A Tale of an Hour

The cold gray steel of the axe arced one last time through the air, the pick burrowed itself one last time into the frozen blanket of snow, and the hand that held it took a final pull, to ensure a secure placement. After a brief pause, George Mallory took a deep breath, and pulled himself over the crux, and onto the top. Slowly, shakily, he stood up, and took a look around, the first time American eyes had seen the world from this vantage point. This was it. He had done it. He was the first American to ever climb Everest. The sky was a most crystalline blue, and clear too, except for the small puffy white clouds in the distant East. George had the most incredible view ever seen in all directions; he could see for hundreds, probably even a thousand miles. If only others could see this! he said to himself. If only he had brought a camera, not only would he be able to show the human race the true beauty still found in nature, he could prove that he had actually accomplished the feat. Hopefully his friends down below could see him on the top. Mallory briefly thought of waving, but the notion quickly passed when he realized the absoluteness of his fatigue. He was exhausted, plain and simple. Even after deciding against bringing a stove or any other nighttime equipment, his pack still weighed in at about 40 lbs, because of the extra oxygen bottles he picked up from a discarded pile. In fact, George just wanted to sit down. He knew though that if he did, he might never again get up. He did however remove the cumbersome pack and sling it to the icy ground. Digging into the main pouch, George hand unveiled a small American flag attached to an aluminum pole. With the side of his ice axe, he pounded the pole into the crust, forever designating that he had soloed the highest mountain on the planet. This task had taken nearly ten minutes, since every swing of the makeshift hammer was like wielding a twenty-pound maul. He reached for his next oxygen bottle, changed canisters, and took a few deep breaths of the life giving gas. After completing the task, Mallory once again surveyed his surroundings. He stopped when he go to the East. The once distant fluffy white clouds were closer. Much closer. And the innocent white had begun to turn an angry gray. No longer an innocent few, the clouds had grown in numbers, and anvil-shaped thunderheads were rapidly forming. This is not good, he thought to himself. This is very not good. I should get back down to camp six. Maybe even five, if possible. George turned back to the way he came up and began the agonizingly slow descent. Step after step was torture. Knowing he had to hurry was only making his heart pump faster, worsening the situation. Breathing harder and harder, Mallory had to take a few second break after almost every step, until his pulse slowed enough that he could divert a portion of his brain to downward progress. Pick. Step. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Repeat. Sensing the world around him darkening, he looked over his shoulder at the peak. The first cloud had breached the western side of the mountain, his side. This could only mean one thing. Don t look back any more. George made that mental note to himself. A few minutes later, he felt the first snowflake gently brush his cheek. Realizing he had only reached about 27,000 feet, Mallory now knew that he had to move. He quickened his pace, nearly achieving a slow walk. Step. Step. Step. Step. Breathe. Step. St– The old frozen leather tying the crampon to his foot snapped, his foot slid forward, and George was on the move, this time at breakneck pace. On May 2, 1999, Eric Simonson radioed into base camp to report that Dave Hahn, Tap Richards, Jake Norton, Andy Politz, and Conrad Anker had located the body of George Mallory on the side of Mt. Everest, where he perished on June 8th, 1924.

