Rasputin The Man, The Mystery Essays - Grigori Rasputin

Rasputin: The Man, The Mystery Rasputin: The Man, The Mystery Introduction Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin is known as the Siberian Mystic Healer, whose life has been retold numerous of times and almost each time it is told it is retold in a different way. Since Rasputin lived in a civilization not that advanced, little is know of his first forty years of life. So most information on the man are normally from stories families have passed on. Some say he is a holy monk with great powers, on the other hand he may be known as a phony with a false connection to God. The Beginning Rasputin was born between 1864 and 1865 in his own home of Pokrovskoe. It is now known as Tiumen' Oblast. It is located in Siberia on the Toura River. This was a small city located near the Ural Mountains. At the center of the village stood a large white church with a guilded dome, which was a symbol of Russia's strong religious background. At the age of eighteen Rasputin went through a religious transition. He eventually went to the monastery at Verkhoture. At this place he became aquatinted to the Khlysty sect. After spending some time at this monastery he did not become a monk. When he came to this monastery he had no intentions of becoming a monk. But this even eventually leads to fame and power for Rasputin. At the age of nineteen, Rasputin returned to his home in Pokrovskoe. There he fell in love and married Praskovia Fyodorovna. Together the two had three children. They had Dimitri in 1897, Maria in 1898, and Varvara in 1900. Marriage wasn't enough to keep Rasputin in one place. He continued to wander to places of religious significance suck as Mt. Athos, Greece, and Jerusalem. He was a self-proclaimed holy man. He had the power to heal the sick and the power to predict the future. His fame grew greatly. Soon people traveled from long distances in search of his well heard about abilities and insight. For Rasputin's help, people would repay him with food, presents, and money. Rasputin has had no long period of religious or spiritual training. He also had very limited education so he was left illiterate. This made his theatrical abilities become very useful. One day while Rasputin was plowing in the fields he had a revelation. The story states that a Heavenly Mother touched him. She told him of young Aleksei, the tsarevich and she instructed him to appear at the boy's side to stop his bleeding. His bleeding was a result of his hemophilia. He made his initial move towards St. Petersburg in1902, when he visited the city of Kazan near the Volga River. After this trip he had a rapidly growing group of disciples and acquaintances in the upper class, and he was known as a man of God. The City of St. Petersburg Rasputin arrived in St. Petersburg at a time when church leaders were really vulnerable. They wanted people with religious influence, and who had power over the people. Rasputin was both an ordinary peasant ? simple, forceful, and direct ? while at the same time he possessed the power to astonish people with his healing powers and his insight into the future. People in the city had different views on the man. One was that he was a very holy man who possessed great powers. The other is that he was just a cynical, and that he used religion to mask his drive for sex, money, and power. Sex Life Rasputin had a very active sex life. He was reported to hold orgies in the basement of his house at the same time he lived with his wife around 1900. Later, after Rasputin had a rise to fame he attracted a large crowd of female followers. Many of the pictures of Rasputin are with him surrounded by women. There are reports of Rasputin raping women. These reports are untrue because Rasputin really didn't have to rape the to get them into bed. All of these activities did not conflict with Rasputin's religious beliefs. He did not particularly care for the orthodox religion. He was a member of the Khlisti sect. Followers of the Khlisti sect believed that all of the desires of the man should be fulfilled, and man of its members held orgies to fulfill their needs. Some people claim that Rasputin thought that he vitally derived from having sex. There are reports of Rasputin having sex with the tsarina, but the are totally false. The Romanovs Rasputin arrived in St. Petersburg in 1905 and he was not invited

A Comprehensive PET-CT Database for Tracking Patient Variables

A Comprehensive PET-CT Database for Tracking Patient Variables Free Online Research Papers Abstract: A relational database was developed tracking demographic and examination information for patients undergoing PET/CT studies. Methods: A worksheet was first developed to capture patient and study information which was then entered into a relational database. Reports were designed to provide administrative and clinical information. Results: Approximately 2000 patients and three years of data have been recorded in the database. Reports have been used for administrative and research purposes. Conclusion: The database provided reports used to justify staffing, expenditures, and growth. It has also provided research data as well as clinical feedback used to improve the care and management of our patients. Introduction: In July 2003, the Medical College of Georgia installed a PET/CT scanner in its Radiation Therapy Outpatient Center. The scanner is used to perform a variety of diagnostic and oncology-related procedures. In order to be able to retroactively derive research data, a means of tracking patients as well as their individual studies was needed. Although a previously existing diagnostic PET scanner was in use, only radiopharmaceutical records were kept. In the radiation therapy PET/CT environment we felt it important to record additional information obtained from the in-depth patient history and physical. Materials and Methods: A worksheet was developed which allows the technologist to record a current medical history. It was designed by the nuclear medicine physician, the on-site radio pharmacist, and the lead PET technologist. Worksheet entries directly correspond to the database fields to simplify data input for the technologist. If funding becomes available for a computer in the incubation area, the technologist will be able to enter the history directly into the database. Worksheets are filled out by the nuclear medicine technical staff but in order to reduce errors, only the certified PET technologists perform data entry. Data has been collected since the inception of the PET/CT unit in August, 2003. The database currently holds approximately 2000 patients each of whom has had from 1 to 6 PET/CT examinations. Because of the complexity of the information to be recorded, it was determined that a relational database rather than a spreadsheet would be the most effective tool. A relational database promotes accuracy and flexibility and also simplifies data input. Rather than the free text fields used in spreadsheets, extensive use was made of drop boxes and radio buttons as shown in figure 1 which provide selection from fixed, pre-established choices. Because a patient can and often does have multiple examinations, one table was established for the patient and a related table for procedures. There is also a table of examination types. Using the relational capability of the database, every procedure is linked to a specific patient and exam type, both of which are selected from drop boxes. Tables were also developed for referring physicians and exam indications. Because information is linked rather than entered as free text, accuracy is improved and consistency is ensured. Current departmental research interests focus on several patient populations including pediatric lymphoma, cervical and gynecological cancer, and patients requiring treatment planning. Specific database fields were selected to allow future correlations of disease and risk factors. In addition, fields were provided related to patient demographics in order to provide regional coverage documentation for the Certificate of Need. As shown in figure 2, pre administrative reports include monthly procedure counts (figure 3), Veteran’s Administration patient volume, patient demographics for the Certificate of Need, and patient referral volume by physician (figure 4). For research purposes, study data in reports can be filtered by examination indications, type of exam, or patient sex, race, age, or risk factors. Results: The database is useful in providing financial reports. These reports are used to correlate contract billing and to monitor coding accuracy. Reports are also useful in looking at volumes in order to monitor productivity and develop future budgets. Database reports organize research data on patients and their studies including demographics, history, and risk factors. The tools associated with a relational database provide statistics useful in the publication of case studies, preparation of lectures, and tracking of research data. Discussion: The database was designed and structured to provide flexibility in the use and presentation of information. One of the advantages of a properly designed database is that the presentation of information can be readily customized. Those entering information into the database as well as the individuals who will be using the results and reports should be involved in the design process. After obtaining all potentially useful information in the proper format, reports can be customized to fit the needs of administrators and researchers. The approach used in the development and use of this database is adaptable to other types of institutions. The focus should be predicting the information required by the specific users as well as simplifying data entry. Well-designed database structure and screens can save time and reduce or eliminate many input errors, thus enhancing productivity and accuracy. Once accurate information is collected in a well-designed format, it is relatively simple for someone proficient with databases to produce customized reports. This is especially important because users often have changing needs and interests over time. Below are examples of reports which administrators and clinicians at our institution have found useful: Veteran Patient Volume The reimbursement department uses this data to track billing cycles. Physician Referral Base This information is useful in focusing marketing efforts by identifying areas for development. Pediatric Lymphomas Following pediatric patients over a period of years will help determine improved clinical pathways for disease management. Gynecological Cancers The gynecological clinic is one of our largest referral bases. This information will be used to differentiate needs for customized scanning such as â€Å"dual point† scanning post surgery. Patient Logs and Volumes Reports provide monthly and yearly patient volume data in both textual and graphical format. Accurate volume information allows us to project staffing needs and schedule system maintenance. The printout also provides a hardcopy back-up of invaluable data. Radiation Treatment Planning By tracking the protocol used for each patient, outcomes are improved by retrospectively analyzing clinical patient management. Conclusion: This database has provided hospital administration with accurate and timely reports to justify staffing, expenditures, and growth. It has provided our physicians with a plethora of research data and has provided our technologists with a method of correlative thinking in the care and management of our patients. As volume increases, the need for accurate, easily accessible information becomes more important. The database is being continually modified and new reports are being developed to enhance management and research functions. Use of a PET/CT tracking database should prove helpful to other facilities to exploit the potential of this technology. References: 1. Gardner WD. Breast Cancer Database Provides Faster Access To Patient Records. InformationWeek Web site. 2005. Available at: informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=NBXENMVY3EP5AQSNDBGCKHSCJUMEKJVN?articleID=174400322. Accessed April 28, 2007. 2. Johnson S, Paul T, Khenia A. Generic Database Design for Patient Management Information. American Medical Informatics Association Web site. Available at: amia.org/pubs/symposia/D004062.PDF. Accessed April 28, 2007. 3. Friedman C, Hripcsak G, Johnson SB, Cimino JJ, Clayton PD. A Generalized Relational Scheme for an Integrated Clinical Patient Database. Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Symposium on Computer Applications in Medical Care. Washington, D.C. 1990. 4. Essin DJ, Lincoln TL. Implementing a Low-cost Computer-based Patient Record: A controlled vocabulary reduces database design complexity. In: Gardner R, ed. Nineteenth Symposium on Computer Applications in Medical Care. Philadelphia: Hanley and Belfus, 1995:431-5. Research Papers on A Comprehensive PET-CT Database for Tracking Patient VariablesArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)The Project Managment Office SystemRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanResearch Process Part OneThe Fifth HorsemanInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfThree Concepts of PsychodynamicOpen Architechture a white paper

