Wednesday, October 30, 2019

That which is accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded Essay - 3

That which is accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded tomorrow. Consider knowledge issues raised by this statement in two areas of knowledge - Essay Example Clearly, from all indications, society is dynamic. Cultures change and people change in different timeframes. Thus, it is apparent that as time changes, what is regarded as true in one era might not be taken as accurate or correct in another generation. Culture refers to the way a group of people live and carry out their activities. Schabracq identifies that cultural change and knowledge have a symbiotic relationship2. This is because as knowledge increases in a given community or society, the way they do things and the way they perceive things also changes. This is because the worldview of a given people is based on their understanding of the world at every point in time. And this defines their values, norms and morals at every given point in time. This indicates that culture knowledge is bound to also change as the culture changes. This is because in a situation where a nations culture changes, what they define as â€Å"truth† will also change. This implies that the views and ideas of people are tied to the dominant culture and the dominant views of doing things. In the Western world today, people who were defined as deviant and illegals for their indulgence in same-sex affairs 50 years were humiliated and demeaned in the society. This is because the society had the belief that same sex activities were evil and defined as wrong by the dominant rules of the society. Many people were forced to seek treatments and others were discriminated against. However, due to changes in what these people call the â€Å"truth† or â€Å"knowledge†, the Western world has increasingly taken an acceptive approach to same sex partnerships. This shows that there is a trend towards changes and modification in a given society and this changes the definition of knowledge from time to time. The advances in knowledge and understanding of concepts and ideas puts an obligation on the authorities in a given sector to discard previous knowledge and take

Monday, October 28, 2019

The Due Process and Offender Supervision Models Essay Example for Free

The Due Process and Offender Supervision Models Essay The criminal justice system has been described on various models for dealing with offenders. According to Herbert Packer’s â€Å"Two Models of the Criminal Process† in 1964, he described the criminal justice process in the US as a result of the struggle between the two models or value systems. These two are the crime control model and the due process model. These two differs in their approach in dealing with offenders. The crime control model was described like that of the â€Å"assembly-line conveyor belt† since it aims to resolve the case and bring punishment to the offender as efficiently as possible. This model operates on the idea or â€Å"the presumption of guilt† that suggests that if the offender has been charged and arrested then they are really guilty of the crime and deserves punishments. The due process model also aims to convict the guilty but at the same time protect their rights and prevent innocent people from injustices, police abuses and inequality. This method might work in favor of the offender but not with the victims of crimes. It tends to slow down the process and may hinder the truth. This model has been described as the â€Å"obstacle course† for an efficient justice system. A new model also came out which seek to improve the current criminal justice system. These two new models include the punitive and non-punitive model. Punitive model is said to combine the crime control and due process model. This model asserts the retaliatory importance of punishment for the offender together with the need of the victims and the accused. The non-punitive model on the other hand have given emphasis on the attempt to minimize the pain of both victimization and punishment by promoting crime prevention and restorative justice this according to Kent Roach’s Four Models Of The Criminal Process. The criminal justice models have continued to improve its system as the crime offenders haven’t decrease from the years that passed. The rights of the victims and the offender have been both considered. The models serves as guide for law enforcers to minimize victimization at the same time provide efficient justice system. Community Corrections models The community corrections take many forms and types and each was tried and tested to identify which among is the best method to help rehabilitate crime offenders. What is the role of community corrections? This community correction pertains to pretrial diversion and intermediate sanctions given to felons or misdemeanants. It also refers to non incarcerative, yet supervised way of dealing with offenders. Community corrections takes the form of probation and parole, day reporting centers, house arrest, electronic monitoring, half way houses and many others. Among these probation and parole are the commonly utilized forms of community corrections. Community corrections operate on basic principles and philosophies. One of these is reintegration or residential stability which pertains to the need of the offender to be place in a home or community environment. The provision of professional services like medical or psychological assistance is also important. The offenders need to undergo rehabilitation. There must also be accountability between the offender and the supervisor to monitor and evaluate the progress. There is also economic efficiency which emphasizes the need of the offenders to find and hold a job to help them return in the society. These activities are based on the philosophy of restorative justice, the idea that offenders need to have a complete life change to be able to rejoin in the community once again. Community corrections has helped to lessen the overcrowding of jails, keep the cost of criminal justice down and provide as a final stage of the criminal justice process as mentioned in the Megalinks In Criminal Justice. In offender supervision there are also models or approaches being followed or adapted to be able for the officers to handle the offenders under their supervision and guidance especially in probation and parole. The Casework Supervision Model of 1900 to 1970 is a model concern with diagnosis and treatment. It is where that the officers saw themselves as â€Å"caseworkers†. The Brokerage Supervision Model of 1970 to 1980 identified that the officers are not adequately skilled to deliver specialized services. A Community Resource Management Team therefore is needed to provide services for employment training, drug and alcohol abuse treatment, family counseling and many other kinds of services. The next one is the Justice Model of Supervision of 1980-1995. It concerns with risk management and control, it also emphasized surveillance to effect compliance with court orders. Another model is the Broken Windows Model which gives emphasis on partnership with police and treatment providers, transparency and program evaluation of effectiveness according to Wes Krause’s Community Corrections. The Models and their Effectiveness in Dealing with Offenders Both the criminal justice system and community correction system have various models or approaches to consider. These models have been adjusted and modified to meet the changing needs of times and to improve its system. The crime control model and due process model are considered not enough to give justice to victims adequately that is why the punitive and non-punitive models are being adapted in the criminal justice system. The latest models of punitive and non-punitive models seek to remedy the problems that arise from previous models of criminal justice system. In punitive model for example the justice system combines the crime model and due process model to adequately meet the needs of both the offender and the crime victims. In the non punitive models some agree that punishment is not the solution in solving crime but can be solve through the use of crime prevention and restorative justice and other alternatives to incarceration. In the field of offender supervision, the Casework Model is traditionally and extensively used it is where that the officer becomes the primary agent of treatment and moral recovery. Later models seem to revitalize the existing approach making it more visible in the public and increase the success rate for probationers and parolees. The Promise of the Current Practices The current trends in the criminal justice system will definitely affect the future system. The future of law enforcement depends on which model will dominate the system in the future. If the Crime Control Model will dominate it is expected that the police will have fewer limitations to combat crime while if the Due Process Model dominates it is expected that pretrial detention will not be use to often and people are entitled to remain free until they are proven guilty. Also the Restorative Justice will be another alternative for the punitive justice currently used in the US. Reintegrative Shaming a form of restorative justice can also be adapted on the future law enforcement. Technology will greatly affect the current and future trends of criminal justice system. There will be increase in the use of interactive televisions, DNA profiling and DNA database. Electronic surveillance will create greater chance for monitoring of the offenders. In terms of community corrections, it faced issue on whether to devote more on punishment or rehabilitation. Intermediate sanction programs face a lot of problems like lack of funding and the inability to be as intensive as possible. The caseloads of officers continue to increase in number while the government continues to look for alternatives to incarceration. The community corrections had identified which method worked and doesn’t work out effectively in dealing with offenders. Work Cited Krause, Wes. â€Å"Chapter 6 the History of Supervision Philosophy and Practice†. Community Corrections. 19 November 2008. http://criminaljustice. csusb. edu/Krause/CJ431/CJ431Chapter6. pdf O’ Connor, T. â€Å"Community Corrections†. 2 July 2006. Megalinks in Criminal Justice. 19 November 2008. http://www. apsu. edu/ Roach, Kent. â€Å"Four Models of the Criminal Process†. 1999. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology: Northwestern University School of Law. 21 November 2008 http://findarticels. com â€Å"Chapter 14 Understanding and Predicting the Future of Criminal Justice†. 19 November 2008 http://www. unt. edu/cjus/Course_Pages/CJUS_2100/2100chapter14. ppt.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Protecting Yourself Online :: essays research papers

Protecting Yourself Online In this paper we will discuss some basic steps to better secure your system. We will discuss the following four (4) areas: v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Email v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Internet v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chat Programs v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Virus Protection 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Email:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Do not open any email attachment that you receive from anyone without checking first - not even from your closest friends.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If someone has to send you a doc file ask them to convert it into *.rtf or *.txt format and then send.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If you must open any doc extension files, you can first use one of those doc file readers available free on the net.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alternatively, you could convert the extension of the file (doc) to text (txt) and then open it with your text editor and see what the file is all about.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If you do decide to open it as a doc file in MS Word ensure that the macro security setting is set to HIGH  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In your email client turn off the 'receiving HTML mails' option. 2. Internet v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Set Explorer to show file extensions. For this go to Windows Explorer/ My Computers > Tools > Folder Options > View (tab) > and uncheck the ‘Hide File Extension For Known File Type’ box. This will help you to avoid clicking on hoaxes. v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Do not give out your information on the net. While surfing the web you will see that there are sites that will ask for your personal information. Do not give information about yourself and hide out information about yourself as long as you can. v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Disable JAVA and Active X. To do this under MS IE, move your default-browsing zone to High security in Tools-Internet Options. This switches off 90% of MSIE exploits. You don't have to enter the sites that don't let you enter without Java and Active X enabled. Know how to read cookies and take a close look at them. Use software like cookie crusher and every time you log online crush all your previously received cookies. If you use IE then make sure that you run Windows Update at least once a week. v  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Use personal firewall software. Zone Alarm (ZA) is a good one but others are available and new ones are coming up everyday. Use at least one Intrusion Detection System; Visual Zone is a good one that is compatible with ZA. 3. Chat Programs Ø  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Beware when using chat programs like IRC, ICQ, Yahoo, etc. When using these programs, your IP address is exposed leaving room for the other person to scan your computer looking for ways to break in.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Sad Exam Paper