Unlocking the Power of the Teacher-Made Test

Classroom assessment ranks among a teacher’s most essential educational tools.  Well-constructed teacher-made tests can: †¢ provide teachers with the means to gather evidence about what their students know and can do †¢ help instructors identify students’ strengths and weaknesses †¢ keep tabs on student learning and progress †¢ help teachers plan and conduct future instruction †¢ motivate and shape learning and instruction †¢ guide students toward improving their own performances †¢ gauge whether students are mastering district, state, and national education standards †¢ determine if students are prepared for the high-stakes state or district tests By unlocking the power of effective classroom assessment, teachers can accomplish all of the above and more.In the era of accountability and highstakes decision making, teacher-made tests can no longer be viewed as simply a means to gather grades for the end of the marking period repo rt cards. process, providing the evidence teachers need to determine whether or not their students have achieved the educational goals set out for them. Capturing the Evidence Classroom assessments can be thought of as evidence capturing devices or tools. The evidence the teacher seeks to gather is used to show or prove the students’ knowledge and ability. Just like a good detective, the classroom teacher must consider several things in selecting the tools used to gather the evidence: †¢ What do I think my students should know?What are my expectations for their knowledge base? This could be based on lesson goals and objectives, curriculum or course content goals, district or state standards, etc. †¢ How would I describe my students after they experience these teaching episodes; how would I capture this description? †¢ Of all the things I’ve taught, what are the most important concepts and what should be assessed? †¢ What is the best tool for capturi ng this evidence? †¢ How will I use this evidence in the future? Is it simply to â€Å"keep score† or will it cause me to reflect on my teaching and my future planning? †¢ How will I report this evidence and to whom? Formative vs. Summative AssessmentIn general, all tests can fall under one of two major subheadings: formative assessments or summative assessments. Formative assessments are those tools teachers use to monitor student performance on an ongoing basis. These can range from something as simple as the daily judgments teachers make about a student’s oral response to questions that arise in classroom discussions to more formal paper and pencil tests. Summative assessments, on the other hand, gather evidence about cumulative student learning at the end of an activity, unit, marking period or school year. These types of assessments would include, among others, the final exam or the chapter test.Whether they use formative or summative methods, effective teachers constantly monitor and revise instructional plans based on their students’ educational progress and needs. Assessment, whether formal or informal, plays a vital part in this ongoing page 1 Elements of an Effective Teacher-Made Test In reflecting on these questions, teachers begin to realize the power of classroom assessment, and that this tool can be as important in the teaching and learning process as class discussions, small group activities, or any other teaching strategy. To unleash this power, and to ensure that classroom instructional time devoted to the assessment is used wisely, teachers must carefully plan and design the test.A poorly chosen or designed assessment will fail to provide the evidence of student learning, or worse, will provide misleading information. It is imperative that the teacher employs a systematic process for developing and using the assessment tool. That process should begin with the instructor asking a few basic but essential questions : †¢ What am I trying to find out about my students’ learning? (That is, what student/standards/goals/ outcomes am I measuring? ) Log On. Let’s Talk. www. ets. org/letstalk †¢ What kind of evidence do I need to show that my students have achieved the goals that I’m trying to measure? †¢ What kind of assessment will give me that evidence?To respond to these questions, the teacher must consider these elements of the test design process: †¢ appropriateness †¢ relevancy †¢ expectations for learning †¢ multiple evidence †¢ planning †¢ fairness †¢ assessing the assessment Is it Relevant? An assessment task should make sense in terms of the assessment situation as well as the type of knowledge or skill that’s being assessed. It should also provide relevant information based on what students should have learned in class. For example, it would be inappropriate to ask ninth-grade, French-class students to carry on a conversation in French about the income tax system, if it has nothing to do with what they had learned in French class, and since it probably has no relevance in their lives. But asking them to carry on a discussion in French about a class trip would be very appropriate.Ideally, an assessment should also reflect real-world applications of knowledge and understanding. Although developing such assessments is not always practical, assessments based on situations relevant to students’ own world experiences can motivate them to put forth their best performances. If they don’t understand why they may need to know something, they won’t be as likely to do so. Is it Appropriate? If you were to visit your doctor and he or she used a thermometer to determine your blood pressure you might have cause for concern. Like the classroom test, the medical thermometer is an evidence-gathering device (to determine one’s body temperature).Both the physician and the classroom teacher must select the best device based upon the type of evidence it was meant to provide, and not one that provides evidence of something else. What would happen if a teacher decides to use word problems, rather than number problems, to determine whether third-graders know their multiplication facts? One outcome that we might imagine is that the teacher could not be certain if the test was measuring math ability or reading skill. Having to read and understand the questions could get in the way of a student being able to demonstrate that he or she can, for instance, multiply 8 x 6 and come up with 48. Of course, if the teacher wants to know whether students can apply their multiplication skills to realistic situations, the word problem task would be appropriate and fair.At the same time, the assessment must measure the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities the teacher feels are important and do this in an appropriate way. If the goal is to test for retention of facts, then a cut-and -dried factual test (e. g. , multiple-choice or fillin-the-blank) may be the best assessment choice. On the other hand, measuring students’ conceptual understanding, ability to analyze data, ability to perform tasks, or their collaborative skills would probably require more complex forms of assessment. What are the Expectations for Learning?Before administering an assessment designed to measure what students have learned in class, teachers need to ask themselves: â€Å"Based on what I’ve taught in class, can my students be expected to answer this? If correctly completing the assessment requires knowledge or skills that have not been emphasized in class, or that the students are unlikely to have mastered, the assessment will not provide an accurate or fair evaluation of whether the students have learned the material. Of course, if the goal is to find out what students already know or understand before a unit of instruction, then a well-thought-out assessment can provid e useful information for planning future lessons. Of course, informing future lesson planning should be one of the key uses of any assessment. One Test or Multiple Sources of Evidence? While a single clue at a crime scene might allow a detective to make some assumptions, the judge and jury will probably need a lot more evidence before making a decision about guilt or innocence.As a result, experienced and competent investigators will employ many tools to gather multiple types of evidence from sources such as fingerprints, DNA samples, other physical clues, as well as actual interviews of witnesses and suspects. Similarly, teachers page 2 Log On. Let’s Talk. www. ets. org/letstalk should rely on all sorts of options available to help them gather evidence of their students’ learning. These range from the informal, day-to-day ways teachers size up their students’ progress, such as observation and questioning strategies, to traditional paper-and-pencil tests (multip le-choice and shortanswer ones, for example), to more elaborate forms of assessment, such as essays or problem solving activities.Just as a detective must gather many sources of evidence to build a convincing case, so must a teacher use many sources of evidence to accurately interpret what each student really knows and can do. Limiting themselves to using only one or two assessment methods, no matter how reliable or valuable, limits teachers’ ability to fully understand the range of their students’ knowledge and skills. Conversely, providing students with different kinds of opportunities to show what they know gives teachers a broader, better understanding of each student’s talents and abilities. The questions should challenge students to do more than memorize and recall facts. Focus on assessing the most important and meaningful information, rather than small, irrelevant facts.For example, rather than asking, â€Å"How many vitamins are essential for humans? A . 7 B. 13 C. 15 D. 23,† consider asking â€Å"Name at least seven vitamins that are essential for humans and explain why they are essential. † †¢ Never use questions or inconsequential details just to trick students. †¢ Create a test blueprint that will clearly describe the important content areas to be tested, the number and type of items that will get at each content area, the scoring value for the items, the length of time for the test administration, and other critical test components. Is it Fair? To be valid, classroom assessments need to be fair.In assessment terms, that means all students must be given an equal chance to show what they know and can do. An assessment is not fair if it: †¢ measures things unrelated to its objectives is biased Tests should be designed so that they are focused on the instruction that preceded the assessment, and that ensure that testing, teaching and curriculum are all tightly aligned. â€Å"Bias† is said to exi st if the assessment includes content that offends or unfairly penalizes test takers because of personal characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, religion, or sexual orientation. Assessment bias affects validity because it may negatively influence students’ attitudes toward, and performance on, the assessment.For example, an assessment that includes language or content that offends a specific group of students may hurt the performance of those students by causing them to focus more on the offensive language than on performing at their best. Test takers may also be disadvantaged if the assessment includes content that, although not offensive, assumes prior knowledge likely to be unfamiliar to one particular group of test takers but familiar to another. An obvious example is the need to know something that can only be gained by visiting an art museum, if some groups of students have no personal experience of ever visiting a museum with family or friends . Planning the Assessments Teachers should use the following guidelines when planning any assessment:†¢ Have the purpose of the test clearly in mind. Determine what type of assessment will be most appropriate for the situation, based on the nature of what you are teaching, the purpose of the instruction, and what you want to find out. †¢ If the purpose of the assessment is to determine how well students have mastered a particular unit of study, make sure the test parallels the work covered in class. And, to be able to discriminate among levels of learning, avoid making the assessment overly difficult or easy. †¢ If the assessment is a selected-response or fill-in-the-blank test that will be used to diagnose basic skills, it should contain at least 10 questions — preferably more — for each skill area.The questions pertaining to each skill area should be considered a subtest, and these subtests should yield separate scores on the various elements needed fo r mastery of the skill. †¢ If the major purpose of the test is to rank a selected group of students in order of their achievement, the questions should cover critical points of learning. Questions on critical points often require understanding implications, applying information, and reorganizing data. page 3 Log On. Let’s Talk. www. ets. org/letstalk Tests should be designed to afford students multiple opportunities to tell what they know about a particular subject, not to present them with difficult, if not impossible, tasks.One way to let students shine is to include a bonus question at the end of the test that asks something like, â€Å"Take this opportunity to tell me something about this topic that was not included on the test. † †¢ Other things to consider when poor results are obtained are external, test administration issues [e. g. , uncomfortable room temperature, administration right after a long weekend, external noise distractions, unsettling scho ol or community news]. One of the most effective ways to improve a classroom assessment is to review it before administering it. If possible, wait at least one day after the assessment was written before performing the review. Then ask a colleague to review the assessment.As part of this review process, have someone who did not write the task (a colleague or even a family member) solve the task. Assess the Assessment In assessment, wording is critical. Unclear directions can confuse test takers and negatively affect their responses, which can lead to inaccurate, and therefore useless, information about what the students actually know and can do. Wording in multiple-choice type items is especially important. Being precise in the question and in the options or choices prevents misunderstanding and provides more reliable evidence of what students know. After an assessment has been administered, teachers can ask students how they interpreted the questions, particularly if the questions elicited unexpected results.When assessments give unexpected results — for example, the entire class bombs an assessment, or the students’ responses are not consistent with the type of work the teacher was looking for — it’s important to take a good hard look at both the assessment and the way it was administered to determine whether it was flawed in some way. †¢ Did students who are more able, based on other evidence, do well on the assessment? If not, something might be wrong with it. You might consider analyzing the questions or tasks to make sure each is accurate, valid, fair, and reliable. On the other hand, if the assessment presents a type of task that your students might not be familiar with (e. g. a complex, nonroutine type of problem), students who performed poorly may simply have had difficulty with that particular type of assessment.†¢ Did students answer the assessment appropriately but not give the answers you were looking for? The n check to see if the task was well-defined and clearly written. Students can’t be expected to give adequate responses if they aren’t sure what kind of response is expected of them. †¢ If the entire class failed the test, it might indicate that the material wasn’t taught adequately, or the assessment was so poorly written that the students were unable to apply their knowledge appropriately. During the review, check to see that: directions are clear †¢ content is accurate †¢ questions or tasks are representative of the topics or skills emphasized during instruction; knowledge or skills that were not covered in class are not being unintentionally evaluated†¢ the type of assessment used is compatible with the method of instruction used in the classroom and the standard being measured †¢ the assessment will contribute to the instructor’s understanding of what the students know and can do †¢ the assessment can be completed in the allotted time †¢ the assessment is fair; all instances of offensive language, elitism, and bias have been eliminated When teachers begin to analyze assessment results, they should look for two things: 1. Does the question or task provide accurate information?Did all the students do poorly on the same question or set of questions? Maybe certain questions are confusing or misleading, or perhaps the concept is simply not yet well understood by the students and should be retaught. Having students explain why they answered a question in a certain way can be very enlightening to the teacher about whether the problem is in the question (or task), or in students’ understanding of the concept being assessed. Log On. Let’s Talk. www. ets. org/letstalk page 4 2. Each student’s strengths and weaknesses: are they based on his or her patterns or performance? This information can help teachers tailor the next round of instruction to either remedy problems or build on stre ngth.For example, if a particular group of students has difficulty with one set of items that measures a similar set of skills, these students might need extra instruction or a different kind of instruction. Or, if everybody in the class had difficulty with a particular issue that the teacher thought was emphasized in class, then the teacher needs to determine if there was a problem with the instruction and/or material. By taking the time to create fair, focused, and well-thought-out assessments, teachers can have confidence in the evidence gathered and make meaningful judgments about student performance and future instructional plans and decisions. This article was based on the ETS Focus publication Letting Students Shine: Assessment to Promote Student Learning. Written by Amada McBride, 1999.