Strategic Situation Analysis for Developing Critical Thinking Skills - Essay - 8

Strategic Situation Analysis for Developing Critical Thinking Skills - Matching Dell - Essay Example The approach towards analyzing a situation is based on productive and critical mindset and involves several steps in its execution. One of the most important steps in SSAS is to investigate the underlying strategy of a situation and find out how that strategy influences the outcomes, productivity, and results of the study at hand. This constitutes the third step in the SSAS approach. The pertinent case study is dealing with the functioning of the Dell computer company, and its comparison with its rival companies. This involves examining the management and strategies of the Dell Corporation and matching it with its rival corporations. Towards the mid-‘90s, the advent of personalized computers had taken over the market, and more and more customers were finding new reasons to obtain their own computers. This meant that computers were no longer limited to big corporations and businesses, but were becoming a household commodity. This gave companies like IBM and Apple, which were previously manufacturing mainframe machines, to produce PCs and tap the huge profits in this sector. Initially, IBM, the leading company in computer hardware, took over the market by manufacturing PCs and loading them with software developed mainly by Microsoft. Their contract with Microsoft proved fruitful and they were soon the leaders in the market. Other companies like Compaq, HP (Hewlett-Packard) and Gateway followed suit. They all focused on developing the hardware and contracting with software companies like Microsoft or Apple to provide them with the operational programs, and their main customers were big and medium-sized corpor ate organizations. Dell was another such company dealing with the manufacturing of PCs.However,  their method of working was radically different  from the other companies,  and it was so successful  that it gave  them a huge edge of advantage that  soon earned them  the leading position in the market.

Money & Banking Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Money & Banking - Assignment Example It has been stated that the measurement problems occur especially during the business cycle contraction where the values are understated. Unemployment rate is understated due to a number of reasons. First off, underemployment is not regarded as unemployment, but is instead viewed as being employed. In tough economic times, job cuts are common in many organizations. Many people subsequently seek out jobs that do not utilize their full skill and knowledge potential (Horvitz 33). Though these jobs are temporary income earners to cater for the person’s daily need, the Bureau of Labor Statistics view these people as fully employed and does not count then against the national rate, leading to massive understatement. If a person who used to take home $140,000 each year has to take a job that offers $22,000, it is unfair to consider this person as employed (Horvitz 47). New entrants into the labor force are not considered unemployed. If for instance, a stay at home mum seeks out employment due to harsh economic times and fails to get employed, she will not get counted as unemployed by the authorities. There exist people under the age of sixteen who have taken up jobs to assist their families. Since they are below the age of 16, they are not counted as employed and if they fail to find work, they do not count as unemployed either. This adds up to massive understatement of the unemployment rate. The Bureau of Labor Statistics only considers one unemployed if you are actively involved in job hunting. Individuals who are jobless and are no longer searching for work are not counted as unemployed. They are therefore not included in the unemployment values rolled out every month, a phenomenon that without a doubt leads to understatement by massive margins (Horvitz 77). Some workers have had to involuntarily take up job sharing, working less hour shifts

Canadian Senate Reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Canadian Senate Reform - Essay Example However, all the hard work to modify the governing body has been failing for the past several years. Ultimately, the present government resolution is to accomplish the task of reformation. The conformist government, which is under the Prime Minister, suggests cutting down the period senators’ rule and choosing them by ballot. However, the government is operating into tough political oppositions. The Senate in Canada keeps hold of a central position in the history of the country (Smith, 2009).Without a doubt, the alliances made in Canada for the past decades were because of the accord to take in the governing body as it is now incorporated. The legislative body of Canada is an exclusive establishment, being the only succeeding chamber contained by the Canadian coalition, as well as the lone in the western part whose affiliates are all chosen. This paper will highlight the bill meant for the agenda of Canadian reform and some of the main contents of the bill. It will also explai n the major provisions of the Act as well as the conditions for the senate candidates. The script will as well talk about the arguments made by the leaders concerning the issue of government reform. It will outline the doubts of the senators as well as the arguments made by the opposition, and the side supporting the reform. ... Lastly, this paper will give recommendations regarding this matter of the Canadian reform. It will discuss the importance of the changes to be made in the government body as well as what effects the reform could have to the country. Bill for the Agenda In the year 2006, the Canada’s Prime Minister conformist government had established two bills to change the senate. One was to institute restricted conditions for senators, reinstating the system on hand of appointment until one reaches 75 years. The other bill was to launch consultative voting for the legislature with the Prime Minister appointing the conquerors of the election. The â€Å"House of Commons† and the Senate heard the bills but neither of them was ratified into ruling (Smith, 2009). In the first session of the Canada’s forty-first parliament, Bill C-7 was proposed. The bill was based on an Act with regard to choosing of senators as well as adjusting the constitution Act, 1867 regarding Senate period r estrictions. The first part of the endorsement ascertains a structure for selecting Senate appointments contenders from the territories as well as provinces. Two main ideologies would be relevant to the procedure of election. The first one was that, the Prime Minister, in advocating Senate candidates to the â€Å"Governor General† for a region or province, would be compelled to put into regard, names from a list of entrants presented by the regional or provincial administration. The second principle was that the contenders list would be resolved by a selection held according to the regional or provincial laws ratified to put the framework into practice. The second part of the endorsement modifies the occupancy of senators who are to be called

