Critically Evaluate How ICT Is Applied To the Tourism and Hospitality Essay

Critically Evaluate How ICT Is Applied To the Tourism and Hospitality Industries - Essay Example rating in the tourism and hospitality industries also face immense competition amid themselves owing to the increasing numbers of entrants and established brands offering similar products and services. Companies possess the need to develop effective strategies to deal with such scenarios. They need to perform effectively in every aspect of their business so that they can outdo the performance of their competitors and obtain greater advantages that can suffice their long-run sustainability needs. It is often argued in this regard that proper execution of the plans and decisions of the business is the ultimate approach that can substantiate effective performance demanded by a modern day organisation (Pride & et. al., 2010). In this regard, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) performs a key role in the proper execution of organisational operations, keeping in mind the needs of modern companies, which can be explicitly observed in the context of tourism and hospitality industries. ICT is often considered as one of the extensive constituents of Information Technology (IT). However, unlike IT, the concept of ICT stretches more on the aspect of communication. The concept of ICT in any form of industry including the tourism and hospitality industries commonly involves the execution of activities such as incorporation of telecommunications technology with computers and other essential software, which further allows the user companies to access, store as well as share information among their various operational departments. It would not be erroneous to depict in this regard that ICT has its influences in various sections of the business and it acts as a major driving force in deciding the performanc e of the business operations of companies functioning in any sector including tourism and hospitality sectors. The significance of ICT for companies operating in any sector can be affirmed from the fact that it is actively implemented in certain specific and vital

Evaluating the ISO 9001

Evaluating the ISO 9001 THE IMPACT OF IMPLEMENTATION OF ISO 9000 ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE Abstract This research work is intended to evaluate the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System Standard, by going into its historical perspective, its dimensions in meeting quality management objectives and effectiveness in its operation internationally. The standard is generic in nature and can be applied to any kind or organisation in manufacture/production, services or a combination of these. It is founded on eight quality management principles that are respectively, customer focus, leadership, involvement of people, process approach, systems approach to management, continual improvement, factual approach to decision making and mutually beneficial supplier relationships. Application of these principles can lead an organisation to maintain sustainable business performance in a highly competitive business environment, benefiting the organisation, customers and other stakeholders. Implementation of the quality management system as per ISO 9001:2008 entails the following steps: * Nominating a leader for implementing the project * Formulating Quality Policy and Objectives * Providing appropriate training for all employees * Conducting gap analysis of the organisations system vis-à  -vis the Requirements in the standard * Filling the identified gaps through introduction of new procedures and new records. * Preparing Quality manual and documentation required at different levels. * Conducting internal audits and management reviews * Arranging Third Party Audit if certification is intended. There are differing opinions about the outcome of operational benefits of implementation of the system. Generally, benefits accrue to the organisation if the management is committed and do all what are necessary to involve managers and employees. There is a criticism that many organisations implement quality management systems out of external compulsions such as stipulation from customers or regulatory authorities. It is possible that internal commitment in such cases will be low. If that is the case, the benefits of implementation may be marginal. The ISO standards are voluntary and are internationally popular. These are followed in 175 countries in the world. The number of certifications on ISO 9001 is steadily growing. Organisations desirous of satisfying customers and achieving continual improvements should implement the system. Design/ methodology This research work aims to scan only published information on the subject of ISO 9001: 2008 standards. This will include the historical perspective of quality management, development of the international standards, the management principles built into the standards, implementation of ISO 9001: 2008 in an organisation and its effect on business performance besides the international acceptance of the ISO standard. There are books exclusively dealing with quality management, and the subject is covered in general in other