Character Is Fate

Character is Fate – Essay â€Å"A man’s character is his fate† once said the Greek philosopher Heraclites. By this he meant that our personalities and actions shape the outcomes of our lives and therefore our destiny. This statement opposes the traditional view that man’s fate is determined by an external force (name it god or even chance). This argument is basically one of faith: do you believe we shape our own futures by how we act, or are our lives programmed in a certain unchangeable way? In other words, do you believe in an omnipotent being that has our lives or at least our futures predetermined? As we shall see, a man’s character defines his life (as his behaviour, emotions and actions determine his daily life), but I believe that our fate is predetermined and unchangeable and that there is divine intervention, therefore a matter that we have no control over. To support the fact that we might be able to define our daily life but not our fates or futures there is the unanswered question of ‘why do bad things happen to good people? Furthermore, character is not the only aspect in deciding a man’s fate: external events (chance and Nature) will also alter the processes and outcomes of our lives. Heraclites and Novalis (German philosopher)[1] had an interesting argument, but unfortunately one that only applies in a utopian world. Many people believe that a person’s personality determines their place in life, therefore supporting Heraclites’ idea. Basically, this suggests that depending on how a person lives, what he does and how he deals with events the outcome of his life will be shaped accordingly. For example, in Thomas Hardy’s ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’, we understand that Mr. Henchard’s personality flaws (his temper and his naivety especially) lead him slowly to worse situations, which finally end up in him not wanting to be remembered once he is dead. On the other hand, Farfrae, a character which is much more appealing, sensitive, humane and kind is victim of fortunate events such as the prosperity of his business and his marriage to Lucetta. Both these cases can be attributed to the fact that life is working against Henchard while it works very well for Farfrae due to their aforementioned personalities. Unquestionably, the way in which we act will attract positive or negative outcomes respectively. In this matter, we could say that we are the architects of our fates[2] and that even though it might be very difficult to do so, we can manage to change our personality and therefore change our fates in a desired direction. Fate is in our hands (or should we better say in our character), as Scottish author Samuel Smiles words tell us: â€Å"Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny. †[3] On the other hand, if we follow the argument discussed in the previous paragraph, then we could draw the conclusion that good things should always happen to good people and bad things to bad people. In real life, this is almost never true, and in many examples we can find quite the opposite: bad things happening to good people and vice versa. How many good and innocent people have been victims of the greed of evil people such as the Holocaust, the Iraq War or the bombings in Nagasaki and Hiroshima? If we want to narrow this to a theological explanation, then we can argue that God made us all in his image, therefore making us independent of moral choice and giving us total freedom (this suggests that we can control our characters in the way we decide because we have been given the freedom to do so. I don’t support this idea, but it is however the most rational to explain why bad things happen to good people: as there are also bad people in the world that act freely, then you can be a victim of their acts no matter who you are or how you are). However, as he has given everyone freedom, then we can all be victims of good and bad from other people. [4] Your character might determine your fate, but it is not the sole factor because as we can see, bad things can happen to good people and vice versa. I believe that this is a matter of chance (the fact that a good person might get in the way of a bad one and therefore have a terrible outcome which his/her character doesn’t reflect) and even tough we might have a certain personality that should lead us to a consequent destiny, unexpected and random variables get in the way and might change the course of our fates. Definitely our character will have an important role to play in determining the outcomes of our lives, but from this idea we can draw the idea that although character controls our life, we can’t control our fates: our fates are predestined. We can call these omnipotent force God, devil, providence or chance, but the fact is that our fate has already been planned for us and even if we could change our character (making us believe that we are changing our fate), we are only changing direction into a fate we think is new, but in reality is the fate that was always predestined for us. Furthermore, character is not the only factor in determining our lives. We must consider external factors such as the environment, nature and fortune. For example, in the novel ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ by Thomas Hardy, the main character, Mr. Henchard organizes a fair for the townspeople in order to show the people that despite what he appears to be, he is really kind and humane. Everything turns out wrong for him because heavy rain ruins the event (Nature intervenes) and later on in the book when he finally tries to redeem himself by taking good care of her daughter, he finds out that she is really not her daughter and that her real daughter died many years ago (fortune intervenes). We can’t attribute this ‘bad luck’ to Henchard’s character; this is simply a series of external factors that play against him in a random and unfortunate way. Yet another example is a Jewish story about a man, Moishe Lipsky, who moved into New York in the time of the Great Depression and when he applied for the only job he could find (a janitor), he was turned down because he was illiterate. So, he opened a little storefront and gradually became a rich and successful man. One day, when he goes to the bank to ask for a loan and he signs the papers with an X (as he was illiterate) and the loan officer tells him ‘Just think, in just a few years you have become a very rich man. It makes me wonder what you would have become if you could read and write’ and Lipsky answers ‘A janitor’. 5] It is ironical how things turn out in this story, but chance certainly plays a role in the success of this good and honest man. He arrives to America just in a difficult time and his predestined conditions make him illiterate. Without these factors of Nature, chance or omnipotence, the man could have actually turned out to be a janitor and not the successful businessman he turned out to be. Anyone who has a belief in an omnipotent body must understand that our nature is predestined and that our futures are set, so no matter what we do, we will always make our choices to lead the way to our predetermined fate. In an idealistic world, our character is certainly our fate, if no external factors (chance or nature) intervene. However, even though in practice we can definitely say that our personalities shape our destiny, I believe that God has a definite purpose for each one of us and therefore He has determined our destiny from the very first moment we were conceived. Furthermore, the fact that good things happen to bad people and vice versa reflects the fact that our fates must be predetermined, and therefore while our personalities might lead us in a certain way, our fate (whether good or bad) is already written. We can change our characters at free will and this will make us lead an ensuing life, but our destiny is set and no matter what we do, we will never be able to determine it. [1] â€Å"Character and fate are two words for the same thing† – Novalis [2] â€Å"Each man is the architect of his own fate. † – Appius Claudius [3] http://www. americanchronicle. com/articles/view/20750 [4] http://judaism. about. com/library/3_askrabbi_o/bl_simmons_murder. htm [5] http://www. petermalakoff. com/character_and_fate. html

Strategies for Parent Training in Families of Children with Autism Research Paper

Strategies for Parent Training in Families of Children with Autism - Research Paper Example As parents start the journey into the autism world, they are always faced with the challenge of understanding why their children are not able to develop normally. They start asking myriad questions that they cannot easily find answers to. When they are not able to cope with the stress, it becomes very difficult for them to help and raise their children normally. Researchers have shown great interest in the role of parental involvement in managing the condition. The main question in such studies has been on the best strategies to carry out parent training to facilitate behavior change and impact on the social skills of both the parents and the children with autism. Although previous studies have shown that parental training improves and influences outcomes in both the children and parent, there is still the need to explore how different strategies impact on the behavior of the parents and children.AutismRogers (2011) defines autism to be a childhood disordered that affects the normal development of the child. The condition has also been defined as a developmental disease that affects the verbal and non-verbal ability of children while also impacting on their social interaction capability and educational performance. It appears during the first three years of an individual’s life. Autism has several symptoms whose severity varies from individual to individual. In children who are aged between one and three years, one of the autistic behaviors is usually the lack of social skills and play development.

Evolution of Management Theory Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Evolution of Management Theory - Case Study Example Classical theory is essentially a grouping of similar ideas on the management of organizations that developed in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.This theory contains three general branches.Quintessentially, the theory emphasizes on economic rationality of the individual employee at work. The Rational economic view was based on the ideas if the 18th-century economist, Adam Smith. According to this school of thought, people are motivated by economic gains, therefore they key to drive employees was a monetary reward. Another noteworthy development of the classical period was the introduction of scientific management.F W Taylor is known as the father of scientific management. His contribution to the practice of management is widely recognized. Taylor was the first one to introduce a scientific approach to the study and practice of management. The essence of scientific management can be encapsulated in the following four ideas: 1. Each job should be divided into parts and a scientific method for performing each part should be determined. 2. The method of recruiting and training employees should be scientific as well. 3. Co-operation between the workers and management was regarded paramount to achieve a desirable outcome of the tasks performed. 4. Lastly, an emphasis was laid on the idea of division of labor.Managers were to supervise, plan and instruct whereas the workers were expected to carry out the execution part. Further on, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth refined Taylor’s methods. 's methods. They were also pioneers in the field of management and their most important contribution is the time and motion series and emphasis on improving efficency.The components of time and motion series are-break down each action into elements, find better ways to perform it, reoraganize each action to be more efficient. The Gilbreths also studied fatigue problems, lighting, heating and other worker issues. Administrative principles: Another group of classical theorists dealt with the operations of an organization as a whole unlike the aforementioned pioneers who focused mainly on individual workers. The Administrative theorist sought the most optimum way to combine jobs and people into an efficient organization. One of the forerunners of

The Strategic Causes of Conflict - What caused the 1973 Arab-Israeli Essay

The Strategic Causes of Conflict - What caused the 1973 Arab-Israeli War - Essay Example Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat instead opted to resolve the issues through diplomacy, and resorted to withdrawing the Mitla and Gidi. Additionally, President Anwar suggested starting the diplomatic relations with the US and signing a peace pact with Israel, however, Israel also decided to withdraw to the armistice borders that were earlier established before June 5, 1967. There have been various schools of thought with regards to the implications and genesis of this war, on one side, the West European political elites placed blame on the United States for provoking the war through the assistance it provided to Israel. On the other side of the divide, Edward Heath, the then British Prime Minister did not welcome the United State’s response towards the war by its unanimous decision to uplift nuclear forces to Defense Condition 3 (DEFCON3) without giving the British government timely warning. Scholars have provided various perspectives of the October 1973 war, with a major focus on the military dimension, its societal implications between Arab, Israel and its neighbors, and its crisis in the Cold War. Given its huge crisis and implications, various researchers have only compared this war to the Suez War in 1956, the Bosnian civil war of 1992-3, and the latest Iraq war of 2003. 3This paper examines the strategic causes of this and the involvement of countries that fueled the war. An attempt is also made to provide an in depth analysis of the Western influence into this war with a focus on Britain and US. At the end of this paper and an attempt will be made to look into the negotiation process and peace building strategies that were put in place in a bid to resolve this war. Background to the Israel-Arab War When the Israel-Arab War broke out in the year 1973, Israel found itself in a defenseless position and not ready for the War for the first time – scholars have a rgued that this was a very big mistake for a nation that possessed very little information on its territorial boundaries and its enemies. However, with the progress of the war, Israel over time gained military superiority, but all in all, it was Egypt that emerged victors in the war through be achieving its main goal. In the end, the stalemate that had been at the heart of the Israeli-occupied Sinai was resolved, leading to the Camp David Accords and the Egypt’s reacquisition of the Peninsula. Other scholars have conceded that the War was in equal measure the success of President Anwar Sadat, and it never have been possible without the element of surprise tactics achieved through a carefully planned strategic deception approaches. While there were various elements to that deception campaign, an interesting one that was employed relevant to this particular case was the one of Ashraf Marwan, who was a high ranking-ranking Egyptian official and Israeli spy who by that time marri ed to the daughter of Ganal Abdel Nasser. In his endeavor in making diplomatic approaches to the conflict, President Anwar was already in the process of preparing for war. In this process, President Anwar contacted his Syrian counterpart, President Hafiz al-Asad to plan

The Marshall MBA Prime Program Personal Statement

The Marshall MBA Prime Program - Personal Statement Example The opportunity of working in a foreign country excited me and I promptly accepted the nomination. Part of the challenge was to audit an industry I had limited knowledge about since Jordan was not a crude oil exporting country. The other would be to interact with the different cultural mentalities of our clients' multinational staff. The Audit team comprised two Senior Associates and five junior associates including myself. The flight to Tripoli was uneventful and upon arrival at our location a heterogeneous mix of people representing our client greeted us. At first I could not help but go through the motions as I shook hands and tried to keep track of the names of our hosts. As I got settled in my hotel room later that night and after a formal reception with our hosts, I was still astonished as to how many different international delicacies were offered at the dinner. The audit proper began in earnest the next morning as we set up our workstations and devices. About two-thirds of our Client's Finance department staffers were from different countries in Europe, the others being Americans, Egyptians, India nationals, Pakistanis and a few Libyans. Although most of the staffers communicated in English, some of the expatriates were quite knowledgeable in Arabic: this pleasantly surprised me. After work hours most days, we would mostly dine at the hotel or at nearby restaurants with our hosts.

