Explore a primary source concerning William Z. Foster Essay

Explore a primary source concerning William Z. Foster - Essay Example urely relevant to the knowledge base on Foster’s life and work, but it must also be realize that the author is somewhat biased, as he appears to be sympathetic to the communist movement in the United States and does not wish to see it end. What this means is that when reading this book, the reader must be aware that it is more political science than history, which takes away from the book’s historical significance. While Barrett is a well known historian, this book shows that he is prone to allowing his own opinions to creep into his historical facts and should be remember whenever reading one of his texts. Barrett begins this book by telling about Foster’s early days earning his living in the slums, while believing that there must be a better manner of doing this. Barrett then follows Foster as he begins organizing unions in order to improve the position of the working class in society. As time moves on, Foster helped to form the American Federation of Labor and, later on, the Trade Union Educational League, which was a much more radical organization. These radical ideas caused Foster to turn to socialism and eventually communism, which is how he became a such a high ranking official in the Communist Party of the United States. In telling the story of Foster’s life, Barrett is able to show the reader the ideological basis for communism’s existence in the United States, as he tells of how â€Å"Foster, Earl Browder, and Jack Johnstone played crucial roles in organizing basic industry in the United States and later building the Communist Party† (Barrett 69). People like Foster believed that it could be used as a method of equalizing society and, therefore, allowing for the poor to be on par with the rest of society. Foster did not believe that communism had to be oppressive, but rather could be used as a tool for making society a better place to live and Barrett is sympathetic to this cause. The relevance of this text is somewhat in question, however, as

Engineering ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Engineering ethics - Essay Example As such, the disaster was a result of an engineering oversight arising from the underestimation on the strength and capability of the lift slab. Every major constructions have a core pillar, the pillar that traverses the entire length of the building offering a core for the inclusion of the elevator is always a determining factor on the strength of the building. The L’Ambiance Plaza was to have two of such pillars in the form of rectangular pillars at both ends of the building. The collapse occurred when the intense pressure placed on the west tower proved overwhelming. Apparently, construction on the west wing of the building had reached the eight floor with slabs for the successive three floor slabs placed at stage IV directly over the twelfth floor. This resulted in the placement of intense stress on the pillar thereby instigating the collapse. At the time of collapse, workers were in the floors below completing various categories of construction work in different floors be low the roof. Twenty-eight of the workers died instantly as the floors buried them. The ninth, tenth and eleventh floor slabs caved in with the crane through the west pillar, the stress caused by the western side of the building intensified the pressure on the eastern wing thereby resulting in the collapse of the entire building. The entire building eventually collapsed thereby compounding the loss of capital at the site of construction. More alarmingly was the fact that the entire building collapsed in less than six seconds.

