay’ has gone through. These being degeneration, elevation and taboo. With the degeneration I refer to gay becoming a word to describe something as being stupid, the most recent definition. It means gay is known as being negative. With elevation I refer to the improvement of the meaning. This improvement came from it meaning ‘men who had sex with other men’ to ‘homos exual males’. The second meaning is more favourable because it removes the element of sex from the definition. Sex between two males for some people is wrong and looked down upon strongly, whether it is for religious reasons or personal views. Removing the sex from the definition evaluates the word gay because it makes it more acceptable in some people’s eyes. It makes being homosexual not necessarily about having sex with someone of the same gender, but someone who is different from the norms of what being a male is. Lastly with the word gay I’d refer it to being a taboo for the term ‘homosexual male’ as the word ‘homosexual’ can still be considered a offensive term when referring to a gay man. Changes in Grammatical category Using my research and some background reading, I can come to the conclusion that gay has changed in grammatical categories. The first definition of the word â€Å"stately and beautiful splendid and showily dressed† would define gay as an adjective. During the 19th century, it shifted categories and became a noun; â€Å"a women who was a prostitute† and then acted at the same time as a verb. The phrase gay meant â€Å"to have sex†. Up to the 21st century gay was both an adjective (e.g. gay marriage) and a noun (i.e. gay being connected to being a homosexual). The most recent and latest category change makes gay an adjective once again by using it to insult something or someone, an example of this most recent category change from my investigation would be someone saying â€Å"you’re gay†. Conclusion Finishing up my investigation and concluding it I can see a quite clear semantic change of the word gay which answers my initial investigation question. Though I set out almost knowing what the answer was going to be, I was still surprised along the way with some of the information I gained from my investigation. I was not expecting the amount to which people use the word gay daily and how common it now is. Through my investigation I was pleasantly surprised how most (if not all the people I asked) actually used the word gay unconsciously with no thought in mind of offending anyone who is actually homosexual. With my evidence from the investigation I can make the conclusion that the amount that the word ‘gay’ is actually used has helped steer it away from being used to cause offence and this is obviously a positive sign. The only thing I would change about my investigation is that I would have given more open questions. This would mean the questionnaire would get into mo re depth about the people who were filling it in opinions, giving me more detailed results. Apart from that I feel my investigation was a success.  Ã‚   By taking part in this questionnaire you agree to this information being used for research purposes (Please tick if you agree) Please fill in this questionnaire: How old are you? 15-24 24-34 34-4444-54 54+ What does the word Gay mean to you? (A) ‘light-hearted and carefree’ (B) ‘brightly coloured, showy’ (C) ‘homosexual, especially a man’ (D) ‘foolish, stupid or unimpressive How would use ‘Gay’ in a sentence? Any other comments? Thank you for taking part Thank you for taking part Bibliography http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/words-literally-changed-meaning-through-2173079 17/04/2014 http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100246515/gay-now-means-rubbish-get-over-it/ 17/04/2014 http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/02/how-gay-came-to-mean-homosexual/ 20/01/2014 Bitch, Nigger and Gay: Exclusive language? The semantic shift of pejorative words and reclamation -20/01/2014 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7289390.stm -21/01/2014

Internet Gambling, Online Gambling :: Journalistic Essays

Online Gambling    There is a major issue to be dealt with, which is spreading with little regulatory oversight and no effective screens against participation by the young and the vulnerable.   Internet gambling represents one of the fastest growing segments of online activity with more than seven hundred web sites now providing users the opportunity to wager everything from casino games to sporting events.   According to internet research firms, the industry will pull in $1.5 billion in world-wide revenues this year.   That figure is expected to hit at least $6 billion by 2006.   Also, a survey conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project concluded that $4.5 million Americans have gambled online and that 1 million gamble online everyday.     Ã‚  Ã‚   There are many different issues dealing with the legalization of online gambling.   The current law dealing with online gambling is the Wire Transfer Act of 1961.   Under this statute, the law is violated when telephone lines are used in interstate or foreign commerce to place wagers.   The statute also bars the transmission of information that assists betters to gamble on sports events and contests.   Recently, Congress have been active in seeking to pass further legislation to restrict betting on the web.   Last November, the Senate proposed the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.   This statute would make it a crime to knowingly use the internet or other interactive computer services to place, receive, or otherwise make a bet or wager; or send, receive, or invite information assisting in the placing of a bet or wager.   Penalties would be as high as $20,000 and 4 years in prison.   However, in a vote in July, the bill narrowly missed obtaining the two t hirds majority required to pass the bill.   In May, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act was introduced.   This statute would criminalize and prohibit any person engaged in a gambling business from knowingly accepting from another person who is involved in internet gambling a credit card or extension of credits, an electronic transfer of funds, or any instrument payable through a financial institution.   This would shield certain financial institutions from liability as long as they do not know that their facilities are being used for online gambling.   This bill has also not yet been passed.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Either of these Acts would greatly help the problems of online gambling.   There are a number of reasons why this booming industry should provoke more concern among policy makers.