Construction Industry In India | Profile

Construction Industry In India | Profile The present study reports profile of construction industry in India. It points that construction industry is one of the oldest industries providing ample employment to the people from village level to metropolitan cities. The size of construction industry ranges from small company owned by one or two individuals to a large industry employing thousands of people. In the present work inherent nature of construction industry have been discussed and concluded that it is infrastructure or capital formation industry, which directly and indirectly uses capital goods and all other types of resources. It has been also highlighted that government agencies has direct interference in construction activity right from acquisition of land to commissioning of the project. To face the temporal variation of feast and famine state of construction industry emphasis on systematized management has been suggested. Like any other business, failure of construction companies is also very common. This issue has also been overviewed. Incompetence, lack of experience, newness, smallness and financial handicap are the few reasons cited for such failures. It has been concluded that lessons should be learnt from failures as success is never final and failure is never fatal. It is the courage of management that counts. At last it is not failure but low aim is a crime. Key words: Construction industry, management, project, cost, infrastructure. 1. Introduction: Historically construction industry is one of the oldest and largest industry in unorganised sector providing ample employment to the people. Before the independence, the construction activity in India was confined to building of dwellings, religious places like mosques and temples etc. at individual and community level, with the use of traditional techniques, which are still being used in developing countries like India. The Taj Mahal and Lal Quila are the legandry example of competence of Indian talent in the field of construction .However very authentic record of the construction operation of these buildings are not available today. The history of systematised or organised construction practice in India can be traced back to around 1847 AD when Lord Dalhouise established the Public Works Department, called PWD, today, to construct civil engineering structure which included road, small dams, canals etc. The department worked successfully for 100 years. In 1947, the independent India decided to launch a mammoth multipurpose river valley project, called Bhakhra Nangal Project on the river Sutlej in the North West India for irrigation and power generation at a cost of Rs.7750 lakhs in 1952 which amounts today approximately more than Rs.100,000 crore in first five year plan in which 50% of capital outlay was allotted to construction of civil works.[5] The construction of Bhakhra Dam was taken by irrigat ion wing of PWD of Punjab with the help of technical knowhow from foreign help on cost plus basis. This can be considered as a major breakthrough in the field of construction by India as there were no big construction companies available at that time to take up such stupendous job and more over network analysis like Construction Planning Method / also known as Critical Path Method (CPM) and Programme Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) had not taken formal shape. The evolution of Indian construction industry has followed the same general pattern as happened in other countries, initially founded by the government and slowly taken over by small and big enterprises. During execution of Bhakra Nangal dam Indian government realised need of professional competence in the field of construction and the first professional consultancy company National Industrial Development Corporation (N I D C) was established in the public sector in 1954 .Subsequently a number of speciality companies in design and Construction came into existence like Indian Railways Construction Limited (IRCON),National Building Construction Corporation (N B C C),Rail India Transport and Engineering Services (R I T E S),Engineers India Limited(E I L) and in private M N Dastur Co.Hindustan Construction Company are the name worth to be mentioned. In late sixties government allowed foreign collaborations in these services .The guidelines for such collaboration were prepared and issued in 1968 with binding that local consultant would be the principal contractor in such collaborations .The objective behind such binding was to develop indigenous design capabilities comparable to in flown foreign technology and skills. The outcome of this strategy was establishment of joint ventures in India. 2. Construction and National Economy: By just using common sense it can be inferred that economic plans of any country is prepared to improve any particular sector of economy. Improvement or emphasis on any particular sector may or may not need help of other sectors like construction. A microscopic study of economy, irrespective of its state i.e. primary, secondary or tertiary, reveals that development of most of the sectors need help of construction. In nutshell, a gap between demand and supply is necessary for the development of a particular sector. Role of construction and its impact on other area can be seen from Figure 1.1 Thus it can be said that any attention to optimise construction activity will lead to reduction in waste of material, saving of energy and saving of time. This will certainly lead to reduction in cost over runs of other projects. Thus, construction sector is directly or indirectly influences the overall economy of the country. The pattern of Indian economy of last fifty years shows that construction work amounts to around 40% of development investment .Approximately 16% of Indian working population depends on construction for its living .The construction industry creates immobile assets worth over Rs.20000 crore by employing more than 3 crore people .It enhances nations GDP by 5% and gross capital formation of 78%.It is expected that total capital expenditure of state and centre will be approaching Rs.802087 crores during the period 2011-12. This amount indicates an enhancement of Rs.658500 crore from the figure of Rs. 143587 in 1999-2000.In the 21st century there has been an increase in the share of the construction sector in GDP and capital formation .The GDP from construction at factore cost or at current prices increased to Rs. 174571 crores (12.02 % of the total GDP)in 2004 -05 from Rs.16238 crores (10.39% of the total GDP in period 2000-01.The increasing involvement of the private sector in infrastru cture development through public private partnership and the strategy like Build Own Transfer (BOT) can be cited as the main factor for such increase in GDP. However there is always scope for more active participation from private sector in this direction through investment. There are around 200 firms from corporate sector, working in Indian construction industry .The number of registered class A contractors is around 120000 working for local development authority, state departments and central government bodies like CPWD. The number of small contractors and petty contractors working as sub contractors for principal contractors are enormous. So there is ample scope for expansion of construction industry at micro as well as at macro level in form of infrastructure development. NATIONAL ECONOMY Construction industry has some peculiar characteristics like any other industry. Firstly, it is a capital-intensive industry involving current and future outlays of funds with the expectation of a stream of benefits extending far into the future. Secondly, construction project takes a long duration to complete e.g. the Bhakra Dam took fifteen years for its completion (1950-1965) and they also have a long gestation period. Thirdly, the useful life of construction project of national importance is very long usually more than 60 years for most of the major constructions. Fourthly, in construction project, products and services are combined together. In construction, product is fixed and machine and men move, contrary to assembly line production in which product moves. Fifthly, a large construction needs a large land area. Acquisition of such land leads to payment of compensation to the owners of the land, which has legal and political over tones. In some cases like construction of dam, it needs rehabilitation of nearby villages. Such problems usually do not occur with the other industries. Sixthly, cost benefit analysis of public infrastructure created by construction activity such as roads, bridges and dams cannot be done with traditional concept of profit maximisation alone. Special economic tools like Social Cost Benefit Analysis (SCBA) and principles of welfare economics are essential for the valuation of such assets. Seventhly, two construction projects are not identical in every respect. Thus, construction project can be considered as a job work of a large magnitude contrary to any other manufacturing unit producing products at mass scale by a single machine. Eighthly, the human resource working in construction forms a temporary organisation for the project at the site and disperses in different directions as soon as the project is over. Ninthly, experience of generations plays a vital role as most of the construction material directly used after quarrying are the natural material and performance or relative merit of such material takes a long time for its pronouncement, the time may be in decades. Tenthly, death of workers during the execution phase of project is very common, so safety and precaution are primary concerns. Such peculiar characteristics of construction project opened the portals for the development of special managerial tools, like materials management, CPM and PERT to handle the project in a professional manner. In India, construction industry is fragmented and a sizeable construction work is performed by the unorganised sector. Such peculiar characteristic creates favourable conditions for the establishment of a new company. If Construction Company is weighed on the basis of men; material and money following facts come up. As most of the construction is done either on site or precast members, are fabricated and assembled on the site and most of the construction equipment are available on rental basis, thus a little capital is invested in fixed assets and machinery. Construction companies require relatively low working capital as after award of contract, company realises mobilisation advance from owner before starting the work. In India, companies, usually employ labour contractor for the supply of labour force. So very few employees are on the permanent pay roll of the company. These factors are responsible for the birth of small to very big construction companies. This introduces competition in the market. There are pitfalls but a professionally managed construction company is able to pay rich dividend to its owners/shareholders. 3. Constructions and National Development: For any developing country like India, development of infrastructure is the prerequisite for the economic progress of the country. To achieve this objective optimised construction is the need of the hour as capital is a scarce resource 4. Types of Construction: Total construction work can be divided into two broad categories viz. public and private. The public projects i.e. whose direct beneficiary will be the public, is usually handled by the government, of course govt. get it done by any contractor or by construction company by awarding the work through bids and tenders. It is public money or any financial aid or loan from agencies like World Bank, that is spent. Dams, Bridges, Canals, Metro Rail, Power Projects, DUDA,SUDA are typical examples of public projects. Private projects like house of an individual or construction of a factory, a nursing home, hotel or project in which taxpayers money is not involved can be categorised as a private project. Frankly speaking profit motive is always there in most of the private projects. In private projects, capital outlays are less as compared to public projects. Secondly in Indian working environment one cannot afford delay in private projects but cost over runs and delays in public projects are an everyday phenomenon in India. 5. Consumers of Construction Industry: Following are the consumers of construction industry: An Individual Group Housing Societies Centre, State, Local Government and Development Authorities. Corporate Sector Other countries at International level. Every consumer has own peculiar requirements, which are being described in following paragraphs. 5.1 Individuals: An individual needs the services of a construction company for the construction of individual house, which is ordinarily his dream house. In such construction, company cannot ignore individual taste and preferences. Persons who are executing the project have to help and arrive at a decision in advance on the item of choice and colour e.g. colour and size of tile of bathroom, colour, size and quarry of marble stone etc. if construction has to proceed smoothly. 5.2 Group Housing Societies: The housing demand will be around 31 million by 2015(MPRA 2008)In planning and designing of an apartment or building blocks for group housing society, the requirement can be classified into two broad categories. [13] First requirement is of an individual in his house. In a group housing most of the finishing items are left for the individual occupant so he could finish the house as per his choice, taste and preferences. Second requirement is the preferences of a group of people as a whole or community. requirement. To fulfil this requirement planner needs knowledge of architectural sociology, human behaviour, security aspect, and maintenance engineering practices, generosity of the people and cooperation among the people. 5.3 Corporate Sector: Corporate sector hires the services of Construction Company for commercial building, for factory or for office building etc. In such buildings, building economics, cost optimization, requirement of  future expansion and flexibility of the plan are the key issues.There is ample scope for creativity and innovation in corporate sector projects. 5.4 Government Construction: Local Development Authorities, CPWD, PWD of various states etc are the department which look after the construction of government sponsored, civil engineering works. Here Construction Company is guided by strict rules and regulations of the state, for such departments, time factor is least important. 5.5 International Contract: After the Second World War under developed, oil-rich countries were busy in creating infrastructure of the country to boost economic growth. Sometimes even developed countries need huge construction for the events like Olympic and Asian games. These projects are mostly financed by the user country or by some international financing agency like World Bank. In such cases international bids are invited. Construction companies from US, Great Britain, West Germany and France usually take the best part of these contracts. Now competition is increasing. Companies from Japan, South Korea and India are also getting business share in these countries in construction and in setting up of power stations and infrastructure. Those companies who offer turnkey services have bright chances of success in the competition when the nature of job is purely works contract. Here sub contractor is capable of mobilising construction equipments and manpower and gets subcontracts from principal contractor. Joint venture is a very common phenomenon in international contracts. 