COLLEGE of SCIENCE and ENGINEERING Department of Computer Science and Information Systems End-of-Semester Assessment Paper Academic Year: Module Title: Duration of Exam: Lecturer(s): 2008/2009 Systems Analysis 2. 5 Hours J. J. Collins Semester: Module Code: Percent of Total Marks: Paper marked out of : Spring CS4125 60 100 Instructions to Candidates: †¢ Answer Q1, and any TWO other questions. Q1 Answer ALL parts. Total marks awarded for this question: 40. a) b) Distinguish analysis from design. 4 marks. What are the benefits and liabilities derived by subscribing to a development philosophy based on up-front design? marks. c) d) List the activities that take place in system design. 4 marks. What are the characteristics of the Extreme Programming (XP) approach to software development? 4 marks. What are the benefits of an open and closed architecture? 4 marks. f) What problem is addressed by Gamma et al. ’s Behavioural state pattern? Illustrate this pattern through the use of a class diagram. 4 marks. g) h) Illustrate initialisation in the MVC architecture using a sequence diagram. 4 marks. List the support features typically offered by a DBMS? 4 marks. e) Page 1 of 5 i)Draw a class diagram that illustrates that a copy can be a copy of a book or DVD, but not both. 4 marks. Briefly critique The UML. 4 marks. j) Q2 Answer ALL parts. Total marks awarded for this question: 30. a) b) What are the characteristics of good software? 5 marks. Describe the unique features of the Object-Oriented paradigm, and illustrate polymorphism with pseudocode or coding fragments. 5 marks. Distinguish multiple classification from generalisation, and illustrate with a diagram. 5 marks. How are contracts supported in software engineering, and illustrate with a diagram.You should briefly discuss support for enforcement of contracts. 5 marks. Draw a diagram to illustrate the principle of â€Å"programming to interfaces, not implementation†. What benefits are derived by a dhering to this principle? 5 marks. f) What is meant by behavioural subtyping? Illustrate the answer with a class diagram. 5 marks. c) d) e) Q3 Answer ALL parts. Total marks awarded for this question: 30. a) What are non-functional requirements, and provide a categorisation for these requirements. 5 marks. Critique use cases as the means of capturing requirements. 5 marks. ) What technique is used by Data Driven Design (DDD) to identify key domain abstractions? Name an alternative approach to DDD. 5 marks. d) The following is a restatement of requirements that must be supported in the first iteration. Books and Journals: The library contains books and journals. It may have several copies of a given book. Some of the books are for short term loans only. All other books may be borrowed by any library member for three weeks. Members of the library can normally borrow up to six items at a time, but members of staff may borrow up to 12 items at one time.Only members of staff may borrow j ournals. b) Page 2 of 5 Borrowing: the system must keep track of when books and journals are borrowed and returned, enforcing the rules described above. Identify the candidate classes in the following informal use case description, and give the reasons for the elimination of poor candidates using a clearly specified set of heuristics. Then briefly sketch a class diagram. 5 marks. e) Draw a UML diagram that reflects the following code fragment. Class Order †¦ Public OrderLine getLineItem(Product aProduct); Public void addLineItem(Number amount, Product forProduct); †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 marks. ) What is the purpose of adding a control class to the communication fragment used to support a collaboration which realises a use case? 5 marks. Figure 1. State chart for a Campaign object (adapted from Agate case study in Bennett, McRobb, and Farmer. Object-Oriented Systems Analysis and Design, Third Edition. McGraw-Hill. 2006). Page 3 of 5 Q4 Answer ALL parts. Tot al marks awarded for this question: 30. a) Describe the algorithmic and non-algorithmic techniques used to document a specification for an operation. 6 marks. Modify the state chart in figure 1 when instructed that: 1.A campaign object can be both Monitoring and Running when in the state active. 2. When Monitoring, it can be in substates survey or evaluation, with survey being the default. 3. When the event surveyComplete() fires, a transition from survey to evaluation takes place. 4. When the event runSurvey() fires, a transition from evaluation to survey takes place. 5. When running, it can be in substates advert preparation, scheduling or running adverts, with advert preparation being the default. 6. A transition from advert preparation to scheduling occurs with invocation of he reflexive operation authorise() when the event advertApproved() fires. 7. A transition from scheduling to running adverts occurs when the event confirmSchedule() fires. 8. A transition from running advert s to advert preparation occurs with invocation of the reflexive operation modifyBudget() when the event extendCampaign() fires. 9. A transition from Active to Suspended occurs with invocation of the reflexive operation stopAdverts() when the event suspendCampaign() fires. 10. A transition from Suspended to Active occurs when the event resumeCampaign() fires. 1. Must support shallow histories for the concurrent submachines Running and Monitoring. 6 marks. Draw an activity diagram that captures the following workflow for a conference organiser: †¢ The conference organiser receives an itinerary. †¢ He/She then sends this to an invited speaker. †¢ The invited speaker either confirms the itinerary or fails to respond within 48 hours. †¢ If no response has been received, the conference organiser cancels the itinerary. †¢ Otherwise, the conference organiser books the itinerary. 6 marks.Describe two types of coupling and three types of cohesion as described by Coad and Yourdon (1991), that apply at the class level. 6 marks. e) What problem is addressed by Gamma et al. ’s Composite structural pattern? Illustrate this pattern through the use of a class diagram. 6 marks. b) c) d) Page 4 of 5 Q5 Answer ALL parts. Total marks awarded for this question: 30. a) Draw a sequence diagram to illustrate the workflows and phases in the Rational Unified Process (RUP). 3 marks. List three principles that underpin the RUP. 3 marks. ) Briefly discuss transparency versus safety with respect to the Composite design pattern. 6 marks. d) Describe Smalltalk’s Model View Control (MVC) architecture, and illustrate your answer through the use of a class diagram. 4 marks. e) Draw a sequence diagram to illustrate initialisation of the MVC architectural pattern. 4 marks. f) Describe the Broker architecture with proxies, and illustrate your answer through the use of a sequence diagram. 4 marks. g) Why should software engineers strive to specify pre and post conditions with Object Constraint Language (OCL). 6 marks. b) Page 5 of 5

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

The Decline in the Ecological Quality of the woodland, Heathland and Wetland Areas in the New Forest