Critically consider the impact of implementing the new statutory Essay - 1

Critically consider the impact of implementing the new statutory guidence for the new early years foundation stage 2012 across the early years sector - Essay Example The new statutory guidance is based on four principles that ensure the child is brought up in a unique manner to produce an individual who is self reliant and independent. It provides to the professionals a set of principles and requirements whose target is providing high quality education to the children. The principles ensures that all the professional educators meet a certain set target of quality ensuring that the children are equally educated at the tender age. The new statutory insists on the professionals spending more of their time interacting with the children to ensure that there are more creative and communicate easily. The uniformity in the kind of quality expected in the children at this age will ensure that the level of competition in the education increases and hence better individuals are produced starting from this early stage. The new early year’s foundation is very mindful on the children and the improvements are expected to benefit them more. It equips the professionals with knowledge of how to share the progress of children between the age of one and three years (Jarvis, George and Holland 2013, p.65). The children are assessed on personal, emotional and social development that was not there in the earlier foundation. The children are also examined on literacy in mathematics design and expressive arts. This kind of assessment will have an effect on the children such that their talents and abilities are identified very early and guiding them into choosing a career will be easier. The EYFS insists on partnership between the parents and the professionals so that the child is developed both at home and at school. It encourages parent involvement in the child development and it gives insight on how they can support the development at home. The parent spends most of the time with the child and it would be easier for them than the teacher to identify the needs of the child that would

Human Behaviors in Budgeting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Human Behaviors in Budgeting - Essay Example A budget can deliver a criterion where employees are encouraged to achieve their targets under certain conditions. Conversely, budget can also inspire disorganization and conflict between employees or managers. If people are dynamically involved in developing budget, then it can be used as a device to support managers in handling their branches effectively. Budget can be a useful device for motivating people but if budget is developed from top level and enforces a threat for employees it can be resisted and will cause harm to the organization (Drury, 2007). Objectives of Budgeting Through budget, organizations can regulate the actions of different divisions. An effective budgetary system can act as a comprehensive control system for organization if there are certain implied or apparent links between budgetary processes and organizational rewards (Flamholtz, 1983). Budgeting comprises of creating specific targets, implementing strategies to accomplish the targets, and occasionally mat ch actual status with the targets. The targets can be general business objectives and particular goals for the individual divisions within organization. Budget provides a way for business by drawing the strategies of the operations in financial expressions. Budget helps organizations to direct activities and decreases the negative results (Warren & Et. Al., 2011). Though budgets are usually related with profit, they also play significant parts in operating several divisions of government. For instance, budgets are useful tools for managing finance for education and ration in rural areas. Budgets are also used in non-profit organizations such as public hospitals and cathedrals among others. Budget comprises of three activities which are planning, directing and controlling. Before planning the budget, it is important for organizations to forecast the amount of budget. The forecasting is often developed by considering the conclusions of past outcomes. Several statistical approaches are used for forecasting budget. The planning phase is comprised of forming specific objectives for future actions. It is a part of management process. Directing is the activity for satisfying the planned actions and controlling is periodically judging the progress of activities with the planned actions (Warren, 2008). Human Behavior in Budgeting Budget can have substantial effect on human behaviour. Budget can stimulate managers for developing their performance; adversely it can also de-motivate from putting extra effort and flatten the self-esteem of managers (Kimmel & Et. Al., 2010). The behavioural problems or dysfunctional consequences can arise from budgeting in three conditions which are: 1. The goal of budget is unattainable 2. The goal of budget is too simple to accomplish 3. The goal of budget disagrees with the goals of employees Unattainable goals: Employees will be de-motivated if performance expectations set by the managers are impractical or unattainable. An aggressive a nd achievable goal can probably motivate employees to accomplish the organizational objectives. Thus, employees should be engaged in

Business Communication - My Role Model in Career Essay Example for Free

Business Communication My Role Model in Career Essay Mr. Mahbub Hossain, my line manager of my previous office, is my role model for my career path. He is the CSM (Customer Service Manager)of Joydebpur branch, Brac Bank LTD. In brief, he is getting MBA from IBA along with his job. Was graduated from DU (Finance), prior that he took places in both HSC SSC examinations. As I worked with him, I found many good qualities in him. By times, I took him as a role model as his qualities impressed me. I am going to point out two of them which is leadership quality and secondly, quick decision (appropriate) making ability. As I have seen him closely, I found all the qualities that a leader should have. He guided the team successfully to achieve the organizational goal. He teamed us up too strongly cheered us to act spontaneously to meet up the goals. He used to take initiatives for cheering us up. So that we never been tired in meeting our business targets. Theory says, a leader has to have seven qualities, but I found more in him. Out of the theoretical ones, his friendly caring attitude made us believe that we are not only team players, even more than that. Personal recognitions helped a lot to follow his leadership willingly, not only for his designation. His interpersonal communication skill ability of finding out team members strength or weakness made him a successful leader. I found him always remain calm in critical situations and controlled tactfully. Always stand with subordinates against all odds (from outside) is remarkable. His keen knowledge and prompt decision making ability is an effective quality for any career. I always found him deciding with the best option. Some of his effective decisions saved potential losses. He even made critical decisions over the phone in instant. His knowledge on current issues, updating about the recent changes made him up to this standard. We people learn from the surrounding. I passed a long time with Mr. Mahbub inside as well outside of our office. I try to adapt these two qualities in me. I wish to be a leader like him as my team members also think like that we are in a team, not like a orderer follower relation. To get leadership quality like him I try to spend more time with him. Whenever we meet, we share our ides. I am gathering theoretical data as I can even exceed his leadership quality. It was said, â€Å"Leaders are born, not made. † But recent studies proved that these leadership qualities can be developed to a great extent. I attended a training program at Briddhi with him (arranged by our organization), which was meant for mid level managers and up comers. Finding out colleges ability seems tough to me. I found this as my area of developments. At any stage of career I should be prompt in making quick decisions with accuracy. As I said just ago, I discuss about every issue with him. If there is any situation I have to decide anything at once, I let him know about the issue and exchange ideas for improvement scopes. Knowledge gathering is a key to professional success. Thats why, I get myself admitted MBA here. I am studying here with hope, I can implement these theoretical knowledge at my workplace. I read a lot of articles written on banking FI (Financial Institutes). Current issues mostly published on web or newspapers. For making myself up to date about, I go through them. Internal circulars helps a lot to updating myself.