6. Main Organs of Construction Industry: There are three main organs of construction industry other than the consumer. The Owner The Consultant The Contractor 6.1 The Owner: Civil Engineering Projects are usually cost intensive. Usually the investor does feasibility study in advance. Any investor or promoter is worried about two things. Firstly investor is worried about the rate of return. Secondly the patterns of cash flow. The ideal situation will be high and early return. i.e. on what date what amount is required and from where the same will be arranged. The owner or promoter may be an individual, a government authority, a government department, a corporate house etc. 6.2 The Consultant: In Civil Engineering Projects, Architect, Engineer, Project Manager and Chartered Accountant usually form the panel of consultants. These persons advise the owner on the basis of their knowledge, experience, and know how. It is generally believed that any person who has experience and knowledge can give advice on a particular problem of his field. The basic function of an engineer is to design and do necessary permutation and combination to optimise the solution. Although consultant should have experience, knowledge and wisdom that all certainly come with age but people who are well versed with new material, new technology, new equipment and of course having a lot of energy and enthusiasm to do something new are also desirable on the project. 6.3 The Contractor: In Civil Engineering Project, contractor translates the blue print into reality with the help of work force and material. The practice of contractor ship in civil engineering is perhaps as old as civil engineering itself. A poorly written contract agreement is always a good cause of bone of contention. In contracts, one should always seek the help of a legal expert. This is imperative that owner himself should enhance his knowledge on the subjects like laws of contract, negotiable instrument act and consumer protection act etc. 7. Regulatory Bodies Related with Construction: Regulatory bodies related with any business can be classified into two broad categories viz. general and specific. Income Tax, Labour Court, Labour Union, Electricity Board are the departments with which every business organization has to deal, fall in general category. So every business organization should be well versed with the rules, regulation ,written and unwritten laws of these departments. The regulatory bodies specific to construction at local level are following: (1) Local Development Authority, (2) Pollution Control Board, (3) Water Works and Conservancy, (4) Local Police. 7.1 Local Development Authority: It is the first regulatory body, which is encountered in any construction. Most of the rules, regulations and byelaws of development authorities of province of Uttar Pradesh are given in the book Regulation of Building Operation in Uttar Pradesh. This very book every construction manager should have and should always keep himself in touch with the office of the development authority for the awareness of day-to-day changes in the working and rules and regulation of the authority. In fact, rules, regulation and bye laws are framed to provide healthy living but sometimes these laws are one sided i.e. in favour of government only. Thus, it is advisable that rules should not be violated in ordinary circumstances. However, there is always a provision for the compounding. This is to be weighed by the owners i.e. gain or loss on an unauthorised construction. 7.2 Pollution Control Board (PCB): Now a days regulation regarding environmental pollution have become very stringent in India to, like in advanced countries. Sometimes large projects like construction of power plant, multipurpose river valley project are stopped or even abandoned due to environmental considerations. Most common projects that have been in trouble in the recent past include Tehri Dam in Uttranchal and Narmada in Madhya Pradesh. Clearance from PCB is also necessary for construction of a factory or fabrication of a processing plant. The days are over when effluents were directly discharged into the river. There is no harm in conforming to PCB norms but sometimes these regulations are difficult to obey and PCB acts as a hassle. Planners are advised to incorporate PCB recommendation right from site selection to project formulation. 7.3 Water Works and Conservancy: If construction is to be done in urban area then very first question comes to mind is what will be the source of water during construction. If municipal water supply is used , municipality charges additional tariff on it. So it is advisable that first and foremost job of construction manager is to get a water pump installed and inform the municipality that public water is not being used for construction. The second thing in case of projects like hotel and apartment is the disposal of wastewater and night soil. It is obligatory upon liaison officer of the construction company or construction manager to initiate the issue for the permission of connection of sewer of the building to the municipal sewer. 7.4 Local Police: Local police plays an important role in any construction project in India because development authorities always take the help of police to meet their objectives or in case of mishappening on the site local police has to be taken into confidence. It is obligatory on the part of construction manager to maintain good relations with local police station and police officers of that area. Of course maintenance of such relations, always lead to additional expenditure on the construction company. 8. Business Opportunity in Construction Industry: Construction of infrastructure like road network, canals, urban development, extension and renovation of existing facility are few activities through which capital formation takes place in most of the countries of the world. So there is always ample opportunity for construction from village level to international level for the construction companies, depending upon size and ability and experience of the company. 9. Management in Construction: Based on work experience, it has been observed that most of the construction contractors manage their business in a very unorganised manner. This ultimately leads to failure of business. The numbers of small and medium size companies failures are much more. Construction industry has been characterized as weak inefficient, nebulous, backward and slow to incorporate changing conditions. In a nutshell majority of construction companies are poor absorber of management knowledge. The explanation given for it may be as under. Every construction project is unique in itself and does not need very strict technical standardization. An operation in construction work involves many skills and talent, mostly of non-repetitive nature. Remote location of the project, poor means of transportation and varying productivity of labour are some factors, which are beyond the contractors control. Thus construction business is volatile in nature with many ups and downs. Any construction activity is basically a manufacturing process. So the decision-making people are very few. Any delay in on the spot decisions, increases the cost and hampers the progress of construction. Such complexities lead to a managerial challenge. It does not mean management problems of construction are entirely different from other management problems. Like any other industry, construction industry is also experiencing cutthroat competition. Products and services of construction industry also face temporal variation in demand and supply. Such conditions necessitate the learning of managerial practice specific to construction. Today skilled management is necessary for the survival of construction industry. This maxim has not received adequate attention in construction firms in India. The result is high incidence of failure. 10. Failures of Construction Company: Any construction activity starts from scratch and passes through various intricate processes and finally project ends in a built up facility or reaches to start up phase of the project and finally project becomes operational. Like other business in construction business also ,there are many slips between cup and lip. The failure of construction business is a subject of analytical inquiry and a matter of concern. So many investigators have examined the issue. A few are being reported here. Dun Bradstreet (1985-1994) have studied the failure of Construction Company for many years (10 years). They list the following reasons for the failures.[1] Incompetence Unbalanced experience Lack of managerial experience Lack of experience in particular line Neglect Fraud Disaster Reasons unknown The first four items listed in above list account for over 90 percent of the failures. This fact exhibits that financial success of Construction Company depends almost entirely upon the quality of its management. Sometimes prolonged work, poor profit margin, lack of proper accounting procedure can be cited as reason for the failure. If we club all these reasons, it points towards poor management. Recently Kale and Arditi (1998) have done a thorough investigation in this direction. They conclude that newness, adolescence and smallness are three major factors, which are responsible for failure of construction companies.[2] Arditi et.al.(2000) found budgetary and macroeconomic issues as main reason. [8] Kivrak and Arslan(2008) have examined the critical factors causing the failure of construction companies through a survey conducted on forty medium and small size construction companies of Turkey .They have inferred lack of experience and countrys economic condition as influential factor for the failure.[7] In scholars opinion financial handicap is perhaps the root cause of failure, which is always associated with new companies. It may be concluded that in simple terms, if any one fails in any business, i.e. he could not understand the economics or intricacies or commerce of that business. There is no dearth of literature on the success stories of various companies. Unfortunately success is a public celebration and failure is a private funeral. So for a new entrepreneur, it is better to learn from failures rather than from success stories. In this regard scholar is of the view that foundation of right stepping stone always rests on wrong footprints. These wrong footprints are sometimes called experience. In a nutshell a new entrepreneur should know DONTS first rather than DOS. It is the first step to run the construction business. 11. The Construction Managers: The construction manager is the most critical resource in implementation phase of the project. He is supposed to discharge basic functions like organizing, staffing, directing, planning and controlling. A good performance of construction manager is necessary for the growth, development and success of Construction Company. Although the managers do not normally, carry out the construction work with their own hand, Yet they are responsible for keeping the project on schedule within the cost limits. They should have telescopic as well as microscopic vision on each and every step of construction operation, right from preliminary estimates and various types of costs to the final inspection and payment. In managing any construction project, personality of construction manager plays a vital role. This very trait can never be ignored. Mustapha and Naoum (1998) have investigated factors, which influence effectiveness of site managers. They are of strong opinion that personal variables as a whole have an impact on effectiveness of site managers.[4] The construction manager should also be capable of handling crisis and contingencies at site. Crisis and contingency do arise at construction site. Managers should be well equipped to deal with such emergencies. To deal with such contingencies collective effort is needed. Loosemore (1998) has identified effective responsibility and teamwork is the basic managerial tool to handle the crisis. 12. Need for Professional Competence: If a company or contractor is ignorant about his legal rights, entitlements and not vigilant, he will get partial success and will have to be contented with few chips of fruit produced by his hard labour and larger chunk will go to the owner who will seldom volunteer a helping hand. So there is an intense need to instil competence in the management of this valued industry. Introducing a comprehensive course of study, containing all the relevant aspects of construction management and by writing good books and doing research work, covering all aspects of the problem, can fill this gap. Since construction activities are carried out mostly at the construction site, which are usually far flung from main cities, the academician/authors, and the faculty may not be aware of the practical difficulties and nuances of construction management. These might be the reason that construction management has not received due place in the institutes, universities, colleges and in many management books. 13. Application of present paper: This research work will be useful to individual owner, consultant and contractor as well. If a young entrepreneur decides to enter in construction business he is being told in advance about the pros and cons of construction industry. If he plans his business and manages the construction work himself, by employing his own construction team and purchasing the material himself, he will certainly flourish. If the entrepreneur who is conversant with the nuances of construction management practice, can extract maximum from the contractor by applying the knowledge discussed herein, with not much difficulty and solving their problem in time without being deceived or cheated by any one. Consultants can use the present work for optimising the project during conception, definition and planning phase of the project. At last the maximum benefited is the contractor who feels the beat (profit) of the heart of construction project i.e. construction phase. 14. Conclusion Today, due to increased competition and the capital, which is scarce, large constructions like metro rail, infrastructure development, high-rise building cannot be handled without the use of modern construction equipment and modern construction management techniques to reduce time and to maintain higher standards of construction quality. On one hand, it is necessary to use modern machinery and latest construction management tools to optimise the construction activity to improve the physical productivity of fixed and variable factors of production. It does not mean that will leave thousands of labourers and other human resource jobless. It is an irrational thinking as it is well said that tomorrow will take its own course. Meticulous management of the finances is necessary for the exponential growth of the company. At last any productive activity serves the society so is with the construction activity. In broader sense every individual of the country will get benefit of increased productivity directly or indirectly through the created individual assets or public infrastructure.