The New Forest, a landscape enjoyed by many as a wonderful break from the bustle of city life, An abundance of species rich habitats, a place of solitude, as open space to be valued and conserved for both present and future generations. To many the New forest may seem an unchanging mosaic of forest, heath and wetland interlocked with small rural settlements whose traditional character seem almost timeless. However beneath this uniquely picturesque landscape lies an environment which is both complex and forever changing, a landscape which through history, has been heavily influenced by man and his activities. The precise role of man and the influence he is having upon the natural environment often creates a complex set of management issues. These issues embody not only concerns for the environment but often have economic implications for the wider community. The New Forest is a good example of this; it has many conflicting uses and hence requires management. Figure two displays this range of habitats. Habitat Area/ha Heathland/Acid Grassland 11740 Valley Mires and Wet Heaths 238 Unenclosed Deciduous Woodland 4049 Statutory Silvicultural Enclosures 8100 Unenclosable (open to exercise of common rights) 19028 Fig2: The proportions of different habitats It is the largest area of unsown vegetation in lowland Britain. Each habitat is affected differently by different uses, which in the past may have caused a decline in their ecological quality, it is both these uses and the management strategies associated with them that will be the focus of this article. History of Landuse and Management The forest became appointed to the crown as Royal Forest nine hundred years ago, it was used as a reservation for deer and domestic stock. This grazing and browsing limited the regeneration of trees and shrubs. It is currently under the management of the Forestry Commission as detailed in the Forestry and New Forest acts. The Forestry Commission is responsible for the ancient and ornamental woodlands and their timber enclosures this is refered to as the ‘Crown Land'. They are required to give priority to conservation of the forests traditional character. They practice forestry in the Silvicultural Enclosures and have a responsibility for managing the unenclosed forest. The New Forest Heritage area will be referred to as the ‘New Forest'. The common land within the perambulation will be referred to as the ‘Open Forest'. Privately owned and fenced lands will be refered to as ‘Enclosed lands'. Fig 1:Dockens area Fig 3: The New Forest Heritage Area Ten Verderers became responsible for management of communal animals depastured in open forest. They regulated the right of the common promoting the improvement of grazing for the commoners. However these days there are strict guidelines which commoners must adhere to, to try to ensure the retention and sometimes improvement of the landscape quality. In July 1994 the government recognised the New Forest as a unique area giving it similar protection as a national park. It also possesses other designations, it is a SSSI although this offers protection from development it offers little in the way of conservation. In 1996 the New Forest Committee published a management plan entitled ‘A strategy for the New Forest' its individual aims and strategies will be assessed throughout this article. The Committee represents the principal central and local government organisations in the forest who include Countryside Commission English Nature Forestry Commission Hampshire County Council New Forest District Council Verderers of the New Forest Salisbury District Council Test Valley Borough Council Wiltshire County Council (as Observers) Country Landowners' Association National Farmers' Union (as Observers) The development of a management strategy like The New Forest Strategy is important as it recognises the interests of all groups concerned, although the participation of so many organisations that often have conflicting interests may often make management difficult. Today most of the New Forest exists as a pastoral economy based on the exercise of common rights and grazing. The community of farmers made up of between three to four hundred commoners depend upon this for their livelihoods hence the combination of this and conservation makes management more difficult. It is thought that grazing has had a greater effect on vegetation than peat cutting and deforestation, indeed it is thought the landscape has evolved to its present state through the effects of grazing. In each area ecological quality is affected differently by a variety of different uses, so it will be necessary to assess the decline of each one in turn. Woodland Although there are both Silvicultural enclosures and ancient unenclosed deciduous woodland it is the later that possess the most nature conservation value. The silvicultural enclosures though contain approximately 40% of Oak and Beech some containing unmodified former pasture woodland. Because these enclosures have been less grazed than the unenclosed woodland contain many rare plants including bastard balm and the lungwort. These enclosures also contain large populations of predatory birds such as Buzzards and sparrow hawks. Fig 4: Native trees during flood Oak and Beech dominate the unenclosed deciduous woodland, Oaks being more dominant on heavier soils varying in proportion. Under this canopy Holly dominates along with maple and hawthorn. Older oaks contain the richest woodland lichen flora in Lowland Europe while insectivorous birds colonise decaying timber. This area is open to the exercise of common rights and has been for many years, indeed this habitat is Semi-natural, and exists as a Plagioclimax. There has been much research to determine whether this grazing of domestic stock has caused an ecological decline in these forests The animals can be very selective hence the less edible plants may become the most dominant. As a result much research has been undertaken to assess the effects of grazing on woodland. This is in many ways an attempt to determine the level of grazing necessary to prevent further damage to the environment and slow down any ecological decline associated with it. During 1960 Dr George Peterken established ‘The age structure of the enclosed woodlands was related to fluctuations of large herbivores since at least the eighteenth century'. He also found that the most recent periods of regeneration of woodland were 1860-1910 and 1930-1945. The first of these followed the killing of most of the deer population after the order of the deer conservation act in 1851, while the second was due to a slow market and a corresponding reduction in stocks. This had a dramatic effect on the landscape and remains proof of the limiting effect of grazing both on woodland quality and area, as it followed the generation of new trees in adjacent areas. However nowadays commoning has been more intensive and there have been too many invertebrates to allow such natural regeneration. Clearly Herbivores influence species composition and age structure of woods so much so that in the New Forest today elm lime and hazel no longer make up the canopy of the majority of woodland. Research by Prof. Barber of Southampton Univ. has highlighted these reductions in diversity. His pollen diagrams show that elm and lime die out suddenly. He attributes this to them being felled and failing to regenerate. He has also documented a decline in hazel and its disappearance recently. Documentary evidence from 16th and 17th centuries shows hazel to be common. All of this evidence shows a slow increase in browse resistant holly, a decline in ecological quality, which can only be attributed to selective grazing. In comparing this to private forest of similar edaphic quality that has mainly been coppiced we find hazel still abundant along with a rich herb layer. This is in comparison to the sparse herb layer of the grazed area, which comprises of around a poor thirty species. The ungrazed area also contains many lichens and deadwood invertebrates, hence a wide variety and species richness. Management of Woodland The New Forest Committee in their Strategy for the New Forest recognises that ‘Grazing in open forest by sheep and cattle has a strong influence on the age regeneration and species type of the vegetation' They also recognise that the numbers and proportions of ponies to cattle have a significant effect on the ecology of the forest. It refers to ‘The Lingworth Report' on grazing. It suggests that pony and cattle premium schemes and marking fees should be used as a mechanism for influencing numbers turned out. Recent research however has shown that social and cultural factors play a greater role in decision making. The report recognises that commoning is poor source of income for commoners and that restrictions on landuse and stock numbers may have profound effects on their livelihoods and the local economy. The Forestry commissions policy is ‘to conserve woodland as an essential component of the traditional character of the forest'. Part of the ‘New Forest review' recommends that ‘The maximum feasible area of native area of broardleaved component should be grown on the longest feasible rotations, and the possibility of restoring some conifer plantations to broardleave should be investigated'. Such recommendations are encouraging for conservation however the actual implementation may be more difficult to put into practice, while the affects of any recent measures are too early to assess. Unfortunately it is difficult for the Forestry Commission to assess the extent of deterioration or have any control over development in the privately owned forests. This is identified in the ‘Strategy for the New Forest', it recognises ‘Changes in the design and siting of new planting, changes in management practices and species composition and loss of hedgerows all have important implications for the forest as a whole' Indeed comparison of the area today to that recorded in the New Forest by English Nature during 1994 shows a reduction in quality of the landscape. It identified 94 sites supporting ancient woodland amounting to 2330ha in privately owned areas. The Report identifies that 37% of ancient woodland from these areas has now been replanted with conifers. Heathlands These are the result of mans activities particularly burning over the last three thousand years and are hence regarded as Semi-natural. Heathlands similar to woodlands have been grazed throughout history. Some heaths were part of the commoning system these are outside the Crown lands and have been enclosed since the 19th Century. Some heath is unenclosed on higher ground. The fringes of the forest in the west have extensive heaths. The heaths inside the perambulation have become degraded through recreational use and gravel extraction, this has contributed to much fragmentation and a reduction in this habitat. Scrub encroachment has become a particular problem and has led to a reduction in bio-diversity through competition. Grazing by Ponies is believed to have led to the rapid decline in populations of Dwarf Gorse an important component of the heathland. The evidence is indicating that grassland is expanding while heathland contracts and this is leading to a decline in the ecological quality of the forest. It is thought and shown by observation that this is apparent where there is intensive grazing and trampling. In 1973 Dr Colin Tubbs showed that areas of heath that had been burnt failed to regenerate due to the grazing pressure. Heathlands support birds like the Dartford Warbler, which in the New Forest has been put under threat by grazing. In 1974 Colin Bibby conducted a national survey of Dartford Warbler populations he concluded that burning and heavy grazing had reduced the birds habitat namely the heathlands, and had hence he attributed a decline in populations of Dartford Warbler to this decline in habitat. It is thought by entomologists that insects particularly butterflies were more frequently sited during the 1930's. However this is difficult to place certainty on as much of the data is unreliable. They have found that species such as High Brown, Dark Green, Pearl Bordered and many other rare species, which were abundant, are now confined to local areas. During the 1930's there was less grazing, both this and the higher diversity and this can be said is proof of this ecological decline. Colin Tubbs has expressed concern over buzzard populations who rely on heathlands as their habitat. Competition with large vertebrates is causing them to decline through limiting the number of small ground vertebrates such as rabbits by over grazing. This is the underlying Hypothesis surrounding much of Colin Tubbs work in this area. He established in 1973 that there was a large fall in buzzard production with only one out of six pairs known to rear young since then the number of successful pairs has stayed below the levels during the 1960's. This followed a large fall in the number of small rodents counted in southern England during 1970. It is difficult to place much reliability on this data. The grazing by ponies continues to be intensive and remain so unless the Forestry Commission takes action. Actions such as the erecting of fences are of little use, as Ponies seem to have a remarkable ability to leap over fences. The Forestry Commission has had to dedicate time to the removal of Ponies and this can often be very costly. Management Of Heathlands The Heathlands are managed by the Forestry Commission, during 1986 the New Forest Review group recommended that some conifer or open woods should be returned to open heathland to reduce there decline, purely in the interests of conservation. The Forestry Commission has already started this holistic approach away from the economic needs of forestry to those of conservation. Many of the proposals outlined in the ‘Strategy for the New Forest' aims to: ‘work with landowners to conserve and extend heathland reinstating traditional management where possible' RA3.73b.8. This will be possibly hard to implement, as the economic needs of commoners may be difficult to overcome in the pursuit of conservation. This may only be possible through the adoption of joint marketing of Forest animals and produce to offset the financial implications of this proposal. This is outlined in section 4.1.6 of the report. The Forestry Commission is responsible for the management of the majority of these areas and there is a tendency for their economic implications to override those of conservation. Management also aims to: ‘Raise awareness of the ecological importance of heathland and encourage local support for its conservation' [RA3.7c]. This is important as raising awareness of the public can lead to involvement through voluntary organisations which can lead to a reduction in expenditure by government and an increase in the amount of positive management for conservation. Although this is hard to implement as it often involves some expensive form of interpretative media. All these policies aim to restore and recreate heathland, although the effects of these actions to the problems already discussed are not yet visible. Wetland's The New Forest possesses ninety valley mires of which there are only 120 in the whole of Europe, these have high conservation importance. Draining during the 1950's and 60's has lead to a reduction in the ecological quality of these environments. Restoration of these areas is important as some pockets contain unique flora and flora, an immense biological richness. They provide both grazing and water for forest animals. Rare species include slender cotton grass (Eriophorum gracile), bog orchid (Hammarabga paludose) which are very rare in Southern England. The Forestry Commission previously had a duty to drain many mires in an effort to fulfil the statutory obligations of ‘The New Forest Act of 1949'. Unfortunately it is only recently that the importance of this habitat ecologically has become realised. It is now part of the ‘New Forest special area of conservation' and is both a ‘RAMSAR' wetland and a ‘SSSI'. The most important Mires are located in the Crown lands. The wetlands also include many rivers and their floodplains, while there are historic water meadows and fifty ponds, these also posses high bio-diversity and require management. Many of the streams are rare due to there acid nature hence they support rare species. There has been a reduction in the ecological quality of these areas by modifying or straitening of the marine channels. Low levels in the Rivers and streams have been attributed to a lowering of the water table by boreholes and streams. Management of Wetlands In relation to rivers and streams, the ‘Environment Agency' has developed a ‘Catchment management plan' for the New Forest. Which is concerned with the future management of these areas. The recommended actions associated with this management I am unaware of. In relation to mires the Strategy aims to: ‘Restore and enhance damaged valley mires' [RA3.8b]0 This involves techniques to slow the flow of water restoring levels of water to how they were before drainage. This is achieved by installing small dams along small ditches in an attempt to drain the mire. It tries to mimic natural channel blocking; it is hoped that this will halt headwald erosion. Deep channels have developed in some places, which are a hazard to livestock and damaging to the mire. ‘The Forestry Commission' has been aiming to infill these with local material to hope that they blend in with surrounding heathland vegetation. Again many of these important areas of conservation occur in the Crown land i.e.- Mires. In one of its recommended actions the Forestry Commission work with land managers and advise them in areas where conservation may not be the land managers highest priority. In Relation to this the strategy aims to: ‘Identify wetland features important to the traditional character of the New Forest and work with landowners/land managers to secure their conservation.' [RA3.8a], see also RA3.3c0 It is clear now that the New possess a very complex range of management issues and that successful management will require great co-operation between all groups who have an interest for one reason or another in the New Forest.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Impulse - Force Over Time

Impulse - Force Over Time Force applied over time creates an impulse, a change in momentum. Impulse is defined in classical mechanics as a force multiplied by the amount of time it acts over. In calculus terms, the impulse can be calculated as the integral of force with respect to time.  The symbol for impulse is J or Imp.   Force is a vector quantity (the direction matters) and impulse is also a vector in the same direction. When an impulse is applied to an object, it has a vector change in its linear momentum. Impulse is the product of the average net force acting on an object and its duration.  J  Ã‚  F̅Δt Alternately, impulse can be calculated as the difference in momentum between two given instances.  Impulse change in momentum force x time. Units of Impulse The SI unit of impulse is the same as for momentum, the Newton second N*s or kg*m/s. The two terms are equal. English engineering units for impulse are pound-second (lbf*s) and slug-foot per second (slug*ft/s). The Impulse-Momentum Theorem This theorem is logically equivalent to Newtons second law of motion: force equals mass times acceleration, also known as the force law. The change in momentum of an object equals the impulse applied to it.  J  Ã‚  ÃŽâ€ p. This theorem can be applied to a constant mass or to a changing mass. It is relevant especially to rockets, where the mass of the rocket changes as fuel is expended to produce the thrust. Impulse of Force The product of average force and the time in which it is exerted is the impulse of force. It is equal to the change of momentum of an object that isnt changing mass. This is a useful concept when you are studying impact forces. If you increase the time over which the change of force happens, the impact force also decreases. This is used in mechanical design for safety, and it is useful in sports applications as well. You want to reduce the impact force for a car hitting guardrail, for example, by designing the guardrail to collapse as well as designing parts of the car to crumple on impact. This lengthens the time of the impact and therefore the force. If you want a ball to be propelled further, you want to shorten the time of impact with a racket or bat, raising the impact force. Meanwhile, a boxer knows to lean away from a punch so it takes longer in landing, reducing the impact. Specific Impulse Specific impulse is a measure of the efficiency of rockets and jet engines. It is the total impulse that is produced by a unit of propellant as it is consumed. If a rocket has a higher specific impulse, it needs less propellant to gain altitude, distance, and speed. It is the equivalent of the thrust divided by the propellant flow rate. If the propellant weight is used (in Newton or pound), specific impulse is measured in seconds. This is often how rocket engine performance is reported by manufacturers.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Free Essays on Conflict Theory