Six Challenges for Educational Technology

Six Challenges for Educational Technology Chris Dede George Mason University Many exciting applications of information technology in schools validate that new technology-based models of teaching and learning have the power to dramatically improve educational outcomes. As a result, many people are asking how to scale-up the scattered, successful â€Å"islands of innovation† instructional technology has empowered into universal improvements in schooling enabled by major shifts in standard educational practices.Undertaking â€Å"systemic reform† (sustained, large-scale, simultaneous innovation in curriculum; pedagogy; assessment; professional development; administration; incentives; and partnerships for learning among schools, businesses, homes, and community settings) requires policies and practices different than fostering pilot projects for small-scale educational improvement. Systemic reform involves moving from utilizing special, external resources to reconfiguring ex isting budgets in order to free up money for innovation.Without undercutting their power, change strategies effective when pioneered by leaders in educational innovation must be modified to be implemented by typical educators. Technology-based innovations offer special challenges and opportunities in this scalingup process. I believe that systemic reform is not possible without utilizing the full power of high performance computing and communications to enhance the reshaping of schools. Yet the cost of technology, its rapid evolution, and the special knowledge and skills required of its users pose substantial barriers to effective utilization.One way to frame these issues is to pose six questions that school boards, taxpayers, educators, business groups, politicians, and parents are asking about implementing large-scale, technology-based educational innovations. After each question, I’ll respond to the issues it raises. Collectively, these answers outline a strategy for scali ng-up, leveraging the power of technology while minimizing its intrinsic challenges. Question One: How can schools afford to purchase enough multimedia-capable, Internetconnected computers so that a classroom machine is always available for every two to three students?Giving all students continuous access to multimedia-capable, Internet-connected computers is currently quite fashionable. For politicians, the Internet in every classroom has become the modern equivalent of the promised â€Å"chicken in every pot. † Communities urge everyone to provide volunteer support for NetDays that wire the schools. Information technology vendors are offering special programs to encourage massive educational purchases. States are setting aside substantial amounts of money for building information infrastructures dedicated to instructional usage.Yet, as an educational technologist, I am more dismayed than delighted. Some of my nervousness about this initiative comes from the â€Å"First Gen eration† thinking about information technology that underlies these visions. Multimedia-capable, Internet-connected computers are seen by many as magical devices, â€Å"silver bullets† to solve the problems of schools. Teachers and 2 administrators who use new media are assumed to be automatically more effective than those who do not.Classroom computers are envisioned as a technology comparable to fire: just by sitting near these devices, students get a benefit from them, as knowledge and skills radiate from the monitors into their minds. Yet decades of experience with technological innovations based on First Generation thinking have demonstrated that this viewpoint is misguided. Classroom computers that are acquired as panaceas end up as doorstops. As discussed later, information technology is a costeffective investment only in the context of systemic reform.Unless other simultaneous innovations in pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, and school organization are coupled t o the usage of instructional technology, the time and effort expended on implementing these devices produces few improvements in educational outcomes—and reinforces many educators’ cynicism about fads based on magical machines. I feel additional concern about attempts to supply every student with continuous access to high performance computing and communications because of the likely cost of this massive investment.Depending on the assumptions made about the technological capabilities involved, estimates of the financial resources needed for such an information infrastructure vary (Coley, Cradler, & Engel, 1997). Extrapolating the most detailed cost model (McKinsey & Company, 1995) to one multimedia-capable, Internet-connected computer for every two to three students yields a price tag of about ninety-four billion dollars of initial investment and twenty-eight billion dollars per year in ongoing costs, a financial commitment that would drain schools of all discretionar y funding for at least a decade.For several reasons, this is an impractical approach for improving education. First, putting this money into computers-and-cables is too large an investment in just one part of the infrastructure improvements that many schools desperately need. Buildings are falling apart, furnishings are dilapidated, playgrounds need repair, asbestos must be removed†¦ otherwise, the machines themselves will cease to function as their context deteriorates.Also, substantial funding is needed for other types of innovations required to make instructional hardware effective, such as standards-based curricular materials for the WorldWide Web and alternative kinds of pedagogy based on partnerships between teachers and tools. (The McKinsey cost estimates do include some funding for content development and staff training, but in my judgment too little to enable effective technology integration and systemic reform. ) If most of the money goes into new media, little fundin g is available for the new messages and meanings that those devices could empower.Second, without substantial and extended professional development in the innovative models of teaching and learning that instructional technology makes affordable and sustainable, many educators will not use these devices to their full potential. â€Å"Second Generation† thinking in educational technology does not see computers as magic, but does make the mistake of focusing on automation as their fundamental purpose. Computers are envisioned as ways to empower â€Å"teaching by telling† and â€Å"learning by listening,† serving as a fire hose to spray information from the Internet into learners’ minds.However, even without educational technology, classrooms are already drowning in data, and an overcrowded curriculum puts students and teachers on the brink of intellectual indigestion. Adding additional information, even when coated with multimedia bells-and-whistles, is like ly to worsen rather than improve educational settings. Professional 3 development needs are more complex than increasing educators’ technical literacy (e. g. , training in how to use web browsers).The issue is building teachers’ knowledge and skills in alternative types of pedagogy and content, and such an increase in human capabilities requires substantial funding that will be unavailable if almost all resources are put into hardware. Third, the continuing costs of maintaining and upgrading a massive infusion of schoolbased technology would be prohibitive. High performance computing and communications requires high tech skills to keep operational and will become obsolete in five to seven years as information technology continues its rapid advance.Yet taxpayers now see computers as similar to blackboards: buy them once, and they are inexpensively in place for the lifetime of the school. School boards rapidly become restive at sizable yearly expenditures for technology maintenance and telecommunications usage—especially if, several months after installation, standardized test scores have not yet dramatically risen—and will become apoplectic if another $50B to replace obsolete equipment is required only a few years after an initial huge expenditure.For all these reasons, investing a huge sum in information infrastructures for schools is impractical and invites a later backlash against educational technology as yet another failed fad. I would go farther, however, and argue that we should not make such an investment even if the â€Å"technology fairy† were to leave $100B under our virtual pillows, no strings attached. Kids continuously working on machines with teachers wandering around coaching the confused is the wrong model for the classroom of the future; I wince when I see those types of vendor commercials.In that situation—just as in classrooms with no technology—too much instructional activity tends to center on presentation and motivation, building a foundation of ideas and skills as well as some context for why students should care. Yet this temporary interest and readiness to master curricular material rapidly fades when no time is left for reflection and application, as teachers and students move on to the next required topic in the overcrowded curriculum, desperately trying to meet all the standards and prepare for the test.Substantial research documents that helping students make sense out of something they have assimilated, but do not yet understand is crucial for inducing learning that is retained and generalized (Schank & Jona, 1991). Reflective discussion of shared experiences from multiple perspectives is essential in learners’ converting information into knowledge, as well as in students mastering the collaborative creation of meaning and purpose (Edelson, Pea, & Gomez, 1996).Some of these interpretative and expressive activities are enhanced by educational devices, bu t many are best conducted via face-to-face interaction, without the intervening filter and mask of computer-mediated communication (Brown & Campione, 1994). What if instead much of the presentation and motivation that is foundational for learning occurred outside of classroom settings, via information technologies part of home and workplace and community contexts? Students would arrive at school already imbued with some background and motivation, ripe for guided inquiry, ready for interpretation and collaborative construction of knowledge.People are spending lots of money on devices purchased for entertainment and information services: televisions, videotape players, computers, Web TV, videogames. Many of these technologies are astonishingly powerful and inexpensive; for example, the Nintendo 64 machine available now for a couple hundred dollars is the equivalent of a several hundred 4 thousand dollar graphics supercomputer a decade ago. What if these devices—many ubiquitous in rich and poor homes, urban and rural areas—were also utilized for educational purposes, even though not acquired for that reason?By off-loading from classroom settings some of the burden of presenting material and inducing motivation, learning activities that use the technology infrastructure outside of schools would reduce the amount of money needed for adequate levels of classroom-based technology. Such a strategy also enables teachers to focus on students’ interpretation and expressive articulation without feeling obligated to use technology in every step of the process. Such a model of â€Å"distributed learning† involves orchestrating educational activities among classrooms, workplaces, homes, and community settings (Dede, 1996).This pedagogical strategy models for students that learning is integral to all aspects of life—not just schooling— and that people adept at learning are fluent in using many types of information tools scattered thro ughout our everyday context. Such an educational approach also can build partnerships for learning between teachers and families; this is important because parental involvement is certainly one of the most powerful levers in increasing any student’s educational performance.In other words, unless â€Å"systemic reform† in education is conducted with one boundary of the system around the school and another boundary around the society, its affordability and sustainability are doubtful. As a bridge across these boundaries, new media can play a vital role in facilitating this bi-level approach to large-scale educational innovation. For example, videogame players are the only interactive devices widely available in poor households and provide a sophisticated, but inexpensive computational platform for learning—if we develop better content than the mindless follies of SuperMarioâ„ ¢ or the grim dystopias of Doomâ„ ¢.My research in virtual reality illustrates how multisensory, immersive virtual environments could leverage learning complex scientific concepts on computational platforms as commonplace as next decade’s videogames (http://www. virtual. gmu. edu). Districts can leverage their scarce resources for innovation, as well as implement more effective educational models, by utilizing information devices outside of classrooms to create learning environments that complement computers and communications in schools.To instead saturate schools with information technology is both very expensive and less educationally effective. Question Two: How can schools afford enough computers and telecommunications to sustain new models of teaching and learning? Educational improvement based on distributed learning—utilizing information technologies external to school settings to enable increased interpretive and expressive activities in classrooms—does not mean that schools won’t need substantial amounts of computers and commu nications.To empower project-based learning through guided inquiry, students must have access to sophisticated information devices in schools (Linn, 1997). Even if this is accomplished via notebook computers and wireless networks moved from class to class as required, with pupils also spending