Prostitution Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I’ve often wondered what drives women into prostitution? Is it always by choice or are they forced into it? The whole idea of paying for sex seems so undignified. Something so intimate, in my opinion, should not be up for sale.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is thought that those who are prostitutes are driven to do so because of their childhoods. Recent research does support this idea. Dr. Melissa Farley and Dr. Howard Barkin reported that out of 130 prostitutes surveyed fifty-five percent reported that they had been sexually abused as a child by three perpetrators or more. Ninety-four percent reported that a caregiver had physically abused them until they were bruised or injured. This gives us a good idea that most prostitutes have had an unstable childhood. Their childhoods have caused them to enter a profession where they repeat the abuse from the childhood in their adult lives. Of those interviewed eighty-two percent said they had been physically assaulted since they entered prostitution and sixty-eight percent had been raped. Which makes you wonder why they would stay in the profession if it causes them so much pain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Eighty-eight percent expressed a desire to leave the profession, but complained they need help. They needed training and education. They also needed medical attention because most of them had health problems from prostitution. When you face so many problems it sometimes seems easier just to s...

Creativity in Education Essay

A school with creativity at the heart of the learning process will benefit by increasing the motivation of staff and pupils, says former head, Dave Weston. In this article and case study, he shows the way to more imaginative approaches to curriculum planning ‘Creativity is the defeat of habit by originality’ Arthur Koestler Many school leaders and teachers realise that is now time to take more control over the curriculum and to include a greater emphasis on creativity in the learning and teaching process. During the last five years, headteachers have developed the confidence to take innovative and imaginative approaches to curriculum planning and school organisation. This is due to some encouragement from central government in the light of recent perceived improvements in primary literacy and numeracy standards and to the realisation that a wider and more exciting curriculum can lead to greater levels of motivation for all pupils and staff. Creativity and innovation have now been legitimised by the DfES and primary schools are actively encouraged to develop creative ideas and actions: ‘promoting creativity is a powerful way of engaging pupils with their learning’ Excellence and Enjoyment DfES 2003 (page 31) What is creativity? Creativity is often associated with the ‘creative arts’ but in reality it is certainly not unique to the arts. It can be seen and identified in all aspects of the arts, humanities, sciences, maths and technology. The National Curriculum Handbook (1999) included creativity within the section on thinking skills. It stated that: ‘Creative thinking skills†¦ enable pupils to generate and extend ideas, to suggest hypotheses, to apply imagination and to look for alternative innovative outcomes. ’ Didn’t we always teach it? Creativity was taught in the 1970s and 1980s, often through topic-based projects, but there was a lack of accountability, detailed planning and thoroughness. Much of this perceived ‘creativity’ disappeared in the 1990s as it did not fit into a strategic box and schools thought that there was not time for it and that such an approach was not valued by central government. The difficulty in measuring the success of a creative approach to primary learning and teaching gave our education system many problems. As a result headteachers, under the pressures of Ofsted inspection and statistical league tables, became reluctant to take risks with the curriculum. However, more recently this situation has started to change, especially with the development of the creative partnership schemes. The Reggio Emilia approach The success of the Reggio Emilia approach to early years education has influenced theory and practice in the area of creativity in primary education. In schools in Reggio Emilia there is an innovative staffing structure with each early years centre having an ‘atelierista’ (a specially trained art teacher) who works closely with the classroom teachers. In Italy in the primary sector there is significant teacher autonomy with no national curriculum or associated achievement tests. In Reggio Emilia the teachers become skilled observers and they routinely divide responsibilities, so that one can systematically observe and record conversations between children while the other is teaching the class. Teachers from several schools sometimes work and learn together and this contributes to the culture of teachers as learners. The learning environment is crucial in the Reggio Emilia approach and classrooms often have courtyards, wall-sized windows and easy access to stimulating outdoor areas. Each classroom has large spaces for group activities and specially designed areas for pupils and staff to interact. Display areas are large and stimulating and reflect the creativity of the children. Teachers in early years settings in Reggio often refer to the learning environment as a ‘third teacher’ as most centres are small with just two classroom teachers. The curriculum is project-based and there are numerous opportunities for creative thinking and exploration. The teachers work on topics with small groups of pupils while the rest of the class work on self-selected activities. Projects are often open-ended and therefore curriculum planning is flexible and is sometimes teacher-directed and sometimes child-initiated. This philosophy is inspiring and can be partially transferred to the different framework of the British primary school. Whole-school approach to developing ‘creativity’ For school leaders the first step in developing a creative school is the fostering of a whole-school approach. Creativity is not an add-on and it cannot be imposed by the headteacher. There needs to be discussion, involvement and ownership. The debate should be based around some of the following points: †¢taking control of the curriculum by the school. †¢the creation of a school with creativity at the heart of the learning process †¢enhancing the motivation for staff and pupils †¢fostering the professional development of all the staff, both teaching and non-teaching †¢involving governors and parents in a whole-school approach to creativity and showing how this philosophy supports school improvement and high standards of achievement †¢getting the pupils involved in school issues (regarding the curriculum and the learning, perhaps through the school council). How does your school measure up? So how far has your school got in developing a creative approach to learning and teaching? Ask yourself: †¢Have you discussed the freedoms of developing a curriculum appropriate for your school? †¢Does your school development and improvement plan take account of creativity in learning and teaching styles? †¢Is creativity a part of your staff development programme? †¢Is the governing body committed to promoting creativity throughout the school? Is there a nominated governor involved in this approach? †¢How involved are the pupils in discussing the curriculum and in a creative approach to learning and teaching? †¢Does your school carefully plan visits to galleries and projects involving artists and craftspeople? †¢Are creative successes evaluated in the SEF? †¢Does your school celebrate and promote creativity to a wider audience? Celebrating creativity Creativity should be celebrated and the school should consider looking for outside accreditation through the ‘Artsmark’ scheme. Creative successes should be carefully evaluated, highlighted in the SEF and showcased to parents and the community. Staff should be empowered to design activities within the curriculum which are exciting, motivating and relevant to their  school and pupils. Once these seeds are sown, creativity will flourish. Case study: making our school a more creative environment At the primary school where I was headteacher, we recognised that the curriculum had become unbalanced and that we were spending too much of the ‘timetabled’ day on English and maths. Staff kept saying that too little time was being devoted to the arts and humanities. This imbalance was having an effect on the motivation of some pupils, especially in Years 5 and 6 and on the job satisfaction of the staff. Like every school, we were very anxious to maintain high standards in English and maths and to ensure that our KS2 SATs results were good. However, we decided that we were fairly secure in the core curriculum and that the time had come to reclaim the curriculum. Therefore we reviewed our whole-school curriculum plan and looked at all the ways we could make our school a more creative and exciting environment. The aspects of school life we reviewed were as follows: †¢encouraging a more flexible approach to the timetable †¢developing the school grounds to link in with the outdoor curriculum. We decided that the school grounds were under-used as a learning environment. Therefore each curriculum coordinator was given the opportunity to have a part of the grounds as an outdoor curriculum area to support ‘real learning’ in that area. Staff came up with lots of imaginative ideas such as: †¢Music – developing an outdoor music trail with differing instruments hanging from trees and fences. †¢Geography – developing an orienteering trail around the edge of the field. †¢Art – developing an outdoor sculpture area with a clay model from every pupil. †¢Languages – playground signs and rules in differing languages. †¢Science – developing an environmental area with a pond, seating in the shape of different animals and insects. †¢Design and technology – one of the most successful ‘creative’ projects was the development of a courtyard on the theme of ‘containers’. Each of our 11 classes chose a different type of container (Reception chose old wellington boots while Year 6 chose a large tractor tyre) and in the summer they were decorated and planted up. †¢Supporting the Foundation Stage curriculum with exciting outdoor areas and incorporating some of the Reggio Emilia approaches to early learning. The school decided it was important to give the early years staff the confidence to develop an exciting integrated curriculum based on the needs of young pupils rather than on the formalised curriculum. †¢Bringing in artists and craft workers to give pupils to work with adults with different skills. Each year we decided to bring artists into the school so every pupil had the opportunity to work with a ‘real’ artist at some time during their primary school career. This was an expensive approach but worthwhile as often the skills of the artists inspired school staff to try new ideas and therefore provided a professional development aspect to their work. †¢Celebrating the different languages in our school. As our school was very keen on teaching MFL to all the KS2 pupils we decided to celebrate all the languages of our school by designing a mural which showed pupils from all the countries involved saying hello in their home language. Our pupils decided that on the mural the pupils from the different countries should have hats showing the flag of their country. The large mural was painted by the pupils with the support of a professional artist and is now proudly on display by the entrance to the school office. †¢Developing the confidence and role of the art coordinator. †¢Enhancing the motivation of some pupils and giving greater ownership of the learning process to the staff. †¢Getting involved in the ‘Creative Partnerships’ scheme to get access to support and resources. Introduction 1. The HMIE report Emerging Good Practice in Promoting Creativity published in March 2006 gathered evidence from inspections of pre-school centres, primary and secondary schools and community learning and development to: †¢identify and analyse emerging good practice in promoting creativity, and †¢provide advice on a range of issues related to creativity including learning and teaching, assessment, and current practice in evaluating success in promoting creativity. 