Conflict theory sociologists say that society is made up of groups that compete for scarce resources. It established that power and social inequality are main characteristics of society. Karl Marx is the founder of CT. He felt that the key to history is class struggle. Marx theorized that there were only two groups: the bourgeoisie or capitalists that control the means of production and the proletariat or working class who are a mass of exploited laborers. Later CT adherents proposed different class structures. Wright defined four classes (Capitalist, Petty Bourgeoisie, managers and workers). Gilbert & Kahl proposed 6 classes (Capitalist, upper middle, lower middle, working class, working poor, and under class). There are three determining factors in social class: wealth, power and prestige or respect. People generally rank very similar in all three dimensions. Sutherland, a functional perspective sociologist, coined the term â€Å"white collar crime† to describe crimes committed by distinguished and high social status people during the course of their occupation. White-collar crime, also called crimes in the suites, costs the US more than twice that of crime in the streets. It occurs when privileged members of society encounter â€Å"opportunities† to better their financial position and disregard the needs of other members. This is example illustrates white-collar crime perfectly. Edwards used his contacts within his business and political networks to better his personal financial position. C Wright Mills said that â€Å"power† or the ability to enforce your will despite resistance, is in the hands of few. He contradicted the ideology of equality and coined the term â€Å"power elite† to describe the few at the top of US society with the power to make the important decisions. To determine what groups are in conflict, first establish who has the power to enforce their desires on others. A governor could easily be perceived as... Free Essays on Conflict Theory Free Essays on Conflict Theory Conflict theory sociologists say that society is made up of groups that compete for scarce resources. It established that power and social inequality are main characteristics of society. Karl Marx is the founder of CT. He felt that the key to history is class struggle. Marx theorized that there were only two groups: the bourgeoisie or capitalists that control the means of production and the proletariat or working class who are a mass of exploited laborers. Later CT adherents proposed different class structures. Wright defined four classes (Capitalist, Petty Bourgeoisie, managers and workers). Gilbert & Kahl proposed 6 classes (Capitalist, upper middle, lower middle, working class, working poor, and under class). There are three determining factors in social class: wealth, power and prestige or respect. People generally rank very similar in all three dimensions. Sutherland, a functional perspective sociologist, coined the term â€Å"white collar crime† to describe crimes committed by distinguished and high social status people during the course of their occupation. White-collar crime, also called crimes in the suites, costs the US more than twice that of crime in the streets. It occurs when privileged members of society encounter â€Å"opportunities† to better their financial position and disregard the needs of other members. This is example illustrates white-collar crime perfectly. Edwards used his contacts within his business and political networks to better his personal financial position. C Wright Mills said that â€Å"power† or the ability to enforce your will despite resistance, is in the hands of few. He contradicted the ideology of equality and coined the term â€Å"power elite† to describe the few at the top of US society with the power to make the important decisions. To determine what groups are in conflict, first establish who has the power to enforce their desires on others. A governor could easily be perceived as...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

How to Calculate the Mean or Average

How to Calculate the Mean or Average Given a list of numbers, it is easy to determine the arithmetic mean,  or average. The average is simply the sum of the numbers in a given problem, divided by the number of numbers added together. For example, if four number are added together their sum is divided by four to find the average or arithmetic mean. Average or arithmetic mean is sometimes confused with two other concepts: mode and median. The mode is the most frequent value in a set of numbers, while the median is the number in the middle of the range of a given set.  Ã‚   Uses and Applications Its important to know how to calculate the mean or average of a set of numbers. Among other things, this will allow you to calculate your grade point average. However, youll need to calculate the mean for several other situations, too. The concept of an average allows statisticians, demographers, economists, biologists, and other researchers to better understand the most common situations. For example, by determining the average income of an American family and comparing it to the average cost of a home, its possible to better understand the magnitude of economic challenges facing most American families. Similarly, by looking at the average temperature in a particular area at a particular time of year, its possible to predict the probable weather and make a wide range of decisions appropriately. Issues and Pitfalls While averages can be very useful tools, they can also be misleading for a variety of reasons. In particular, averages can obscure the information contained in data sets. Here are a few examples of how averages can be misleading: Johns grades include a 4.5 in math, a 4.0 in science, a 2.0 in English and a 2.5 in History. After averaging his scores, his advisor decided that John is a straight B student. In fact, however, John is quite talented in math and science and needs remediation in English and history.Ten people were in a room. One woman in the room was pregnant. Based on the average, therefore, everyone in the room was .1% pregnant. This is, of course, a false and ridiculous finding! The Calculation In general, you calculate the mean or average of a set of numbers by adding them all up and dividing by how many numbers you have. This can be defined as follows: For a set of numbers, {x1, x2, x3, ... xj} the mean or average is the sum of all x divided by j. Worked Examples Lets start with an easy example. Calculate the mean of the following set of numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 To do this, add up the numbers and divide by how many numbers you have (5 of them, in this case). mean (1 2 3 4 5)/5 mean 15/5 mean 3 Heres another example of calculating the mean. Calculate the mean of the following set of numbers: 25, 28, 31, 35, 43, 48 How many numbers are there? 6. So, add together all of the numbers and divide the total by 6 in order to get the mean. mean (25 28 31 35 43 48)/6 mean 210/6 mean 35

Saturday, October 19, 2019

HR Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

HR - Assignment Example The aim of this paper is to shed light on the various facets of telecommuting, its implications, work management tools and a pilot program suggestion that incorporates all the necessary elements for effectiveness. Gone are the days when it was customary for work to be done within confined spaces and offices behind a desk in from a designated time period. The growing importance of human resources and a study of the various aspects associated with it gave birth to new concepts that were aimed at motivating employees as a driver of productivity. Many theories emerged for example the service profit model that proposes that motivated employees contribute towards workplace efficiency and ultimately improve the overall service levels of the business. Since employee motivation plays a significant role in internally driving the workforce to give their best at their work, many steps and accommodations are allowed by the employers to make sure that the employees are at ease while at work. The growing importance of a dedicated workforce for the overall organizational success has made it imperative that their changing needs are accounted for and catered too. Employees now seek work discretion and creativity as important factor for pursuing and retaining a job. Personal lives and commitments are regarded as important as professional ones, making it necessary for the workplaces to provide them the flexibility to enjoy both. Just like job sharing and working time flexibility, telecommuting is one such feature that plays a massive role in giving the employees the power and flexibility to work as they please but within time. Telecommuting refers to the ability of the employees to work from distant locations during some days of the week (Hr.ucmerced.edu, 2014). These locations could include homes, libraries or other work stations. By allowing the employees to do the same work they would have done if they were at the office, from a place of

Research Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7000 words

Research Assignment - Essay Example The commerce groups are Mobile Phones, Multimedia, Enterprise Solutions and Networks. The straight groups are Customer and Marketing Operations and Technology Platforms. The Nokia mobiles are intended to tender a wide variety of business users elastic access to Oracle Collaboration Suite, via text message, browser, or over-the-air harmonization of calendar and speak to in rank. The effect is endeavor mobility that is both influential and reasonable, enabling IT departments to offer omnipresent admittance to in sequence athwart their organization The prospect of the wireless manufacturing is predicated on the release and management of value-added services. According to this group research the market for these services is huge, with destructive marketing campaigns positioning mobile multimedia contented at the heart of today's way of life. For expediency the term Service Delivery Platform (NOKIA) is used as a method of referring to the structural design that is necessary to transport these services (Coakes, , pp3-12). Regrettably, there is no normal meaning for the term, or the components that constitute an NOKIA. For instance, the word implies that there is a solitary system a hardware/ software platform that addresses all the technical and commerce issues. This imprecision allows vendors to offer 'solutions' that speak to person market segments while still promoting their answer as an NOKIA. It is too late to alter the expressions, ... This imprecision allows vendors to offer 'solutions' that speak to person market segments while still promoting their answer as an NOKIA. It is too late to alter the expressions, but we can employ a enhanced set of definitions. Nokia's NOKIA hallucination is based on the definitions anticipated by the Moriana Group, namely: An NOKIA provides a total bionetwork for the speedy deployment, provisioning, capital punishment, management and billing of assessment added services. An NOKIA supports the liberation of voice and data services and at ease in a way that is jointly network and device-independent. An NOKIA aggregates dissimilar network capabilities and services as well as dissimilar sources of contented and allows application developers to access them in a uniform and consistent way (Beers, M. 2003, pp43-57). In the past the NOKIA thought has been principally listening carefully on the IT infrastructure necessary to transport and administer the overhaul environment, with the fundamental network merely as long as the crossing point and release machinery. Nevertheless, in the new developing NOKIA world these boundaries among IT and network environments are amalgamation, thus generating the need for a new end-to-end architectural observation spanning the absolute service release environment. In exacting the subsequent new challenges require to be addressed: This group research study recognizes the present limitations of NOKIA as a term as well as the significance of the notion, i.e. the require to facilitate the growth and completion of value-added services. That procedure is careful from a business viewpoint and it is visualized