management books such as operations management. The historical perspectives are expected to be obtained from these books as well as from the website of the International Organization for Standardization. There are popular Journals that are devoted on specialised subjects such as the International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Quality management etc. These journals contain a number of research papers relating to implementation of ISO 9000 and the findings of scholars on organisational performance. It is expected that the secondary data will adequately support the research objectives. Findings ISO 9001: 2008 is the latest version of the international standard on quality management. Quality management standards initially released in 1987 and its subsequent revision in 1994 were focused on quality assurance without particular focus on customers. Revision made in 2000 and revision in 2008 focuses on customers and includes relevant TQM principles. There are organisations implementing ISO 9001 out of earnestness for continual improvements and there are others implementing it for obtaining certification status to â€Å"signal† customers or for meeting regulatory requirements. The study concludes that those who implement the standards with an internal will, fully involving managers and employees will be benefited and those who implement out external pressures or other extraneous reasons, gain only marginally. The ISO 9001 standards are popular worldwide and the number of certifications is growing steadily. Originality value The researcher does not claim any new findings, as the study has been based on information already in public domain. The publication will have its own value due to its exclusive assemblage of ideas. This will be interesting for readers who want to get a composite exposure to ISO 9001: 2000 standards as this publication provides many ideas in one place. Key words Business performance, Customer focus, Customer satisfaction, Continual improvement ISO 9000, ISO 9001, ISO 9005, Product realization, Quality management, Quality Manual, Quality Policy, Quality objectives, Resource Management, Systems approach. Introduction It is the post World-War II business scenario that led organisations to recognise the cost of bad quality, and initiate the movement for improving quality of products and services to compete with international players. Across-the-border business, forced those who enjoyed a protected domestic market to either do or die. Consequently, companies started recognising the importance of adopting TQM for improved overall performance. The first ISO 9000 Quality Management System Standard was introduced by the International Organization for Standardization in 1987. It is understood that this was a modified version of the then existed British standard BS 5750.The first set of standards released in 1987 for Certification, comprises ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003. These were revised in 1994. The latter two standards were discontinued when updated in 2000 and in 2008, retaining only ISO 9001 with provisions for exclusions to suit those categories of organisations covered by the earlier standards of ISO 9002 and 9003. It has been mentioned in management books that there are two approaches to building a system. These are â€Å"building a system out of parts (the analytic approach)† and â€Å"building parts for a system (the holistic approach).† Hanna Mark D. and Rocky Newman W. in their book on operations management, 1 state that firms implementing TQM should take advantage of both the approaches. The authors narrate the experience of Ford Motor Company during the late 1970s to early 1980s about its decision to make own Transmission systems by â€Å"cloning† the Mazda Transmission plant 1 Hanna Mark, D Newman, Rocky,W., 2001. Operations Management (p.185) to partly substitute the system outsourced to Mazda. The Ford-built Transmission systems were found to cost much higher in meeting warranty related obligations. In other words the quality costs of Ford-made systems turned out to be higher. It is explained that the American employees defined a quality part as â€Å"one that was built to specifications.† The authors report that, when Ford employees were asked as to where the specifications came from, â€Å"employees pointed to the process engineers.† The process engineers stated that these came from the product engineers. The product engineers believed that making a specification more precise would raise quality, but at a higher manufacturing cost and therefore they wrote specifications compromising between acceptability and cost. Fords engineers later found that though Mazdas parts were four times likely to deviate from specifications, â€Å"there was much less variability form part to part.† The holistic thinking of the Mazda workers appeared to be the primary reason for superior performance. ISO 9001: 2008 quality management systems 2 is intended enable organisations to deliver quality products or services while continually improving and enhancing customer satisfaction. The standard is structured to adopt the â€Å"Process approach,† and is based on eight principles described in the publication that stands updated as ISO 9000 (2005) 3. These are well understood TQM principles. This research intends to go analytically into the eight principles mentioned above and to study its contributions to the management system. 