Mubai Flooding Case Study Environmental Sciences Essay

Mubai Flooding Case Study Environmental Sciences Essay The metropolis of Mumbai that include suburbs and city region of Mumbai received 39.1 inch (994mm) rainfall in single day on 26th July 2005. This is a case of natural disaster in a single metro city where in flood situation happened because of heavy on spot rain and not because of typical reasons of flood in any area due to over flooding of rivers. Justification of selection of case This case is selected because it is being a flood situation in commercial capital of India which is claimed to be progressing toward becoming city like shanghai in terms of infrastructure and facilities. The financial capital of India grown from 10 lakhs to 128 lakhs of population in a decade but the system waterways, drains, rivers have not been upgraded and updated accordingly. In Mumbai water logging is a decade old problem and we are accustomed to it. In 21st century every year on an average 5 days are lost when educational institutions and offices (Mumbai is the financial capital of India) remain shutting due to heavy rain and flooding during monsoon. The severity of 26th July2005 heavy rainfall and water logging was the situation when thousands of people died, lakhs were injured and uncountable were affected economically and physically. It raises the immediate need for action from multiple agencies. It gives chance to analyse emergency preparedness of government agencies, private bodies, NGOs and individual. To solve the problem various forums and agencies are continuously talking since 1991,but till now nothing has happened as central and state government have not allotted sufficient money to materialize the issue even after the shocking event of 26th July 2005. During water logging and flooding substantial amount of damage caused. Disrupt transportation cause hampering of economic and financial activities. This hurt industry and service sector tremendously .GDP and GNP growth of country rises to 8.5% where Mumbai growth rate falls 2.1%.Mumbai loses more than 800 crore rupees due to this problem. 3000 crore rupees treated as capital investment. Mumbai has given 80,000crore rupees as revenue to government of India in the year 2005-06 and 22,000 crore rupees earned by government of Maharashtra as duties, taxes, cess in the same year. Objectives of Case Study The collection of data related to damage to human life and assets by this flood. Systematic compilation of relevant data to come to the stage of making action plans, policies and procedures for removing water logging and flooding in Mumbai. To identify factors responsible for 26 July 2005 flood in Mumbai. Lessons we learn from this disaster and efforts we are doing to reduce such disasters in future. Developments of an efficient methodology which is economical, easy to interpret by charts and maps related to such severe situation very rapidly and start responding quickly. Review of work done so far on this issue. Area under study Areas badly affected by flood Lower parts of Southern Mumbai Sea shore areas of Western Mumbai Densely populated areas of Central parts of Mumbai Lower area of Kurla and Kalina Roads and Railways were badly affected by this flood. Responsible reasons The sewage system of Mumbai can carry only 25 millimeters of rain water per hour which was extremely inadequate when rainfall was 994 mm. The drainage system was clogged at several places. Heavy rain and High tide time was same that day due to which 103 outlet gates that connected drainages that directly open to sea get overflowed. The situation became worse because drainages were not clean and filled with garbage that blocked the outflow of rain water and it got accumulated on the roads. The severity of situation worsened because warning about heavy rainfall and high tide was not given on time on Radio and Television stations by the civic agencies. The Meteorological department was not having sophisticated weather radars which can give 3 hour prior warning. Massive encroachment on mouth of major nallas and heavy diversions and encroachment of Mithi and other rivers acted as blockage to rain water running towards river. Development by MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority) without proper environmental clearance increase the pressure on existing drainage system which is already poor and old fashioned Old fashioned and poor drainage system. Bandra Kurla complex which is constructed by replacing swampy areas; the Environment Ministry of the Government of India was informed about its potential disaster and appeal not to sanction it but no action has been taken on time. Destruction of mangroves ecosystem for construction and encroachment. This ecosystem exists along the Mithi River and Mahim Creek. This swampy area acts as a buffer between land and sea. Sewage and garbage dumps have also destroyed mangroves. The most acclaimed Mindspace (INORBIT MALL) in Goregaon Malad has been built by destroying a large patch of Mangrooves in Maharashtra.1 ^ http://mdmu.maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/Flood/statusreport.pdf Recorded data from government offices Parameter Recorded loss Actual loss Human life loss 1094 2500 Spoilt Rickshaw 25000 370000 Taxis Damaged 3250 4000 BEST Buses Damaged 745 900 Trucks and tempo grounded 6900 10000 Local Trains damaged 43 52 Preparedness expectation from government Loopholes in preparedness in actual system Clean and clear drainage Household waste filled drainages join major nallas and river banks 20 Active out flow gates Only 4 working channel gates 1000 trained volunteers for quick response Appointed procedure and training is pending Result and Recommendations Strategic Planning First is the requirement of suitable methods to make decisions when criteria to choose are too many. Information Analysis System (IAS): A process that systematically access, integrate and analyze the information fragmented in various dependents and independent variables by arranging them in proper hierarchy. To present a new method of calculating risk probability of flood hazard by analyzing data gathered from census, land use mapping, geomorphic details of land cover. Using the above analyzed and integrated data in software like GIS for Hazard mapping. This flood vulnerability risk probability will give the probability of being flooded when certain level of rainfall occur as well as other decision factors of different level and sub factors are also present like high tide, distance of active water gates from sea. It will also suggest methods to nullify some decision factors or level of sub factors at appropriate time so that loss of life and assets can be reduced. To calculate flood vulnerability probability (FVP) there are set of primary data collected from topographic maps, population data of the regional divisions of Mumbai, Atlas Thematic Mapping Organization (NATMO), and Statistical Offices respectively. The FVP is calculated for possible inundated areas of Mumbai. FVP is divided into five category very low, low, medium, high and very high. The categories are based on histogram distribution and the Flood Hazard Maps. Higher the FVP, higher the risk of inundation and water logging threat. The flood hazard map presents relevant and accurate analysis through GIS environment. Flood vulnerability probability (FVP) FVP= à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ (Pab-RIWab) RIWabj Where, FVP = Flood vulnerability probability Pab = probability of level a of decision factor b, RIWab = relative importance weight of level a decision factor b. RIW abj = relative importance weight of sub-factor j of level a decision factor b. Level Decision factor Sub factor Overflowed nallahas Blocked nallahas Distance from connecting nallahas Low lying area Lower than average standard of low lying above sea level(ASL) Distance from sea High tide Outfalls are narrow sized Rainfall Unavailable pumping facility Flood mapping and zoning Flood hazard zoning will help in regulating flood hazard areas minimize the loss of life and assets in future. Flood management and control will help in land planning, controlling and management of water that is a scarce resource. Water needed areas of the countries will get benefitted when flood water will diverted to these areas through proper channeling. Economy of India will move to prosperity when agricultural land and densely populated areas will get sufficient water for farming and drinking Drainage modeling Population of Mumbai has risen by 60% in last 25 years. Migration to Mumbai is the main cause of increase in population. This caused pressure on existing land for housing and infrastructure and resulted in encroachment of land, Nallas, and Mithi river and other river banks and on drainage system. Drainage modeling requires: Emphasis on proper land use planning This is the best method for achieving the goal of Freeing Mumbai from Flood. It requires systematic data collection on the work done in this area and them compiling relevant data to make an action plan. After discussing plan of action with concerned authorities testing it in small area , if it work effectively then apply it in all areas of Mumbai in phases. Mumbai suffers from flood situation when there is heavy rain (or not so heavy rain) and the water does not dispose off in reasonable time. The well known reasons are increasing population, scarcity of land, use of no development zones, without increasing capacity of nallahs constructions are done there, diversion of Mithi river to make airport, disappearance of small lakes and ponds increase in slums whose waste directly goes in water ways. Flood in every monsoon season is become severe in low lying areas of Mumbai which become more dangerous in high tide situation because nallahs width in those areas in narrow and natural drainage is restricted due to new developments like in SV road and LBS marg. The present drainage system in the city consists of underground single water drainages discharging into the sea through short outfalls. The present drainage system in the suburban areas consists of creeks so rainwater runoff towards there. A system of open surface drain consists here. Massive infrastructure development along with cementing of roads and increasing their heights effects water absorbing capacity. To expedite projects that could curb flooding in Mumbai, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee increased the allocation for the Brihanmumbai storm water drain (Brimstowad) project in the current fiscal year from Rs200 crore, earmarked during the interim budget, to Rs500 crore (source DNA ). The project will help the BMC increase the water retention capacity of existing storm water drains. A fact-finding committee appointed to look into reasons for the July 26, 2005, deluge had suggested this as an immediate measure. The Manmohan Singh government, which was at the helm even then, had then agreed to completely fund the Rs1, 200-crore project. Statistics of Mumbais drainage system network: Length of nallahs and drain Type Island city Eastern suburb Western Suburb Total Major Nallah(km) Width >1.5m 9 90 101 200 Minor nallah(km) Width 21 66 42 129 Drain (km) 59 40 51 150 Road side open drain 20 669 1297 1986 Closed pipe drain 443 36 86 565 No. of water entrances 27893 609 1706 30208 System of Rainwater disposal in Mumbai Outfall Island city Eastern suburb Western suburb Total Discharge in Arabian sea 107 29 136 Mahim creek 4 8 14 26 Mahul creek 4 6 10 Thane creek 14 14 Total 186 Outfalls which are below sea level are 45, outfalls which are above sea level but below high tide level are 135 and outfalls above high tide levels are 6. Maintenance of natural drainage There are many natural drainage in Mumbai. Maintaining them is also one efficient method to reduce emergencies like 26th July 2005 flood. Tulsi lake: Its dam have 2 spillways which discharge into Dahisar river and Vihar lake. Vihar lake: Its spillways discharge into Mithi river. Powai lake: Its discharge also meets Mithi river Mahul and Vakola lake, two branches of Mithi River which were existed till 1976 in the map of Mumbai now disappeared on the cost of development. Developing a new action plan for these holding rivers by developing new drain in city and suburbs, and installing new gates and pumping stations is under progress. Management of local disposal and waste: One effective and sustainable solution is to use efficient, cost effective and automated waste collection and processing technology specifically in metro cities is using effective piping system like shown below: Figure 5.: Management of local disposal and waste CAD software gives an integrated drainage design suite that facilitates engineers with powerful but easy to use system convert digital surveyed data into a detailed digital model on ground very quickly. The model can be used to design roadmaps, their alignments and design drainage system, long-sections and cross-sections with the help of CAD software. These ground models can be used for many other applications like land fill management, mineral extraction. Modified Rational Method used for Drainage designs and Foul drainage networks and can be tested for flood conditions using a Powerful Simulation module. Typical flood prevention methods and techniques with sustainable systems such as ingress pavements, paver blocks, parkings and pedestrian walkways shall be used. Research undertaken to examine local governments capacity to manage recovery activities after Mumbai 26th July 2005 flood has shown that their overall performance in conclusion is, in-consistent and problematic(Mehta Report 2006). The reason was lack of resources and poor planning (K B Singh et al. 2007); the difficulty local officials faced was lack of proper planning between pre and post disaster period; Resource dependence on the state government; lack of adequate numbers of professionalized staff; poor leadership and bureaucratic and legal constraints; and the lack of awareness among powerful citizen and business groups that overshadow local government officials efforts. The locally based reconstruction efforts, such as aid that does not meet the needs of the victims and the possibility to delegate all responsibility on local involvement. On the basis of a study of the recovery processes after the flood of 26 July 2005 in Mumbai, public opinion clearly indicates that government j urisdictions, especially local governments, have little guidance to direct their recovery activities. Overcoming recovery implementation problems Is it possible to overcome the problem of local government capacity to manage the disaster recovery process? Researchers showed successful local recovery by communities at their own level. I studied 14 municipal Wards (Chembur, Malad, Borivali, Juhu, Goregaon,Vile Parle, Mahalaxmi, Kurla, Bandra, Kandivali, Tardeo, Sion, Matunga, Wadala) recovery processes and found that the speed and quality of recovery appeared . That was the function of three factors: (1) productive intergovernmental relationships, (2) effective competition for scarce resources, and (3) effective management of CBO decision making. Pre disaster planning was not there because nobody at