Friday, October 18, 2019

How is the use of body language different in humans and in animals Essay

How is the use of body language different in humans and in animals - Essay Example It can apply to many types of soundless communication, such as formalized gestures. (Wikipedia.) Animals, although not bestowed with the gift of speech, can effectively convey a variety of emotions, both within their group as well as with humans. Some examples of feline, dolphin and gorilla body language can be considered: Fear triggers an adrenaline rush, causing the cats back and tail to arch and the hair to bristle. This is mainly intended to dissuade potential attackers. When fearful, nervous and defensive, their ears flatten or twitch and their eyes dilate fully. Confident, aggressive cats in response to direct confrontations with intruders, narrow their pupils to slits for better depth perception and stare down their opponents, their ears stand up, facing forward or folded so that the backs are seen head-on. To create the illusion of being larger, an aggressive cat will approach the defensive cat in a prancing sideways motion with its rear end held high and tail slung low. (Animalplanet.com.) Bonobos, a subspecies of chimpanzees, are also adept with certain forms of communication. Research into non-human Great Ape language suggest that apes are capable of using human modes of communication to communicate with humans and other apes (Wikipedia.) In essence, although both humans and animals use body language to convey a variety of emotions, it can be said that humans have evolved from a time where body language was the sole means of communication, to the ability to speak and use body language at the same time to convey the meaning more emphatically. In animals, body language is one of the primary means of

Distinguishing Any Parallels and Variations within The Texts, Discuss Essay

Distinguishing Any Parallels and Variations within The Texts, Discuss To What Extent Female Power Could Be Said To Exist In The Colour Purple [Alice Walker] A - Essay Example Still, it is immediately difficult from Celie’s â€Å"Dear God,† letters to discern the exact date, but the post slavery setting is obvious by the ownership of property; and that the only â€Å"enslavement† that is apparent is the enslavement of black women, especially very young black women, to black men (Walker, pp. 11-15). Celie, her mother, her sister Nettie, and the other women introduced into Walker’s story seem not to be aware of a lifestyle where they had a choice other that of being subservient to men. Nor do they have any control over the use of bodies by the men in the lives (p16-18). Walker’s protagonist, Celie, begins experiencing the subservient demands and physical demands made by men in their society at the time; she has no choice, she is physically used and abused, although Walker does convey the idea that Celie may have been somewhat prepared for her role even if only by observing her mother’s condition of subservience and as a witness to the physical abuse her mother suffered. That Celie’s first physical experience was at the hands of the man she believed to be her father, worried Celie only to the extent that it caused a crack in the relationship between herself and her mother. Still, Celie sees the man, Albert, who comes to the family initially to negotiate for Celie’s sister, Nettie, as an escape; knowing that she will continue in a subservient role in Albert’s household (Walker, pp. 16-18). At this point, the themes of mental and physical enslavement are evident, even in the post Civil War setting. In Atwood’s story of The Handmaid’s Tale, it’s as though time has moved backward, away from the contemporary life and lifestyle that the young protagonist can still recall in the quiet moments she finds for herself (Walker, pp. 3-4). We do, however, quickly become aware that a â€Å"war† is going on (Atwood, p. 19)She, like Celie, has been relegated to a life of subservience to the male authority, left with no choice

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Article abstract assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Article abstract - Assignment Example umber of participants who attended each game and corresponding factors such as weather conditions during the matches, day of play, involved stars and the points garnered by the team. Attendance in a match is the dependent variable while AduRoad is the independent variable (DeSchriver 438- 444). The researcher concludes that a significant relationship existed between the number of spectators that attended a game and the presence of Freddy Adu. He further notes that the player’s signing was advantageous to the club in the short run because additional revenues that were generated from his presence could pay his annual wage and recover his six-year contract expense. The paper makes a significant contribution to an objective understanding players’ financial significance to a club’s financial status. It forms a basis for a determining player’s remunerations and transfer fees. The researcher succeeds in communicating his results in a clear and precise manner but the article can be criticized for failing to include its ethical scope. This is particularly because of its ability generate wage raw between clubs and their players (DeSchriver 438-

Caffeine Addiction (energy drinks) of College Students Term Paper

Caffeine Addiction (energy drinks) of College Students - Term Paper Example This sets it apart from other psychoactive drugs. It promotes alertness and wakefulness. However, it is also said to have side effects such as increased heartbeat, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and insomnia, which are the most common. Rare side effects include abdominal bloating, dehydration and bloody diarrhea. Energy drinks such as Red Bull and Monster, are a popular beverage among college students as they are believed to give energy and boost performance while studying or working on major course projects, driving for long periods of time, to treat hangover and when drinking alcohol during partying. Energy drinks have also been marketed to aid in weight loss, maintain alertness, mood and cognitive enhancement, performance in athletics and concentration. The beverages stimulate the central nervous system and the users expect performance improvement physically and mentally (Hoyte, Albert, & Heard, 2013). Combining energy drinks and alcohol has dangerous effects since they enhance stimulation and promote behavioral inhibition. Most people tend to undermine their levels of alcohol intoxication since the symptoms of alcohol have been reduced. Energy drinks also increase the alcohol absorption rates and have also been associated with the use of marijuana, consumption of alcohol, aggressive behavior, risky sexual behavior and driving under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol related deaths are on the increase due to dampened intoxication levels (Velazquez, Poulos, Latimer, & Pasch, 2012). In addition, most people have very minimum knowledge regarding the ingredients found in energy drinks and their potential harmful effects both physiologically and psychologically. The drinks contain sugar, caffeine, vitamins, carbohydrates, guarana, taurine and ginseng, which are herbal supplements. Kola nuts and cocoa are additives that may be added to increase the caffeine content in the energy drinks. Varying ingredient combinations are common and thus they

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Article abstract assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Article abstract - Assignment Example umber of participants who attended each game and corresponding factors such as weather conditions during the matches, day of play, involved stars and the points garnered by the team. Attendance in a match is the dependent variable while AduRoad is the independent variable (DeSchriver 438- 444). The researcher concludes that a significant relationship existed between the number of spectators that attended a game and the presence of Freddy Adu. He further notes that the player’s signing was advantageous to the club in the short run because additional revenues that were generated from his presence could pay his annual wage and recover his six-year contract expense. The paper makes a significant contribution to an objective understanding players’ financial significance to a club’s financial status. It forms a basis for a determining player’s remunerations and transfer fees. The researcher succeeds in communicating his results in a clear and precise manner but the article can be criticized for failing to include its ethical scope. This is particularly because of its ability generate wage raw between clubs and their players (DeSchriver 438-

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

MANAGING ASSETS AND RESOURCES IN THE DIGITAL FIRM Essay

MANAGING ASSETS AND RESOURCES IN THE DIGITAL FIRM - Essay Example I would recommend to my boss to adopt the framework and point out a few recommendations to incorporate with the information systems framework in the company. The first recommendation I would make for my boss is that he should develop a larger network for the use of information system framework outlined by Damsgaard. This is because the framework works best on a larger scale (Damsgaard & Karlsbjerg, 2010). Secondly, I would recommend for my boss to set up a maintenance system for the new framework of system software. This will prevent information system failure experienced by companies when the systems fail to serve their intended purpose. Thirdly, I would recommend to my boss to set up a training panel because the new set of system software will require adequate training to enable employees obtain the basic skills needed in the operation of the operation of the software. Lastly, I would recommend my boss to take a risk in purchasing the software. This is because profits are achieved when an organization decides to take a risk. I believe that components of information systems software outlined by Damsgaard are effective and a business that incorporates it stands a higher opportunity of being successful (Damsgaard & Karlsbjerg,