significant amounts of time learning without the aid of technology, districts must allocate more money to purchasing, maintaining, and upgrading computers and telecommunications than has been true historically. Where will educators find the funds for equipment, software, technical staff, ongoing telecommunications services, professional development—the myriad of costs associated with a sophisticated information infrastructure? In the past, this money has come largely from special external sources: grants, community donations, bond initiatives. To be sustainable over the long run, however, resources for technology must come from reallocating existing budgets by reducing other types of ex penditures.Of course, such shifts in financing are resisted by those groups whose resources are cut, and district administrators and school boards have been reluctant to take on the political challenges of changing how money is spent. An easy way to kill educational innovations is to declare that of course they will be implemented—as long as no existing activities must be curtailed to fund new approaches. Such an approach to institutional evolution is one reason why, if Rip Van Winkle awoke today, he would recognize almost nothing in modern society—except schools.Educational organizations are unique, however, in demanding that technology implementation accomplished via add-on funding. Every other type of societal institution (e. g. , factories, hospitals, retail outlets, banks) recognizes that the power of information devices stems in part from their ability to reconfigure employee roles and organizational functioning. These establishments use the power of technology t o alter their standard practices, so that the cost of computers and communications is funded by improvements in effectiveness within the organization, by doing more with less.If educators were to adopt this model—reallocating existing resources to fund technology implementation—what types of expenditures would drop so that existing funds could cover the costs of computers and communications? First, schools that have adopted the inquiry-based models of pedagogy find that outlays on textbooks and other types of standardized instructional materials decrease. While these materials are a smaller part of districts’ budgets than salaries or physical plants, nonetheless they cost a significant amount of money.When students collect their own data, draw down information across the Internet, and interact with a larger pool of experts than teachers and textbooks, fewer commercial presentational resources are required—especially if learners draw on topical data flowin g through information sources outside of schools. Moreover, covering a few concepts in depth rather than surveying many ideas superficially reduces the amount of prepackaged information educators must purchase.A second way to reconfigure existing financial resources is to reduce the staff involved in data entry operations. Educators are inundated with large amounts of recordkeeping functions, and one of the most debilitating aspects of this work is the continuous reentry of identical information on different forms. Businesses have saved substantial amounts of money by altering routine information processes so that data is only entered once, then automatically flows across the entire organization to each place in which it is needed.Were educators to adopt these already proven models for cost-efficient information management, the amount of time and staff required for data entry functions would decrease markedly, freeing funding for instruction-related uses of technology. Third, and on a more fundamental level, teaching is more efficient and effective with new types of technology-based curriculum and pedagogy. At present, substantial re-teaching of 6 knowledge and skills is required; presentational material flows into students’ minds, is retained just long enough to perform on a test, and then is forgotten.Class sizes are typically between twenty-five and forty—somewhat too large for effective project-based learning, yet small given that lectures work as well for several hundred students as for several dozen. The scheduling of class periods is too short, limiting teachers and students to fragmentary presentational and practice activities. Teachers all have comparable roles with similar pay structures—unlike other societal organizations, which have complementary staff roles with a mix of skill levels and salaries. Visions presented in the forthcoming 1998 ASCD Yearbook Dede & Palumbo, in press) depict how altered configurations of human resour ces, instructional modalities, and organizational structures could result in greater effectiveness for comparable costs—even with the acquisition of substantial school-based technology. This case is also made at greater length in Hunter & Goldberg (1995). In the commercial sector, too often these types of institutional shifts result in layoffs. However, because of the coming wave of retirements among educators, districts have a window of opportunity to accomplish structural changes without major adverse impacts on employees.Over the next decade, large numbers of â€Å"baby-boom† educators will leave the profession, and a staged process of organizational restructuring could occur in parallel with those retirements. Coordinating technology expenditures as an integral part of that larger framework for institutional evolution is vital in districts’ planning to afford computers and communications. Question Three: How can many educators disinterested or phobic about c omputers and communications be induced to adopt new technology-based models of teaching and learning?Thus far, most educators who use technology to implement the alternative types of pedagogy and curriculum are â€Å"pioneers†: people who see continuous change and growth as an integral part of their profession and who are willing to swim against the tide of conventional operating procedures—often at considerable personal cost. However, to achieve large-scale shifts in standard educational practices, many more teachers must alter their pedagogical approaches; and schools’ management, institutional structure, and relationship to the community must change in fundamental ways.This requires that â€Å"settlers† (people who appreciate stability and do not want heroic efforts to become an everyday requirement) must be convinced to make the leap to a different mode of professional activity—with the understanding that, once they have mastered these new appr oaches, their daily work will be sustainable without extraordinary exertion. How can a critical mass of educators in a district be induced simultaneously to make such a shift? Studies of innovation in other types of institutions indicate that successful change is always bottom-up, middle-out, and top-down.The driver for bottom-up innovation in a district is the children. Typically, students are joyful and committed when they are given the opportunity to learn by doing, to engage in collaborative construction of knowledge, and to experience mentoring relationships. That these types of instruction are accomplished via educational technology will excite some kids, while others will be indifferent—but all will appreciate the opportunity to move beyond learning by listening.Educators can draw enormous strength and purpose from watching the eager response of their students to classroom situations that use alternative forms of pedagogy. Often, teachers have shifted from pioneers to settlers 7 because they were worn down by the unceasing grind of motivating students to master uninteresting, fragmented topics; and administrators have undergone a similar loss of enthusiasm by being inundated with paperwork rather than serving as instructional coordinators. The professional commitment that kids’ enthusiasm can re-inspire is a powerful driver of bottom-up change.The source of middle-out change is a district’s pioneers. Many teachers entered the profession because they love students of a certain age and want to help them grow—or love their subject matter and want to share its beauty and richness. Often, these teachers feel alienated because the straightjacket of traditional instruction and school organization walls them away from meaningful relationships with their students and their subject. Similarly, many administrators want to serve as leaders and facilitators, but are forced by conventional managerial practices into being bureaucrats and bo sses.Middle-out change is empowered when educators who have given up hope of achieving their professional dreams see pioneer colleagues using technology to succeed in those goals—and realize that, if everyone made a similar commitment, no one would have to make continuous personal sacrifices to achieve this vision. The lever for top-down innovation is the community served by the district. Educators want respect—yet teaching has fallen from a revered professions to a much lower status.The relationship between educators and their community is seldom seen as a partnership; instead, teachers and administrators often feel isolated, forced to perform a difficult task with inadequate resources. Parents, the business sector, and taxpayers bitterly debate the purpose of schools and sometimes attempt to micro-manage their operation. In contrast, when homes, classrooms, workplaces and community settings are linked via new media to achieve distributed learning, much more positive interactions emerge between schools and society.Educators can move from isolation to collaboration with the community, from a position of low esteem to an respected role in orchestrating children’s learning across a spectrum of settings. This shift in status is a powerful driver for innovation. To activate these bottom-up, middle-out, and top-down forces for improvement, educators must take the lead in developing a shared vision for systemic reform, distributed learning, and sophisticated utilization of technology. Making such a commitment to large-scale educational innovation is not only the right thing to do, but is increasingly essential to educators’ professional integrity.In many ways, physicians working in health maintenance organizations (HMOs) face challenges similar to teachers and administrators working in today’s schools. These doctors are responsible for the well-being of their patients, but work within administrative structures that restrict their d ecision making capabilities, that are focused on saving money at least as much as on combating illness, and that do not provide the latest technology or much time and resources for professional development.Yet we expect those physicians to do whatever it takes—fight the system for what the patient needs, spend personal time mastering the latest medical advances and technologies—to help those whom they serve. To do otherwise would be malpractice, a betrayal of trust, a breach of ethics as a professional. Given advances in information technology that are reshaping the knowledge students need and the ways educators can help them learn, we need to accept a professional obligation—despite current institutional constraints—to do whatever it takes in changing traditional instructional practices so that a generation of children is truly prepared for the 21st century. Question Four: How do we prove to communities that new, technology-based models of teaching and l earning are better than current instructional approaches? Few communities are willing to take educational innovations â€Å"on faith. † Many people are uneasy about whether conventional instruction and traditional testing are developing and assessing the types of knowledge and skills children need for their future.However, most parents and taxpayers feel that the current system worked for them and do not want to substitute something radically different unless new methods are proven to be superior. What types of evidence can educators offer communities that innovative, technology-based models of teaching and learning are so much better—given what our society needs in the 21st century—that the substantial cost and effort of systemic reform is more than worth the trouble?Research documents that new, technology-based pedagogical strategies result in at least four kinds of improvements in educational outcomes. Some of these gains are easy to communicate to the commun ity; others are difficult—but together they constitute a body of evidence that can convince most people. These four types of improvements are listed below, in sequence from the most readily documented to the hardest to demonstrate. Increased learner motivation.Students are very excited when exposed to learning experiences that go beyond information assimilation and teaching-by-telling. Guided inquiry, project-based collaboration, and mentoring relationships all evoke increased learner motivation, manifested via readily observable indicators such as better attendance, higher concentration, and greater time on task. All of these not only correlate with increased educational performance, but also are in stark contrast to the attitudes parents and taxpayers formed about most of their schooling.Documenting to communities that students care about what they are learning and are working hard to achieve complex goals is not difficult, given the ubiquity of videotape players and camcor ders. Student-produced videos that show learners engaged and excited are intriguing to parents and taxpayers, who may not fully understand what is happening in the classroom, but are impressed by student behavior divergent from their own memories and likely to result in better learning outcomes.Too often, educators take little advantage of this easy way to open a dialogue about instructional improvement with the community. Advanced topics mastered. Whatever else they believe about the purposes of schooling, parents want their children to have a prosperous lifestyle and know that this necessitates mastering advanced concepts. In the 21st century, being a successful worker and an informed citizen will require the sophisticated knowledge delineated in the national curriculum standards, especially in the sciences and mathematics.Information technology can help students not only to learn these difficult concepts, but also to master the learning-how-to-learn skills needed to keep their ca pabilities current in a rapidly evolving economy. When shown that technologybased instructional strategies enable teaching sophisticated ideas not now part of the conventional curriculum, more complex than the items on current standardized tests, and harder than what they learned in school, taxpayers are impressed. 