authority level had imagined such terrific flood situation so post flood recovery was slow and unsatisfactory, which encouraged communities in these wards to organize processes for more timely and efficient action at their own level, clarify key recovery roles and responsibilities, identify and secure  ¬Ã‚ nancing, and avoid repeti tion of such emergencies again in future. Many plans are dif ¬Ã‚ cult to implement; they at least draw our attention to some important features of the recovery process. In particular, they highlight the importance of collective action involving multiple organizations-from both the public and private sectors-which cross governmental jurisdictions. One promising  ¬Ã‚ nding from the Emergency preparedness recovery plans comes from an assessment of the Mumbais roads, railways, drainage system, waste disposal system, municipality proactiveness in future. The citizens and local of ¬Ã‚ cials improvised a successful adaptive strategy that should implemented in the city directly for managing the recovery process. Inter and intra-community network and the local recovery process I found that the degree of integration among organizations that comprise the emergency response network prior to flood in Mumbai is a reliable predictor of readiness and response effectiveness in future. In this regard I conveyed the idea to the Disaster Research Center, the stronger and more well de ¬Ã‚ ned the inter-organizational linkages are prior to an event, the smoother subsequent rescue related activities will go. CBO preparedness is synonymous to Emergency preparedness which requires response effectiveness, and strong structural inter-organizational relations. The role of self-evident natural networks and self-organization in emergency preparedness is necessary and required very much. After 5 years Wards of Mumbai are very considerable in their capacity to respond to 26th July 2005 type emergencies. Emergency groups are now aware about recovery and redevelopment processes. This is a particularly important problem in the reconstruction and recovery phase, where competition over resources and CBO redevelopment goals often replaces the immediate post event spirit of cooperation. Conceptual model of the local recovery process The response phase of emergency management of flood like situations in Mumbai, some of the lessons learned in that context may be transferable to the recovery and reconstruction phases. A variety of studies suggesting that the capacity of citizens and organizations involved in recovery to adapt to changing conditions is higher and inter-organizational aid delivery systems are more capable of meeting the needs and capacities of disaster stricken citizens when intra-CBO and inter-governmental ties are strong. The importance of three key variables related to CBO problem-solving capacity: horizontal integration, vertical integration, and network centralization. Horizontal integration refers to relations among the individuals and organizations within a community. Thus, a CBO with a high degree of horizontal integration is characterized by a tightly knit social network with relatively equal power distributions and features frequent, sustained interactions and communications. Conversely, communities with a low degree of horizontal integration have a weakly knit social fabric. Vertical integration de-scribes a CBOs relations with extra CBO systems. A CBOs ties with larger political, social, and economic institutions may explain resource and information transfers and in ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uence the extent to which these institutions are dependent on their environment. Network centralization refers to the power and control structure of the network, and whether network links and activities are organized around any particular one or small group of organizations. Integration and centralization are important complementary measures. Integration is a measure of the extent to which organizations in a system are interconnected; centralization describes the extent to which horizontal and vertical cohesion is organized around particular focal points. Horizontal and Vertical Integration and the Role of Focal Organizations The potential relationships between horizontal and vertical integration and depicts four types of communities. The dominant recovery strategies that characterize each type of CBO. A type I CBO is ideally suited for an effective recovery effort. Communities of this type have well-developed ties to external resources and programs as well as viable horizontal networks that enable it to exert in ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uence over CBO recovery activities. Such type of communities rely on preexisting stores of social capacity and cohesion are formed in Mumbai they are showing self-organizing behavior. CBO types by degree of horizontal and vertical integration and disaster recovery strategies. Horizontal integration was high owing to the high degree of interest in and experience with political activities on the part of the citizen ship. The local government develops new partnerships and capabilities with its citizens. A cooperative association of households known as the Neighborhood Survival Network (NSN) was established to facilitate citizen self-help in future disasters. The high degree of horizontal integration played a vital role in aiding overlooked minority and low-income populations in rural mountain neighborhoods and in providing a basis for increasing vertical integration. The central Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) utilized the well-established ties developed by the NSN to assess needs and distribute assistance. Emergency experienced by the people of Mumbai that day stimulated local horizontal integration. Subsequently, local problem-solving capacity was expanded by ve rtical integration between federal relief efforts and local CBO organizations. A type II CBO is an autonomous, relatively isolated CBO with few vertical ties. These types of communities are also formed in Mumbai they have viable horizontal social networks; they suffer from a lack of knowledge about and interaction with important external resources. Communities of this type will adopt a strategy of cooperation with potential resources providers, such as the state or federal government. In type II CBO they have a highly active network of, social clubs, and CBO groups. Owing to the high degree of horizontal integration, the CBO rapidly mobilized its limited resources to set up evacuation centers, provide food and safe drinking water, and establish communication channels to disseminate recovery information. But the scale of the disaster, coupled with the inexperience of local public officials with central governmental disaster aid programs. The city received assurances from FEMA that they would be helped every step of the way. Corruption and bureaucracy is a part o ur system that had eaten up a large share of the relief package. Despite the public pleadings of civic leaders, governments aid was delayed for several weeks. Meanwhile, people discovered that the governments monies would cover only a small portion of the damages. A type III CBO is in a classic state of dependency. They also involved in number in Mumbai lacking a viable horizontal network, it is less likely to take into account local needs, concerns, or values in the recovery effort. A type III CBO does have the advantage of strong vertical ties and channels to facilitate the delivery external aid. They have disproportionate share of disaster-related resources are allocated by the central government. These types of communities will adopt a dual strategy of recovery. Because horizontal cohesion is weak, local policy makers must engage in a strategy based on the cooptation of important constituencies within the CBO. However, owing to strong vertical linkages, these communities will be able to make claims on external resources. In Mumbai such communities are politically powerful communities can bypass normal relief channels and, in effect, coerce the central government into providing massive aid. Overall horizontal integration in such communities is low. Its vertical ties, particularly with corporators and relief and emergency management agencies, are quite strong. As a consequence, these type of communities bypass many of the intergovernmental aid hurdles that other jurisdictions  ¬Ã‚ nd so difficult. Indeed, owing to corporators intervention and the high level of government interest, the aid was mobilized with speed. The main point is to ensure that large amounts of government aid poured into the city and to placate affected groups in the communities. Despite the rapid government response, weak horizontal linkages slowed reconstruction efforts as private property owners and local officials squabbled over the details of CBO recovery. A type IV type of CBO is in large number in Mumbai. They face signi ¬Ã‚ cant obstacles in undertaking successful recovery efforts because it lacks access to external resources. Even if these vertical channels are activated, the lack of intra CBO integration severely limits the ability to man-age the aid process or to in ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uence the direction of recovery efforts. CBO leaders in this situation will  ¬Ã‚ nd their strategic options limited to attempting to mediate con ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ict. They had a much lower capacity to cope with the demands of disaster recovery than the communities. Many nongovernmental organization operating in Mumbai after the disaster, with good administrative staff residing in the CBO. A low degree of horizontal and vertical integration was that disaster recovery initiatives were, for the most part, organized outside of the CBO, with little input from the local people. A disaster recovery board was created to oversee recovery and reconstruction. Sometimes committee suffers from internal politics and social resistance. The ability or inability of a CBO to activate horizontal and vertical networks to engage in reconstruction activities is likely related to the presence or absence of focal organizations in the CBO. The focal organizations may or may not governmental entities. Cooperative CBO groups are perfectly capable of taking on this role. The importance of centralized, coordinating mechanisms in disaster response networks are significant. The key actors at the focal points of emergency response networks tend to play a critical role in the formation and maintenance of inter organizational relationships. It is not yet known precisely what role centralized personnel play in the recovery and reconstruction processes. Conclusion: Studies of communities suffering through the aftermath of large-scale disasters consistently  ¬Ã‚ nd that local government of ¬Ã‚ cials play the critical role in shaping the path of recovery and reconstruction. Strategic choices made by local decision makers both before and after an event determine the success of both the immediate and long-term recovery processes. Communities effective as local decision makers increased and also their ability to act, reason to act, and knowledge of what to do. These  ¬Ã‚ ndings highlight the importance of training local government of ¬Ã‚ cials to cope with CBO needs in the disaster recovery phase has increased. After this flood in Mumbai CBO leaders and local government of ¬Ã‚ cials take steps before and after such event to enhance the likelihood of achieving successful recovery and reconstruction outcomes analysis. 1. Develop a recovery plan based on the strengths and weaknesses of your particular CBO. Local of ¬Ã‚ cials are proactive in areas prone to such floods and developing a disaster recovery plans that incorporate speci ¬Ã‚ c information about the strengths and weaknesses of the area. Although emergency response plans are mandated in most jurisdictions, strategic choices in the recovery phase are often made without prior planning. The recovery plan should incorporate with anticipation and re-silience . Anticipation attempts to avoid hypothesized hazards before the fact (planning); resilience is concerned with dealing with events after they have occurred (learning). The recovery plan should be both realistic and  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡exible. 2. Utilize preexisting areas organizations in the recovery process whenever possible. In the recovery model, there are numerous local organizational and citizen capabilities that can be integrated into the recovery process. For instance, horizontal integration can involve organizational collaboration between CBO-based groups and local government. Furthermore, the experience documented by the limited research on disaster recovery shows that vertical integration can be more effective at meeting local needs when activities that strengthen horizontal integration before and during recovery are present. Local government need to know how to use the potentially relevant organizations and policy tools. 3. Designate a focal organization or create a recovery response team with representatives of the multiple organizations that will play a leadership role during the recovery process. It is difficult to convince local governments to place a high priority on planning for low-probability of flood. Emergent recovery networks operate more effectively if they are managed by a central actor. The focal organization or the recovery team should not attempt to control resources or centralize decision making. Rather, their role will be to facilitate information processing for the other stakeholders in the process. 4. Develop and maintain intergovernmental relationships. Successful recovery depends on the timely provision of resources from the state and cental governments. In large-scale disasters, a relatively large number of countries and cities are often competing for the aid and the attention of the same group of relief administrators. The ability to obtain the necessary resources without serious delays depends on the extent to which local of ¬Ã‚ cials understand the intergovernmental relationships in which the CBO is embedded. Nearly all emergency preparedness plans and programmes prepared by various levels of governments have preexisting relationships with state and central agencies. These relationships will be the starting point for developing intergovernmental partnerships in times of emergency. 5. Learn from other parts of country experiences. Although 26th July 2005 Mumbai flood was unique, there are lessons that can be learned by examining the successes and failures of other parts of country that have been visited by same type of emergency. Local government officials should develop relationships with their counterparts in communities that have been through disasters to share information about the recovery process. Lesson learned Unplanned urbanization should be stopped immediately especially when ecological balancing element mangroves are destructed. Improving inadequate capacity of existing drainage system by new drainage designs and ensuring there will be no possibility of drainage congestion. Traffic situation should also need modification. RTO should be