Monday, October 14, 2019

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Essay Example for Free

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Essay A strong, healthy relationship between a father and son allows for a happy family and lifetime. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini illustrates the fragile relationship between Baba and Amir and how easily a third party could affect the relationship. Amir can now transcend his relationship with his father by confronting his past, locating his courage and portraying his redemption. Amir confronting his past allows him to transcend his relationship with his father. Amir first attempts to confront his past by travelling to Afghanistan. Amir must confront his memories of the horrible things that he created. Amir forced Ali and Hassan out of his house and more importantly, out of his life. This is a desperate attempt to become closer to Baba. To confront his past, Amir must remember Hassan and remember what they used to share. Amir referred to the letter Hassan wrote for him, and remembered â€Å"Hassan had said in his letter that the pomegranate tree hadn’t borne fruit in years. Looking at the wilted, leafless tree, I doubted it ever would again. I stood under it, remembered all the times we’d climbed it, straddled its branches, our legs swinging, doppled sunlight flickering through the leaves and casting on our faces as a mosaic of light and shadow. The tangy taste of pomegranate crept into my mouth.† (Hosseini 276-277). The pomegranate tree represents Hassan and Amir’s friendship. When Hassan and Amir were good, happy and caring friends, the tree produced delicious fruit. Now that Hassan and Amir have not been friends for many years, the tree is wilted and all life from the leaves have disappeared. The tree will no longer produce any fruit and Amir and Hassan will not have anymore chances to become friends again, but Amir can repay Hassan. Another reason that Amir went back to Afghanistan was to rescue Sohrab; Hassan’s son. This was Rahim Khan’s dying wish. Amir is confronting his past by fighting for his friend’s loved one. Amir is confronting the fact that even though he cannot face Hassan, he will face his son. This is the way Amir will be good again. Rahim Khan knows how Amir can fix his problems, Rahim also knows that â€Å"There is a way to be good again† (Hosseini 202). Rahim Khan’s way to be good again for Amir is to rescue Sohrab. Rahim knows this act will be very beneficial for Amir’s future. In Amir’s childhood, he also had to deal with bullies and in that regard, Assef was the major antagonist. Even when Assef is older, he is still a problem in Amir’s life. Assef is part of the Taliban, terrorizing many people. Amir was face to face with his bully and when he discovered that Assef was abusing Sohrab, Amir spoke his mind and confronted Assef on how horrible he has become. Amir was furious, he had to confront Assef and stand up for what he believes is right, because he knows â€Å"’Stoning adulters? [.] Raping children? [.] Flogging women for wearing high heels? [.] Massacring Hazaras? [.]’† (Hosseini 297-298). These things should not be allowed to continue without any punishment to the person causing them, in this case, Assef. Amir has confronted his past and is now able to move onto his other problems, problems he has with his father. Aamir has to locate his courage so he can face all of his other problems with confidence. While Amir was in Afghanistan, trying to find Sohrab, he tried looking in a local orphanage since Sohrab’s parents had been murdered. When Amir arrived at the orphanage, he asks for Sohrab. The man who runs the orphanage (Zaman) claims to not know of Sohrab. Amir pushes and pushes for Zaman to tell him where Sohrab is. Finally, it is revealed that Zaman sells children to the Taliban. Amir had to locate his courage to tell this man what he was doing wrong. Amir sees this act as greed in order to receive money. Zaman told Amir that â€Å"’[t]here is a Talib official,† he muttered. â€Å"He visits once every month or two. He brings cash with him†¦.† â€Å" Usually he’ll take a girl. But not always.† â€Å"And you allow this?’† (Hosseini 268). Amir confronts Zaman because he found the courage to speak what was on his mind and what he belie ves in. Amir has never been in a fight because he always had Hassan to protect him. Now that Amir did not have Hassan anymore, Amir was challenged to fight Assef to save Sohrab. Amir found the courage he needed because he knew he was finally going to get what he deserved. Sohrab was worth fighting for. Assef has a principle he follows, nothing was free, he demonstrates that Amir have Sohrab for free because everything comes with a price. As Amir tries to take Sohrab, Assef challenges ‘â€Å"I didn’t say you could take him for free.’ I turned. ‘What do you want?’ â€Å"You have to earn him.’† (Hosseini 300). Amir fought Assef to prove a point and so he could finally stand up for what he believes in and that took courage. Baba always stands up for what he believes in, Amir admired that. When Amir stands up for what he believes in, he is transcending his relationship with Baba. Amir wants to adopt Sohrab, but when Amir arrives at the American Embassy, he soon finds out that it will be tough to adopt him. Amir finds out he will need a good immigration lawyer to be able to adopt Sohrab. Amir learns of this difficulty that will come with the adoption, but he needs clarification, he asks the worker â€Å"’You mean to pursue this?’ †¦..’Then I advise you to get a good immigration lawyer.’† (Hosseini 348). Amir was given a warning about his challenging future endeavor. He needs to adopt Sohrab. Going through this process to get Sohrab requires courage, Amir is ready to take on these responsibilities. At last, Amir is â€Å"good again.† (Hosseini 202). Amir portrays many emotions, feelings and states of mind when he returns back to America: happiness, cheer, compassion and most importantly, redemption. Without even knowing it, Amir becomes a role model. Amir models how to fix mistakes and also how to treat one another. This is how Amir portrays his redemption. Amir teaches equality, these are his new beliefs. Amir stands up for his beliefs because Amir is a new man. Amir taught this lesson to General Taheri: ‘â€Å"And one more thing, General Sahib,’ I said. ‘You will never again refer to him [Sohrab] as a ‘Hazara boy’ in my presence. He has a name and it’s Sohrab.’† (Hosseini 380). This passage from the novel contributes to Amir’s ability and process of transcending his relationship with Baba. Amir is not himself anymore, he is acting and portraying someone else he knew who has a better relationship with Baba. Amir is portraying Hassan’s way of life: forgiveness, loyalty, affection, empathy, and more. The most dominant expression that Amir is portraying, is redemption. Amir portrays his redemption by being loyal. Loyalty was a principle in Hassan’s life. Amir showed his new found loyalty to Sohrab by stating the same words Hassan spoke to Amir to show his loyalty towards Amir, ‘†For you, a thousand times over’† (Hosseini 391). Amir grew a new, deeper connection than being friends with Hassan; Hassan’s loyalty lives on through Amir. This allows Amir to leave Baba and his relationship because he is now a new man. Amir remembers that he has been redeemed because he has a life changing event, he is thankful for this. Amir now knows what it takes to redeem himself and this way, he is more forgiving of others. Since Baba lied to Amir and hid the truth about Hassan and Amir being half brothers, he could see past that because he has transcended his relationship with Baba. Amir remembers his redemption by remembering the person who allowed him to redeem himself, Hassan. Sohrab would always be told about what his father and Amir had shared, this is how Amir connected to Sohrab. Sohrab was told about Hassan and Amir’s kite fighting experiences; ‘†Watch, Sohrab. I’m going to show you one of your father’s favorite tricks, the old lift-and-dive.’† (Hosseini 389). As this plan helps remind to remind Amir of his journey, it also makes Sohrab feel more comfortable around Amir because Sohrab now knows that his father shared something special with Amir. Amir also helps Sohrab remember his father in this same way. By Amir portraying Hassan, he is portraying his redemption and transcends his relationship with Baba. Throughout The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini demonstrates the fragile relationship between Baba and Amir and how easily a third party could affect the relationship. Amir is now able to transcend his relationship with his father by confronting his past, locating his courage and portraying his redemption. This process of Amir transcending his relationship with Baba allows Amir to withhold a new relationship between an uncle and nephew. Also illustrated in this novel is a strong, growing relationship between an uncle nephew can last a lifetime if happiness, loyalty, affection and compassion are present in the relationship. This theory holds true to life and does not just live in a novel. Works Cited and Works Consulted Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. N.p.: Anchor Canada, 2004. Print.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Effects of Orphanhood on Child Development

Effects of Orphanhood on Child Development 3. REVIEW OF LITERATURE â€Å"A solid family environment is essential in paving the way for the realization of future dreams and aspirations of children.† —Nelson Mandela â€Å"The suffering of children is not in itself what is revolting, but the fact that it is undeserved†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ if we cannot make a world in which children no longer suffer, at least we can try to reduce the number of suffering children† Albert Camus: â€Å"L’ Homme Revolte†. Children must be protected not because they are innocent but because they are powerless Mason Cooley A research literature review is a written summary of the state of existing knowledge on a research problem. The task of reviewing research literature involves identification, selection, critical analysis, and written description of existing information on a topic. 11 The various attributes of orphans, orphaning and orphanages are considered in separate sections 1. DEFINITIONS OF ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN The word orphan is derived from the Latin word orbus meaning bereft or to suffer the loss. Today, it applies to a child whos either or both of the parents are dead.12 According to UNICEF the definition of an orphan is anyone between the ages of 0 and 17 years who has lost at least one parent or both the parents.13 Vulnerable children are those who belong to high-risk groups who lack access to basic social amenities or facilities. â€Å"Vulnerable† is analogous to the word â€Å"affected†. They include street children, orphans, child prisoners, child laborers, the children of sex workers and, confusingly, children who are orphaned by AIDS or have an HIV-positive parent14. Historically such orphans have been reared by close relatives or in institutions meant for other deprived children like them. Indias commitment to the cause of children is an old as its civilization. The child is believed to be a gift of the Gods, which must be nurtured with care and affection, within the family and the society Unfortunately, due to socio-economic and political factors, the incidence of neglect, abuse and deprivation, particularly in the poverty afflicted sections of the society, has gradually increased . The category of socially handicapped children includes within it those children who are destitute, abandoned, deprived, neglected, victimized, vagrant, and even delinquent children observes.15 Khandekar feels that the term deprived children implies deprivation of many aspects, such as economic, social, familial, emotional and moral.16 Bose opines that the category of children in need of care and protection s a wider scope which includes children whose parents are extremely poor, children of working women with low income, exploited, runaway children, child beggars, vagrants, delinquents, etc.17Thus we see a little agreement on the specifics of who can be include into the category of orphan children. Bose vehemently advocates that the juvenile delinquents too be included the class of orphan children. They have even been called neglected juveniles and described as one who is a destitute, who is left alone, abandoned, forsaken, in utter want, without resources, deprived, in a state of extreme poverty, being without food, shelter etc. The working group appointed by the Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India in 1969 listed the following circumstances to define orphans, although there are other terms such as socially handicapped used interchangeably: a) a child, whose parents are not able to look after with proper care and control. b) a child, without any living parents, who is not being looked after by any other near relatives on whom there is a moral or social obligation to look after. c) a child who has no home or settled place of abode, without any ostensible means of subsistence. d) a child whose surviving parent is a lunatic. e) a child deserving special protection, from parents who indulge him / her in prostitution, drunkenness or anti-social behavior. f) a child whose parents have forced him into beggary, acrobatics or performing tricks for the purpose of earning or any other kind of child labor. g) a child who is uncontrollable.18 Further the Planning Commission of India in the 10th Five year plan has brought all these children under a common category called as — children in difficult circumstances and included under this category are street children, abandoned children, orphaned children, child laborers, children who have been physically or sexually abused, children in conflict with law, children with HIV/AIDS, children of terminally ill parents, children of parents serving prison terms, children victims of natural disasters, terrorist attacks, immigration etc, for the purpose of devising need based policies and welfare programmers.19 2. BURDEN OF ORPHANHOOD IN INDIA The estimated number of orphans who need care and protection in India would give a better perspective of the magnitude of the problem on our hands .Though the exact quantum of dependent children is not known, approximations are available. In India 31 million children have become orphans due to all causes as by 2009.2 Every 2.2 seconds a child loses a parent somewhere in the world. By 2015, It is projected that there will be 400 million orphaned children worldwide.20 Moreover, it would be difficult to estimate the number of children who are abandoned, neglected, deprived of parental or family care due to innumerable other reasons such as family feud, parental desertion, illegitimate pregnancy, natural disasters. 3. CAUSES OF ORPHANING 3.1 BROKEN HOMES, PARENTAL DISHARMONY , PARENTAL LOSS / DEPRIVATION BROKEN HOMES, PARENTAL DISHARMONY A large proportion of delinquent and neglected children come from broken homes. Desertion, divorce, illegitimacy, cruelty, drunkenness and drug abuse by the parents are some of the common denominators among the neglected children.21 Broken Home is one which is rendered incomplete by the absence of one or both parents Parental separation or divorce often have an altogether different aspect where in the child is presented with a conflict of loyalties which is sometimes played upon usually by the contesting parents introduces new problem of adjusting to step parents and their attitudes.22 There is also a type of home which is thoroughly noxious without being broken. The members of the family go on living together, a life punctuated by quarrels, hatred, brutality, alcoholism, irresponsibility etc and emotional turmoil resulting from domestic discord, parental neglect or rejection may drive the child to retaliatory aggression.23 Ganga et al in their study of 225 inmates of an orphanage in Thanjavur documented that in 43.5% of the children, father had more than one wife, and father had left home in 14.6% while mother had left in 12.9%.24 Manjushree and Srinivasan noticed that of the 73 neglected children, in 8 children frequent quarrels between father and mother was observed.25 Thilagaraj in his study of neglected children documented that 37.5% of the parents were unhappily adjusted, parental separation/ desertion was seen in 12.6%. In 10% each, either both the parents had died or one parent had died and there was remarriage or there was no remarriage.26 Singh and co-workers while studying parental image in delinquents observed that in all cases of their study sample, parents had cordial and harmonious relationship.27 PARENTAL LOSS / DEPRIVATION The presence of a human figure is essential to develop social responsiveness. Because, if the child is constantly exposed to inanimate means of stimulation, the feelings of attachments to inanimate objects might generalize to human figure.28 The effects of long-term or permanent separation form one or both parents are complex. When the separation occurs as early as three months after birth, the infants emotional upset seems to be primarily a reaction to the environmental change and strangeness, and he /she usually adapts readily to a surrogate mother-figure. But once attachment behavior has developed, the emotional hurt of separation may be deeper and more sustained. The child may go through a period of bereavement and have greater difficulty in adjusting to the change. It would appear that the age at which the infant is most vulnerable to long term separation or loss is from 7 months to 5 years. The long term consequences of such a loss appear to depend not only on the time of its occurrence, but also on factors such as the child in question, his previous relationship with parent and the quality of subsequent parental care.29 MATERNAL DEPRIVATION : In a pioneering study, Bowlby (1960) summarized the effects of maternal separation on children from 2 to 5 years of age who were hospitalized for prolonged periods. He cited three stages of their separation reaction: 1) Initial protest characterized by increased crying, screaming and general activity 2) Despair which included dejection, stupor, decreased activity and general withdrawal from the environment, and 3) Detachment following the childrens discharge from the hospital and re ¬union with their mothers in whom the children appeared indifferent and sometimes even hostile towards their parents.30 According to Howells separation and deprivation are not synonymous terms. He states that separation of the child and parent, means that the child is physically parted from its parents and has an existence independent of them. On the other hand, deprivation is a term which indicates that a loss is suffered, and when applied to the child, it is used in the following two senses: 1) Occasionally it is used to denote that the child suffers the loss of its parents, or permanent parent substitute. This usually coincides with physical separation of parent and child (to prevent confusion with the term separation the usage deprivation should be avoided). 2) Frequently it is used to denote that the child is deprived of the necessary care for its emotional growth and so suffers the loss of parenting Separation, then involves the physical absence of the parent, but not necessarily of parenting. Deprivation involves the loss of parenting but not necessarily of parents. Thereby, he has drawn a distinction between parents as an entity from parenting, that is, the emotional care given by them to the children.31 Bowlby comments that in the young childs eyes father plays second fiddle, but is of an indirect value as an economic and emotional support to the mother.30 True enough, this is the impression carried over by the social, psychological and psychiatric literature. The facts however may be different. The father may share parenting, often equally, sometimes pre-dominantly and sometimes subordinately. Few facts are available. Nevertheless, the available literature indicates that the father has an important role to play in maintaining the stability of the family group and in supporting the role of the mother. He has also a significant influence on the psychological development of boys and girls. The fathers masculine model (aggressiveness, leadership and objectivity) is necessary for the boy if he is to emancipate himself from the feminine model prevailing at home and develop the qualities of maleness that will make him acceptable to his peers.32 The various causes for parental loss described in the various studies, parental deaths due to a number of causes, outnumber all other causes. Fosteer G and colleagues in their study observed that 12.8% of children under 15 years old had a father or mother who had died; 5% of orphans had lost both parents.33 Bhagath and Fraser in their study on neglected children found that paternal death was discovered in 40% whereas maternal loss was seen in 15%.34 Presley et at reported parental loss in 49. 2% of 140 neglected children, with 21% maternal loss and 25% had lost both the parents.35 Approximately 23% entering the foster care in the United States of America have lost one or both the parents in a survey carried out by Simms M D et al.36