2 ISO 9001:2008, Quality management systems- Requirements 3 ISO 9000:2005, Quality management systems- Fundamentals and vocabulary Research Objectives This research work has been planned to study: (1) Principles behind the Requirements in the standard ISO 9001: 2008 (2) Implementation of ISO 9001: 2008 in organisations. (3) Attitudes of business establishments towards implementation of ISO 9001: 2008 and its outcome on business performance (4) Attitude of countries towards ISO 9000. Research Design/ Methodology This assignment has been planned to rely on secondary data on various aspects of Quality Management and related information contained in publications. This will include books, Journals, publications of the International Organization for Standardization including information available on its website and secondary data on the subject displayed by others for commercial purposes on the Web. Literature Review There are books exclusively dealing with Quality Management. There are other books that cover limited but relevant aspects on quality such as contained in general books on management. It is expected that these books will provide adequate information. Several publications such as standards and supporting publications are available from the International Organization for Standardization. The subject of Quality Management and ISO 9000 are also covered in popular journals and it is intended to scan such journals. More sources will be identified during progressive stages of research. The initial sources identified for this research are listed below: BOOKS (1) ISO 9000: The Year 2000 and Beyond.3rd ed. (2000) by Perry L. Johnson This book covers the history of Quality movement and all aspects relating to the ISO standard in terms of requirements with explanatory notes, details of implementation, Third Party certification and benefits of operation of the system. (2) Encyclopaedia of Total Quality Management by Joel E. Ross (1995) This publication is very comprehensive, covering all aspects of Quality Management such as TQM, ISO 9000 and popular systems, tools and techniques that are applied currently. (3) Operations Management by Mark, D. Hanna Rocky W. Newman (2001) Chapter 5 in this book covers Total Quality Management and chapter 6 covers Quality Improvement Tools. Chapter 5 deals with TQM in general and gives details about ISO 9000, Quality Awards etc. (4) ISO 9001: 2000 Quality Management System Design by Jay Schlickman (2003) This book exhaustively covers all aspects of Quality Management and ISO 9001: 2000 in particular. (5) Total Quality 3rd ed. by Vincent K. Omachonu Joel E. Ross (2004) This book is devoted to Quality and it covers relevant aspects including ISO 9000. (6) ISO 9000 (2005): Quality Management Systems- Fundamentals and Vocabulary This publication explains the concepts employed in ISO 9000. This will support the analysis part of this research as this forms the basis for the ISO 9001: 2008 standard. (7) ISO 9001: 2008: Quality Management Systems- Requirements The requirements of the standard for implementation of the system are covered in this standard. This is a very important publication for this research. JOURNALS Journal articles appeared in relating to the subject have been identified for this research. Information contained in these articles to the extent these support the research will be used. The identified Journals are given below:  · The Quality Management Journal * Journal of Operations Management, * International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management * Quantitative Finance and Accounting * Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management.  · Benchmarking. Research Findings:General Principles of quality management Edward W. Deming, an American statistician was recognised as a guru on the subject of quality management, starting from his role in the Japanese industry in the latters pursuit for quality improvement in the 1950s. Demings model known as PDSA or PDCA is the basis for todays quality management, although many experts have improvised these into other models. Source: Schmoker Michael J., Wilson Richard B. p.17 There are four steps in PDSA. These are respectively Plan, Do, Study and Act.4 Developing a plan for a making product or for providing a service based on available data or information is the first step. The second step is to â€Å"Do† in the way it was planned. The third step is to â€Å"Study† (or check) the result to find whether the product or 4 Schmoker Michael J., Wilson Richard B., 1993. Total Quality Education: Profiles of Schools that Demonstrate the Power of Demings Management Principles. p.17 service achieved the planned attributes. The fourth stage provides for finding out the causes of deviations (if taken place) from planned results to modify the plan for subsequent cycles. J.M. Juran, another American quality expert, proposed the Financial and Quality Triologies which cover â€Å"planning, control and improvement.