2. The Scottish Executive Education Department has agreed to supplement the HMIE report by providing a brief overview of some key national policy developments and other initiatives across the UK promoting creativity in education. The aim is to help educators and policy makers by highlighting some important advice and other support to encourage good practice. The paper is not however a comprehensive review. The bibliography is intended to assist those who wish to explore further the issues discussed. Creativity, Culture and Education (Developments in England) 3. Although focusing on England, the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education’s (NACCCE) report All Our Futures: Creativity Culture and Education has proved influential on subsequent efforts to promote creativity in education elsewhere in the UK. 4. The NACCCE was established in 1998 to make recommendations to the then Secretary of State for Education and Employment and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport â€Å"on the creative and cultural development of young people through formal and informal education: to take stock of current provision and to make proposals for principles, policies and practice. † The Committee was chaired by Professor Ken Robinson and its report was published in 1999. 5. The report emphasised that all children and young people can benefit from developing their creative abilities and this should be seen as a general function of education. Creativity can be developed in all areas of the school curriculum: including the sciences as well as the expressive arts. As discussed later in this paper, the NACCE’s definition of creativity was adopted as part of subsequent initiatives in Northern Ireland and Scotland. (A summary of the report’s general advice on teaching for creativity is contained in the annex to this paper.) The NACCE’s report was welcomed by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and Department for Culture Media and Sport. Although the Government did not implement all of the report’s recommendations with regard to the National Curriculum in England, many elements were taken forward. For instance, the report led directly or indirectly to important initiatives such as Creative Partnerships and Artsmark. 6. Creative Partnerships is a government-funded national initiative operating in 36 of the most disadvantaged areas in England and designed to build sustainable relationships between schools, creative individuals and organisations. It aims to transform: †¢the aspirations and achievements of young people †¢the approaches and attitudes of teachers and schools †¢the practices of creative practitioners and organisations who wish to work in schools. 7. Starting with the needs of schools and young people, creative practitioners work across and beyond the curriculum, animating the classroom and finding new ways for teachers to teach and young people to learn. Through the development of projects of varying scales, creative practitioners, teachers and young people work together as equal partners to place creativity at the heart of learning. 8. Artsmark is a recognition scheme for schools’ arts provision run by Arts Council for England and supported by DCMS. The scheme encourages schools to increase the range of arts that are provided to children in schools and raises the profile of arts education. (Further information on Creative Partnerships and Artsmark can be accessed through the links provided in the bibliography. ) 9. The educational debate has moved forward considerably since the NACCCE report was published and there is now a much wider acceptance that a broad and enriching curriculum goes hand in hand with high standards. Since September 2000, schools have been working with a more flexible National Curriculum with greater emphasis on the need for creative and cultural education. There are explicit references to the importance of creative and cultural education in the aims for the curriculum and there are explicit references to creativity – encouraging pupils to use their imagination and look for innovative outcomes. The Schools White Paper, â€Å"Schools: Achieving Success†, launched in September 2001 raised the status of creativity and the arts by pledging to provide a range of additional opportunities for creativity and curriculum enrichment. 10. DfES also hosted the Creativity and Cultural Enrichment Working Group (CACE) from May 2001 to Oct 2003. This working group was set up in response to the NACCCE report as a cross-agency reference group with a clear focus on creativity and cultural enrichment. The idea was to share information across various agencies and departments, to provide updates on key policy initiatives and projects and act as a source of new ideas. 11. CACE has now been superseded by subsequent work such as the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority’s (QCA) initiative ‘Creativity: Find it, Promote it’ and Creative Partnerships which have built up the knowledge base of creativity in education and helped spread good practice. QCA promotes creativity as an integral part of all National Curriculum subjects and identified the characteristics of creative thinking and behaviour including: †¢Questioning and challenging conventions and assumptions †¢Making inventive connections and associating things that are not usually related †¢Envisaging what might be: imagining — seeing things in the mind’s eye. †¢Trying alternatives and fresh approaches, keeping options open †¢Reflecting critically on ideas, actions and outcomes QCA advises that, with minimal changes to their planning and practice, teachers can promote pupils’ creativity. 12. QCA’s ‘Creativity: Find it Promote it’, and ‘Arts Alive’ websites shows how to maximise the impact of creativity and the arts in the curriculum, identifies best practice and provides case study examples for teachers containing practical suggestions in promoting creativity and the arts across the curriculum 13. OFSTED — the inspectorate for children and learners in England — carried out a survey identifying good practice in the promotion of creativity in schools (Expect the Unexpected: Developing Creativity in Primary and Secondary Schools published in 2003). They found that there was generally high quality in creative work. Any barriers that existed could be overcome if teachers are committed to the promotion of creativity, possess good subject knowledge and a sufficiently broad range of pedagogical skills to foster creativity in all pupils, whatever their ability. The active support of senior management is also important. OFSTED emphasised that â€Å"the creativity observed in pupils is not associated with a radical new pedagogy†¦but a willingness to observe, listen and work closely with children to help them develop their ideas in a purposeful way. † The report can be accessed here. 14. The latest development in England is an independent review on Nurturing Creativity in Young People jointly commissioned by DCMS and DfES to inform the basis of the Government’s future policy on creativity. The review was led by Paul Roberts, Director of Strategy from IdeA (Improvement and Development Agency). The review team published their report in July 2006. This provides a framework for creativity starting with Early Years, developing through mainstream education and leading to pathways into the Creative Industries. The report also set out what more the Government can do to nurture young people’s creativity. Particular issues discussed include the role of partnerships between schools and the creative and cultural sector, the development of a new Creative Portfolio to celebrate each young person’s creative achievements and creating spaces for creative activity through the Building Schools for the Future the school estate redevelopment programme. The Government will publish a response to the creativity review report and an action plan in Autumn 2006. Unlocking Creativity (Developments in Northern Ireland) 15. Following his work with the NACCE, Professor Ken Robinson chaired a Creativity in Education Working Group in Northern Ireland. The Working Group was a cross-cutting initiative by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL); the Department for Education (DE); the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) and the Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment (DHFETE) (now known as the Department for Employment and Learning – DEL). The aim was to develop a â€Å"co-ordinated strategy for the development to the full of the creative and cultural resources of the people of Northern Ireland. † The result of this work was the consultation report Unlocking Creativity: A Strategy for Development published in 2000. 16. The report adopts the definition of creativity contained in the NACCE report – Imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are both original and of value. Creative processes have four characteristics. First, they always involve thinking or behaving imaginatively. Second, this imaginative activity is purposeful: that is, it is directed to achieve an objective. Third, these processes must generate something original. Fourth, the outcome must be of value in relation to the objective. 17. Unlocking Creativity: A Strategy for Development made three key recommendations for education: †¢Develop continuity and progression in creative and cultural education throughout learning, teaching and youthwork. †¢The development of methods and principles of assessment and examination that recognise and value the aims and outcomes of creative and cultural education. †¢Ensure that all professional vocational and academic qualifications positively promote the importance of creative and cultural education. 18. The results of the consultation were published in a second report, Unlocking Creativity: Making It Happen, published in 2001. The vast majority of responses supported the proposals made in the consultation document and Unlocking Creativity: Making It Happen set a wide range of objectives for future work. The key objectives for education related to a review of the curriculum being taken forward by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA). The report highlighted CCEA’s proposals to include a creative component at all Key Stages. It set a wider objective of signposting clear steps towards accredited programmes of learning for people of all ages interested and inspired by creativity and sought to encourage collaboration between various agencies and departments to ensure that creativity is fully recognised in the development of assessment methods and the curriculum. The report also highlighted the establishment of a Creativity Seed Fund which invested ? 