Teaching Writing Skills To Vietnamese Students Education Essay

Teaching Writing Skills To Vietnamese Students Education Essay Background of the problem Writing skill which includes language, private knowledge and skill, emotion and the interaction of personal opinion is difficult and challenging to learn and develop for many students in EFL contexts in general and in Vietnam in particular. In Vietnam, there are many teachers of English who even believe that teaching writing skill to EFL learners is more complex than teaching other communicative skills (Mazdayasna Tahririan, 2001). Although language learners have to learn hard to have good compositions, they still have made a variety of errors or mistakes when writing. In other words, EFL learners often feel stressful and anxious when writing in a foreign language (Spratt Leung, 2000). Consequently, language teachers and researchers have made an effort to know how they can do to help students be able to minimize their mistakes in their writing. However, they also admit that it is impossible for them or any teacher to read and correct all the students compositions on writing lessons because correcting written work is time-consuming (Ur, 1999, p.74), especially for large classes. Peer feedback (also peer correction, peer response or peer review) with its advantages can be a promising way which can be used to encourage students to read and give comments and suggestions together for enrichment of their peers writings before the final versions of their products are submitted to their teachers. Peer correction works as a vital part in the process approach to teaching writing because it helps learners realize their learning level as well as their demands for enhancement of writing ability. Brown (1994) and Gipps (1994) have the same opinion that feed back is one of the main factors in the process of English learning and teaching. Many other researchers, for example, Paulus (1999), Min (2006) promote the idea that verbal and written feedback should be applied to foster writing skills. This strategy, thus, has been used popularly on the writing lessons of many English classes in Vietnam consisting of those at centre of Informatics and Foreign Language, Thai Nguyen College of Education, Thai Nguyen Uni. Ur (1999, p.74) states that peer correction can help us not only save time, but also develop the critical reading skill for content, organization, style and language accuracy. Additionally, peer feedback can receive an efficient method to make students to have critical thinking of writing and assessment skills than teacher feedback. In other words, peer feedback helps learners make good use of their own effort to make their writings expressive and effective. However, in spite of its roles and impact on the process of writing, peer feedback has not been paid much attention in Vietnam. Some researchers such as Tran (2007), Phan (2007) who are interested in peer response in writing introduce their point of view, knowledge and experience about this topic in their researches which show the present state of employing peer feedback learners attitude and especially offer some suggestions to better the current response training. Purpose of the study As mentioned above, it is not difficult to find out studies which research the role of peer feedback in writing skill on the way to foster it. However, the writer of this study with to do the research to know about the fact of peer feedback in Vietnam in general and the Centre of Informatics and Foreign Language, TNCE, TNU more clearly. This study also investigates whether peer feedback can have positive impact on ESL writing process among pre-intermediate non major students at this Centre or not; they can revise their own writing works to develop their writing skill or not and how this process really happens. Bearing in mind, the writer decides the research with title Using peer correction in teaching writing skill to help Vietnamese college non-major students at CIF, CE, TNU reduce errors in their written compositions Research question(s) or statement of hypothesis This study aims at finding answer to the following research question: How can peer correction helps EFL learners reduce mistakes in their written compositions? The question is addressed to one of the writing classes that I am teaching this term in Centre of Informatics and Foreign Language, College of Education, Thai Nguyen University with the aim to examine how peer correction affects the process of revising and writing a complete composition of my students here. Organization of the study This study can be divided into five chapters. In this chapter, background of the EFL writing in local context is given and the aim of this study is also identified. Chapter 2 mentions some reviews of the literature which go through related literature and researches, in which, general of writing teaching and a brief idea of peer feedback in writing skill will be focused. In chapter 3, the writer describes the methodology and processes of the research. Chapter 4 presents data analysis and findings. Chapter 5 gives some implications of the study, summarizes main point discussed in the study, indicates some limitations and proposes some suggestions for the further researches. Lastly, the final parts of the study are appendixes and references. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Overview of writing process Lannon (1989) claims that writing is a process delivering meaningful messages and including its own specific goal. This process requires students to work hard instead of regarding it as an uncomplicated act (Byrne, 1988). However, in language teaching and learning process, Tribble (1996, p.3) defines writing as a language skill that involves not just a graphic representation of speech, but the development and presentation of thoughts in a structured way. This means writers need to arrange their ideas logically and systematically. There have been different approaches to teaching writing EFL classes but two most popular ones are product approach and process one. Product approach can be the traditional method of writing which stresses the final outcome of the writing process as well as grammar, usage, form and mechanics of the composition. Students are often asked to write a similar paragraph basing on the model and using new taught structures, vocabularies or any aspects of language. A fter that, the teacher will correct students writings or feedback in the class commonly means the correction of the students language errors (Mazdayasna Tahririan, 2001, p.56). Therefore, students find difficult to know why and how they made errors to avoid repeating them on the next tasks. Though thanks to this method students can sometimes reject errors (Tribble, 1996), it does not encourage students create in writing at all, the use of language is manipulate of fixed patterns; the patterns are learned by imitation (Pincas, 1962, p.185). Over the last forty years, there has been remarkable interest in writing process. There are many researchers and educators suggesting language teachers that they should pay attention to students writing process instead of only their final writing version (Paige Way, Joiner and Seaman, 2000). Process writing can contain stages such as rewriting, writing, revising and rewriting or editing. However, Reid (1993) supplement this process with three more stages, namely, responding, evaluating and post-writing, in which peer feedback is focused more in responding. Prewriting: something done before drafting such as choosing a topic, brainstorming, collecting data, organizing. Composing / drafting: actually writing. Revising: selecting organization, structures, edition or collection word. Rewriting: completing stage step by step. Responding: getting the teacher and peers responses, discussing with them about papers to improve the content. Evaluating: receiving marks or scores from the teachers. Post-writing: any activities happened after completing rewriting and getting assessment (role-play) Cresswell claims that to as students to exchange their writing draft is an effective way to foster their learning autonomy and help them become alert reader when proofreading their partners written tasks (2000). As the result, they also have critical thinking when they read their own paper to find and correct themselves their mistakes in those, i.e. their writing ability can be develop (Markino, 1993). It is necessary to allow students to have more time to write and get feedback from their teachers and classmates, and then rewrite the drafts so that they can let reader be abele to understand their idea expressed on the paper better (Frankenberg-Garcia, 1999). Definition and some types of errors Different researchers have different ways to categorize errors. In this study, the writer only wishes to refer one of classification strategies based on the relation to comprehensibility given by Burt and Kiparsky (1972) because of its close concern with the notion of mistakes mentioned in this study. These researchers divided error into two main types: global errors and local ones. Henclrikson (1978) notes that we will be able to realize which error is global or local, because error can be regard as communicative or non-communicative ones. According to Ellis (1997), while global errors such as over generalization or simplification have an effect on explanation of the whole structure of sentence, local error just affect a single factor in sentences, i.e. word, phrases, closures or grammatical morphemes. Burt and Kiparsky (1974) also claim that global error have higher hierarchy than local errors. Thus the global ones seem to be care about and be corrected more than local ones Norish (1983). However, those local errors can be considered as minor ones, error in tense and aspect, they are popular mistakes of English writing learners. Peer feedback and its impact on reducing mistakes and developing writing skill Knowledge is best acquired through negotiated interaction (Grabe Kaplan, 1996, p.380). There are many approaches to error correction and also definitions of peer feedback from many linguists and experts. According to Richards, et al, Peer feedback is an activity in the revising stage of writing in which students receive feedback about their writing from other students-their peers. Typically students work in pairs or small groups, read each others compositions and ask questions or give comments or suggestions (1992, p.268). Some other researchers of EFL writing state that feedback play an essential role in the process of writing. Keh (1990) claims that giving feedback means giving comments and suggestions, which helps the writer edit his or her composition. Through teachers or classmates feedback, students can know what kinds of mistakes they made and how to cope with those mistakes. Therefore, if students can get a productive feedback, they can correct their own errors and avoiding making the similar mistakes in the later writing tasks. It is wise for teachers to require learners responsibilities for their own writing performance and their peers ones because of the strong effect of peer feedback on students review as well as their writing skill. Zamel (1987) supposes that peers are actual and direct readers or reviewers. In the fact that, there are a number of methods teachers utilize to assist students check their mistakes but indeed teachers seem to not be able to resolve the problem individually. Students play the parts of both writers and readers or givers and receivers. Hefernick (1983) regards peer editing as learning and teaching instrument for teachers and learners because students can give helpful feedback each other. Peer writers can edit their own written compositions basing on the readers remarks and comments (Mendonca and John, 1994; Rollison, 1998), so the writers can be better at learning writing. Students can also have superior performance by the student-to-student activities because these activities are often more detailed than teacher feedback (Caulk, 1994). Also, Mangelsdorfin thinks that peer review can help many students to have diverse perception about their topics as well as foster the ideas and make them more clearly in the EFL writings. Therefore, researchers believe that peer feedback can have a positive effect on classroom dynamics and can help to train learners in skills they need to become autonomous (Spratt et al, 2005, p.157). Joyce (1997) employs a research to explore main strategies so as to respond to the EFL students composition writings. After the twelve-week period, by comparing the initial writing sample and the third one after using peer editing, he shows that writing competency of students grows strongly and concludes this strategy is efficient and necessary. In the research conducted by Wong (1999), peer correction was carried out and discovered by qualitative data to ease the process of EFL writing in four factors: grammar, rules and concepts, meaning and emotional elements. In addition, it helps students improve awareness of writing skill. Quantitative findings of this study introduce 97% students admit that they want to apply peer correction in the future. It is important to stress that the writer of this study learns a lot from Wong research, and longs to use some his methods in this research to examine whether it is suitable for the writer teaching fact. Kurt and Atay (2007) also experimented with 86 Turkish Prospective Teachers of English. Those participants are divided into 2 groups: Experimental group (writing an essay and receiving peer feedback) and control group (writing an essay and receiving teacher feedback only). This study concluded that peer feedback helps Turkish PTs reduce writing anxiety and it is really considered as a complementary factor of the teacher feedback. Despite its advantages, peer response has its own weakness. Its procedure requests the training and organization from the teacher as well as it depends on students ability of collaboration with peers. Many students give their partners too general and ambiguous reviews. They make their peers find it difficult to understand and catch messages or information. The writing ability, thus, seems to not improve (Tsui Ng, 2000). CHAPTER 3: METHODS AND PROCEDURES Methods of the study The research is done qualitatively in the context of a 30-student English class. They are non-major students; their level of English proficiency is pre-intermediate and their writing ability is average. In this report, the writer uses two research tools to collect and analyze the needed data, i.e. recording and interview. Recording is used to record the process of peer correction. Chosen subjects were invited to record their discussions and then they were transcribed (Appendix C) for analyzing. Voice recorder is chosen instead of video recorder to prevent their discussions from the presence of another people, which may interrupt their current process of peer correction. The writer also hopes that through recordings she can derive how students check and correct their writings each other and what types of mistakes are corrected most. The second tool used in this study is interviews with students at the end of the research to study whether this strategy is really suitable for them or not, that is, expose students attitude toward peer correction strategy as well as their opinions and get their suggestions to make this process better. According to Herbert and Irene (1995), in interviews students need to know the way of actual listening. Because they are pre-intermediate non-major students, they can only use English during the interviews, so they can speak in Vietnamese and then the writer record and translate them into English. Procedure As a matter of ethics, the whole procedure of teaching and learning is implemented similarly to all students of the class after all of them give consent to be part of the research. However, due to the limit of the study, I only focus to record and interview the learning engagement of two students (who I call anonymously in this report as A1 and A2 as a matter of ethics) during this process as the data for analysis. The writer after considering carefully decide to make peer correcting tasks in class. Before the real peer correction, the writer design some exercises to introduce the way to check a composition. They were guided to focus on some discrete mistake. Items are subject-verb agreement, spells, tense, verb form, number, part of speech. The structure of sentence, content, and organization of the composition/essay is also asked to be commented. Firstly, the students were asked to check sentence by sentence and then, they worked in pairs to check the paragraph (Appendix B) This research lasted for 8 weeks, and the writer chose 3 topics to ask students to write, discus and correct and then rewrite before submitting to give the teacher. These topics are informal letter to a pen friend; a descriptive passage about a close relative in your family; a biography passage of a famous person. During this process, the writer asks students to give them tape-recorder to record their own discussions. In this paper, interviews are well-prepared. After recording them, the writer will transcribe and translate them (Appendix ?) ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS Data analysis Analysis of data from the recordings The writer, in this part, wish to learn about the process of peer correction through discussions taken recordings of subjects and interviews between the writers and them. After that, the writer would assess the result of the recorded discussions and interviews. It is undeniable that peer correction help students improve EFL writing a lot, although the level of subjects is not high, they can give comments on a variety of types of mistakes language such as article, preposition, S-V agreement, infinitive or gerund an sometimes even whole structure of the composition or word choice. When correcting mistakes, they also give some suggestions and explain the reasons for those mistakes. Below are some examples in collected data. Extract 1(topic 1, A1s composition) Before correction: She and I are very different but we got on well together. She is short and Im tall. She likes stay at home and watch television with my parentss. A2: Ok. Sentence 1 is ok. In sentence 2, you should use get, not got, simple present. Next sentences let me see, here, like add v-ing not bare verb. My parentss, I dont know my parentss here mean, without possessive mark is correct. Do you agree? A1: Yeah of course After correction: She and I are very different but we get on well togetherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. She is shorter than meà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. She likes staying at home and watching television with my parents Extract 2 (topic 1, A2s composition) Before correction: My young brother is a 15 year old and I am 20 year old. My brother learn at Song Cong town and I learn at TN college of education. A1: My young brother is a 15 year old. You dont need an article here, it is not a noun and years, not year. Its plural. My brother learn at Song Cong town and I learn at TN college of education, wrong form of the verb the third singular person. A2: Okie. Learns not learn After correction: My young brother is 15 years old and I am 20 years old. He learns at Song Cong town and I learn at TN college of education. Extract 3 (topic 2, A1s composition) Before correction: I was born in a family of farmer. My parents are workers in a company and my brother is married and works for the post office. A2: I dont understand the next sentences. I was born in a family of farmer. My parents are workers in a company. Why? A1: Oh, so so sorry, I mean classes in society. But I cant express this idea. A2: Working class, you mean? Or you will not ? sentence. Are you clear? Now, next, any brother is married, was, not is and works for the post office. After correction: My parents are workers in a company and my brother is married and works for the post office. Extract 4 (topic 2, A2s composition) Before correction: Its verry wonderful. A1: Verry? Wrong spelling. Its Very. Can you find out the sentence? A2: Yes. Thats right. After correction: Its very wonderful! Through recordings, the writer also realizes that apart from getting knowledge to improve their writing skill, students are very interested in their discussions. They seem to feel confident and have responsibilities with their task. Analysis of data from the interviews The information from the interviewed reveals students thoughts, feelings and ideas toward this process. Although A1 has not tried peer correction before, she is convinced of this strategy after this study. She feels that she can realize her mistakes clearly and correct them. She is also able to avoid repeating on the next task. She wants to work in group of 3 or 4 to get more feedback from her peers. That means she admit the role of the peer feedback in developing her writing skill. Extract 6 (interview between the writer and A1) W: Will you use this strategy again? A1: Yes, of course. W: Can you give some suggestions to make the process better? A1: I like working in group of three or four. Thats all. W: Thank you very much! Unlike A1, A2 has used this strategy many times. Therefore she has a lot of experiences. Her ideas express her deep understanding of peer correction. She also likes it and she knows how it assists her in her writing process. However, she stresses the role of the teacher in the process of revising. Extract 7 (interview between the writer and A2) A2: I like it. But I still want teachers correct it finally. W: Why do you think so? A2: Because I myself sometimes find out my own mistakes. My partner can help me that. Moreover, when reading the text of my partner, I can learn something from it. However, there are some mistakes we cant correct we need teacher. ! Findings According to the data analysis from the two lessons, it can be personally concluded that the most important feature that makes my students to engage more in the lesson is the kind of assessment which forces them to learn although the meaningfulness of tasks also more or less affect the level of engagement the most meaningful tasks to my students are tasks that can help them to pass the tests at the end of the semester not tasks that give them reasons to communicate as I expected REFLECTIONS This study has given me a chance to know more about my students, about what goes wrong with them when they are not engaged in my reading class. In the study, I also have chance to access a number of researches of many experienced language educators and teachers, from which I obtain new knowledge of language teaching and learning in general and knowledge of meaningful tasks in teaching extensive reading in particular. During the research, I also learn more about the methods of doing research in a scientific way. Firstly, I learn to look at the situation of my English teaching and learning critically and make research questions with the hope of improving it. I also learn to arrange and organize my ideas and my work systematically to fit the timetable of the research procedure. But the most important thing is that I learn how to put my background knowledge into the knowledge repertoire of related previous studies to have a broader view of the situation and to make my research skills (such summarizing and synthesizing) useful by activating them creatively and critically. However, the research still has some drawbacks regarding the methods of data collection and analysis that I might change in my next research if I have more time. Firstly, instead of just doing the research on 2 lessons, I intend to do research from the beginning of the semester so that my students not only have chances to choose the texts themselves but also have chances to choose the topics they are interested in. Moreover, when I observe them in the whole semester, the effect of other aspects like the pressure of testing, the emotion of learners, etc. can be avoided and thus, the data I collect may become more reliable. Secondly, instead of interviewing my students after the research, I will interview them during the research, which may give me more chances to adjust my lessons to be more suitable and meaningful to them. CONCLUSION To sum up, the research has brought to me some important lessons of English teaching and learning in general and of working with my students in particular. Firstly, the research affirms for me that extensive reading activities are good activities that students want to do. It is not because in the activities, students have opportunities to choose the texts of their own interest and at their own level of proficiency but also because extensive reading activities give them another environment of reading in which they are not in pressure to read. Thus, they can comfortably improve their English fluency. It is also proved by the research that students are more engaged in the extensive reading activities when the tasks are more meaningful to them. More specifically, in my case that means the tasks that give my students a more meaningful reason to complete engage them more. However, it is also noted that the purpose of learning for mark (i.e. learning to prepare for final-term tests) should also be taken into considerations as a factor that affects the engagement of students. However, since the research is not totally as good as I expected, I would like to do further research on this topic on the following issues: How to balance the two kinds of reading (i.e. more communicative extensive reading and test-based intensive reading) to make reading activities more meaningful? How do the extensive reading activities look like if the students are allowed to choose the texts in groups? REFERENCES Brown, J.D. (1994). Research methods for Applied Linguistics: Scope, characteristics, and standards. In A. Davies C. Elder (Eds.), The handbook of applied linguistics (pp. 476-500). Oxford: Blackwell. Burt, M.K., Kisparsky, C. (1972). The gooficon: A repair manual for English. Rowley, Mass: Newbury House. Burt, M.K., Kisparsky, C. (1974). The gooficon: A repair manual for English. Rowley, Mass: Newbury House. Byrne, D. (1988). Teaching writing skills. Longman: London Creswell, A. (2000). Self-monitoring in student writing: developing learner responsibility. ELT Journal, 54(3). Frankenberg Garcia, A. (1999). Providing student writer with pretext feedback. ELT Journal, 53 (2). Gipps, C (1994). Beyond Testing: Towards a Theory of Educational Assessment. London: The Falmer Gabe, W. Kaplan, RB. (1996). Theory and practice of writing. The USA: Long Man. Keh, C. L. (1990). Feedback in writing process: A model and methods for implementation. EFT Journal, 44(4). Lannon, J.M. (1989). The Writing Process. A concise rhetoric. Southeastern Massachusetts University Press. Markino, T. Y. (1993). Leaner self-correction in ESL written composition. ELT Journal, 47(4). Mazdayasna, G. Tahririan, M.H. (2001,). Peer-review, Teacher Feedback and EFL learners Writing Development.   Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics (IJAL), 5(1), 55-67. Retrieved December 10, 2009 from SID database http://www.sid.ir/En/VEWSSID/ J_PDF/87620010104.pdf Min, H.T. (2006). The Effects of Trained Peer Review on EFL Students Revision and Writing Quality. Journal of Second Language Writing, 7(2), 113-131. Norish, J. (1983).  Language Learners and Theirs Errors. London : The Macmillan Press. Paige Way, D., Joiner, E., Seaman, M. (2000). Writing in the secondary foreign language classroom: the effects of prompts and tasks on novice learners of French. Modern Language Journal, 84(2). Paulus, T.M (1999). The effect of peer and teacher feedback on student writing. Journal of Second Language Writing 8(3), 265-289. Phan, T.K.C (2007). Peer written feedback in writing portfolios by third year students in the English department, CFL, VNU. Unpublished Graduation Thesis, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Pincas, A. (1962). Structured linguistics and systematic composition teaching to students of English as a Foreign Language. Language learning, 2(3), 184-185. Rechards J.C., Platt, J., Platt.H. (1992). Dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics. Malaysia: Longman Reid, J.M. (1993). Teaching ESL writing. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Shokrpour, N. Fallahzadeh, M.H. (2007, March). A survey of the students and interns EFL writing problems in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Asian EFL Journal, 9(1). Retrieved October 15, 2009 from http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/March_07_ns mf.php Spratt, M. and Leung, B. (2000). Peer teaching and peer learning revisited. ELT Journal, 54(3), 218-226. Spratt, M., Pulveness, A., Williams, M. (2005). The TKT Course: Teaching Knowledge Test. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tran, T.Q.T (2007). An investigation into the use of peer written feedback in the first-year writing classes at the ED, CFL, VNU, Hanoi. Unpublished Graduation Thesis, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Tsui, A.B.M. Ng, M. (2000). Do secondary L2 writers benefit from peer comments? en Journal of Second Language Writing, No.9 (2), pp.147-170 ), Henclrikson (1978), Ellis (1997),) Hefernick, Joyce (1997), Atay (2007) improve (Tsui Ng, 2000). to Herbert and Irene (1995), Tribble, C. (1996). Writing. Brazil: Oxford University Press. Ur, P. (1999). A course in language teaching: trainee book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Zamel, V.(1987). Writing: the process of discovering meaning. New York: Newbury House Publishers APPENDICES