9 Students acting as experts do.Developing in learners the ability to use problem solving processes similar to those of experts is challenging, but provides powerful evidence that students are gaining the skills they will need to succeed in the 21st century. One of the most striking features of a classroom based on new instructional models is that learners are behaving as do teams of scientists, mathematicians, designers, or other kinds of expert problem solvers. Pupils’ activities in these learning environments mirror the analytic, interpretive, creative, and expressive uses of information tools increasingly characteristic of sophisticated workplace settings.When parents and taxpayers see students perform complex tasks and create intricate products, they are impressed by the similarity between the recent evolution of their own workplaces and the skills children are developing. Better outcomes on standardized tests. The most difficult type of evidence to provide for the superiority of new, technology-based instructional models is what communities first demand: higher scores on conventional measures of achievement.Standardized tests are designed to assess only a narrow range of knowledge, and the other three types of improvements just discussed fall largely outside the scope of what they measure. A major challenge for educational assessment is to develop methods that measure a wider range of skills than paper-and-pencil, multiple choice tests, without bogging educators down in complex, time-consuming, and potentially unreliable performance evaluations.Research shows that students’ outcomes on conventional achievement tests rise when tec hnology-based educational innovations are implemented, but this does not occur immediately, as teachers and learners must first master these new models of pedagogy. To succeed in systemic reform, educators must prepare communities for the fact that test scores will not instantly rise and that other, complementary types of improvements less easy to report quantitatively are better short-range measures of improvement.Overall, the single most effective means of convincing parents, the business community, and taxpayers that technology-based models of teaching are superior to conventional instructional approaches is to involve them in students’ education. Through distributed learning approaches that build partnerships between schools and society, communities have ample opportunities to observe the types of evidence discussed above, as well as to further enhance students’ educational outcomes. Question Five: How can educational technology increase equity rather than widen cu rrent gaps between â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have-nots? Implemented within a larger context of systemic reform, emerging information technologies can produce dramatic improvements in learning outcomes. But won’t such educational usage of computers and communications widen inequities in our society? However ample the access to technology students have in schools, learners differ greatly in the amount and sophistication of information devices in their homes and communities. Isn’t all this effort simply making education better for the â€Å"haves,† potentially worsening our society’s pathological gaps in income and power?Certainly, new media such as Web TV are dropping in price, and almost all homes have videogames, television, and videotape players—but won’t the rich always have more information devices of greater power than the poor, skewing the advantages of distributed learning and increasing inequality? 10 From an historical perspecti ve, innovative information technologies at first widen inequities within civilization, because initial access to the differential advantage they bring is restricted to the few who can afford the substantial expense of this increased power.As emerging media mature, drop in price, and are widely adopted, however, the ultimate impact of information technology is to make society more egalitarian. For example, the world of universal telephone service is a more equitable environment than was the world of messenger boys and telegraph offices. The challenge for current educational policy is to minimize the period during which the gap between haves and have-nots widens, rapidly moving to a maturity of usage and an universality of access that promotes increased equity.At present, most of society’s attempts to decrease the widened inequalities that new educational technologies could create are centered on access and literacy. In schools that serve disadvantaged and at-risk populations, extra efforts are made to increase the amount of computers and communications available. Similarly, educators and learners in have-not situations are given special training to ensure that they are literate in information tools, such as web browsers.To compensate for more home-based technology in affluent areas, many feel that our best strategy is providing teachers and students in low socioeconomic status areas with additional technology to â€Å"level the playing field† (Coley, Cradler, & Engel, 1997). While a good place to begin, this approach to educational equity is inadequate unless taken beyond access and literacy to also address issues of content and services. The on-line materials and types of assistance that learners and teachers can access must reflect the needs and interests of diverse and at-risk students.For example, I can take homeless people to the public library and show them how to use a web browser to download images of impressionist paintings at the Louvre, but this is not likely to motivate or impress them, since such a learning experience does not speak to their primary needs. Similarly, emerging graphical interfaces such as Microsoft Windowsâ„ ¢ enhance many users’ capabilities, but adversely affect learners with reduced eyesight who cannot effectively manipulate the visual features of these interfaces.The real issue in equity is empowerment—tailoring information technology to give dispossessed groups what they want. For example, I worked with a local team of politicians to explore the implications of information technology for improving public services. They were excited about using community-based information terminals to offer improved access to health care, welfare, education, and other social services for the immigrant and minority populations they served. However, when I began to describe how on-line communication tools could help these groups to increase their participation n voting and to form coalitions fo r political action, the elected representatives immediately lost interest. To truly achieve educational equity, working collaboratively with have-not populations is vital in developing content and services tailored to their needs and designed to build on their strengths and agendas. Otherwise, improving access and literacy will fall short of the success for all students essential to America’s prosperity in the 21st century. Question Six: If we use technology well, what should we expect as â€Å"typical† student performance? 1 If we were to implement systemic reform based on new strategies for learning through sophisticated technology, research suggests that â€Å"typical† students might do as well as â€Å"exemplary† learners do now. Our expectations for what pupils can accomplish are far too low, largely because standard educational processes are obsolete given the progression of information technology, insights into the nature of learning, and shifts in the educational outcomes society needs.In many ways, we live in the â€Å"Dark Ages† of schooling—restrained from making rapid advances toward increased instructional effectiveness by outmoded ideas, ritual, and tradition. Setting our sights higher and using better metrics to measure progress are vital to successful innovation. For example, many people are intrigued by results from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which show the United States well behind nations such as Singapore and Japan on math and science outcomes from a globally developed achievement test. Crusaders are implementing reforms to ensure that our students do much better on this test.However, our goal should not be to exceed the level of Singapore on an assessment instrument that, as described earlier, measures only a fraction of what students need to know for their future prosperity—and moreover incorporates a diluted definition of educational quality negotiated a cross many countries with very different populations and national goals. Others advocate using a standards-based curriculum as the touchstone for educational effectiveness, and reformers are centering state and national judgments of educational worth on this measure.Certainly, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards are a major improvement over the hodgepodge math curriculum before their inception, as are the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) standards and similar efforts in other fields. But our metric for whether students succeed should not simply be whether they learn the math mathematicians think is important, the science scientists feel is vital, and so on. Being a productive worker and citizen involves much more than having an adequate background in each field of knowledge.Integrating these concepts and skills and being a lifelong learner with the self-worth, discipline, and motivation to apply this knowledge is of paramount im portance—yet not captured by discipline-based standards alone. New forms of pedagogy are also no â€Å"philosopher’s stone† that can make golden each educational experience for every learner. Some argue that, if only all classrooms were based on constructivist learning or situated cognition or individualized tutoring or multimedia presentations or integrated learning systems or whatever pedagogical panacea, every student would succeed.However, learning is a very complex and idiosyncratic process that requires, for each pupil, a repertoire of many different types of instruction orchestrated together. In other words, no test, no curriculum, and no instructional strategy in itself can guarantee educational quality—even though our current approach to determining schools’ worth is based on these inadequate measures. Instead, we need new standards for a knowledge-based society that combine all these metrics for success and that are based on much higher l evels of â€Å"typical† student outcomes.Successful technology-based innovations have the common characteristic that learners exceed everyone’s expectations for what is possible. Second graders do fifth grade work; nine graders outscore twelfth grade students. What would those ninth graders be accomplishing if, 12 from kindergarten on, they had continuous access to our best tools, curriculum, and pedagogy? Would they be the equivalent of college sophomores? We are selling short a generation by expecting less and by orienting our curriculum, instruction, and tests accordingly.Conclusion My responses to the six questions above sketch a conceptual framework for thinking about the process of scaling-up from islands of innovation to widespread shifts in standard educational practices. These answers illustrate that technology-based systemic reform is hard in part because our ways of thinking about implementation are often flawed. Large-scale educational innovation will never be easy, but can be less difficult if we go beyond our implicit assumptions about learning, technology, equity, schooling, and society.Understanding the scaling-up process is vital for making strategies for change affordable, generalizable, and sustainable. References Brown, A. L. , & Campione, J. C. (1994). Guided discovery in a community of learners. In K. McGilly (Ed. ), Classroom lessons: Integrating cognitive theory and classroom practice (pp. 229-270). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Coley, R. J. , Cradler, J. , & Engel, P. K. (1997). Computers and classrooms: The status of technology in U. S. schools. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service. Dede, C. , & Palumbo, D. (Eds). (in press). Learning with technology (the 1998 ASCD Yearbook).Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Dede, C. (1996). Emerging technologies and distributed learning. American Journal of Distance Education 10, 2, 4-36. Edelson, D. C. , Pea, R. D. , & Gomez, L. M. (1996). Constructivism in the collaboratory. In B. Wilson (Ed. ) , Constructivist learning environments: Case studies in instructional design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications. Hunter, B. , & Goldberg, B. (1995) Learning and teaching in 2004: The BIG DIG. In U. S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Education and technology: Future visions (OTABP-EHR-169).Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office. Linn, M. C. (1997). Learning and instruction in science education: Taking advantage of technology. In D. Tobin & B. J. Fraser (Eds. ), International handbook of science education. The Netherlands: Kluwer. McKinsey & Company. (1995). Connecting K-12 schools to the information superhighway. Palo Alto, CA: McKinsey & Company. Schank, R. C. , & Jona, M. Y. (1991). Empowering the student: New perspectives on the design of teaching systems. The Journal of Learning Sciences, 1, 7-35.