2. 8m over three years to encourage projects that would either promote creativity in education or strengthen Northern Ireland as a competitive presence in the creative industries. The Education and Training Inspectorate produced a set of quality indicators for the Creativity Seed Fund. The indicators cover outcomes and standards, ethos, assessment and review and management arrangements. 19. A third report, Unlocking Creativity: A Creative Region, was published in 2004 and set out a series of medium term strategic measures to maintain the momentum on developing creativity across education, culture and employment. The report again highlighted CCEA’s work on Curriculum Review. The Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 will give effect to the revised curriculum, which will be introduced on a phased basis from September 2007. 20. The revised curriculum will be more flexible, offer greater scope for creativity to meet the changing needs of pupils, society and the economy and have a greater emphasis on developing skills. One of the Thinking Skills to be developed across the curriculum is Being Creative, where children should be able to use creative approaches, to be imaginative, to take risks, to question and explore possibilities. The revised curriculum will also provide more flexibility for teachers to tailor what they teach to meet the needs of their pupils and therefore encourage more creative approaches. Assessment will be formative, as well as summative, with pupils assessed in their progress in the skills and areas of learning and pointed towards areas for future development. This Assessment for Learning (AfL) is already being piloted. One of the most important means of promoting creativity in the revised curriculum will be through Education for Employability. Pupils will look at enterprise and creativity in the modern workplace, what it takes to be an entrepreneur and they will have opportunities to demonstrate enterprise and creativity. The pilot work for this aspect of the curriculum has involved school pupils working with local businesses and artists to develop creative solutions to business issues. 21. CCEA is also developing exemplar material and other support materials to illustrate how opportunities can be developed in all curriculum areas to promote creativity. Draft versions of the support materials have been made available to pilot schools and CCEA plans to distribute them to all schools as soon as feasible in the 2006/07 year. 22. Unlocking Creativity: A Creative Region noted CCEA’s work on auditing examination specifications in order to promote creativity in the learning and assessment associated with qualifications. This audit has now been completed and enabled areas in teaching and learning to be identified that would support a more creative approach. The results will be taken into account as specifications are revised for re-accreditation. Re-accredited specifications will be available for first teaching from September 2008 (GCE A-Level) and 2009 (GCSE). CCEA is also working with the English and Welsh regulatory bodies to review accreditation criteria and this will take account of thinking skills, such as creativity. The Department of Education is also considering an incentive and accreditation scheme for teachers, principals and schools with a view to embedding creativity across the curriculum. A pilot has been arranged to test an Artmark Toolkit involving five schools and, following evaluation, will be rolled out to all schools in September 2006. 23. An important feature of Northern Ireland’s work on creativity is the emphasis on harnessing new developments in ICT. Many of the education projects funded through the Creativity Seed Fund included developing ICT skills and linking these to creativity by, for instance, producing material for radio, making documentary films or creating digital content. Unlocking Creativity: A Creative Region seeks to embed the concept of the use of ICT to enhance young people’s creativity across the curriculum. The EmPowering Schools strategy has since been published, which incorporates the development of creativity and innovation in the use of ICT. 24. Unlocking Creativity: A Creative Region included Creative Youth Partnerships (CYP), a 3 year pilot from April 2004 to March 2007 involving the Arts Council NI, the Department of Education, the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure and the Education and Library Boards. Through a collaborative approach, CYP aims to increase participation among young people in arts activities, develop arts infrastructure in NI and develop the contribution of artists and the arts to the learning and development of young people in schools and the youth sector. A key aspect of CYP is local partnerships to develop creative projects using a variety of art forms. The Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) is evaluating CYP and its Interim Report (September 2005, full report due October 2006) highlights the developmental nature of the evaluation of a creativity initiative. The Report pointed to some areas for development but found the project to have many strengths. Developments in Wales 25. Wales, like England and Northern Ireland, has a statutory National Curriculum. Creative skills are one of the seven common requirements in the Welsh National Curriculum. Teachers should provide opportunities, where appropriate, for pupils to develop and apply the seven common requirements through their study of all National Curriculum subjects. (The other common requirements include mathematical skills, Information Technology and problem solving skills. ) 26. The Department for Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DELLS) has produced a guidance note for teachers highlighting subject areas of the National Curriculum, from science to modern languages, where pupils can be given opportunities to develop and apply their creative skills, in particular the development and expression of ideas and imagination. 27. A review of the National Curriculum in Wales is currently underway for proposed implementation in September 2008. Findings from an initial consultation in 2004 were that: †¢there should be a clear focus on the needs of learners and effective learning strategies and approaches; †¢there is a need to identify and agree on the range of skills that should be acquired and on their development and application in a range of contexts; †¢there remains a concern regarding perceived overload in some National Curriculum subjects, especially at Key Stage 2 (covering ages 7-11), and the relevance of aspects of the curriculum to the 21st century; and †¢there is a need to ensure that a revised curriculum interests, engages and motivates all learners. 28. Currently DELLS has submitted proposals to their Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning for approval. Following this, the proposals will be open to public consultation. These will include a draft Skills Framework for children and young people aged 3-19. This framework contains the areas of Developing Thinking, Communication, Number and ICT. Within the Developing Thinking are strands highlighting creative thinking. Creativity in Education (Developments in Scotland ) 29. In Scotland, a Creativity in Education Advisory Group was established to consider ways in which creativity could be developed as an important feature of the provision that teachers and schools make for young people’s education. The Group was chaired by Richard Coton, Headteacher of Monifieth High School and its members included representatives from Learning and Teaching Scotland, the IDES Network, HMIE and the Scottish Executive Education Department. The Group’s discussion paper, Creativity in Education, was published in 2001. 30. The definition of creativity in Creativity in Education again reflects that in the NACCE report, All Our Futures, by emphasising imagination, pursuing a purpose, being original and making judgements of value. Creativity in Education, like the NACCE report, stresses the need to encourage experimentation and problem-solving together with reflection and critical appraisal as essential conditions for creativity to flourish in schools. Creativity in Education has a more overt emphasis on the need for schools to foster a personal disposition to be creative in their students. This involves the development of characteristics such as self-motivation, confidence, curiosity and flexibility. However, the publication notes the valuable contribution of group-working to encouraging creativity in, for instance, allowing pupils to build upon each others’ ideas. Creativity in Education also stresses the need for teachers themselves to be creative in the way they encourage and empower children and young people. Teachers need to judge carefully when to intervene and when to take a â€Å"hands-off† approach and to balance planning with improvisation. 31. Creativity in Education was accompanied by case studies providing practical examples of how creativity is being developed across the curriculum. These include the development of a whole school policy on creative learning and teaching (Gylemuir Primary School, Edinburgh); developing creativity in Mathematics (Pollock Children’s Centre, Glasgow/Borgue Primary School, Dumfries and Galloway and Inverclyde Council’s Education Advisory Service) and promoting thinking skills in the context of science education (Monifieth High School, Angus). 32. Follow-up work undertaken as a result of Creativity in Education included the Creativity Counts project. The aims of this project were: †¢To gather evidence of creativity in the classroom across all sectors and all areas of the curriculum. †¢To identify key approaches to learning and teaching, assessment and evaluation. †¢To identify what schools need to do to foster creativity. 27 schools from across Scotland (19 primary, 7 secondary and 1 special) participated in the project. A report of the findings was published in 2004. This was accompanied by Creativity Counts — Portraits of Practice – a publication of case studies drawn from the project. 33. The main findings were that developing creativity in education produced benefits in terms of pupil motivation, enthusiasm and enjoyment. The pupils became more independent in their learning: â€Å"rather than being told; they became more resourceful and reflective. They became good at knowing what worked for them and what did not† (p. 5). However, this freedom to experiment took place within a supporting structure of high expectations and clear outcomes: â€Å"They knew what they were expected to achieve and how to go about that† (p.10). Group working was a strong feature of the projects. This helped to support less confident children and encouraged realistic peer and self-assessment. The pupils responded well to dealing with failure and built confidence in using their imagination and developed a positive attitude to new ideas. 34. Teachers found that they were able to develop a repertoire of teaching skills balancing intervention, â€Å"hands-off†, planning and improvisation. They identified four main characteri.