Lost Lenore Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A raven is a dark and mysterious bird, and in this poem a raven visits a man with a message. Edgar Allan Poe’s â€Å"The Raven† is about a man who is having a mental breakdown because of the death of a dear friend. The narrator presents a frightening and sad setting, while throughout the poem, talking about his dear friend Lenore, who has passed away. Later, the mysterious figure of the Raven is introduced as he appears in the narrator’s chamber. Puzzled and terrified by the appearance of this dark vision, the narrator questions his guest in various ways to find out the meaning of his visit. No matter what the narrator asks, the Raven has only one eerie reply.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The narrator describes his frightening and sad surroundings, which reflect his state of mind caused by the death of his dear friend. The narrator opens his sad tale with â€Å"Once upon a midnight dreary† and later offers, â€Å"it was in the bleak December.† He describes his chamber as containing â€Å"many quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore† and his fireplace as â€Å"each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.† With such images as the old musty books and the dying fire, a mood is set that represents the lonely and frightened state of mind of the narrator. Later, he sees curtains moving without a window open, and hears someone tapping on his chamber door. We begin to see that the narrator is losing touch with reality because he is deeply depressed by of the ...

Racism in America and the Struggle for Equal Opportunity Essay

Racism has caused drastic damage over the years and continues to cause major problems in today’s society. Racism is discrimination or prejudice based on race or ethnicity. Racism manifests in many different ways including negative thoughts and racial slurs. Racism includes not only these morsels of spite, but also abusive behavior and severe discrimination. This severe discrimination affects people’s families, livelihood, and ability to succeed. Although racism has not been completely abolished, the United States has made some progress as a country to improve race relations. The U.S. is no longer having civil wars over slavery and more people of color are gaining access to high paying, more important, and powerful positions. While one may acknowledge that racism has improved immensely from Civil War times, they must also comprehend that there is much more work to be done in America to improve our relations amongst races so that the playing field is leveled for everybody. The ultimate goal is to have equal opportunity amongst all races and ethnicities. There is still institutional racism where it makes it difficult for people of color to advance. For example, people of color are underrepresented in the U.S. Congress, on Wall Street, and in leading large companies and organizations. To reach this ultimate goal of equal opportunity, people must be able recognize their own prejudices. Many individuals subconsciously have prejudices against others who are different from them in some way. Once people can acknowledge their own prejudices, only then can a society began to change people’s hearts and minds.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Being the Only Child Essay

What are the pros and cons of being the only child? There are some options in this subject. Some children feel well withouth siblings but others dream about a brother or a sister. One of the main advantages of being the only child is that your parents pay attention only to you. You are the most important person in their lives. Parents do everything for you. For example, if you want a new toy or some clothes they go to a shop and just buy it for you. Moreover, you have everything for yourself. You do not have to share the room, the computer and any other things. What is more you get more presents or more money. In addition to that, there is no person to quarrel with. You are alone and no one can take your things and do something wrong with them. No one disturbs you. You are a family ‘pet’ and you get all parential love. On the other hand there are also some disadvantages. First of all, the only children are very spoiled and selfish. They are used to thinking that they are the most important people so they must have everything only for themselves. When something is not going according to the way they planned it, they get angry. But it is not all. Being the only child means that parents put preassure on you. You have to still prove that you are the best. You have to het a A for every classroom test otherwise your parents will be disappointed with you. Last but not least, the only child may sometimes feel lonely. Other children can go out with siblings – for example to a disco, to friends or even to school. The only child must go solitary or with friends, although it is not the same. They have nobody who can borrow them some clothes or other things. To sum up, being the only child has many advantages but also a lot of disadvantages. Being such a child can be good, although in my opinion these people feel lonely and sad. Personally, I do not want to be the only child.