Deception Point Page 2

â€Å"It is.† Her father's eyes studied her closely. Rachel felt part of her defenses melt away under his gaze, and she cursed the man's power. The senator's eyes were his gift – a gift Rachel suspected would probably carry him to the White House. On cue, his eyes would well with tears, and then, an instant later, they would clear, opening a window to an impassioned soul, extending a bond of trust to all. It's all about trust, her father always said. The senator had lost Rachel's years ago, but he was quickly gaining the country's. â€Å"I have a proposition for you,† Senator Sexton said. â€Å"Let me guess,† Rachel replied, attempting to refortify her position. â€Å"Some prominent divorce looking for a young wife?† â€Å"Don't kid yourself, honey. You're not that young anymore.† Rachel felt the familiar shrinking sensation that so often accompanied meetings with her father. â€Å"I want to throw you a life raft,† he said. â€Å"I wasn't aware I was drowning.† â€Å"You're not. The President is. You should jump ship before it's too late.† â€Å"Haven't we had this conversation?† â€Å"Think about your future, Rachel. You can come work for me.† â€Å"I hope that's not why you asked me to breakfast.† The senator's veneer of calm broke ever so slightly. â€Å"Rachel, can't you see that your working for him reflects badly on me. And on my campaign.† Rachel sighed. She and her father had been through this. â€Å"Dad, I don't work for the President. I haven't even met the President. I work in Fairfax, for God's sake!† â€Å"Politics is perception, Rachel. It appears you work for the President.† Rachel exhaled, trying to keep her cool. â€Å"I worked too hard to get this job, Dad. I'm not quitting.† The senator's eyes narrowed. â€Å"You know, sometimes your selfish attitude really-â€Å" â€Å"Senator Sexton?† A reporter materialized beside the table. Sexton's demeanor thawed instantly. Rachel groaned and took a croissant from the basket on the table. â€Å"Ralph Sneeden,† the reporter said. â€Å"Washington Post. May I ask you a few questions?† The senator smiled, dabbing his mouth with a napkin. â€Å"My pleasure, Ralph. Just make it quick. I don't want my coffee getting cold.† The reporter laughed on cue. â€Å"Of course, sir.† He pulled out a minirecorder and turned it on. â€Å"Senator, your television ads call for legislation ensuring equal salaries for women in the workplace†¦ as well as for tax cuts for new families. Can you comment on your rationale?† â€Å"Sure. I'm simply a huge fan of strong women and strong families.† Rachel practically choked on her croissant. â€Å"And on the subject of families,† the reporter followed up, â€Å"you talk a lot about education. You've proposed some highly controversial budget cuts in an effort to allocate more funds to our nation's schools.† â€Å"I believe the children are our future.† Rachel could not believe her father had sunk to quoting pop songs. â€Å"Finally, sir,† the reporter said, â€Å"you've taken an enormous jump in the polls these past few weeks. The President has got to be worried. Any thoughts on your recent success?† â€Å"I think it has to do with trust. Americans are starting to see that the President cannot be trusted to make the tough decisions facing this nation. Runaway government spending is putting this country deeper in debt every day, and Americans are starting to realize that it's time to stop spending and start mending.† Like a stay of execution from her father's rhetoric, the pager in Rachel's handbag went off. Normally the harsh electronic beeping was an unwelcome interruption, but at the moment, it sounded almost melodious. The senator glared indignantly at having been interrupted. Rachel fished the pager from her handbag and pressed a preset sequence of five buttons, confirming that she was indeed the person holding the pager. The beeping stopped, and the LCD began blinking. In fifteen seconds she would receive a secure text message. Sneeden grinned at the senator. â€Å"Your daughter is obviously a busy woman. It's refreshing to see you two still find time in your schedules to dine together.† â€Å"As I said, family comes first.† Sneeden nodded, and then his gaze hardened. â€Å"Might I ask, sir, how you and your daughter manage your conflicts of interest?† â€Å"Conflicts?† Senator Sexton cocked his head with an innocent look of confusion. â€Å"What conflicts do you mean?† Rachel glanced up, grimacing at her father's act. She knew exactly where this was headed. Damn reporters, she thought. Half of them were on political payrolls. The reporter's question was what journalists called a grapefruit – a question that was supposed to look like a tough inquiry but was in fact a scripted favor to the senator – a slow lob pitch that her father could line up and smash out of the park, clearing the air about a few things. â€Å"Well, sir†¦ † The reporter coughed, feigning uneasiness over the question. â€Å"The conflict is that your daughter works for your opponent.† Senator Sexton exploded in laughter, defusing the question instantly. â€Å"Ralph, first of all, the President and I are not opponents. We are simply two patriots who have different ideas about how to run the country we love.† The reporter beamed. He had his sound bite. â€Å"And second?† â€Å"Second, my daughter is not employed by the President; she is employed by the intelligence community. She compiles intel reports and sends them to the White House. It's a fairly low-level position.† He paused and looked at Rachel. â€Å"In fact, dear, I'm not sure you've even met the President, have you?† Rachel stared, her eyes smoldering. The beeper chirped, drawing Rachel's gaze to the incoming message on the LCD screen. – RPRT DIRNRO STAT – She deciphered the shorthand instantly and frowned. The message was unexpected, and most certainly bad news. At least she had her exit cue. â€Å"Gentlemen,† she said. â€Å"It breaks my heart, but I have to go. I'm late for work.† â€Å"Ms. Sexton,† the reporter said quickly, â€Å"before you go, I was wondering if you could comment on the rumors that you called this breakfast meeting to discuss the possibility of leaving your current post to work for your father's campaign?† Rachel felt like someone had thrown hot coffee in her face. The question took her totally off guard. She looked at her father and sensed in his smirk that the question had been prepped. She wanted to climb across the table and stab him with a fork. The reporter shoved the recorder into her face. â€Å"Miss Sexton?† Rachel locked eyes with the reporter. â€Å"Ralph, or whoever the hell you are, get this straight: I have no intention of abandoning my job to work for Senator Sexton, and if you print anything to the contrary, you'll need a shoehorn to get that recorder out of your ass.† The reporter's eyes widened. He clicked off his recorder, hiding a grin. â€Å"Thank you both.† He disappeared. Rachel immediately regretted the outburst. She had inherited her father's temper, and she hated him for it. Smooth, Rachel. Very smooth. Her father glared disapprovingly. â€Å"You'd do well to learn some poise.† Rachel began collecting her things. â€Å"This meeting is over.† The senator was apparently done with her anyway. He pulled out his cellphone to make a call. â€Å"‘Bye, sweetie. Stop by the office one of these days and say hello. And get married, for God's sake. You're thirty-three years old.† â€Å"Thirty-four,† she snapped. â€Å"Your secretary sent a card.†

Free Essays on Williams Criticism Of Utilitarianism

, from a utilitarian perspective, Jim would... Free Essays on Williams Criticism Of Utilitarianism Free Essays on Williams Criticism Of Utilitarianism Bernard Williams puts forth some efficient arguments against utilitarianism that beg the question whether or not utilitarian values accurately depict the way in which it is inherent that we act. His critique of the utilitarian doctrine of negative responsibility requires further repudiation than Williams gives in his argument to be convincing. However, the weakest part of Williams’ analysis is within his crucial argument in regards to integrity, which is an unpersuasive element within his thesis. One of Williams’ criticisms is based on the problem that utilitarianism makes choices that are difficult, in which it is not obvious what the morally right thing to do is, seem too easy. Bernard Williams' example of Jim is illustrates this: Jim has a choice between shooting one man and having the others go free, or doing nothing, in which case all the men will be killed. Bernard Williams views utilitarianism as problematic in response to â€Å"what sort of considerations come into finding the answer.† For Williams, it doesn't seem obvious what the right thing to do is; however, from a utilitarian perspective, it would be obvious. A utilitarian would respond to this Williams’ scenario by saying that it is obvious that the right thing to do is to shoot the one man in order to save the others. Jim's difficulty in deciding is embedded by his squeamishness at the thought of killing someone, which would be completely self-indulgent from a utilitarian stance. This example of Jim also leads into Williams’ argument against negative responsibility. Williams states that â€Å"A feature of utilitarianism is that it cuts out a kind of consideration which for some others makes a difference to what they feel about some cases: a consideration involving the idea, as we might first and very simply put it, that each of us is responsible for what he does, rather than for what other people do.† In other words, from a utilitarian perspective, Jim would...

A Solution to the Growing Gas Prices in the United States.

A Solution to the Growing Gas Prices in the United States. Gasoline prices have been taking a sharp turn towards the worse. According to Hawaiigasprices.com, in Hawaii, gasoline can cost as much as three dollars and ninety four cents; in nineteen ninety-eight it was one dollar, seventy five cents. The recent spike has caused financial hardships and gas itself has had numerous harmful effects towards the environment. To resolve this problem, I urge you: Senators, to at least carefully consider the need for a resolution, but hopefully to pass my legislation for these reasons:(1) Gas prices have hit record highs in the past years.(2) The increasingly high gas prices are causing immediate financial difficulties.(3) The environmental tolls will over time have an extremely dangerous effect on society.As said before gasoline has been hitting record highs, and recent happenings (such as the shutting down of oil harbors in New Orleans and the continuing difficulties of the War in Iraq) have even further added to the financial burden of the people of the American society.Comparison of greenhouse gas emissions for municip...Just over half of the people surveyed in an ABC News Poll say that they are having these financial problems, and, magnifying the apparent decay of the economy, forty five percent of people say they're spending less and twenty one percent say they are having to resort to saving less, both in which will overtime damage the economy even faster. However, according to Iowa Corn, if the switch to E-85 is made, it is expected that over the next fifteen years, three hundred thousand new jobs could be created through the Ethanol base. Also, if a slow transition is made (one or two years rather than months) it should give foreign countries whose economy depends on oil sales to the United States adequate time to plan and begin working on other possible exports...

Garza Surname Meaning and Origin

Garza Surname Meaning and Origin Garza is a surname with several possible origins: Meaning heron in Spanish, the Garza surname usually translates as dweller at the sign of the heron or dove. It may have been given as a descriptive nickname for someone with long legs like a heron. It could also be a habitational name for someone from one of several places named Garza.Garza is sometimes a variation of Garcia, the Spanish form of Gerald, meaning ruler of the spear. Garza is the 26th most common Hispanic surname. Surname Origin:  Spanish Alternate Surname Spellings:  DE GARZA, DE LA GARZA, GARZO, GARZON, GARCI, GARCEZ, GARCIA Famous People With the Surname Garza Alana de la Garza - an American actressTony Garza - Mexican American politician and former United States Ambassador to Mexico (2002-2009)Madison De La Garza - American child actress, best known for her role in the television hit Desperate Housewives. Where Do People With the Garza Surname Live? The surname distribution data at  Forebears  puts the Garza surname as most popular in Mexico, where it ranks as the 47th most common surname. Outside of Mexico, Garza is most common in the United States- found in large numbers in Texas, followed by California, Illinois, Washington, Arizona, Michigan, and Florida. WorldNames PublicProfiler also puts the largest number of individuals named Garza in Texas, by over six times as great as the next state, New Mexico. In Spain, Garza is most common in the  Aragà ³n region. Genealogy Resources for the Surname Garza 100 Common Hispanic Surnames Their MeaningsGarcia, Martinez, Rodriguez, Lopez, Hernandez... Are you one of the millions of people sporting one of these top 100 common Hispanic last names? How to Research Hispanic HeritageLearn how to get started researching  your Hispanic ancestors, including the basics of family tree research and country-specific organizations, genealogical records, and resources for Spain, Latin America, Mexico, Brazil, the Caribbean, and other Spanish speaking countries. Garza Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as a Garza family crest or coat of arms for the Garza surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male-line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted.   Garza Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Garza surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Garza query. FamilySearch - Garza GenealogyAccess over 1.5 million free historical records and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Garza surname and its variations on this free genealogy website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. GeneaNet - Garza RecordsGeneaNet includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the Garza surname, with a concentration on records and families from France, Spain, and other European countries. Garza Surname Family Mailing ListsThis free mailing list for researchers of the Garza surname and its variations includes subscription details and searchable archives of past messages. DistantCousin.com - Garza Genealogy Family HistoryExplore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Garza. The Garza Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse family trees and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the last name Garza from the website of Genealogy Today. References Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998. Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997