HIST 1302 FINAL EXAM REVIEW Essay Example

HIST 1302 FINAL EXAM REVIEW Essay Example HIST 1302 FINAL EXAM REVIEW Essay HIST 1302 FINAL EXAM REVIEW Essay Final -rest Review 2013 Fall 1 . All of the following factors promoted the growth of suburbs a. Low cost government loans. b. Expanded road and highway construction. c. Increased automobile production. d. The baby boom. 2. The mood of the Beat Generation is best reflected in which Jack Kerouacs On the Road. 3. The decade of the 1950s was characterized by women doing what? 4. All of the following were reasons why a consumer culture appeared in the 1950s a. The creation of credit cards and easy payment plans. b. An increased ability of advertisers to create demand for new products. c. The ppearance of new and varied products. d. Keeping up with the Jones. 5. The Soviet Unions launching of Sputnik in 1957 immediately led to The creation of NASA 6. In his farewell address in January 1961, President Eisenhower warned the American people against . Military industrial complex and deficit spending 7. The largest public works project during Eisenhowers presidency was . Eisenhower Highway System 8. Containment is to Truman as is to Eisenhower. Brinkmanship 9. Which Supreme Court decision ruled that a state law school have to admit qualified African American applicants even if parallel black aw schools existed? Sweat vs. Painter 10. Which Supreme Court decision ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional? Brown vs. Board of Education 1 1 . Where was the March for Freedom in which state troopers and deputized citizens brutally attacked marchers in full view of television that helped lead to the Voting Rights Act of 1965? Selma, Alabama 12. In response to the arrest of Rosa Parks, African Americans did what? Boycotted riding the bus 13. Where was the location of a Woolworths lunch counter that sparked the sit-in movement for civil rights? Greensboro, NC/ A University 14. At first President Kennedy acted slowly on civil rights because? JFK didnt want to lose support from Southern Democrats 15. What was the Southern Manifest? a resolution signed by Congress condemning Brown vs. BOE ruling 16. In Little Rock, Arkansas, Governor Orval Faubus tried to prevent African American students from entering a white high school by deploying whom? Arkansas Natl Guard 17. The Kerner Commission blamed the majority of the inner-city problems on what? 18. Plessy v. Ferguson Separate but equal 19. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , believed the way to end segregation was through Peaceful Protest 20. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 did little to guarantee what? Social equality/ integration 21. Until 1965, the civil rights movement focused on what? Integration of school and public places 22. After his pilgrimage to Makkah, Malcolm X concluded what? That segregation is not good for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party? Fannie Lou Hamer 24. As a result of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, segregation was outlawed where? Nationally 25. Why is the Till case considered the birth of the Civil Rights movement? Because it motivated the young people to get involved 26. The Alliance for Progress, proposed by President Kennedy in 1961, can be most accurately called an added dimension of what FDR plan? Good Neighbor Policy 27. President Kennedys main goal in the United States 1962 decision to blockade Cuba was to what? : To get Soviets to surrender and/or move their nuclear weapons 28. What was JFKs policy calling for more conventional weapons to be used against Soviet aggression since nuclear weapons were to be used as a last response? Flexible Response 29. What became the symbol of the separation of the Free World from the Iron Curtain? Berlin Wall 30. The primary reason for the crushing Republican party defeat in 1964 was what? 1st televised debate, Nixon looked nervous (sweating) in comparison toa polished Kennedy 31 . Both the New Frontier and the Great Society shared the idea of what? 32. Supporters of the Warren Courts decisions in the 1960s believed that persons accused of crimes were entitled to what? 33. Johnsons Great Society, for all practical purposes, was put to end in 1968 because of what? His decision to not run for presidency and not accept DNC nomination 34. Which of the following events are in the correct order? McCarthy announces his candidacy, Tet Offensive, Johnson pulls out of race b. McCarthy announces his candidacy, RFK assassinated, Tet Offensive c. RFK assassinated, MLK assassinated, The Chicago Convention d. MLK assassinated, RFK assassinated, , McCarthy announces his candidacy e. None of the above 35. Who said the following: For it seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate? Walter Kronkite 36. Which president first got the U. S. involved in Vietnam? JFK 37. Whose political campaign was dubbed the Childrens Crusade? Eugene McCarthy 38. Escalation is to Johnson as is to Richard Nixon. 39. What effect did the Pentagon Papers have on the American public? 40. Which of the following is not a legacy of the Vietnam War? 41 . Nixons domestic policy included all of the following: a. More power to the state governments b. Increased police power to fight crime c. Reduced federal spending d. Appointing conservative Judges to federal courts 42. What was the Job of Nixons Plumbers? to take care or do away with anyone that was speaking out of turn against the Nixon Administration 43. President Nixons olicy of giving the states greater responsibility for controlling welfare and other government programs is called New Federalism 44. This term described the American economy in the mid 70s when business was not growing and inflation was rising out of control. Stagflation 45. What was the SALT I Agreement? Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, in theory well destroy some of our missiles you destroy some of yours 46. What did the American action during the Yom Kippur War of 1973 resulted in? 47. All of the following occurred during the presidency of Richard Nixon: a. The Watergate break-in and consequent hearings b. The resignation of the vice-president. visit d. The use of shuttle diplomacy to end Arab-Israeli conflicts 48. Gerald Fords main liability in the 1976 presidential election was . Nixon pardon? Watergate Scandal 49. What contributed to the Ayatollah Khomeinis hatred of the U. S.? 50. Which of the following is considered Carters most significant foreign policy accomplishment? Camp David Accord? (Israel and Egypt Peace Treaty); foreign policy/ human rights 51 . What led to Jimmy Carters success in the election of 1976? 52. What led to the U. S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow? 53. The most important element of the religious revival of the 1970s and 1980s was what? 54. The moral Majority attacked all the following a. Abortion rights b. Homosexuality c. Womens rights d. Secular humanist 55. What were economic goals of Reagan in the beginning of his presidency? 56. Which country did Reagan describe as the evil empire? The Soviet Union 57. President Reagan responded to the 1983 terrorist bombing of an American Marine barracks in Beirut by doing what? Retreating, U. S. troops pulled out of Beirut 58. The ne event that signaled the end of the Cold War more than any other was 59. What was President Reagans assessment of Gorbachev when they meet? He doesnt like him, and leaves the meeting 60. Some of the money from the American arms deal with Iran during the Reagan presidency was secretly funneled to . 61 . George Bushs 1988 presidential victory was the result of what? Promising no new taxes? 62. The Gulf War of 1991 had its origins in an Iraqi decision to annex Kuwait 63. In 1993, President Clinton secured from Congress all the following a. A significant reduction in government spending b. A free-trade agreement . A large tax increase on the wealthy 64. The budget impasse and shutting down the government in late 1995 and early 1996 saw the public largely blame whom? 65. The Muslim fundamentalist group that controlled Afghanistan was . Taliban? 66. The mastermind of the 9/11 plot was . Osama Bin Laden 67. Terrorist carried out their attacks on September 11, 2001, by . A1 Qaeda 68. What were the Americans searching for in Iraq that led to the invasion? 69. The 2000 election final was held up by which states votes? Florida 70. Who campaigned in the 2008 election promising hope and change? Barack Obama

Austria-Hungary and Fischers Thesis

Austria-Hungary and Fischers Thesis More devastating than any previous war, and the first genuinely global conflict, the Great War brutally welcomed the world to the 20th century. Historians in abundance have extensively studied the subject, providing their own conclusions as to who they believe is "to blame". Germany's role and the amount of blame that should be apportioned to it for the occurrence of the First World War is widely debated; leading the charge that Germany was responsible for tipping Europe into a global war was Fritz Fischer. Fischer's groundbreaking revelation argued "Germany has deliberately instigated World War I (WW1) in an attempt to become a world power." While Fischer's thesis initially appears very compelling given his analysis of source documents, further examination reveals that events leading up to WWI, and the role played by other states, paints a more nuanced picture of the complex reasons. I will argue that on a re-reading of key historical analysis of the causes of war, Austria-Hungary i s first among the equals in tipping the continent into a global conflict.[1:The Austro-Hungarian Empire, German Empire and pri...Moses, John "Fischer, Fritz" pages 386-387 from The Encyclopaedia of Historians and Historical Writing edited by Kelly Boyd, Volume 1, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999 page 38]In 1961, Fritz Fischer published his first novel, which generated extensive debates on the primary agent for war. His thesis compellingly argues Germany's for guilt for along three broad themes: imperialist drivers, social and political concerns, and military pressures. [1: Fritz Fischer's novel Griff nach der Weltmacht: Die Kriegzielpolitik des kaiserlichen Deutschland 1914-1918 was translated into English in 1967 under the title Germany's Aims in the First World War. Its publication revived public interest in the First World War and the topic of blame.]Weaknesses in Fischer's overall argument are evident when we look closely at each theme. First,

Design and the Implementation of Knowledge Management System Research Proposal

Design and the Implementation of Knowledge Management System - Research Proposal Example On the other hand Maier (2007) defined Knowledge management system as a system that integrates knowledge pertaining to culture, information technology infrastructure and employees’ intellect of an organization. The heightened valuation of business entity on basis of their intellectual capital and prevalence of information has made knowledge management system key determinant of the success or failure of a firm. The main objective of this project will be to study the design and implementation of knowledge management system (KMS) in relation to the management of cultural, leadership and technological information of Samsung electronics. The project intends to examine existing conceptual models of knowledge, KMS implementation success factors and potential hindrance to KMS. The paper will employ case study method to achieve the highlighted objectives. Therefore, the methodology will entail detailed contextual analysis of literature review relating to Samsung electronics KMS. The study will thus examine reports and secondary sources of information detailing the design and implementation of KMS by Samsung electronics. In addition, subsequent analysis will identify barriers, strengths and weakness of the system to Samsung electronics. In conclusion, deductions from the evaluation and analysis of the KMS will be employed to prepare a report (Yin,

Naplion invasion of egypt and its impact on mehmed Ali Essay

Naplion invasion of egypt and its impact on mehmed Ali - Essay Example To this end, the Napoleon took control of Alexandria, massacred the Mamluk army at Imbabah and Subra Khit. They consequently captured Cairo on 25th July 1798. It is critical to note that Napoleon ordered his troops to respect the religion, women and culture of Egypt upon their invasion. Evidently, Napoleon employed this tactic so that he would appear as liberator to the general Egyptian populace. Moreover, upon conquering part of Egypt, Napoleon set out to restructure the military tactics of the Egyptian by training them in French warfare and recruiting them to his Grande Armee. Furthermore, Napoleon was accompanied by scientists and scholars who investigated all facets of life in Egyptian history and contemporary periods. However, it must be noted that the French domination of Egypt was short lived since the Ottoman and British forces joined drive them out. On 1st August 1798, French ships were destroyed at Abu Qir by Lord Nelson’s British fleet. This led to the isolation of French forces in Egypt. To this end, war was declared against France by Sultan Selim 3. Upon the expulsion of the Napoleon’s army from Egypt, a power struggle among the Mameluks saw the rise of Mehmet Ali Pasha as the ultimate governor of Egypt. Evidently, Mehment was inspired to introduce modern changes to the Ottoman army based on an European model. His aspiration was in light of the exemplary model of Napoleon’s army that had previously defeated him at Abukir in 1799. To this end, he introduced several industrial and agricultural reforms that acted as a foundation for modeling a professional military. The end result was new armed forces organization known as al-Nizam al-Jedid. Furthermore, Mohamed converted agricultural land into state land from which he derived profits. He equally improved the irrigation system of Egypt and introduced cotton as a cash