Saturday, October 12, 2019

William Morris: Influences of Naturalism in His Life and Works Essay

The main driving element in William Morris’s life has been the nature around him and the houses he lived in. The most prominent influence was the Kelmscott Manor. Therefore, I chose to go with Kelmscott Manor’s layout plan that exhibits the â€Å"inspirational garden â€Å" that led to most of his design decisions, a map that depicts the pockets in the manor and how Morris was inspired by it. In addition to this, an original drawing of the Kelmscott Manor’s exterior that depicts how the manor amalgamated within the garden. To reinforce this, I picked a watercolor of the Kelmscott Manor and a photo that captivates the various perspectives of the garden in the manor. Moving on to his designs that interprets his love for nature I picked up the very first of his wallpaper design of the trellis that has a very naturalistic touch to it with the vines which seemed to be an extension of the â€Å"inspiration garden† on to the paper. Also chose one of the wallpapers he designed during the middle of his lifetime and one of his last designs as well. The underlying concept behind picking those was to outline the consistency in his design concept throughout his life. William Morris was a poet , whose poetry and compositions were also inspired by nature, and to depict his poetry in form of naturalism concept I picked a stance from one of his compositions that talks about forest, flora and fauna which directly ties to his underlying concept. Also the compositions he wrote always had engraved borders which was ... ...an picking the artifacts. Although I did learn about William Morris and his designs in my history classes I learnt about the concept behind his design decisions and in depth analysis of Morris’s evolution as a designer only when I started working on this exhibit. It is imperative that you do research before arriving on any decision in regard to putting up any exhibit. Furthermore after analyzing the different options, it is imperative that you have facts to back up your decisions of the artifacts chosen. Every artifact that you pick for your case should have direct relation to your concept and it should be consistent among all artifacts. Overall a lot of thought should be put into the exhibit and the concept must reflect the ideas distinctly.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Reigniting Your Passion for God Essay

The creative force behind all great art, all great drama, all great music, all great architecture and all great writing is passion. Nothing great is ever accomplished in life without passion. Nothing great is ever sustained in life without passion. Passion is what energizes life. Passion makes the impossible possible. Passion gives you a reason to get up in the morning and go and say, â€Å"I’m going to do something with my life today.† Without passion life becomes boring. It becomes monotonous. It becomes routine. It becomes dull. God created you with the emotions to have passion in your life and He wants you to live a passionate life for Him. Passion is what mobilizes armies into action. Passion is what causes explorers to boldly go where no man’s gone before. Passion is what causes scientists to spend late night hours trying to find the cure to a dreaded disease. Passion is what takes a good athlete and turns him or her into a great athlete where they’r e breaking records. You’ve got to have passion in your life. One day a man walks up to Jesus and he says, â€Å"Lord, what’s the most important thing in the Bible?† And you know what the Great Commandment is. We’ve talked about it many times. Jesus said, â€Å"I want you to love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. Nothing matters more than that. That’s the number one thing in life. I want you to love Me passionately.† Nothing else matters in life if you don’t love God with passion. God doesn’t want you to love Him half-heartedly. He wants you to love Him with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength. I love the paraphrase of that verse, Mark 11:30, from The Message â€Å"Jesus said, ’Love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.† Circle the word â€Å"passion†. That word, in Greek, is the word â€Å"heart.† God is saying I want you to put some muscle into it, put some energy, put some emotion into your relationship with Me. Don’t be a wimp about your relationship with Me. Don’t be namby-pamby. Don’t be half-hearted. Give it all you’ve got. Jesus is saying, â€Å"If you’re going to follow Me, you’ve got to go it with passion. You’ve got to give it some oomph, some spark, some zip, some enthusiasm, some zest. In other words I want you to live your life with me passionately.† In fact, this truth is all through the Bible. The Bible tells us that we’re to seek God passionately. We’re to love God passionately. The Bible says that we’re to serve and obey God passionately. We’re to trust God passionately. Then as if you didn’t get the message, in Colossians 3:23 He says â€Å"Whatever you do, do it with all of your heart as unto the Lord and not unto men.† He says I want you to do everything passionately when it comes to loving Me, serving Me, living for Me. Here’s the amazing thing. In America it’s ok to be passionate about anything except God. That is not politically correct — to be passionate about God. I can be passionate about movies. I can be passionate about sports. I can be passionate about politics. I can be passionate about fashions and clothes. I can be passionate about restaurants. But I cannot be passionate about God. That’s a no-no. I typed in the phrase â€Å"a passion for†¦Ã¢â‚¬  into Amazon.com and found a couple hundred books with that title. There’s a book call A Passion for Birds, A Passion for Books, A Passion for Cactus, A Passion for Chocolate (that’s understandable), A Passion for Fashion, †¦ for Fishing†¦ for Flying, †¦ for Gardening, †¦ Golf, Hunting. There’s even a book called A Passion For Mushrooms. A Passion for Needlepoint, Pasta, Ponies. There’s a book called, A Passion for Potatoes, for Roses, for Shoes. There’s even a book called A Passion for Steam. I can’t figure out what that one’s all about! I don’t know why you’d get passionate about steam. But in our culture today it’s ok to be passionate about anything except your religion, except your faith, except your relationship with God. I can go to a concert, or a political rally or a baseball game and I can shout my head off. I can get excited. I can get hoarse from yelling so loud. When my team loses I could cry. Nobody thinks that’s a big deal. When my team wins I can jump up and dance around and wave my hands in the air. If I do that at a game people go, â€Å"He’s a real fan!† But if I do that in church people say, â€Å"He’s a fanatic! He’s a nut case.† You don’t want to get too emotional about your faith. Its ok about anything else but not that. Romans 12:1 â€Å"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor.† Keep the fires going in your life. Circle the word â€Å"keep.† Notice, it’s not automatic. It’s a choice. It’s a discipline. It’s something you must maintain. You are not by nature passionate about God. It’s something that you must choose to do. You get distracted and everything in life conspires to keep you from being passionate about God. So He says keep your passion going. Keep the fires going. It’s a discipline. It’s not just automatic. This kind of thing — being passionate about God has nothing to do with either your personality or your age. Our churches are filled with hundreds if not thousands of senior believers who have walked with God a long, long time and are still passionate. But everything in life conspires to keep you from being passionate. And it dissipates your energy. When you first become a believer and you really understand what a good deal you’ve got you get excited about it, â€Å"This is quite a big deal! All my sins were forgiven. I now have a purpose for living, and I now have a future home in heaven. What a deal! And you get excited about that when you give your life to Christ and you’re pretty passionate. But as time goes by you begin to lose your steam. You begin to lose your zip, your zest, your enthusiasm. What happened? Why does that happen? That’s what we’re going to look at today. As we go through God’s word we’re going to look at seven passion killers, things that rob the joy out of your life. I thought this would be a very appropriate message, right in the middle of winter, when nobody feels very passionate about much of anything. You want the warmth of summer back. So this morning we’re going to look at these passion killers together. I want you to use it as a checklist. Because God says, I want you to love Me with all of your heart.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Business Process Reengineering Essay