To what extent does education and improved documentation impact Annotated Bibliography

To what extent does education and improved documentation impact hospitals compliance - Annotated Bibliography Example The involvement, intended to enhance antidepressant prescription compliance and usage of behavioral healthcare services, achieved a modest effect on usage of psychotherapy in conjunction with antidepressant medications and on uniformity of antidepressant medication usage. Moreover, intervention patients on combination medication were more prone to remain on antidepressant pills into the continuation period of treatment. This article documents a study that was aimed at evaluating compliance to radiation therapy for medical patients with higher level HNSCC at a metropolitan tertiary-care county healthcare facility. The study was conducted using retrospective review method. Data was retrieved from the charts of one-hundred and thirty six successive patients who had received prior advice to undertake chemo-radiotherapy for recently detected HNSCC from 2004 to 2006. Demographic data and information regarding tumors was gathered, as well as compliance of patients to radiation treatment. Duration of treatment, total dose, and hypothetical "loss of loco-regional control" was computed and benchmark compliance data were retrieved from select journals. Fifty-five of the participants did not start treatment or relocated to other health facilities. Twenty-five percent of the remaining patients had improper general treatment paths. Fifty-nine percent of the patients obtained below the useful dose due to missed t reatment days while sixty-three percent of patients had more than ten-percent computed loss in loco-regional control. Multivariate and univariate analysis did not produce any extrapolated value for node status, gender, stage, ethnicity, or primary site on compliance. Patient and tumor traits assessed in this study do not forecast compliance. The study recommended that future research evaluate interventions to enhance compliance and measurement of its effect on survival. This article is about a report on methodical review looking into research

Humanitarian Action - Haiti Earthquake Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Humanitarian Action - Haiti Earthquake - Essay Example Usually we associate disaster as a crisis inflicted by nature but human-made disasters are not less likely to represent similar amount of suffering for humanity. One of such disasters is war and conflicts that brings up the crisis of internally displaced people or IDPs. By June 2008, more than 2.8 million people were internally displaced in Iraq. Most of them are spread in rented accommodations and depend on host communities, governmental bodies, or some national and international humanitarian agencies. This population was displaced in three phases, approximately 1.6 million fled sectarian violence in 2006,an estimated 190,000 displaced by military operation and violence in 2003 to 2005, and around 1.2 million displaced as a consequence of the policies of Saddam’s government and Gulf War. In addition to this, according to UNHCR 1.7 million Iraqi refugees are abroad and only 300,000 of them are registered (Iraq 2010 Humanitarian Action Plan [HAP], 2009) This situation is not created at once but emerged from a legacy of sanctions, violence, conflict, lack of development and public service. These factors led to the scarcity of basic human needs, for instance, water, food, shelter, security, and access to health care and education. Since there has been no major humanitarian or security crisis in 2009, some improvement in IDPs returning to their home can be noticed but there is no change in vulnerable areas, for instance, northern and north-western Iraq, central Iraq and areas of southern Iraq.

Nursing research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 40

Nursing research - Essay Example Thus, it is important to create a good methodology for the investigation held. This section should make readers familiar with the main purpose of your research and the ways and methods you are going to use to reach the goals. A person who wants to implement the same research that you did should be able to receive all the corresponding information from your methodology section. He/she should understand the main goal of the research and the ways you offer to reach these goals. This section should include everything that should belong to it, not much or less. - Write your thoughts about the following: When reviewing research or preparing a literature review, nurses should consider the level of evidence. How might levels of evidence influence nursing practice? In the field of nursing it is very difficult to have and express your own opinion. All the further investigations should be based on the previous ones and the acknowledged experience. All the innovations in the field of medicine should go through a great of number of important tests to be acknowledged as really helpful for human health. Thus, a literature review is a very important section of the research in the field of nursing and the whole research should be thoroughly based on

Analyzing Data in a Mixed Methods Research Essay

Analyzing Data in a Mixed Methods Research - Essay Example The study will involve comparing student achievement levels using quantitative analysis of academic results and qualitative survey findings but the qualitative component will in addition seek to identify if there are any underlying differences in student interest and motivation. One hundred participants will be drawn from the student population of Northcentral University School of Education with an equal number of students studying online and studying in classrooms. Online learning as opposed to face-to-face traditional classroom learning became a possibility with the advent of computer networks, most notably the Internet. It usually takes place over a distance, in which case it is a form of ‘distance learning’, or it can be combined with the traditional methods either in-class or remotely, in which case it is known as ‘mixed-mode’ or ‘blended learning’. For this study, the researcher proposes to examine online learning by comparing it to traditional classroom learning with a view to ascertaining whether it leads to any greater achievement among online students. A brief background of the study overviews the rise and growth of online learning pointing out that it is roughly commensurate with the growth of the Internet and online educational technologies. The problem statement highlights the concern among providers of online education and the complications involved in making comparisons between online and traditional learning and justifying the former in the face of counter evidence showing no significant differences. The purpose statement sets out the purpose of the study by detailing the aim, method, control variables and sample characteristics. This is followed by the theoretical framework, which is a prelude to a full literature review and sets the proposed study in context by mentioning other studies that have previously made similar comparisons. The research questions formally define the precise questions that will be

Ethical Issues Econet Needs to Consider in Its Operational Activities Coursework

Ethical Issues Econet Needs to Consider in Its Operational Activities - Coursework Example This paper illustrates that one of the ethical issues Econet needs to consider in its operational activities is the working conditions of the employees. It involves the safety of the employees being guaranteed in their working environment by providing the necessary equipment and special attires for some unique jobs. Working conditions also should embrace the compensation of the employees for the period they have worked. Another business ethics to be considered is discrimination. Discrimination may involve harassment of the female employees based on their gender or the act of diminishing the new employees that join the organization. Sensitivity training should be conducted to limit the chances of discrimination among the employees. Additionally, the ethical issue of corporate governance should be considered. It is a system by which a company is directed and controlled. It is evident that corporate governance is predestined to maximize shareholders value and protect the interest of oth er stakeholders. Statistics have proven that improved corporate governance enhances value to the company’s operational performance. The company can rationalize management and monitor risks that a firm may face globally. Also, the company guarantee the truthfulness of the financial reports and obtains a long-term reputation among key stakeholders. Another ethical issue to be considered by Econet is the legal and regulatory compliance. The managers should ensure that environmental laws, fiscal and monetary reporting principles and all applicable civil rights are complied with to ensure the smooth running of the firm. The researcher is also going to evaluate the influence stakeholders exert on Econet. Some of the stakeholders in the company are the customers, shareholders, employees, suppliers, and government. Employees are the internal stakeholders who are involved in the day-to-day activities of the company. Employees’ productivity influences the performance of the comp any in the market space. As for customers, they are the external stakeholders. It is evident that customers influence the profit margins and turnover through buying products and services. Suppliers are external stakeholders who influence Econet operations by supplying various products. When suppliers avail, the product in time Econet can fulfill their customers’ needs.

Introduction to Psychology ( Discuss Quesition ) Essay

Introduction to Psychology ( Discuss Quesition ) - Essay Example Many crucial links are available to determine which type of personality a person chooses to have. Generally, the demarcations between and extrovert and an introvert are established through many factors like the overall levels of energy available and can also be attributed to certain physiological differences in the brain. Apart from that, the surrounding environment and the nature of the parental brought up also decides the levels of sociability of an individual in life. People choose to stay in battering situation when they are either scared of the offender or believe that the batterer is actually correct and knows what they are doing. Financial dependency, social norms, emotional voids, religious and cultural obligations, loneliness, etc are some of the reasons that draw people into the ‘Stockholm’ or the ‘Hostage’ syndrome. A general sense of fear, the presence of unreasonable false gratitude accompanied with a total lack of awareness that help is available are some of the other reasons that explain this. Therefore, a personality flaw, as a defense mechanism, develops more often than not as a result of holding on to the batterer and continuously suffering and may not be the principal cause of staying in a battering relationship. Learned helplessness increases the probability of a person staying in a battering relationship, as the person involved is already predisposed towards a feeling of utter helplessness and