† The Financial Triology while said to succeed in some cases has its own limitations.5 Quality experts generally agreed that they need to address more organizational segments in the system, particularly customer satisfaction. Total Quality Management Total Quality Management (TQM) is an accepted approach to improve quality and achieve customer satisfaction. Deming, in his book â€Å"Out of the Crisis,† 6 had set out 14 points for the US industry to practise to regain lost competitiveness. When Deming brought up these points, he was criticized for â€Å"putting forward a set of goals without providing any tools for managers to use to reach those goals.† 7 Nevertheless most of these principles have been adopted later. A functional model of a quality management system taken from Schlickman Jay 8 is given in 2. 5 Gupta Praveen, 2004. Six Sigma Business Scorecard: Ensuring Performance for Profit. p.5. 6 Deming W. Edward, 2000.Out of the Crisis. pp.23, 24 7 Cohen Phil. â€Å"n.d.† Demings 14 points. [online] 8 Schlickman Jay .2003.ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System Design.p.4. General findings about the standard Scope and application of ISO 9001:2008 The standard can be applied to all types of organisations irrespective of type, size or nature of the product, as the requirements in the standard are generic in nature. An organisation has the freedom to implement the requirements in the standard â€Å"for internal and external benefits.† It is also open to the organisation to decide on whether or not they seek certification. 9 The Process approach adopted in ISO 9001:2008. There are numerous processes and sub-processes in an organisation operated by functional and cross functional groups. In order to â€Å"do it right the first time† and â€Å"do 9 ISO Survey of Certifications (The). (2007) p.5. [Internet] the right things right,† processes should be managed effectively.10 Process management becomes effective, if processes are clearly defined and the right resources and controls are applied. Arbitrariness can creep into any process if process activities are not clearly defined. The publication of ISO 9000: 2005 gives a model of the process approach by considering the requirements in the standard as comprising four processes within the organisation, each process receiving input from an internal customer (within the organisation) or external customer. 3 gives the model of the process-based quality management system envisaged in the standard. 10 OR [Omachonu Vincent K., Ross Joel E.], 2004.Principles of Total Quality. p.225 While there are several processes and sub-processes in an organisation, the above model represents the requirements in the standard grouped into four processes. These are respectively management responsibility, resource management, product realisation and measurement, analysis and improvement. Principles forming the basis of the standard ISO 9000: 2005 lists out eight principles that have been incorporated in the standard. These are serially studied and analysed in the following sections: (1) Customer focus ISO 9000: 2005 (Cl.0.2. p.ii) states that organisations should â€Å"understand current and future customer needs† and â€Å"strive to exceed customer expectations.† Hill Charles W.L. and Jones Gareth R 11 observes that â€Å"a company must give customers what they want, when they want it and at a price they are willing to pay- so long as the companys long term profitability is not compromised in the process.† The authors mentioned this to highlight the importance of achieving superior responsiveness from customers. According to OR (11 Ibid.p.142), motivating the whole company to focus on the customer should be the first step. The means for this are â€Å"demonstrating leadership, shaping employee attitudes and using mechanisms for bringing customers to the company.† It is said that customer satisfaction is the result of a three part system that comprises (1) company processes, (2) company employees and (3) consistency of product or service to customer expectations (11 Ibid. p.208).The effectiveness of the system is a function of how well these three factors are integrated.† 11 Hill Charles W.L., Jones Gareth R.( 2004) Strategic Management. An Integrated Approach.p.142. (2) Leadership Defining Leadership is not as simple as it may appear to a common man. Northhouse Peter G., in his book 12 cites Stogdill (1974) to convey that â€Å"there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are people who have tried to define it.† The meaning in this case is to be understood in the context of the kinds of leadership required in organisations that require management and motivating skills to bring up cultural changes. Drummond Graeme., and Ensor John, 13observes that the â€Å"role of the leader is to get the best out of people and deal with the unexpected,† and â€Å"this is achieved by creating an environment where actions can take place.† The authors cite Adair (1984) to identify the following leadership needs: 1. Task needs- aiming to complete the project 2. Group needs- developing team spirit and morale 3. Individual needs- harmonising the above with the needs of the individual. The leader will â€Å"emphasize† task, group or individual needs depending on circumstances for accomplishing the objective. The above is diagrammatically presented 4. 