Fundamental rethinking and radical design to achieve dramatic improvement in cost, quality, service and delivery (Hammer & Champy, 1993; Manganelli & Klein, 1994). It means that business process reengineering involves many steps that change the entire business process. This is done to reduce the cost of production of a product or service, increasing the quality, and satisfying customers by offering an excellent service and delivery. BPR can be done in four ways that are: i. Business transformation By using this way, the whole organization is changed. This includes the business process, business management and business strategies. ii. Redesign business process In this way, only the business processes are changed. Usually, the number processes will be reduced. The non value added processes are eliminated. iii. Business process change management This is the process for managing human/employee side of change. It includes the steps taken to change the management team or a project leader. iv. Redesign strategies and value added processes It means that the organization changes the business strategies and creates or improves their value added activities. Objectives of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) There are many objectives of business process reengineering. The main objective is of course to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the whole business. Listed below are the specific objectives of business process reengineering: i. To save time and cost Time can be saved once the non value added activities are removed from the process as there is fewer work process to be done. This will lead to cost saving as the cost incurred during the production will also decrease. As the cost decreases, the profit margin will be higher and it will lead to a greater income for the company. ii. To improve the quality of work By implementing business process reengineering, the fragmentation of work can be reduced. This is contributed by the fewer process involved in production. This will reduce the errors that occur in production as fewer machines or human are involved. The performance of the business process reengineering can be improved through feedback received by the users of the goods or services. iii. To satisfy customers This is also one of the objectives of implementing business process reengineering. Customers will always be the main priority. BPR will ease the customer in many ways. For instance, nowadays we no longer have to stand in a queue line while waiting to be served if we go to any bank as the number system had been introduced. This is one example of the contribution of business process reengineering for customers’ satisfaction. Advantages of Business Process Reengineering i. Lower cost Reengineering proves to be cost effective as the cost of operating after implementing BPR will decrease significantly. ii. Better use of existing staff The existing staff expertise can be retained enhance through training them at the point of implementation of BPR. iii. Increase effectiveness and efficiency As the employees are aware of the processes that they involve in that has been reduced, it also reduces the time lag between different process. Implementation of BPR Key Steps: Selection of strategic added value processes Simplify new process Once the engineering take place, organization should stop and execute the selection of idea from the above step. The top management cannot live in limbo between yes or no and what are going to do with the idea. Organize a team & workflow Assign responsibilities Train the process team Manager will act as a coaches for the workers as they do not orders but they will guide, direct, coordinate and empower the job to the workers. This involved the top management and subordinates in working together as a team. Critical success factors required to compete are identified and prioritized. Participative business makeovers reject the â€Å"top- down† approach to reengineering in favor of a middle ground, where the managers and workers come together to redesign business processes. The BPR team will be split into two parts, a design team made up of senior managers, and an execution team composed of people who will actually do the work Introduce the redesigned process These initiatives seek to provide understanding of the markets, competitors, and the position of the organization within the industry Implementation BPR Success factors Revising reward and motivation system New reward and incentive scheme must be revised as supporting BPR effort to encouraging people to endorse BPR such as introduce new job titles in order to motivate the workers to the new system implementation. The workers are a resource for an organization to manage the operation effectively. The BPR will successfully be implemented if the workers are highly motivated to the changes made. Effective communication It is needed throughout the changes process at all levels in order to ensure patience and understanding among all employees. Communication breakdown between top management and the workers tend to happen due to the significant changes in the new system. By improving a better way of communication could lead the company to successfully implemented BPR in the organization. Empowerment The organization should establish a culture which staff at all levels feel more responsible and accountable to their respective job scope. Empowerment will make the staff feel more appreciative of their work when the organization give them the authority which in other means recognized and appreciate their work towards the success of the organization. The staff also will be able to set their goals and monitor their own performance thus supporting the implementation of BPR. Management of risk BPR involves radical changes to several systems in organization. Continuous risk assessment is needed throughout the implementation process to ensure the BPR success. The calculation of risk will help the organization in decision making regarding BPR implementation. Aligning BPR strategy with corporate strategy As corporate strategy determines objectives and guidance on how the organizational capabilities can be best utilised to gain competitive position, BPR strategy guides the alteration of tasks into integrated process. It also must accompanied by strategic planning in order to be successful in the long run. Kaizen Costing Introduction Kaizen costing also has a Japanese heritage. It comes from the combination of the Japanese characters ‘kai’ and ‘zen’ which mean ‘change’ and ‘good,’ respectively. The word ‘Kaizen’ translates to ‘continuous improvement’ or ‘change for the better’ and aims to improve productivity by making gradual changes to the entire manufacturing process. Masaki Imai known as the â€Å"Lean Guru† and the father of Continuous Improvement (CI) Masaaki Imai has been a pioneer and leader in spreading the Kaizen philosophy all over the world. Understand Kaizen Costing To understand Kaizen costing, one first needs to grasp standard costing methodology. The typical standard costing approach works by designing a product first, and computing costs by taking into account material, labour and overhead. The resulting figure is set as the product cost. The standard cost is set and revised on a yearly basis. Cost deviation analysis involves checking to see whether the projected cost estimates tally with the final figures. Manufacturing procedures are assumed to be static. In example, approach centres around recognizing that employees who work on a particular job are aware of how that particular task can be greatly improved. Employees are treated as valuable sources of viable solutions, an approach that differs greatly from the standard cost system that views employees as labourers with variable performance levels. Goals In order to properly implement Kaizen principals for process improvement, there are four goals towards reaching successful implementation of Kaizen: 1. To ensure that actual production cost are less than the prior year cost. 2. To reduce the difference between profit estimates and target profits (every department in the company makes an effort to introduce operational changes on a daily basis). 3. Analyzing every part of the process and generating ideas on how they can be further improved. 4. Kaizen costing takes into account aspects such as time-saving strategies, employee efficiency and wastage reduction. Advantages Focus on customers Kaizen permits no middle ground its either you provide best products and customer satisfaction or not. All the activities should aim at providing customer with whatever he wants and should help the firm long term objective of customer’s satisfaction at the same time building up good relationship. It is a responsibility of each and every person working in a Kaizen company to make sure that the product is up to the mark and it satisfies customers need. Make improvements continuously In order to search for excellence just does not end. We should work on the improvement implemented and see if we can make it even more effective. Acknowledge problems openly Every company has certain problems related to finance, competition, change in demand etc. Kaizen companies are no exception, but by fostering an appropriately supportive, constructive culture it becomes easier for any team to get its problem in the open. The whole organization works as a team to solve the problem. The problems are openly shared by the management with the employees which avoids rumours. It simply means â€Å"FIGHT WITH YOUR PROBLEMS DON’T RUN AWAYFROM THEM†. Promote openness There seems to be less functional ring fencing i.e. only the senior managers have private cabins. Otherwise the workplace is generally open and in many companies even the dress code and canteen for everyone is the same Create work teams Each individual in a Kaizen company belongs to work team headed by a leader. Working in various overlapping teams draws employees into corporate life and reinforces the mutual understanding. Cross- functional teams Kaizen states that no individual or team has all the required skill and knowledge to complete a task. Cross-functional teams help in getting all the valuable information’s from the view of all the related people. It calls for letting ideas to flow as wide as running on moon. Disadvantages Reluctant to change Most employees do not like changes as it will lead them to a new style of working Too much suggestion may lead to confusion and time wastage. By giving the opportunities to help in getting all the suggestion from the view of all the related people, they may be confuse to focus what are the best way to follows and also required a lot of time in considering which ways is the beneficially to them. Real life example: A Case Study of New Kaizen Activities at Tahara plant (Toyota) This type of costing was used by Japanese automobile companies (Toyota). The assembly line at Tahara plant was reorganized in 1995 clearly following the new concept realized first at Toyota Kyushu. However it was the assembly section itself that conceived this new assembly line, taking the initiative in product design and reconstruction of the assembly line. It began in 1991 where the revision in 1995 of the Hilux Surf (sports utility) being assembled and the assembly of another sports utility (Land Cruiser Prado) from 1996 were planned. On the basis of discussions held in the Committee above mentioned, the director of this assembly plant suggested to his assembly section’s manager (section chief) to prepare the revision of this sports utility by searching for an ideal assembly line. He then started to conceive it and organize engineers, â€Å"try team† staff, chief leaders and group leaders so that everyone would collaborate in order to realize an ideal assembly line about which he did not have any clear conception. Then he fixed the orientation toward the reconstruction of his assembly line as follows: Construct an assembly shop where the workers can work easily and execute  their operations â€Å"rhythmically†; Organize a human centered Toyota Production System; Form a kaizen mind of everyone so that he/she willingly does kaizen. The section chief thought that if the assembly shop were organized in such a way, it would also contribute to increase production efficiency assuring quality and security, and then to reduce costs. There were many problems to solve, which necessitated the collaboration of the product manager of these models, Product Engineering Design Sections, Production Engineering Division as well as those of Araco and Hino (Araco designs the body of Land Cruiser Prado; Hino, that of Hilux Surf whereas Toyota develops their chassis). In fact, the conception of new assembly line could not be developed without modifying vehicle structures and parts designs of these models. Comparison between BPR and Kaizen approach. Re-engineering Kaizen Type of process Work best: cross organizational boundaries as complex interrelationship of variables. Work best: with well defined boundaries. Degree of change Incremental or radical and usually affect an entire integrated process. Incremental or radical but usually only affect a limited sub process at a time. Speed Generally implemented in a big bang changeover Generates immediately noticeable and measurable changes Acceptance High risk of things reverting back to the way they were soon after the consultants leave. Since the people that actually do the work are the ones making the changes – acceptance are very high. Cost Often involves expensive technologies, computers, and other system. Most â€Å"lean† changes are inexpensive or even free. Technology Reengineering project is often led by computer consultants. Most â€Å"lean† methods minimize or even eliminate reliance on technology with a preference toward visual methods and simplification. Similarities of Business Process Reengineering and Kaizen Approach i. They increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the way the organization operates. ii. These two approaches focus on lowering cost. iii. Customers’ satisfaction is always the goal for these two strategic management accounting approaches. Conclusion The Business Process Reengineering is the process of redesigning the business processes and the associated systems and organizational structures to achieve a dramatic change in the whole business process and performance. On the other hand, Kaizen is a small improvements and changes for a better for business process and performance. It must be accompanied by change of method. Business Process Reengineering is a â€Å"project† with a defined beginning and ending. Kaizen is a never ending process.