Gender Role in Afghanistan

Gender Role in Afghanistan Introduction Culture entails defined norms and values of a particular community and serves as the foundation of many issues that constitute the structure of society. Different studies have been conducted by scholars with aim of identifying more variables that are related to culture. Ethnographers learn other people’s cultures by accurate identification of knowledge, behavior and artifacts.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Gender Role in Afghanistan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The paper will discuss three aspects that are necessary in learning different cultures. Role of men and women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule will be well outlined in relation to Omidian’s ethnology. Omidian is an anthropologist who was hired to work in Afghanistan as a social worker and trainer. On the other hand, Spradley argues that anthropologists should not be community trainers but instead should learn from the people. Case Study The title ‘When Bamboo Bloom’ is symbolic as Taliban rule in Afghanistan oppressed the society as reported by Omidian who worked there from 1997 to 2007. Despite the oppression, citizens hoped that one day they would be liberated. 19th century was characterized by efforts to ensure gender equity, but were halted in 1994 when Taliban annexed Kabul. Women were not supposed to work away from home or wear white clothes. The Islamic law on Hijab ensured that women covered all parts of their bodies. Later there were increased cases of kidnaps, forced marriages that involved women. Women were supposed to be accompanied when leaving their houses and were not to interact freely with men. Health access was limited and poverty stroke households that lost their breadwinner who was supposed to be a man (Omidian 117). Notably, the role of women in Afghanistan is derived from the interpretation of Sharia in the Quran that forbids women from working away from home. According to Taliban, Sharia bans women from free interaction with men and are to be accompanied by male relatives any time they are not at home. Men were expected to work and provide for their women and children. The role of men rendered them prone to maltreatment in many ways. Many men were detained, tortured and killed in prisons under Taliban rule in Afghanistan (Omidian 120).Advertising Looking for essay on gender studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Men were ordered to wear beards of certain length and severely punished if they did not. Punishments like stoning and amputation were employed when torturing prisoners so as to get them to confess. The idea of Omidian was to empower citizens with knowledge that would help them overcome the cruelty of Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Culture knowledge For ethnographers to be able to understand culture and norms of a given community, they must first identify what the people kn ow. According to Spradley people can only share common culture if they share similar knowledge. For example, there is a scenario of people in a train who were engaged in a common behavior of reading. Reading was a behavior that was common to all people in the train. For behavior to be shared all people had to be aware of what was involved in reading. People knew how to act when reading jokes, tickets and schoolbooks. For example, there was a man who underlined important points when reading a lecture book. A man reading a newspaper knew how to flap pages so as to get more information. A lady reading a paperback knew how to move her eyes so as to read. The only reason why a man reading a newspaper would understand the message by the author is if he knew the language used (Spradley and Mccurdy 9). In the case study, both men and women knew what was expected of them by the Taliban rule. Whether they felt oppressed or not, they obeyed the instructions given because they were aware of pun ishments for non compliance. For example, women did not go to work outside home because they knew they would be punished if they did. Consequently, the women could not go to work because they knew it was wrong according to Taliban rule. Taliban rule was aware of the Islamic law in regard to modest dressing and ordered all women to cover their body parts (Omidian 121). Culture behavior Spradley further postulates that for ethnographers to be able to learn different cultures, they must identify what people do. Cultures do not dictate but rather influence behavior. Activities are not dependent on culture but are influenced by its interpretation. Absolute learning of culture behavior can only occur if interpretation is similar. Spradley gives an example of a scenario involving police, crowd and a woman who had a heart attack.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Gender Role in Afghanistan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Sin ce the police were aware of first aid that should be given to the condition, they started performing heart massage to the woman so as to save her life. However, a crowd nearby mistook the actions by policemen and thought they were killing the woman so they attacked them. The woman died before she was taken to the hospital. Notably, both the crowd and police had a common mission which failed due to misinterpretation of the activities (Spradley and Mccurdy 11). In the case study, Omidian argues that Taliban rule in Afghanistan is oppressive as both genders are maltreated. Ethnographers should be neutral but in the case of Omidian she sides with the society and is against Taliban rule. The situation is similar to that of the crowd that interpreted the activities of the police to be cruel to the woman. Cultural behavior in Afghanistan is manifested by what people do and how they react to activities by Taliban rule. For example, severe punishments like amputation of men who were seen as criminals were conducted publicly. Women and children cried and pleaded with Taliban officials because they were not happy with such actions. There are postulations that Omidian tries to liberate people of Afghanistan by ensuring that they are empowered and influenced by the western culture. According to other scholars all the efforts by humanitarian action and foreign policy have hidden agenda of replacing Afghanistan culture with western culture (Lassiter, 296). Culture artifacts Ethnography entails identifying what people use so as to be able to know and behave in a certain way. Spradley argues that for the ethnographers to be able to learn culture they must know what is involved in cognitive and behavioral development of the people involved (Kottak and Conrad 33). For example, a person reading a newspaper must be aware of grammar and style used so as to be able to understand the message. Further, police used oxygen mask and called on ambulance in attempt to save life of the woma n who had heart attack.Advertising Looking for essay on gender studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the case study, Taliban used Quran statements and Sharia to set and define behavior of the two genders. Stones and other tools used in punishing people who defied the set laws are culture artifacts. Painted windows that were used in the women apartments are also culture artifacts. Artifacts, knowledge and behavior are cultural aspects that are essential in the learning process of norms of a certain community. Further, culture can be defined by symbolism theory under three components in relation to explicit and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is commonly known by people with common culture while tacit refers to unknown aspects. The first component postulates that cultural behavior is influenced by the meaning attached to the activities involved. For example, the pain expressed by the prisoners who were being stoned or amputated in Afghanistan made women and children cry. The second component postulates that behavior is dependent on the social interaction. Omidian’s idea of empowering citizens of Afghanistan by encouraging them to overcome intimidation by Taliban rule was based on the interaction with men and women. Thirdly, cultural symbols provide ethnographers with hints that are supposed to be modified in different ways before actions (Erickson and Liam 21). Conclusion Culture is an integrated topic that involves intensive scrutiny of various issues for learning process to be effective. Ethnographers aim at learning from the community and not educating them. Empowering the Afghanistan citizens will be a way of changing their cultural perspective and not learning from them. Culture behavior is essential in learning process as ethnographers get to know what people do in different situations. Ethnographers go an extra mile by trying to understand the reason behind any behavior. Culture artifacts are also important as ethnographers learn what is used in acquiring knowledge and behavior. Culture knowledge is broader than both artifacts and behavior as it defines all aspects known to the people. Consequently, culture knowledge influences the behavior and things that will be involved in maintenance of cultural identity. Erickson, Paul, and Murphy Liam. A History of Anthropological Theory, Toronto: Broadview Press, 2008. Print. Kottak, Peter and Philip Conrad. Window on Humanity: A Concise Introduction to General Anthropology, New York: McGraw Hill press, 2005. Print. Lassiter, Luke. â€Å"Toward a Collaborative and Reciprocal Ethnography.† Journal of Anthropological Research 5.2 (2001): 137-149. Print. Omidian, Patricia. When Bamboo Bloom, An anthropologist in Talibans Afghanistan, Sydney: Academy of Sciences publishers, 2011. Print. Spradley, James, and David Mccurdy. Conformity and Conflict: Readings In Cultural Anthropology, New York: Pearson Education press, 2009. Print.

Heres How Crabs Find Food

Here's How Crabs Find Food Crabs may be a favorite food for some people, but they need to eat too. They often live in dark or muddy areas, where it can be difficult to find prey by eyesight. So how do crabs find food, and how do they eat? And, interestingly, what types of food do they like to eat? How Crabs Find Food Like many other marine animals, crabs rely on their sense of smell to find prey. Crabs have chemoreceptors that allow them to detect chemicals in the water that are released by their prey. These chemoreceptors are located on a crabs antennae. These are long, segmented appendages near the crabs eyes that have both chemoreceptors and allow them to feel its surroundings. Crabs also have antennules, shorter antenna-like appendages near the antennas that allow them to sense their environment. A crab can taste using hairs on its mouthparts, pincers and even its feet. Senses of Taste and Smell Crabs have pretty well-developed senses of taste and smell. Fishing for crabs, or crabbing, using pots and cages relies on these senses, and makes it possible to catch crabs. The pots are baited with a variety of smelly things, depending on the target crab species. Bait can include chicken necks, pieces of fish such as eel, menhaden, squid, herring and mackerel. As the bait hangs in the trap in a bag or in a bait jar, odorous chemicals waft out into the ocean, attracting hungry crabs. Depending on water flow, these conditions can affect their senses to detect prey. What and How Crabs Eat Crabs arent picky eaters. They will eat everything from dead and living fish to barnacles, plants,  snails, shrimp, worms and even other crabs. They use their claws to grab food particles and put the food into their mouths. This is similar to the way humans eat using their hands or utensils. Crabs also use their claws to manipulate or break up the food so they can place it into their mouths more easily in smaller bites. When crabs have to break through shells of other sea life, their strong claws come in especially handy while their other appendages help them quickly move to catch various types of prey. Different Crabs, Different Diets Different crabs like to eat different types of sea life and plants.  Dungeness crabs, for example, may snack on squid and worms, while king crabs like to nosh on clams, mussels, worms and sea urchins. Basically, king crabs hunt for prey on the ocean floor and often eat decaying animal matter as well as live sea life. Sources and Further Reading â€Å"Frequently Asked Questions.†Ã‚  Blue Crab.â€Å"Encyclopedia of Tidepools and Rocky Shores.† Edited by Mark W. Denny and Steve Gaines, University of California Press, 2017.â€Å"Dungeness Crab.  Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom..Blue Crab Anatomy web.vims.edu.

Using the Spanish Noun Vez

Using the Spanish Noun Vez Vez (plural veces) is one of the most commonly used nouns of Spanish and can usually be precisely translated as occurrence, although in practice it is usually translated as time. Here are some examples of everyday usage: Mil veces te quiero, Alejandro. I love you a thousand times, Alejandro.Llegamos cuatro veces a la final. We made it four times to the final.Ser la à ºltima vez que me veas. It will be the last time you see me. Una vez is usually translated as once, although obviously it could also be translated literally as one time, and dos veces can be translated as twice or two times: Se toma una vez por dà ­a en un nivel de dosis decidido por el mà ©dico. It is taken once per day at a dosage level decided by the doctor. ¿Te has enamorado dos veces de la misma persona? Have you fallen in love with the same person twice?Sà ³lo se vive dos veces es la quinta entrega de la saga James Bond. You Only Live Twice is the fifth installment in the James Bond series. Veces can be used in making comparisons such as the following: Es una pila que dura hasta cuatro veces ms. Its a battery that lasts up to four times longer.La envidia es mil veces ms terrible que el hambre. Jealousy is a thousand times worse than hunger. Uses of Vez and Veces Vez and veces can be used in a variety of phrases. The following examples show some of the most common, although these arent the only translations possible: Alguna vez voy a ser libre. Sometime I am going to be free.El gato de Schrà ¶dinger sigue estando vivo y muerto a la vez pero en ramas diferentes del universo. Schrà ¶dingers cat was alive and dead at the same time but in different sections of the universe.A mi vez, no puedo comprender el tipo que dice que la casa es tarea de la mujer. For my part, I cant understand the type who says housework is a womans job. (Also used are phrases such as a tu vez, for your part, and a su vez, for his/her part.)Cada vez que te veo me gustas ms. Every time I see you I like you more.La actriz tolera cada vez menos la intrusià ³n en su vida. The actress is tolerating the intrusion in her life less and less.De vez en cuando es necesario perder la razà ³n. Once in a while it is necessary to be wrong.Estoy fantaseando en vez de estudiar. I am daydreaming instead of studying.A veces sueà ±o que ests conmigo. Sometimes I dream that you are with me.Los baratos muchas veces salen caros. Cheap things oft en sell for a high price.  ¿Por quà © el mar algunas veces se ve verde y otras veces azul? Why does the sea sometimes look green and other times blue?Habà ­a una vez una gata vivà ­a en una casita blanca. Once upon a time a cat lived in a little white house.Una vez ms Einstein tiene razà ³n. Once again, Einstein is right.La red otra vez fuera de là ­nea. The network went offline again.La felicidad se encuentra rara vez donde se busca. Happiness is rarely found where it is looked for.