12 Northhouse Peter G., 2003. Leadership: Theory and Practice 3rd ed. 13 Drummond Graeme, Ensor John, 2001. Strategic Marketing: Planning and Control.2nd ed.p.252 (3) Involvement of people. Involving personnel who are closest to the processes in decision making activities can bring better results, because it is they who are in the better know of things happening in their work environment and better placed to bring ideas for solving problems or for making improvements in processes or products. Improvements may be in the form of reduction in cycle time, reduction in cost, increase in throughput or in the form of decreasing the variations within the processes. HR policies in the company should be oriented to optimally improve employee involvement. As a basic step the wants and needs of employees have to be recognised. These can be achieved by motivating and appropriately empowering them to take their own decisions. Involvement can be improved by better communication with the workforce on customer requirements, communication of companys policies and objectives, providing training to update and improve job knowledge etc. (4) Process approach A process transforms inputs to outputs (ISO 9005: 2005.p.7). For the process to achieve the desired results, appropriate resources and controls are necessary. A holistic approach is required to get optimum results in terms of quality and cost, which means that the entire resources of functional teams should work with the common defined objective, without individual functions applying their own norms. The example of Ford Motor Company given in the introductory part of this research paper reveals the reported failure of the company to adopt a holistic approach. The process approach requires clearly defined roles of employees with a defined agenda and clear understanding of organisational policies and customer requirements. (5) Systems approach to management An organisation creates value for its customers. The contributions to value addition come from different functional groups. Value creation or addition also takes place in the entire supply chain. Therefore the organisation will be able to add value by facilitating the links in the supply chain as well. OR (10.Ibid.p.163) gives the example of Wal-Mart deriving advantage from the entire supply chain by using a â€Å"sophisticated computer-based information system that improved the output of many other activities such as distribution, purchasing and warehousing.† The systems approach uses benchmarking and data analysis to improve quality of products and services through various means. (6) Continual improvement Any organisation will require continual improvement for sustaining business in a highly competitive environment. Therefore this has to be a permanent objective. It calls for aligning activities of the organisation with organisational plan and making employees aware of the plans, providing training for them to realize that it is everybodys business. Benchmarking performance indices and communicating these to all and motivating them to achieve the set goals leads to continual improvements. (7) Factual approach to decision making A system generates data and this data requires to be transformed into useful information. This is possible through systematic analysis of these data. Effective decisions can be made by use of analysed data. Data and information should be maintained in a readily retrievable form to take correct decisions. (8) Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships An organisation and its suppliers are interdependent. If the relationship is maintained on a continuing basis the potential available with the suppliers can be fully exploited. Product improvement can take place from the initiatives of either side. Implementation of ISO 90012008 in Organisations The method of implementation of the system in an organisation venturing for the first time will involve the following steps as paraphrased from a document retrieved from Internet. 14 The proposal is to be considered a new project and resources have to be identified and earmarked for implementation. First a senior member of the management has to be placed as â€Å"Management Representative,† with responsibilities as described in clause 5.5.2 of the standard, that include developing implementing and maintaining the system. A steering committee comprising members from different functions should be constituted to work as a team for implementation of the project. The Management Representative is to be formally trained to take up the responsibilities. Other members and employees in general will require awareness training. This shall be arranged. The organisation has to formulate its Quality Policy as per requirements given in section 5.3 of the standard and measurable objectives originating from the policy have also to be identified as given in clause 5.4.1. The documentation requirements as given section 4.2 in the standard include: * A Quality Manual addressing all the requirements in the standard. * Procedures stated as essential in the standard besides procedures considered necessary by the organisation. * Records to evidence effective operation of the standard. The documentation hierarchy and guidance on preparation is available in ISO 10013. 