Public Education Essay -- Education Reform

Public education in the United States is perhaps one of the most critical issues we face as a nation. Once pronouncing the United States as a â€Å"nation at risk†, the educational institution began to implement one reform strategy after another. In efforts to improve schooling for K-12 students, education reform has fiddled with class size, revised graduation requirements, and created standardized testing just to name a few. Unfortunately, traditional public schools are still failing to provide students with a quality education. This is disheartening as we learn that the United States lags behind in math and science compared to our international counterparts. It is safe to say that educational reform has spent billions of dollars over the years in an honest effort to reform education in American; however, most reform decisions have produced little changes. Among the many radical education reform strategies implemented, charter schools are perhaps one of the most prominent. It has been roughly twenty years since several states opened a number of charter schools. The best way to describe charter schools is to say they are independent public schools of choice that are free from rules and regulations compared to traditional public schools. Charter schools are accountable for producing results; otherwise, they are subject to closing due to failing performance. There are more than 5,400 charter schools serving more than 1.7 million children across the country (Center for Education Reform, 2010). Currently, 40 states and the District of Columbia have charter school with 41 laws in place and only 13 have strong laws. The states with the strong laws, 65 percent show positive achievement gains (Center for Education Reform, 2010). These stati... ...ountry could benefit from the presence of charter schools. Although traditional public schooling is in trouble, they are not lost. With thousands of students on waiting list for charter school enrollment and a thousand more who will not attend a school of choice speaks to the need for charter schools. Conventional public schools need to move beyond the mandates of a bureaucratic system in order to experience real revitalization. Perhaps Andy Smarick has the right idea instead of trying to fix failing schools close them and start fresh (2010). Perhaps it is unrealistic to believe with the number of failing schools across this country we could replace them with new schools, but it is clear that something has to be done to ensure a quality education exist for all students. In the meantime, why not give charter schools a chance to educate those who they can serve.

The Negotiation Process Essay -- Business, Mediators, Settlement Media

Differences and disagreements always exist in negotiation process. When parties cannot reach an agreement or the power between parties is imbalance, mediators will be demonstrated the significant impact on solving problems and encourage negotiators to achieve consensus. This essay will expound four different types of mediator, which include settlement mediator, facilitative mediator, therapeutic mediator and evaluative mediator. Areas of practice for different styles of mediator also will be stated. Moreover, what kinds of dispute will be solved by different types of mediators and how these kinds of mediators influence the negotiation process are referring. At last, responsibilities and disadvantages of different styles of mediators will be represented. In brief, negotiation is a power game and mediator is always the impersonal rule maker. Mediator means an independent or a neutral third-party who helps the other two parties to consult contradiction or relax relationship during negotiation process. (Edwin, 2002, p 67) The purpose for mediator is clearing target and interest for parties, evaluating advantages and disadvantages for each position, exploring possible options, and encouraging them to reach agreement. A sapiential mediator has significant impacts on handling troublesome problems and facilitating parties to achieve consensus during the negotiation process. Firstly, mediators impel to persuade interlocutors separate interpersonal relationship from the essence of negotiation, and build bridge to connect these two parties. Moreover, mediator provides a neutral stage and give faces to both parties convert controversy to reconciliation when neither of them makes a concession. At the same time, a compromise suggestion which... ...isputes and relax relationship when negotiation sink into deadlock, and it also encourage parties to achieve consensus. A successful settlement mediator respect negotiators and encourage parties to achieve agreement through compromising. However, facilitative mediators focus on convert competitive relationship to cooperative relationship to solve problems, and build trust is important. Therapeutic mediators are also focus on the relationship between two parties. Nevertheless, they pay more attention to the relationship rather than the dispute itself. The most powerful style of mediators is evaluative mediators, who always determine the final outcome in a mediation process. However, it damages relationship between parties awfully. Overall, selecting the right style of the mediator is very important and practical to reach agreement during negotiation process.

Analysis of A Perfect Ganesh :: Perfect Ganesh Essays

A Perfect Ganesh Analysis of the play elements. The author: Terrence Mcnally’s career began in the New York off-off-Broadway boom of the late 1960s. Most of his 60’s plays are not really relevant although some are funny. However, during the 70’s his plays began to get recognition. Nowadays, his plays are performed in off-Broadway theaters and he is known as the author of tragicomic plays, filled with breadth and depth. He still lives in New York and is one of the America best playwrights. He is the author of numerous plays, including Master Class and Love! Valour! Compassion! (both winners of the Tony Award for best play), The Ritz, and Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, which became a movie starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer, and the books for the musicals The Rink and Kiss of the Spider Woman, which won the Tony Award for the best book of musical. Other successes include Lips Together, Teeth Apart and The Lisbon Traviata. Other plays by Terrence McNally are: Andre’s Mother; Corpus Christi: a play; It’s only a Play;Â   !Cuba si! Bringing it all back home, last gasps; and Where has Tommy Flowers Gone. McNally has received two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, and a citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He also serves as vice president for the Dramatists Guild, the American organization of playwrights, composers, and lyricists. His plays have been adapted to many languages, and performed in different countries. The plot The play concerns a two-week travel to India by two rich middle-aged women, who seem to be empty and frivolous. They both have indifferent and painful memories of the deaths of their sons. Although being friends for many years, it is only in this trip that they get to know each other (and also themselves) by experiencing the humanity of India. Katharine Brynne, one of them, is a mother who lost a homosexual son, killed by homophobics, and is haunted by the fact she rejected him. Katharine is also a woman who must deal with her racism, fueled by the fact that the men who killed her son were black. She is also an exuberant and open-minded woman who is willing to take risks and to accept the reality she sees about herself. In contrast to Katharine, there is Margaret Civil, who is more reserved, conventional, and motherly.