Ethical Issues Econet Needs to Consider in Its Operational Activities Coursework

Ethical Issues Econet Needs to Consider in Its Operational Activities - Coursework Example This paper illustrates that one of the ethical issues Econet needs to consider in its operational activities is the working conditions of the employees. It involves the safety of the employees being guaranteed in their working environment by providing the necessary equipment and special attires for some unique jobs. Working conditions also should embrace the compensation of the employees for the period they have worked. Another business ethics to be considered is discrimination. Discrimination may involve harassment of the female employees based on their gender or the act of diminishing the new employees that join the organization. Sensitivity training should be conducted to limit the chances of discrimination among the employees. Additionally, the ethical issue of corporate governance should be considered. It is a system by which a company is directed and controlled. It is evident that corporate governance is predestined to maximize shareholders value and protect the interest of oth er stakeholders. Statistics have proven that improved corporate governance enhances value to the company’s operational performance. The company can rationalize management and monitor risks that a firm may face globally. Also, the company guarantee the truthfulness of the financial reports and obtains a long-term reputation among key stakeholders. Another ethical issue to be considered by Econet is the legal and regulatory compliance. The managers should ensure that environmental laws, fiscal and monetary reporting principles and all applicable civil rights are complied with to ensure the smooth running of the firm. The researcher is also going to evaluate the influence stakeholders exert on Econet. Some of the stakeholders in the company are the customers, shareholders, employees, suppliers, and government. Employees are the internal stakeholders who are involved in the day-to-day activities of the company. Employees’ productivity influences the performance of the comp any in the market space. As for customers, they are the external stakeholders. It is evident that customers influence the profit margins and turnover through buying products and services. Suppliers are external stakeholders who influence Econet operations by supplying various products. When suppliers avail, the product in time Econet can fulfill their customers’ needs.

Drag Performance during the 1980's in NYC Research Paper - 1

Drag Performance during the 1980's in NYC - Research Paper Example Drag performance must be given deeper understanding to be able to see the superficial meaning and from this, we would understand the hidden structures of society. History of Drag Drag is originally used for clothing, significant and symbolic usually associated with the role of a certain gender when worn by the opposite gender. The term was originated Athens, Greece somewhere in the fourth century BCE, as a form of punishment across the streets. Drag is a symbolic word which does not simply means clothes. Men portrayal as women are manifested even way back thirteenth centuries when the church forbade females appearance on the stage and theaters. For hundreds of years, men are manifested to be dressing as women as a disguised to the opposite sex in theatrical presentations and stage shows. This has also been first traced back to the dawn of the theater as a sort of survival and since then, found to be manifested in all the corners of the world especially in Japan and in China. When the drag practices became popular in some parts of the world and accepted as a form of art among the men as drag artist, categories were defined according to professionalism in rendering drag artistry into the public. Kinds of drag artists like those who starred in movies vary professionalism. There are also called drag queens and mostly vary from their culture of their respective places. However, drag queens are always tagged as gay men or transgender but it is also relevant to say that there are also drag artist who do this for a reason considering the fact that they are a straight people or transvestites. Transvestites belong to different categories compared to drag queens who belong to the gay world, they are cross-dressers who generally straight men and were just dressing women’s dress for erotic reason. The appearance of the drag queen in print was first seen in 1941. Late 20th century defined the drag as an abbreviation of â€Å"dressed as girl† and as a counter pa rt, â€Å"drab† is the â€Å"dressed as boy† but this was never published and unrecorded. Drag is being practiced by people of all sexual orientations as well as gender identities. Charles Busch and Theater in Limbo Laying down some important information about Charles Busch, he is born in August 23, 1954 in New York, NY. Busch is an American, an actor and a playwright. Since he have started in the industry, he already achieved 25 stage appearances, 5 in films, 6 TV appearances and 26 stage plays. For around a longer period of time of Busch in the industry, in 1984 he was able to break the wall of competition and stand out among the rest in theater-in-Limbo. This was presented at the Limbo lounge at East Village’s. This was followed in the Avenue C and when the show hits a record as high, this was transferred to the Provincetown Playhouse in the West Village where it ran for around five years consecutively. The continuous exposure of Busch brought him to enormous success that made him held as the queen of drag among the theaters in the city. Moreover, he was also nominated in 2001 at the Tony award for the Best Play â€Å"the Tale of the Allergist’s Wife that ran for 22 months in Broadway. Over the years, Busch shows craftsmanship in doing and sharing his talents not only in the American