American courts and the criminal justice system Essay

American courts and the criminal justice system - Essay Example This killed his victim on the spot. The unsworn statement however contradicted his earlier statement to the police that indicated that he had fired blindly while escaping1. Whichever the case though, William Furman would have been found guilty of killing (murder). This was due to the fact that the shooting took place during the commission of a felony. The suspect was tried for murder and found guilty largely on the basis of his statement. After a one day trial, Furman was found guilty uf murdering William Micke and was sentenced to death on 20th September 1968. (Roensch 2007) The Furman v. Georgia raised an important question of law on whether the imposition and carrying out capital punishment in that particular case and two others constituted cruel and unusual punishment. If this was the case then the ruling on death penalty violated the Eighth an Fourteenth Amendments. In a five to four decision the court decided that the death penalty ruling did constitute to cruel and unusual punishment and thus violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment. The justices articulated their views on over two hundred pages of concurrences and dissents. The issue of race came up with concurrences on the arbitrary nature on death penalty passed on black defendants. The other two cases consolidated together with the Furman v. Georgia were Jackson v. ... He was thus convicted of both rape and robbery and sentenced to death. During the trial, a psychiatrist refuted claims that Jackson was schizophrenic. He therefore declared Jackson competent to stand trial. Branch v. Texas Branch was also an African American male in Texas convicted of rape on an elderly woman. Though the trial determined that Branch was of below average IQ (lowest fourth percentile in his class to be precise), he was sentenced to death. Furman v. Georgia Trial Concurrences The Furman v. Georgia and the other two consolidated case were presided by the United States Supreme Courts Justices named below The Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Powell Mr. Justice White Mr. Justice Blackman Mr. Justice Marshall Mr. Justice Stewart Mr. Justice Brennan Mr. Justice Douglas Mr. Justice Powell Mr. Justice Rehnquist The concurring justices were Justice Douglas, Justice Brennan, Justice Stewart, Justice White, and Justice Marshall. This section will provide an articulation of the concurring judges and their respective arguments. It is important to note that the Furman v. Georgia case turned out to be a landmark case and revolutionary in some ways. It impacted or changed American Criminal Law in the following ways. The Branch v. Texas and Jackson v. Georgia case invalidated the death penalty on rape. This was a monumental ruling that had impact on thousands of cases throughout the United States since then up to this date. The decision ruled the requirement of for a degree of consistency in the application of the death sentence. The question of the imposition and carrying out of the death penalty on numerous cases throughout the United States arose. This was due to the fact that carrying out the death sentence on those and similar cases constituted to cruel

Financial analysis of Autonomy Corporation Essay

Financial analysis of Autonomy Corporation - Essay Example The present study would focus on the Autonomy Corporation is a global enterprise that has dual corporate headquarters in Cambridge, United Kingdom and San Francisco, USA. The company has a presence in four continents: North America, South America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The firm has more than 400 major clients including Oracle, IBM, HP, and Novell which are users and supporters of the firm’s technological products. This paper will analyze the financial standing of the company based on the use of financial and ratio analysis. In fiscal year 2010 Autonomy Corporation generated $870.36 million in sales (Morningstar, 2010). The sales total of the company increased by 17.66% in comparison with the previous fiscal year. The average selling price of the company was $790,000 which is a stable metric in this industry. The firm achieved a net profit of $296.21 million in 2010. The profitability of the company in 2010 is outstanding due to the fact the net margin of the company was 34 %. The net margin of the company was very impressive considering the fact that the industry net margin in the software industry is a very low 1.7%. The net margin is a financial ratio that measures the absolute profitability of the business. The net margin of Autonomy Corporation in 2010 was 32.3% higher than the industry average. The gross margin of the company was an outstanding 87%. The gross margin is a broad measure of profitability. The stockholders of the company benefited from the great earnings of the company. The earnings per share of the firm in 2010 was $1.11. Earnings per share tend to have an effect on the market price per share, as reflected in the price earnings ratio (Garrison & Noreen, 2011). The common stocks of Autonomy Corporation are traded in the London Stock Exchange. The firm’s website claims that the stock symbol of the firm is AU.L. Upon further research at various financial websites it appears that Autonomy Corporation’s stock are being trad ed in the London Stock Exchange under the symbol 5053.L; the current stock price of Autonomy Corporation is $2,549 per share (Yahoo, 2011). The revenue per employee of the company in 2010 was $463,000 which is 5% better than in 2009. During 2010 one of the highest expense accounts of the company was its research and development expense. The company spent $114.75 million in R&D. During the last five years the company has more than double its R&D expenses. This is a good sign because investing in research and development allows companies to develop new products and technologies. Patents are born out of the efforts of the R&D team. Two additional financial ratios are the return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). Return on assets measures how well assets have been employed by management, while return on equity when compared to return on assets measures the extent to which financial leverage is working for or against common stockholders (Garrison, et. al, 2003). The return on as sets of Autonomy Corporation in 2010 was 9.02%. The ROA of the company is better than the industry average of 6.9% (Dun & Bradstreet, 2011). The return on equity of Autonomy Corporation in 2010 was 14.33%. The ROE of the firm is 6.17% below the norm in the software industry. The current ratio measures a company’s ability to pay off its short term debt. The current ratio

Blooms Taxonomy Within a Planning Pyramid Coursework

Blooms Taxonomy Within a Planning Pyramid - Coursework Example The affective domain includes sis categories, namely receiving phenomena, responding to phenomena, valuing, organization, and internalizing values. Finally, the psychomotor domain contains seven categories, namely perception, set, guided response, mechanism, complex overt response, adaptation, and origination (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2007). Each of the three domains of learning contains verbs that trainers find to be significant in setting goals, which learners must achieve by the end of a lesson. Some goals in the Unit Planning Form contain verbs from Bloom’s Taxonomy. Among the goals in the planning form is to compare and contrast weathering and erosion after the learning process. Compare and contrast are the two verbs from Bloom’s Taxonomy. These verbs belong to analysis and evaluation, which are among the categories of the cognitive domain. In the original cognitive domain, analysis and evaluation are the equivalents of creating and evaluating respectively in the new cognitive domain. Students should distinguish between inferences and facts as well as make judgments regarding the values of materials or ideas. Compare and contrast also belong to organization, which is a category of the affective domain. Students should organize values into various statuses by contrasting the values, solving conflicts between the values, and creating unique value systems. Organization emphasizes relating, comparing, as well as synthesizing values. Therefore, compare and contra st the only verbs in the Unit Planning Form (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2007). Teachers choose significant instructional adaptations in order to facilitate the participation of students in an educational curriculum. Instructional grouping, progress monitoring, and content presentation relate to some of adaptation in the planning form. Such adaptations include audiotape of chapters, concept maps, cooperative learning groups, and study friends to prepare for questions

Brain Imaging Technologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Brain Imaging Technologies - Essay Example The variety of energies and specialties like radiology, medical physics, nuclear pharmacy, etc has led to hospitals and university research centers being called diagnostic imaging or radiology or the science of radiology. No name yet worked out is wholly satisfactory in the countenance of the vivid changes which have occurred, mainly in the last three or four decades. (Kuhn, 2004) The power of contemporary computers to allow the speedy display of sectional images of the body by means of technologies such as ultrasound, computed tomography scan, single-photon emission topography, positron emission topography or magnetic resonance imaging has been cardinal to the upbringing of the latest technologies. Nevertheless, an equally great change has been that encompassing the move of medical imaging from the laboratory to the living room. Many Decades ago what was then radiological science poked a restricted series of diagnostic information to a referring medical doctor apprehensive to resolve diagnostic ambiguity between the diseases potentially able to report for a patient's indicators. In the beginning of the this century, imaging technology is used not only to spot the abrasion, and to do so more effectively, but to direct the needle used in its biopsy; not only to recognize a blocked vessel but to guide its dilatation as well. FMRI AND PET Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging is based on the boost in blood flow to the local vasculature that comes along neural activity in the brain. This result in a consequent local drop in deoxyhemoglobin because the augmentation in blood flow occurs without an amplification of similar magnitude in oxygen extraction. Thus, deoxyhemoglobin is every now and then is known as a contrast enhancing agent, and serves as the source of the signal for fMRI. Functional activity of the brain obtained from the magnetic resonance pointer has verified known anatomically dissimilar processing regions in the visual cortex, the motor cortex, and Broca's area of speech and language-related activities. Further, speedily rising bodies of research document communicate to findings between fMRI and usual electro-physiological methods to localize explicit functions of the human brain (Romanelli, 2004). Consequently, the number of medical and research centers with fMRI capabilities and investigational programs continues to shoot up. The major returns to fMRI as a technique to image brain activity related to a particular objective or sensory process says the the signal does not need doses of radioactive isotopes, the total scan time needed can be very less, i.e., on the order of 1.5 to 2.0 minutes per run (depending on the paradigm), and the in-plane resolution of the functional image is generally about 1.5 x 1.5 mm although resolutions less than 1 mm are likely. To put these pros in standpoint, functional images obtained by the earlier method of positron emission tomography, require doses of radioactive isotopes, multiple acquisitions, and therefore, longer imaging times. Additionally, the anticipated resolution of positron emission tomography images is much larger than the common functional magnetic resonance imaging pixel size. In addition, positron emission tomography usually requires that numerous individual brain images are joined in order to obtain a dependable