Historical Research Essay

Historical research has been defined as the systematic and objective location, evaluation and synthesis of evidence in order to establish facts and draw conclusions about past events. It is an act of reconstruction undertaken in a spirit of critical inquiry designed to achieve a faithful representation of a previous age. In seeking data from the personal experiences and observations of others, from documents and records, researchers often have to contend with inadequate information so that their reconstructions tend to be sketches rather than portraits. Indeed, the difficulty of obtaining adequate data makes historical research one of the most taxing kinds of inquiry to conduct satisfactorily (William 1949). Reconstruction implies a holistic perspective in that the method of inquiry characterizing historical research attempts to ‘encompass and then explain the whole realm of man’s past in a perspective that greatly accents his social, cultural, economic, and intellectual development’ (Billington 1995). Ultimately, historical research is concerned with a broad view of the conditions and not necessarily the specifics which bring them about, although such a synthesis is rarely achieved without intense debate or controversy, especially on matters of detail. The act of historical research involves the identification and limitation of a problem or an area of study; sometimes the formulation of a hypothesis (or set of questions); the collection, organization, verification, validation, analysis and selection of data; testing the hypothesis (or answering the questions) where appropriate; and writing a research report. This sequence leads to a new understanding of the past and its relevance to the present and future. Historical research in education can also show how and why educational theories and practices developed. It enables educationalists to use former practices to evaluate newer, emerging ones. Recurrent trends can be more easily identified and assessed from a historical standpoint—witness, for example, the various guises in which progressivism in education have appeared. And it can contribute to a fuller understanding of the relationship between politics and education, between school and society, between local and central government, and between teacher and pupil. Historical research may be structured by a flexible sequence of stages, beginning with the selection and evaluation of a problem or area of study. Then follows the definition of the problem in more precise terms, the selection of suitable sources of data, collection, classification and processing of the data, and finally, the evaluation and synthesis of the data into a balanced and objective account of the subject under investigation. In historical research, it is especially important that the student carefully defines his problem and appraises its appropriateness before committing himself too fully. Many problems are not adaptable to historical research methods and cannot be adequately treated using this approach. Other problems have little or no chance of producing significant results either because of the lack of pertinent data or because the problem is a trivial one. Research, if it is to be fresh and thereby justify itself, ought to start, at least in a general way, where previous research left off. Thus, it is necessary to find out the present status of scholarly investigation on the subject in hand. This can be ascertained from reliable, up-to-date bibliographical surveys, such as are sometimes found in the more scholarly type of history books now appearing, and from standard bibliographies, general or special, supplemented by notices of new publications in the current historical reviews. The hypothesis provides a framework for stating the conclusions of the study in a meaningful manner. It enables the historian to determine what is relevant to a study and to screen out irrelevant materials. Within the framework of the hypothesis, of course, the historian will pattern his material in some systematic order, such as chronological, geographical, topical, or a combination of these. He will also make judgments concerning the amount of emphasis or space to give to various evidence. Considerable information may be collected on relatively minor points in a study and little evidence on more significant events. Obviously, reporting everything would produce a distorted picture of the past. Determining which data are packed with the greatest significance and how many of them to include requires a continuous reevaluation of the hypothesis and the study as a whole. Weaving raw data into a cohesive, well-proportioned, colorful exposition requires painstaking labor. To achieve the twin objectives of maintaining accuracy and interest, a historian refrains from embellishing narratives with dramatic flourishes that distort the truth, but strives for literary excellence. Stretching or supplementing the existing evidence to create a more spirited narrative is not permissible. Artfully fitting the pieces of established evidence into a simple, vivid mosaic that dramatically delineates past events is the difficult but desired ideal to attain. History is life – and it deserves better than a drab description. The historian cannot sacrifice accuracy for eloquence; but by developing his creative and critical skills he can learn to write lucid, lively, logical accounts without violating the rigorous rules of historical scholarship. Since historians cannot personally view the educational practices of hundreds of years ago, they must rely on observations made by others in bygone days and on the examination of relics. If investigators are fully aware of the fallibility of human observation, they can check the authenticity and credibility of testimony by subjecting it to intensive external and internal criticism. Ascertaining whether every fact is absolutely true is not possible, for the most reliable witness to an event may have erred in perception or memory. But a research worker can determine the credibility of testimony in degrees of confidence – from confidence that is approximately certain at one end of the scale to confidence that is mingled with considerable doubt on the other end. Historians can ascertain with a high degree of probability that some data are true facts. But, because the reliability of data is dependent on the character, circumstances, and competence of the creators and interpreters, they are extremely cautious about accepting any historical artifact or report. The reliability of a historical research report is determined not only by how critically the investigator examined witnesses’ observations of past events, but also by the depth and breath of his knowledge about the past and present. Historical research involves the researcher both in selecting an appropriate problem and devising relevant research techniques. Questions to be asked at this stage are first, ‘Who is to be the object of the study? ’—the great person, the common person, the volunteer, the selected, the coerced? Second, ‘What makes a good informant? ’ Plummer draws attention to key factors such as accessibility of place and availability of time, and the awareness of the potential informant of his/her particular cultural milieu. Third, ‘What needs clarifying in the early stages of the research? The motivations of the researcher need to be made explicit to the intended subject. Sources of data in historical research may be classified into two main groups: primary sources, which are the life blood of historical research; and secondary sources, which may be used in the absence of, or to supplement, primary data. Primary sources of data have been described as those items that are original to the problem under study. Secondary sources are those that do not bear a direct physical relationship to the event being studied. They are made up of data that cannot be described as original. A secondary source would thus be one in which the person describing the event was not actually present but who obtained descriptions from another person or source (Atkinson 1998). Various commentators stress the importance of using primary sources of data where possible. The value, too, of secondary sources should not be minimized. There are numerous occasions where a secondary source can contribute significantly to more valid and reliable historical research than would otherwise be the case. In his preliminary search for historical data, a researcher will find that the card catalog, periodical indexes, bibliographies, historical reviews, dissertations, and research journals provide helpful leads. Although he may locate useful materials in his local library, his search probably will extend to other institutions and to specialized depositories that have business, government, legal, or private papers relating to his problem. Some individuals and agencies have exerted considerable effort to collect educational records and remains and have established a number of historical depositories to preserve them. The types of resources and completeness of the accumulations in the various depositories vary greatly: some contain extensive collections of a particular kind of materials and others have fragmentary collections of items from different fields. Owing to the wide expanse of time and the broad scope of educational endeavors, no one depository, however excellent, can possibly house all the available materials. One further point: the review of the literature is regarded as a preparatory stage to gathering data and serves to acquaint researchers with previous research on the topics they are studying (Marwick 1989). It thus enables them to continue in a tradition, to place their work in context, and to learn from earlier endeavors. The function of the review of the literature in historical research, however, is different in that it provides the data for research; the researchers’ acceptance or otherwise of their hypotheses will depend on their selection of information from the review and the interpretation they put on it. Further, documents required in historical research often date back much further than those in empirical research. And one final point: documents in education often consist of unpublished material and are therefore less accessible than reports of empirical studies in professional journals. Because workers in the field of historical research gather much of their data and information from records and documents, these must be carefully evaluated so as to attest their worth for the purposes of the particular study. Evaluation of historical data and information is often referred to as historical criticism and the reliable data yielded by the process are known as historical evidence. Historical criticism is usually undertaken in two stages: first, the authenticity of the source is appraised; and second, the accuracy or worth of the data is evaluated. External criticism is concerned with establishing the authenticity or genuineness of data. It is therefore aimed at the document (or other source) itself rather than the statements it contains; with analytic forms of the data rather than the interpretation or meaning of them in relation to the study. It therefore sets out to uncover frauds, forgeries, hoaxes, inventions or distortions. To this end, the tasks of establishing the age or authorship of a document may involve tests of factors such as signatures, handwriting, script, type, style, spelling and place-names. Further, was the knowledge it purports to transmit available at the time and is it consistent with what is known about the author or period from another source? Increasingly sophisticated analyses of physical factors can also yield clues establishing authenticity or otherwise: physical and chemical tests of ink, paper, parchment, cloth and other materials, for example. Investigations in the field of educational history are less likely to encounter deliberate forgeries than in, say, political or social history, though it is possible to find that official documents, correspondence and autobiographies have been ‘ghosted’, that is, prepared by a person other than the alleged author or signer. Having established the authenticity of the document, the researcher’s next task is to evaluate the accuracy and worth of the data contained therein. While they may be genuine, they may not necessarily disclose the most faithful picture. In their concern to establish the meaning and reliability of data, investigators are confronted with a more difficult problem than external criticism because they have to establish the credibility of the author of the documents. Many documents in the history of education tend to be neutral in character, though it is possible that some may be in error because of these kinds of observer characteristics. Once the data have been gathered and subjected to external criticism for authenticity and to internal criticism for accuracy, the researcher is next confronted with the task of piecing together an account of the events embraced by the research problem. This stage is known as the process of synthesis. It is probably the most difficult phase in the project and calls for considerable imagination and resourcefulness. The resulting pattern is then applied to the testing of the hypothesis. The writing of the final report is equally demanding and calls for creativity and high standards of objective and systematic analysis. By far the greater part of research in historical studies is qualitative in nature. This is so because the proper subject-matter of historical research consists to a great extent of verbal and other symbolic material emanating from a society’s or a culture’s past. The basic skills required of the researcher to analyze this kind of qualitative or symbolic material involve collecting, classifying, ordering, synthesizing, evaluating and interpreting. At the basis of all these acts lies sound personal judgement. In the comparatively recent past, however, attempts have been made to apply the quantitative methods of the scientist to the solution of historical problems (Boyd-Barrett & Scanlon 1991). Of these methods, the one having greatest relevance to historical research is that of content analysis, the basic goal of which is to take a verbal, non-quantitative document and transform it into quantitative data (Allen 2001). Content analysis itself has been defined as ‘a multipurpose research method developed specifically for investigating a broad spectrum of problems in which the content of communication serves as a basis of inference’, from word counts (Allen 2001) to categorization. Approaches to content analysis are careful to identify appropriate categories and units of analysis, both of which will reflect the nature of the document being analyzed and the purpose of the research. Categories are normally determined after initial inspection of the document and will cover the main areas of content.