15 Section 4.2.3 and 4.2.4 in the ISO 9001:2008 standard defines the controls prescribed for documents and records. Documents provide information for performing work and records evidence the performance of work. Section 8.2.2 of the standard prescribes Internal Quality Audits. Trained personnel are required for this. Nominating Auditor candidates and training them also forms part of the implementation project. Auditors can derive guidance form ISO 19011.16 Once the documents and records are in place, internal audits shall be performed according to a plan. Audit findings call for corrective and/or preventive actions as per requirements in clauses 8.5.2 and 8.5.3 of the ISO 9001standard. After one or two internal audits followed by Management Reviews complying with requirements in section 5.6 in the standard, the organisation will be able to present itself for Third Party audit and obtain accredited certificates. 15 ISO 10013:2001. Guidelines for quality management system documentation 16 ISO 19011:2002. Guidelines for quality and/or environmental management systems auditing Attitudes of business establishments towards implementation of ISO 90001: 2008 and its outcome on business performance. A research study by Costa Micaela Martà ­nez, et al., in the Quality Management Journal, 17 had observed that the 2000 version of ISO 9001 became closer to TQM (The statement would as well apply to the 2008 version). The researchers concluded that, merely implementing the new standard will not improve performance unless firms â€Å"adopt the changes seriously and do not merely try to add new lines to their Quality Manual.† This raises a general question whether all those who implement the ISO 9000 systems do it with all seriousness.† An article appeared in Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 18 concludes that: â€Å"many companies seek an ISO 9000 certificate because their clients expect or their competitors are registering for one.† Nevertheless, by obtaining registration (certification), the management, â€Å"signals its commitment to quality.† The survey by the authors revealed that shareholders of large firms have benefited, while it is not so in the case of small firms. Terziovski, et al., 19 on their study of certified and non-certified Australian and New Zealand firms observed that: â€Å"ISO certification does not significantly impact performance measures like operating performance, customer satisfaction, employee relations and business performance.† They conclude that benefits of the certification will accrue as recognition of the 17 Costa Micaela Martà ­nez, Lorente à ngel Rafael Martà ­nez (2007)ISO 9000:2000: The Key to Quality? An Exploratory Study. 18 Ferreira Eurico J.,et al.(January 2008) Long-run performance following quality management certification. 19 Terziovski M., Samson D., Dow D., 1997. The business value of quality management systems certification: evidence from Australia and New Zealand certified firm to organisations prescribing ISO certification as a minimum requirement for acceptance as viable suppliers. Another finding was reported by Quaze HA, et al, 20 is that implementation of ISO 9000 brings benefits â€Å"such as improvement of product and service quality, efficiency and productivity, customer confidence, and competitive advantage. This view is not shared by another researcher Dalgleish who reports that ISO 9000 certification brings hindrance than help. It is pointed out that the â€Å"certificate leads to a ‘pass/fail mentality, the ISO 9000 certificate hinders quality and efficiency- the very things it is supposed to encourage.† One study by Jang Woan-Yuh, Lin Ching-I.21 in its literature review reveals that organisations that pursue ISO 9000 certification willingly are more likely to report improved organisational performance than those that only obtain certification under customer pressure. The study concludes that external motivation for implementing ISO 9000 does not guarantee positive results. It is the approach of managers and employees that determine the success. The findings of Dick Gavin P.M. et al 22 also points to the same conclusion that: â€Å"although there is some evidence to indicate that quality management system certification has some causal influence on business performance, there is also evidence for the existence of a substantial mechanism whereby better performing firms self-select to adopt certification.