Costing and Budgeting Case Study

Costing and Budgeting Case Study Accounting is a key success of a business, but the word accounting is more sophisticated. Almost every business, before dealing any project or any other important function, should design an appropriate budget. To make the budget first we should think about the cost because the cost of the production is always variable. A well-planned budget will bring success for a project. In my academic case study, I have to make a budget for Rayners plc. Company, which is a renowned company in the UK. Cost classification: P1 In the managerial accounting the word cost is using various ways. The main reason is that there are many types of costs, and these costs are classified differently according to the certain management process. For example, managers may want cost data to prepare external financial reports, to prepare planning budgets, or to make decisions. There are some relevant costing methods according to the task: Direct/Indirect cost: Direct cost is a cost where everything counting easily and conveniently traced to the particular cost object. But it is not incurred due to the product or activity countless. On the other hand indirect cost is fully reverse of the direct cost where counting process is more sophisticated and inconvenience and it incurred even productivity or activity change. Prime cost: The cost normally counting for labour and material to make product. This cost depend on ability and capacity of the labour that how much performed they are to make production and which way is the best way to use material. Fixed cost: A cost which is not only related to production is called fixed costs. In other words, it is a cost that remains constant even with variations circumstances and situations. VARIABLE COST: Variable costistotally opposite word of fixed cost. When a cost which is varies exactly in proportion to the change in activity (production or sale) would be term as variable cost. This is sometime called engineering cost or a formula cost and can be calculated in advance. Full Absorption cost: A managerialaccounting cost method of expensing all costs associated with manufacturing a particular product. Absorption costinguses the total direct costs and overhead costs associated with manufacturing a product as the cost base. Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) require absorption costing for external reporting. Costing methods: (P2) According to the marginal cost, another name of fixed cost is period cost that means one need to deduct the total cost from contributions where under absorption costing, fixed cost is part of unit cost/production cost. Therefore deduct the total FC from contributions. Fixed cost does not change at any level of activity. F.O.A.R = Budget O/H Budget Activity (Note that if budget is equal to Actual production, then the absorption will be same). Now, if we will analyse the information and data as a case study of Rayners plc. Year 1 Marginal Costing method: 108,000 Sales: 90,000 X 12 Less cost of production Opening Inventory 0 Add productions (100,000 X 5) 500,000 500,000 Less closing Inventory (10,000X5) 50000 450,000 Contribution 630,000 Less Total FC: Production (270,000) Admin Costing (20,000) Net Profit 340,000 Year1Absorption costing method:  £  £ 108,000 Sales (90,000X12) Less cost of production Opening Inventory 0 Add production (100,000X5) 800,000 800,000 Less closing Inventory (10000X8) (80,000) Cost of production (720,000) Gross profit 360,000 Over absorbed (10,000X3) 30,000 Less admin cost (20,000) Net profit 370,000 Reconciliation statements:  £  £ Absorption profit 370,000 Les increase in Inventory (Closing inventory opening inventory) Multiply by F.O.A.R (10,000 0) X 3 (30,000) Marginal profit 340,000 Year2 Marginal costing statement:  £  £ Sales (110,000X 12) 132,000 Less cost of production Opening Inventory (10,000X5) 50,000 Add production (110,000X5) 550,000 600,000 Less Closing Inventory (10000X5) (50,000) 550,000 Contribution 770,000 Less total FC: Production (270,000) Admin (20,000) Net Profit 480,000 Year 2 Absorption costing statement:  £  £ Sales 132,000 Less cost of production Opening inventory (10000X8) 80,000 Add production (110,000X5) 800,000 900,000 Less closing Inventory (10,000X8) 80,000 (880,000) 440,000 Over absorption (20,000X3) 60,000 Less admin cost (20,000) Net profit 480,000 Year 3 Marginal costing statement:  £  £ Sales (750,000X12) 1140,000 Less cost of production Opening inventory (10,000X5) 50,000 Production (90,000X5) 450,000 500,000 Less closing inventory (5000X5) 25,000 (475,000) Contribution 665,000 Less total fixed cost: Production (270,000) Less total fixed cost: Admin 120,000 Net Profit 375,000 Year 3 Absorption costing statement:  £ Sales 140,000 Less cost of production Opening Inventory (10,000X8) 80000 Add production (90,000X8) 720,000 800,000 Less closing inventory (5000X5) 40,000 (760,000) Gross Profit 380,000 Less Admin (20,000) Net profit 360,000 Reconciliation Statement: Absorption profit 360,000 Add decrease in inventory (5000-10000) X 3 15,000 Marginal profit 375,000 Unit cost: (P3) According to the data of the Rayners plc and using the marginal costing method the unit cost is: Direct material 2 Direct labour1 Prime Cost 3 VC/Unit 2 Marginal cost 5 So according to the marginal cost the value of each unit will be  £5. F.O.A.A (unit) 3 Absorption cost 8 Full cost/Total cost 8 F O A R Budgeted F/C Budgeted Of Level Activity= X/90000 = £3 X= £270000 (Budgeted Of Overhead Collect analyse and present data using appropriate techniques. (P4) In the management accounting there are different ways to collect data for the business. The basic role is the participants a taste of the various tools and techniques available for collecting monitoring and evaluation data. Participants focus on what makes a good questionnaire and discuss tips on how to conduct interviews and focus groups. Participants also have the opportunity to explore more visual, participatory tools so that they can choose which methods are most appropriate for collecting information from their particular stakeholders. Moreover, the source of information that means the entire item for particular enquiry. E.g. invoices, customers and to show these customers feedback those are will be taken into consideration for further used of data collected. Another important technique to analyse and collect data is various sampling such as: Random sampling: This is the purest form of probability sampling. Because due to the large group of population it is really difficult and not possible to identify every member of the population, so the pool of available subjects becomes biased. Systematic sampling: It is often used as a random sampling. Another name of the sampling is selection technique. Its only advantage over the random sampling technique is simplicity. Systematic sampling is frequently used to select a specified number of records from a computer file. Convenience sampling: It is used in exploratory research where the researcher is interested in getting an inexpensive approximation of the truth. As the name implies, the sample is selected because they are convenient. Judgment sampling: One common non probability method isJudgment sampling. The researcher selects the sample based on judgment. This is usually and extension of convenience sampling. Quota sample: This is a sample method where items, usually people, are selected in a given quantities and according to pre-defined characteristics. These different methods are used for different purpose where user must identify a sampling method in order to review the presentation at the intention. These methods can also be used in a wide range of area and activity where there is lots of member with different types of users. Routine cost report: (P5) The report generally include the financial performance for the end of the year .E.g. Profit, Debit, share, price and dividends. It will also advice about transfers to reserves, assets that have been acquired or disposed of the names and shareholding of directors active in the last year, and other business activates that will be interested to stakeholders. Even, sometimes the report also cover the business polices on employment, training, welfare, creditor, creditor payment and corporate responsibility as well. There are some different ways to finding cost report: Monitoring Cost: Cost monitoring means supervising the economic progress in the management system in the business. This is the main reason of cost or expense monitoring is collecting information to check performance against an expectation. Controlling: Cost controlling is process where the common goal of the management is improving business cost-efficiency by reducing costs, or at least restricting their rate of growth. Businesses use cost control methods to monitor, evaluate, and ultimately enhance the efficiency of specific areas, such as departments, divisions, or product lines, within their operations. Planning: It is called a plan make supreme success. In term of business it is invincible part to make appropriate costing plan.It comprises iterative quantification and costing, derived from benchmarking and market exploration exercises, and is aimed at establishing a realistic and acceptable cost limit. This information is critical for obtaining project financing and for determining whether a project can be profitable or not. Without cost planning, property owners would enter blindly into construction projects and possibly into insolvency. Evaluation: Evaluating the cost of the overall business management is really sophisticated task. According to the business activity there are three types of evaluation specification: Background: Background means description, context, scope and objective of the business. The Selection Process: Analyse briefly the selection process, starting with the advertising the establishment of the shortlist, expressions of interest, and withdrawals of firms before proposal submissions. Technical evaluation: Describe briefly the meetings and actions taken by the evaluation committee formation of a technical evaluation team, outside assistance, evaluation guidelines, justification of sub criteria and associated weightings as indicated in the Standard Request for Proposals; relevant correspondence and compliance. Profitability Ratio: (p6) 1)Gross profit margin =gross profit/sale*100 = xf 2)Net profit margin = PBIT/sales*100 = xf 3) Retained on capital employed = PBIT/capital employed*100 = xf 4) Assets= sales/capital employed = x times Efficiency ratio: Lido ltd New ltd. Assets = 640/350+75 Assets=1600/1600+20 =1.5 times =.987 Productivity Unit produce for employees 20000/34 =588 unit 5000/78=64.1 Operating profit margin 128/640*100=20 256/1600*100 =16 Cost productivity Operating profit per employee 128/34 =3.77 256/78=3.28 Principles of quality: (P7) The basic principle of Total quality management is that costs of prevention are less than the costs of correction. There are various types of roles are involved in term of quality: Assurance: Quality assurance focuses on preventing faulty occurring, instead of fixing them afterwards (which is the quality control approach). Describe everything to find out the causes of defects are identified and ways to fix the system to make sure the problem doesnt happen again are agreed. Reliability: The most important and valuable principles of quality are consistency and reliability. Each link in the quality chain must deliver to the next link on time, in the quantity ordered, to the right specification and at the agreed price, time after time after time. Customer-driven: customer driven quality means many things to many people, in the end it is the customers opinion that counts. In these cases the customers quality ideals must be met every step of the way from the farm to the marketplace. Continuous Improvement: This is an essential part of any good quality system. The market environment for popular product is always changing and highly competitive, so the popular programme must constantly evolve to ensure the industry stays ahead of the completion. Principles of value: Implementing the Principle of Value requires leadership and management with particular, conscious focus and intent.It is always to develop and sustain durable, value-driven, win-win relationships. Everything can be evaluating by relative activity such as Products for payment Salary for performance Investment for profits. Everywhere we look, we see win-win relationships as the core of durable success. If we lose those relationships, we eventually lose everything. Another important principle is core value which is completely design by roles of fairy, ethos, human morality, dignity, and customer service. If an organization does not cause its members to understand and focus on these important elements, it will soon find participants becoming solely profit-centric. This behaviour inevitably leads to a short-term focus and potentially illegal practices that provide the seeds of self-destruction. Remember that management is to build business value by making the right decisions; and, decisio ns about core values are essential. Purpose and nature of Budget: (P8) Budgeting is a basic and essential process in a business which allows businesses to gain many goals in one course of action.The budgeting process may be carried out by individuals or by companies to estimate whether the person/company can continue to operate with its projected income and expenses. There are several purposes to create and implement a budget include control and evaluation, planning, communication, and motivation. Control and Evaluation This is most important matter after finalized a budget is providing sufficient control and evaluating its performance.If performance does not meet the budget, action can be taken immediately to adjust activities. Budgeting allows a company to have a certain range of control over costs, such as reducing many types of unnecessary expenses or assigning responsibility for these expenses. A budget also gives a company a benchmark by which to evaluate business units, departments, and even individual managers. Unfortunately this purpose of budgeting may be effect on employees to have negative thinking about the budgeting process because their compensation and, in certain situation, even their jobs may be operating on meeting certain budgeting target. Planning Planning is initial purpose of budgeting. It is also design by decisions, and many questions must be answered. Besides that, budgeting allows a business to take stock of revenue and expenses from the previous period, and judge where the business will be in future periods. It also allows the organization to add and remove products and services from its plan for the future period. Communication and Motivation: Other goals that an organization may use its budget to achieve that are less obvious include communication and motivation. It is important that make correlation according to the chain of command like from management level to supervisor level, this is only to gain mentally satisfaction of the staff. When an employee is involved in creating his or her departments budget, that person will be more likely to strive to achieve that budget. Budgets also allow a company to motivate its employees by involving them in the budget. Budgeting method: (p9) A budget is an individual and written estimate of how an organization or a particular project, or business unit willperform financially. If we can accurately predict our companys performance than we will be certain that resources such as money, people, equipment, manufacturing plants, and the like are deployed appropriately. There is various kind of budgeting are available for a business such as: Cash budget: An important estimate of a companys cash position for a particular period of time. . Labor budget: The total cost for labor to be expended for a set period of time calculated by taking every persons position in an organization, department, or project and multiplying the number of hours they are expected to work by their wage rates. Sales budget: An estimate of the quantity of goods and services that will be sold during a specific period of time. Production budget: A forecast thatstarts with the sales budgets estimates of the total number of units projected to be sold, then translates this information into estimates of the cost of labor, material, and other expenses required to produce them. Expense budget: An estimate prepared for travel, utilities, office supplies, telephone, and many other common business expenses for a given period. Incremental Budget: These types of budget are normally starts with previous periods budget or actual results and add an incremental amount to cover for inflation and other known changes. Advantages of incremental budgeting The budget is stable and change is gradual. Managers can operate their departments on a consistent basis. The system is relatively simple to operate and easy to understand. The impact of change can be seen quickly. Disadvantages of incremental budgeting Assumes activities and methods of working will continue in the same way. No incentive for developing new ideas. No incentives to reduce costs. Encourages spending up to the budget so that the budget is maintained next year. The budget may become out of date and no longer relate to the level of activity or type of work being carried out. Zero-based budget: This is a traditional technique of planning and decision-making which reverses the working process. By contrast with incremental budgeting, in zero-based budgeting, every department function is reviewed comprehensively and all expenditures must be approved, rather than only increases. Advantages Drives managers to find cost effective ways to improve operations. Detects inflated budgets. Useful for service departments where the output is difficult to identify. Increases communication and coordination within the organization. Identifies and eliminates wasteful and obsolete operations. Identifies opportunities for outsourcing. It responds to changes in the business environment. Disadvantages It emphasize short-term benefits to the detriment of long term goals The budgeting process may become too rigid and the organisation may not be able to react to unforeseen opportunities or threats Difficult to define decision units and decision packages, as it is time-consuming and exhaustive. Forced to justify every detail related to expenditure. The RD department is threatened whereas the production department benefits. According to the previous discussion it is clear that Zero-based budgeting is must be clearly understood by managers at various levels to be successfully implemented. But every organisation should provide Necessary training to manager. According to the case study there are four types of budgets will be explaining.