Why Literatura by Mario Vargas Summury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Why Literatura by Mario Vargas Summury - Essay Example In a recent survey organized in Spain, it was revealed that half of that country's population has never read a book.2 Llosa argues that literature is more than just a luxury pastime, but that instead literature is a primary and necessary undertaking of the mind.3 In addition, he basically says that literature is the mode through which humans learn to understand each other. By reading such literary greats as Shakespeare, Cervantes, Dante, and Tolstoy, our lives are enriched because we find that there is an equanimity in such works that transcend prejudice, race, religion, political sectarianism, and exclusivist nationalism.4 Secondly, Llosa says that the works brought forth in literature are a body of knowledge in the life of the learner. "In today's world, this totalizing and living knowledge of a human being may be found only in literature."5 This is knowledge to which everyone can relate. Fiction exists in order to serve a greater purpose besides the other branches of the humanities, such as philosophy, history, the arts, or the social sciences, and that is to "enrich through the imagination the entirety of human life, which cannot be dismembered, disarticulated, or reduced to a series of schemas or formulas without disappearing."6 Literature, Llosa says, is a "link" that establishes dialogue amongst human beings. Llosa notes that Marcel Proust observed that "real life, at last enlightened and revealed, the only life fully lived, is literature."7 What is meant by that is that literature is a shared task, and that because of it our lives are enriched. This enrichment brings us to different realms, tra nsporting us to various eras. Texts allow us to have dreams of our own. As Llosa says, "The feeling of membership in the collective human experience across time and space is the highest achievement of culture, and nothing contributes more to its renewal in every generation than literature."8 A body of literary works form the basis for our humanity. According to Llosa, a community without language suffers: "A community without a written literature expresses itself with less precision, with less richness of nuance, and with less clarity than a community whose principal instrument of communication, the word, has been cultivated and perfected by means of literary texts."9 A world with a lack of literacy assumes communication problems due to "crude and rudimentary language," and worse, there is the idea that the person will not be able to express himself or herself due to a limited vocabulary.10 Worse than that, there is the thought that these people without the language to communicate or the literature to help them do so are at a loss, and therefore are stuck with poverty of thought,11 or a poor imagination. Third, Llosa argues that reading literature is an irreplaceable activity for the formation of citizens in a modern and democratic society. Since "all good literature is radical, and poses radical questions about the world in which we live,"12 one would be hard-pressed not to agree with Llosa on this point. Llosa reminds us that a "free and democratic society must have responsible and critical citizens conscious of the need continuously to examine the world that

The Annuciation in Gothic and Early Renaissance Art Essay

The Annuciation in Gothic and Early Renaissance Art - Essay Example Overall, the painters act as the societal mirror with emphasis in interpretation of complex issues. Vyssi Brod Cycle was a painting done by Master/Cycle of Vyssi Brod and is dated 1350. The 14th century was manifested with the urge to represent the Annunciation by several painters as observed in the above art showing an angel communicating to Virgin Mary. Master/Cycle of Vyssi Brod, an artist of German descent, use tempera on wood panel to smoothen the linen coating of his painting now located in the National Gallery in Prague (Janson & Janson 123). This painting is called Annunciation with St. Margaret and St. Ansanus and was done by two artists namely Lippo Memmi and Simone Martini. These were Italian Gothic artists fascinated with the Annunciation concept prompting them to complete the painting in 1333. On the other hand, they used gold on panel and Tempera to exquisitely paint the Cathedral of Siena as dedication to the patron saints of the city such as St. Ansanus and St. Victor. Therefore, because of its brilliant nature, the painting is presently located in Florence, Italy and mostly displayed at Uffizi Gallery. It means the Annunciation of this painting is determined by the entry of Archangel Gabriel into the house of Virgin Mary to bear the message of the son to be born called Jesus. In terms of Annunciation, the two artists easily compare to original biblical text found in Luke 1:26-38. For example, Annunciation with St. Margaret and St. Ansanus by Lippo Memmi and Simone Martini actually depict the moment Archangel Gabriel has descended from heaven to impart the good message of a son to be born. This is complimented by extras that include the background setting where Mary is seated in a holy place flanked by companions carrying crosses. Alternatively, the props that include the flower in Gabriel’s hand enable the two artists to elaborate the story because it is a representation of a gift (Janson & Janson 128). Additionally, the two

Why Literatura by Mario Vargas Summury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Why Literatura by Mario Vargas Summury - Essay Example In a recent survey organized in Spain, it was revealed that half of that country's population has never read a book.2 Llosa argues that literature is more than just a luxury pastime, but that instead literature is a primary and necessary undertaking of the mind.3 In addition, he basically says that literature is the mode through which humans learn to understand each other. By reading such literary greats as Shakespeare, Cervantes, Dante, and Tolstoy, our lives are enriched because we find that there is an equanimity in such works that transcend prejudice, race, religion, political sectarianism, and exclusivist nationalism.4 Secondly, Llosa says that the works brought forth in literature are a body of knowledge in the life of the learner. "In today's world, this totalizing and living knowledge of a human being may be found only in literature."5 This is knowledge to which everyone can relate. Fiction exists in order to serve a greater purpose besides the other branches of the humanities, such as philosophy, history, the arts, or the social sciences, and that is to "enrich through the imagination the entirety of human life, which cannot be dismembered, disarticulated, or reduced to a series of schemas or formulas without disappearing."6 Literature, Llosa says, is a "link" that establishes dialogue amongst human beings. Llosa notes that Marcel Proust observed that "real life, at last enlightened and revealed, the only life fully lived, is literature."7 What is meant by that is that literature is a shared task, and that because of it our lives are enriched. This enrichment brings us to different realms, tra nsporting us to various eras. Texts allow us to have dreams of our own. As Llosa says, "The feeling of membership in the collective human experience across time and space is the highest achievement of culture, and nothing contributes more to its renewal in every generation than literature."8 A body of literary works form the basis for our humanity. According to Llosa, a community without language suffers: "A community without a written literature expresses itself with less precision, with less richness of nuance, and with less clarity than a community whose principal instrument of communication, the word, has been cultivated and perfected by means of literary texts."9 A world with a lack of literacy assumes communication problems due to "crude and rudimentary language," and worse, there is the idea that the person will not be able to express himself or herself due to a limited vocabulary.10 Worse than that, there is the thought that these people without the language to communicate or the literature to help them do so are at a loss, and therefore are stuck with poverty of thought,11 or a poor imagination. Third, Llosa argues that reading literature is an irreplaceable activity for the formation of citizens in a modern and democratic society. Since "all good literature is radical, and poses radical questions about the world in which we live,"12 one would be hard-pressed not to agree with Llosa on this point. Llosa reminds us that a "free and democratic society must have responsible and critical citizens conscious of the need continuously to examine the world that