† 20 Quaze HA, Hong CW, Meng CT, 2002. Impact of ISO 9000 Certiï ¬ cation on Quality Management Practices: a comparative study. P.53-67 21 Jang Woan-Yuh, Lin Ching-I (2008) Successful ISO 9000 implementation in Taiwan:How can we achieve it, and what does it mean? 22 Dick Gavin P.M., et al (2008) Shedding light on causation between ISO 9001 and improved business performance. Attitude of countries towards ISO 9000. A concise overview highlighting the benefits of implementing ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 given in the ISO website 23 indicates that over a million organisations have implemented these standards in 175 countries all over the world. The ISO Survey 2007 (9. Ibid) gives the statistics of ISO 9001 and 14001 certifications issued from 2000 to 2007. The charts provided in Appendix 1 gives the country wise data of certifications. The data does not lend itself for an objective analysis as the these do not reveal any analytical relativity with the size of the country or the size of its industrial base. It is therefore difficult to analyse these data. It is however seen that the annual growth of certification has been declining from the early years of certification. It is understandable that the growth rate will be higher when a system is newly introduced and the growth stabilises after the initial growth to a lower level. The survey however reveals that it is popular in all the countries in the wor ld. Limitations of the study The study has only scanned accessible secondary data and no attempt was made to verify published research findings through primary data collection. However, the study has relied on multiple sources and therefore should be credible. As such, the study may also be considered balanced in as much as differing opinions have been reported. Conclusions The eight quality management principles that formed the basis of ISO 9001:2008 standards are well conceived and these take the standard to a TQM level. Organisations implementing the standard with the objectives of fully realizing the potentials can expect overall benefits and continual improvements in quality of products, services and customer satisfaction. Organisations implementing the system half heartedly are unlikely to realize the quality related potentials. ISO 9001: 2008 can be implemented by any organisation irrespective of size or type, including servic

The accident Essay -- essays research papers

The Accident Every once and awhile I'll look back on my life and I'll laugh. Particularly at the times I spent with my best friend Nate and all the mischief we caused. I look back now and I think what the HELL were we doing? How did we not die? Have you ever sat down and had a conversation with a male teen between the ages of 14-17? I should've been locked away for that period of my life, I swear I was temporarily insane. I had NO concept of "consequences" or "repercussions". I did whatever, whenever. Unfortunately this little package of immaturity also came with other misleading thoughts such as a sense of invincibility, a total disregard for any authority, and taking pretty much EVERYTHING in my life for granted. What's also unfortunate, is that I had to learn all of these life lessons the hard way, and in one horrible night when I was just sixteen and a half years old. As I said, Nate and I are best friends, a little out of touch now, but best friends nonetheless. I guess it was the fact that we were both rebelling against the environment we were slowly growing up in that it made us so much alike. In a town where white-pride isn't just common, more like a way of life, we were just a couple of 12 year old kids looking for an escape. What's strange about growing up in a small town is that it encourages a sense of self-value, independence, and creativity which can be lost in large towns or cities. I mean, if you're not doing something creative in our town, what the hell else would you be doing? So, Nate and I developed a VERY similar sense of humor. A dry sense of humor that I assume no one else really appreciated because we didn't have all that many other friends. We entered middle school with hopes of new experiences and meeting new interesting people. This was when I met Jeff, my other life-long-hetero friend. Jeff and I played hockey together when we were eight. He quit, and I hadn't seen him since. Once I introduced him to Nate, we all became very close friends. Finally the day came that every 16 year old dreams about. Jeff and I got our licenses. We were both a little older than most people in our graduating class, so we were a couple of the lucky kids. And on top of that, we both had very nice cars. Mine a ... ... at Nate, he was clutching his chest from a deep cut he got from the seat belt, I was almost too ashamed to look directly at him, his face covered in blood. He looked at me and said â€Å"I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have egged you on, I’m sorry†. Before I could respond Jeff interjected, â€Å"Nah, I shouldn’t have taken you guys down here, this was a stupid idea, I’m an idiot. I‘m just so glad you guys aren‘t dead.† I couldn’t believe this, I screwed up, almost killing one of my best friends and here they were trying to make excuses for MY mistake. The car was totaled, we drove through a fence, hit a tree and then a mound of dirt which was what tossed the car on its side. The backseat had collapsed, everything in the trunk was now in the front of the car. Most of it hitting Nate on the way there. We stood there. Quiet. In shock from all the life lessons we had just learned in about 5 seconds. You could almost feel the childhood slip away. It was then that I realized how lucky I was to have such great friends, and how precious life really is, and how it can be altered, permanently, so quickly. I’ll think about this night every once in awhile. It reminds me how happy I should be to still be alive.