Taxation Issues Essay Example for Free

Taxation Issues Essay The individual income tax consists of taxes on compensation income (from employment), business income, and passive income (interests, dividends, royalties, and prizes). In 1998 compensation income tax rates were restructured into 6 bands with marginal rates ranging from 5% to 35%. Exemption levels are 20,000 pesos (about $400) for individual, and 32,000 pesos (about $640) for married couples. In 2000, the business income tax rate was lowered from 33% to 32%. The tax rate on passive income is 30%. For resident foreign corporations, after-tax profits remitted abroad are subject to a 15% tax, except for corporations registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), the Board of Investment (BOI), the Bases Conversion Development Authority, or operating in independent special economic zones (ecozones), all of which are eligible for special tax and customs incentives, exemptions and reductions designed to attract foreign, new, necessary and/or export-oriented foreign investmen t. The Omnibus Investment Code of 1987 lays out tax incentives administered by the BOI of the Department of Taxation and Development, and the annual Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) sets out the investment areas, national and regional, to which these incentives currently pertain. In 2002 the national list included export activities, industrial development and mining, agricultural/fishery production and processing, logistics, drugs and medicine, engineered products, environmental projects, IT services, Infrastructure, mass housing projects, R and D activities, social service, tourism, patriotic and documentary motion pictures and new projects with a minimum cost of $2 million. Special economic zones (SEZs) can be designated as export processing, free trade and/or information technology (IT) parks, each designation providing a schedule of tax holidays, exemptions from import duties on capital goods and raw material, and preferential income tax rates with more favorable treatment accorded pioneer industries over non pioneer or expanding companies. Taxes on transactions include a value-added tax (VAT) of 10%. For smaller businesses not registered with the VAT a percentage sales tax of 3% to 5% is applied, although higher for activities involving issues of public morality: cockpits are taxed 18%, caberets, 18% and jai-lai and racetracks, 30%. Excise taxes are imposed on selected commodities such as alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, jewelry and petroleum products. In addition, the government levies a variety of other taxes, including mining and petroleum taxes, residence taxes, a head tax on immigrants above a certain age and staying beyond a certain period, document stamp taxes, donor (gift) taxes, estate taxes, and capital gains taxes. A document stamp tax is charged on stock certificates, proofs of indebtedness, proofs of ownership, etc, and normally amount to .75% to 1% of the par or face value of the certificate. A progressive schedule of donor taxes begins with gifts above P 100,000 (about $18,500), and lays out seven bands (2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%, 12%, and 15%) with the top marginal rate applying to gifts above P 10,000,000 (about $186,520). The progressive estate tax begins at P 200,000 (about $37,000) and lays out five bands (5%, 8%, 11%, 15% and 20%) up to P 10,000,000 (about $186,520). The capital gains tax is 6% on real property; 5% on gains of P 100,000 or less from the sale of stock not listed on the stock exchange, and 10% on gains over P 100,000. Some cities, such as Manila, levy their own wholesale and retail sales taxes. Government revenues in 2001 amounted to 14.8% of GDP, short of total expenditures and net lending for the year, which came to 19.1% of GDP, leaving a deficit of over 4% of GDP. The US State Department reports that the main factor underlying the deficit is inadequate revenue collections due to widespread tax evasion. Attempts by the Bureau of Internal Revenue to increase compliance have met with strong resistance. HMRC issues tax warning A warning has been sent to all consumers who are required to send in a tax return for 2009-10. In a message, HM Revenue Customs (HMRC) noted that the deadline for paper tax returns, which was October 31st, has now passed. Therefore, in order to avoid a penalty of  £100, all those yet to complete theirs must do so online. The organization pointed out that anyone who has not done this before will have to register for online filing by visiting its website. When they go through this process, they will be given a user ID and an activation code, which will be posted to them within seven working days. Once they have received this information, they will be able to file their returns. Meanwhile, in a word of advice to those who have used the system before , it added: Make sure that you have your user ID and password it can take seven working days to get replacements, so dont leave it to the last minute if you need them. The deadline for online self-assessments is Monday January 31st. Meanwhile, those who are unsure how to go about the process can get help and information on the HMRC website. Of course, there is also help for those who need to use an income tax calculator or another type of tax calculator. Such people can find these resources in various places on the web. In order to ensure they get their returns right, an income tax calculator or other form of tax calculator can be very helpful. Consumers are also advised to ensure that they save up enough money to pay the tax when the time comes, otherwise they may find themselves in financial difficulty. Students issued tax warning The vast majority of people who earn money are keen to ensure they do not pay too much income tax. For this reason, some use an income tax calculator or PAYE calculator to help them assess whether or not they have. Students may be among those who can benefit most from such activity, research conducted by one organization suggests. According to the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG), around six million people are likely to now be receiving tax calculations having not paid the right tax under Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and students are particularly at risk of this. The reason for this, the organization claimed, is that such people can find that the system struggles to keep up with their working patterns. For example, undergraduates may be working in several jobs at once, frequently moving between roles, doing irregular work with agencies or be involved in a sandwich course during which they work for a year. Students are advised to keep on top of their income deductions, which may involve using an income tax calculator or PAYE calculator. Not only may mistakes mean they overpay, but they may also result in such people paying too little. In such cases, they could be hit with an unexpected bill at a later date. With this in mind, LITGR issued advice to students. For example, it stated: If you start a new job without a P45, but your former employer later gives you one you can still give it to your new employer for them to adjust your tax code. But otherwise, you might need to keep an eye on your pay slips and contact HMRC to chase up processing of your P46 to make sure you get put back on a cumulative code if it doesnt appear to be done automatically. Earlier this year, HM Revenue Customs revealed that a number of people had either under paid or overpaid tax and it sent out correspondence to inform these individuals of the errors. An insight into Joint Ventures and Tax issues If you have had the chance to interact with a London accountant online and have discussed the kind of potential that different enterprises have when they are in the start-up stage, he/she would inevitably point to a joint venture as one that allows for the best capitalization on research development tax credits as well as the best way to reap in profits while running the least amount of risk. Partnership accounting too, according to most chartered tax accountants, is easier to monitor and account for, rather than solo enterprises or massive corporate public entity firms. However, this particular category of entrepreneurship is on the decline – which is more courtesy of lack of knowledge and joint venture tax issues, than failure of the whole model in the business arena. So what exactly is a joint venture as far as tax issues and accounting for partnerships is concerned? Well, for starters, it is not very different from a solo investment enterprise. The only fact here is that the firm or venture has two or more people as investors, each of whom have a share in the revenue as well as profits and losses that the venture accrues during its runtime. The usual joint venture tax issues that most investors encounter is with the Tax ID numbers from IRS as well as legal agreements. While the legal agreement can double up as the word on which the investors decided to distribute and share their revenues from the venture, it is also required during partnership accounting measures as well as for varied detailed statistics and formalities for clinical accounting for partnerships and firms. The taxes from employee salaries are called withholding taxes, and the taxes levied on Medicare and security is also to be deducted from the firms employees. Often, a conflict of interest arrives, when a person is both an employee as well as a fellow investor in the joint venture – tax issues need to be sorted out for these situations too. This is exactly why joint ventures tax issues allied with the same is considered more complex for partnership accounting rather than for solo enterprises. Moreover, accounting for partnerships often need professional and veteran chartered tax accountants for the job – exactly where professional London accountants come into the picture. While ad-hoc accounting for partnerships almost always is recipe for disaster, professional accounting can maximize both your profits as well as your research and development tax credits. So if you are an investor and your fellow entrepreneurs are not willing to hire a professional London accountant for the sake of savings and cost-cutting measures. For the kind of money you will save with the help of a professional chartered tax accountant on accounting for partnerships, you will have enough capital to start another joint venture sans tax issues as well!

Law Essays Capital Punishment

Law Essays Capital Punishment Does capital punishment have a deterrent effect on crime? Analyse this question with reference to either the UK or USA. Introduction Nowadays, in most of the Western world, capital punishment is considered an unacceptable, barbaric sentence that cannot be morally or philosophically justified. In the UK, it has been abolished since 1969, while Protocol six of the European Convention on Human Rights obliged the forty six member states of the Council of Europe to scribe off the death sentence from their penal codes. However, a number of US states retain the sentence with few politicians and theorists claiming that it has a strong deterrent effect. The purpose of this essay is to critically reflect upon this argument. Is capital punishment a worthwhile deterrent? The punishment theory of deterrence – which belongs to the utilitarian philosophy – is composed of two elements. The first is called specific/individual deterrence and is directed towards convicted offenders. In broad terms it aims to discourage them for their transgressions and thereby convincing them that crime does not pay. The second is called general deterrence and is directed towards potential offenders. It seeks to persuade them by the threat of anticipated punishment from engaging in unlawful conduct by illustrating the unsavoury consequences of offending. Therefore, by definition, capital punishment cannot fulfil the first element of deterrence since after its passing, the convicted offender dies. As for the second element of passing a lesson to the rest of the society, the views are mixed; although there is evidence to suggest that the impact of capital sentence is not as great as it would justify it. For example, according to Katz et al, the so far studies on capital punishment produce erratic and contradictory results, while most of them find that there is no deterrent effect. In fact, Shepherd’s 2004 study showed that executions are as likely to increase homicides in states following execution as there are states where there seems to be a reduction. In addition, a number of research experts have heavily criticised the so far positive studies on capital punishment for being methodologically unviable. For instance, Maltz recent evaluation showed that most of US studies ignored large amounts of missing data, relying only on two sources: the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.   Even more importantly, studies that directly examine the reactions of individuals to punishment threats constituently show the limits of the assumptions of rationality that underlie deterrence. In fact, according to the Annual Statistical Report of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, most offenders who are convicted to a capital sentence have cognitive impairments. This makes it even more unlikely that they are actually aware of executions. On the other hand, states without capital punishment such as New York enjoy declining homicide rates. The Uniform Crime Reports showed that over the last decade there was a 65.5% decrease in homicide rates. Similarly, Dugan et al showed that since the early 1970s intimate or domestic homicides have been declining at a steady pace regardless of fluctuations in the number of executions. Finally, according to the forthcoming study by Professor Berk, nearly all of the presumed deterrent effects of capital punishment are confined in one state – Texas – and only for a handful of years when there were more than 5 executions. Overall, the study proved that eliminating Texas eliminates any hint of deterrence from the relationship between execution and crime. Moving beyond the statistics However, it is not just the negative statistics that make capital punishment increasingly unfamiliar. Carter showed that offenders who are convicted to capital punishment usually come from poor backgrounds introducing an element of class discrimination in the sentencing system. Similarly, Keil and Vito’s study reported that blacks who kill whites seem to have the greater odds of receiving the death penalty than whites who kill blacks†. To conclude, the last two year research data show that capital punishment has hardly any deterrence effect, while a number of other side issues such as discrimination and selectivity reinforce the argument against its use. Berk, Richard. 2005 forthcoming. New Claims about executions and General Deterrence: D ej a vu all over again? Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. Carter, Robert. 1965. The Johny Cain Story: A Composite of Men Executed in California. Issues in Criminology 1:66. Dugan, Laura, Daniel Nagin, and Richard Rosenfeld. 1999. Explaining the Decline in Intimate Partner Homicide: The effects of Changing Domesticity, Womens Status and Domestic Violence Resources. Homicide Studies 3:187. Katz, Lawrence, Steven Levitt, and Ellen Shustorovich. 2003. Prison Conditions, Capital Punishment and Deterrence. American Law and Economics Review 5:318. Keil, Thomas and Gennaro Vito. 1989. Race, Homicide Severity and the Application of the Death Penalty. Criminology 27:511. Maltz, Michael. 2004. The Effect of NIBRS Reporting on Item Missing Data in Murder Cases. Homicide Studies 8:193. Parisi, Francisco and Vermon Smith. 2005. Introduction in the Law and Economics of Irrational Behaviour: In press. Shepherd, Joanna. 2004. Deterrence versus Brutalization: Capital Punishments Differering Impacts Among States. Working Paper, Emory University Law School.

Comparing Act One Scene One and Act Two Scene One of Educating Rita :: Educating Rita Social Classes Essays

Comparing Act One Scene One and Act Two Scene One of Educating Rita In willy Russell's play "educating Rita" the first scenes of each acts are very different from each other. In act two scene one there is almost a complete reverse in characters attitude, status and behaviour from the first scene of act one. This is because in act one, Rita really admires Frank and wishes she could be just like him because of his vast knowledge. However in act two Frank admires the change in Rita but at the same time he is also upset because he has lost the Rita he used to know and he thinks that Rita no longer needs him because she knows 'what wine to buy and what clothes to wear' but Rita doesn't realise that there's more to education than just this! ACT ONE FRANK From the first scene of act one the first character we begin to learn about is Frank. Frank is middle aged, uses standard English and is well spoken. He appears to be a stereotypical middle class academic but he has hidden qualities. Frank likes to drink; "Yes I suppose I did take it on to pay for the drink." He constantly refers to the drink and drinks throughout the play which suggests that Frank is an alcoholic. He drinks to help him step delicately through the pressures of his life- Not only is he teaching a course he doesn't want to teach, He's got a girlfriend who is constantly getting him. As well as drinking, Frank also smokes which makes him quite a weak character because in scene one, Rita offers him a cigarette and he has one even though he has supposed to have given up; "I made a promise not to smoke." Throughout the play Frank's frustration is shown by his sarcastic humour ; "I like my lamb done to the point of abuse... You could incinerate ratatouille and it still wouldn't burn!" Like this, Frank's attitude towards most things is negative ;" I'm actually an appalling teacher." Like the alcohol, Franks negativity is brought on by his life. Frank gets no enjoyment from teaching, he'd much rather be with his friends at his local pub. But besides Frank's negativity, Frank doesn't patronise Rita ;" What would you like to know... Everything? That's rather a lot... where would you like to start?" He listens and empathises. ACT ONE RITA In the first act, Rita comes across as a stereotypical working class Liverpudlian woman! She is twenty six, working class, speaks with a scouse dialect and lives in a council house with her husband Denny.

The University of Michigan Fab Five Essay -- College Basketball Sports

There seems to be a fine line, a three-point line, between pushing the envelope and pushing a revolution. In 1991, five freshmen from the University of Michigan brashly stepped over that line redefining the world of college basketball as we knew it and in the process, revolutionized the relationship between style and sport. These men were "fresh" in more ways than one, causing an entire nation to dub them fabulous. They brought a hip and a hop to a game that was previously flat. Anyone following college basketball loved or hated to love the "Fab Five," evincing that either way five things were on people's minds or television screens. Whether you were a kid begging your mom to take you to a sporting goods store, like I was, to "get those black Nike socks" for your next game, or an adult watching through squinting eyes as five pairs of extra large shorts and swagger loomed over your favorite team's home court, you were full of awe. Chris Webber, Jimmy King, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, and Ray Johnson manifested a transformation of style through oversized attitude and clothing. Since then, it seems to me that whoever got a chance to know these guys from the stands or sofa has been aching for a taste of that envelope that they pushed back in the early nineties. Every kid whose favorite show was Saved by the Bell and whoever seriously competed in basketball wants to be the one who pulls his shorts down past his hips when his mom told him to pull up before his game and play so well that he receives no verbal assault on the way back to the car. I'm left wondering what these five guys were really about, and why they decided to revolutionize the attitude of the game they played. After all, they seemed to plan the revolution on a whimÂâ€"or... ...r's infamous timeout. Like a Shakespearean tragedy the Fab Five's climax came at the end and same forces that caused them to rise caused them to fall. Once upon a line, these five freshmen were just thatÂâ€"five players that displayed their unique unified attitudes through alley oops and baggy shorts. These five were the first to acknowledge the worth of transferring another aspect of that street game onto the polished college court. Arguably, this transplant of dress and style was only possible because of their superior play, and like some transplants, was susceptible to the normal disease of media attention and hype characteristic of any organized sport. Ultimately, only their cleverly alliterated nickname remains on the line they crossed all those years ago. Freshman-status, long shorts, black socks, cocky attitude. What did it matter? They were the "Fab Five."

Projects and Project Management Essay

Organizational leaders are facing complex challenges through a rapid rate of change in both the technology and government which has then created pressure in new and existing organizations. As a result, the traditional structure for managing is giving way to a new form of management (Kerzner, 2003). This form is project management. How can this be? Projects have been around since the building of the pyramids (Dobson, 2003). In 2650 B.C., the step pyramid was built by Imhotep for the pharaoh Zoser in Egypt. The building of Stonehenge occurred about 150 years later. In another 2,500 years, the Mayans began building pyramids throughout Central America. These were the very first projects in history. The builders of these structures used simple tools and did not have paper or software programs (Lewis, 1995). The beginning of project management as a discipline began in the 1950Â’s and 1960Â’s in the United States but was not generally accepted until today. The purpose of this initial lecture is to help you in: 1.Recognizing projects. 2.Developing an understanding of project management. 3.Recognizing the project management process. This lecture will support these objectives by providing you with definitions, examples and descriptions of projects and project management. Additionally, the lecture will conclude with a brief description of the project management process. ProjectsIn business today, there are many types of projects with endless possibilities. A project can be:Developing a new product or service. Implementing a new business process. Developing a marketing plan. Completing an assignment. According to Lewis (1995:2) a project is: “a one-time job that has definite starting and ending points, clearly defined objectives, scope and (usually) a budget.” The key words in this definition are underlined to aid you in differentiating between a project and a repetitive process or operation such as order processing or production. Operations and projects share characteristics. They are both:Performed by people. Constrained by limited resources. Planned, executed and controlled (PMI, 2000:4-5). However, a project can be differentiating from an operation by its distinctive characteristics. As the Project Management Institute (2000: 4-5) explains: “a project is a temporary endeavor to create a unique product or service.” In this definition, temporary refers to the definite beginning and end while unique refer to the difference of the project from others. For seemingly repetitive actives like building houses from the same blueprint that are always unique features and problems. For example, the climate may vary or there could be special restrictions for zoning. Another view of a project is provided by (Kerzner, 2000:2) as a series of tasks that:Have a specified objective to be completed within certain specifications. Have a defined start and finish. Consume human and nonhuman resources (such as money, time, expertise, equipment). Are multifunctional (they cut across functional lines such as marketing, design, development, production and so forth). Project ReviewA project is a one-time job. This is:Temporary. Unique. With a clear start & finish. Consuming resources (human and nonhuman)Budgeted, if appropriate. Multifunctional (cuts across different functions). A quality expert, Dr. J.M. Juran, defines a project as a problem scheduled for solution. From this perspective, a project is conducted to solve a problem for an organization. The problem(s) are solved by project work teams and the project manager (Lewis, 1995). Project ManagementThe best way to learn about project management is to understand what it is not. Project Management is not software and it is not just scheduling (Lewis, 1995). Project management has two aspects (Heerkins, 2002: 6):The art Ââ€" leading people on a project. The science Ââ€" defining and coordinating the work to be done. According to Lewis (1995:4-5), project management is the: “planning, scheduling, controlling of project activates to achieve performance, cost, and time objectives for a given scope of work using resources efficiently and effectively.” As a project manager you will always manage competing demands for people, money and time to meet specified project goals and requirements. Sound tough? It can be. It can also be challenging and help you to develop your management skills. There are both ProÂ’s and ConÂ’s of being a project manager (Heerkins, 2002: 3). ProÂ’sIt can be a steeping stone to promotion. It provides a strong sense of accomplishment. ThereÂ’s variety: no two days are alike. ThereÂ’s significant freedom of choice. It affords the opportunity to effect change across the organization. ConÂ’sIt requires significant tolerance for politics. It requires significant tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty. ThereÂ’s a lot of responsibility, but little or no affordability. You may feel “disconnected” from your technical discipline and prior work experiences. You may be perceived as not having a “real job.”The advantages and disadvantages of project management as outlined by Kerzner ( 2003:3) are:Potential BenefitsIdentification of functional responsibilities to ensure all activities is accounted for in the project. Measurement of accomplishment against tasks. Improved capability for future planning. Identification of:oTime limits. oMethodologyPotential BarriersProject complexity. Special requirements and changes per customer. Organizational restructuring. Project risks. Changes in technology. Project management calls for the creation of a small organizational structure Ââ€" the project team. This team is often multifunctional and is representative of the larger organization (Heerkins, 2000). For example, the project team may consist of a data analyst from research, a customer service representative, a person from finance and so forth. Also, as the learning team is your partners in learning, the project team will be your partners throughout the project management process. This process involves:Defining the goal of a project. Determining the results you expect from your project. Working within a budget. Setting-up a schedule. Selecting your teams and establishing roles. Making sure tools and technology are in place. Monitoring on-going process. Maintaining team morale. Dealing with problems that may arise. Keeping stakeholders (such as customers, clients, and executives) informed of your progress. Brining the project to a conclusion. Accessing what went right and what went wrong (Mintzer, 2002:5-8). It is important to note that these activities within this process are iterative in nature because there will be progressive elaboration on each activity throughout the life cycle of the project. As the Project Management  Institute describes, “project management is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements (2000:6).” In summary, project management is an emerging profession that is both art and science which follows processes to bring about the successful completion of a project. Project Management ReviewProject Management depends on a project team that is:Cross-functional and diverse in experience and expertise. Representative of the larger organization. Motivated to bring the project to a conclusion. Project Management is:An art and a science. The planning, scheduling and controlling project activities. The measurement of accomplishment against goals and requirements. An emerging profession with the goal to bring projects to completion on time and within the budget. SummaryThis lecture has covered both projects and project management. It will give you a basis for understanding the complexities, challenges and opportunities of the project management process. This lecture was developed to help you in: 1) recognizing projects, 2) developing an understanding of project management 3) and recognizing the project management process. References Dobson, M.S. (2003). Streetwise Project Management, How to Manage People. Processes and Time to Achieve the Results You Need. Avon, MA.: Adams Media Corporation. Heerkens, G.R. (2002). Project Management, a Briefcase Book. New York: McGraw-Hill. Kerzner, H. (2003). Project Management, A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. 8th Ed. New York: Wiley. Lewis, J.P. (1995). Project Planning, Scheduling, and Control, A Hands-On Guide to Bringing Projects in on Time and on Budget, Chicago: Irwin Professional Publishing. Project Management Institute (2000). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, PPMBOK Guide. An American National Standard, ANSI/PMI 99-001-2000. Newton Square, PA.: PMI. Mintzer, R. (2002).The Everything Project Management Book, Tackle any Project with Confidence and Get it Done on Time. Avon, MA.: Adams Media Corporation.