Analysis of Commercial Bank Balance Sheet

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION DEFINITION_ OF COMMERCIAL BANK_ *â€Å"Banks and other deposit taking institutions are financial intermediaries whose assets consist overwhelmingly of loans to a wide variety of borrowers and whose liabilities consist overwhelmingly of deposits. † THE ECONOMICS OF MONEY BANKING AND FINANCE 3rd* Edition PETER HOWELLS & KEITH BAIN Pg 32 A sound system of banking is very important for any economy. Commercial banks are directly related to the payment system of the economy. Generally most commercial banks are controlled by the central bank of that particular country. The central bank can never allow the banking system to fail because if banks start to fail the payment system will fail. They may allow some banks to fail but the government will never allow big banks or the whole payment system to collapse. This is very evident from the recent where government have pumped in huge amount of money to save the so called â€Å"too big to fail† banks. Banks helps in the payment services through various kinds of deposits, debit cards and credit cards ANALYSIS OF COMMERCIAL BANK BALANCE SHEET For my assignment I have picked up Lloyds TSB as my bank. Lloyds TSB is one of the four biggest bank in the UK. I have taken 2007 annual report as the group has published only the 2008 interim report. The second item which we see in Lloyds TSB balance sheet is loan and advances to banks. It reflects the interbank relationship. This figure has fallen for most of the commercial bank and also for Lloyds TSB there is an decrease of 16. 50%. This is due to the financial crisis which has hit banking sector very badly and many banks have failed as a result. Llyods TSB gives loans to customer just like any other commercial bank and bank charge an interest for giving loans which is higher than the interest on deposit. But there is always a default risk attached with the loan which the bank gives. Commercial Banks gives different kinds of loans starting from mortgage, education loan, overdraft facility etc. In case of Lloyds TSB mortgage comes out to be 48. 4% of loans to customer. And thing we should bear in mind is that mortgage are long term loan and it can be for 30 years as well. Customer Accounts got an increase of 11% and there is an increase of 11% from 2006 to 2007. LIABILITIES OF LLOYDS TSB Lloyds TSB is also having some fixed deposit like Certificates of deposit. In these deposits customers cannot withdraw there money before a specified time and they also receive some interest as well. Second are the commercial papers which are unsecured promissory notes to meet short term obligations. Certificate of Deposit comes to around 14,995 million GBP and commercial paper is 17,388 million GBP for Lloyds TSB. Lloyds TSB is also having reserves after paying reserves. This reserve can be used in case of emergency or any unexpected risks The main risks that commercial banks face due to their exposure to different kinds of assets and liabilities are liquidity risks, market risk and credit risk. Lloyds TSB faces liquidity risk because of deposit in central bank. They have a deposit of 4330 million GBP. This means that they cannot give this amount as loans because it’s stuck with the central bank. This amount has increased considerably from 2006 to 2007. The bank faces liquidity risk because of their mismatch in assets and liabilities side. The group liquidity risk exposure is 33,185 million GBP. The main sources of liquidity risk for the bank are deposits from banks and customer accounts. As we seen above the assets of Lloyds TSB are long term whereas the liabilities are short term. The commercial bank is the main source of payment service in any economy. Whenever bank gives loan they are exposed to default risk. Default risk arises whenever a company or individual is unable to meets its obligation on interest or principle payment of the loan. The bank faces asymmetric information problem as well. Though the bank does proper due diligence before giving out any loans but asymmetric information problem cannot be ruled out with any banks at all. Due to asymmetric information we have adverse selection and moral hazard problem. Adverse selection problem comes to picture before entering into the transaction. In short the bank has to filter the good borrowers and the bad borrowers. Sometimes the bank may give loan to the bad borrowers and may suffer of this. Though banks have put checks like credit history before making out the loan but adverse selection problem cannot be neglected completely. The other problem which is created because of asymmetric information is moral hazard problem. The moral hazard problem starts after the bank has sanctioned the loan. Borrowers may get into undesirable activities. The main objective for which the loan was sanctioned may never get fulfilled. The other side of moral hazard problem is the conflict of interest between the borrower and the bank. Borrowers may try to act on their interest rather than the interest of the bank. Banks like Lloyds TSB can overcome the problems of adverse selection and moral hazards if they have proper check and control on their customers but rarely any bank achieves 100% success in these problems. These are two most important risks which any financial intermediary faces in order to serve their most important duty i. e. ayment services to the economy. Just like any other financial institution the group also faces credit risk. {text:bookmark-start} â€Å"Credit risk {text:bookmark-end} is risk due to uncertainty in a counterparty's (also called an {text:bookmark-start} obligor {text:bookmark-end} ‘s or {text:bookmark-start} credit's {text:bookmark-end} ) ability to meet its obligations. Because there are many types of counterparties—from individuals to sovereign governments—and many different types of obligations—from auto loans to derivatives transactions—credit risk takes many forms. † (www. riskglossary. om). After the group’s acquisition of Halifax of Scotland, the credit rating of the bank has come down. In order to counter credit risk credit rating plays a very important role. The group exposure to credit risk is 356,860 million GBP. PART 2 Asset Liability Management â€Å"The ALM group within a bank has been concerned with control of interest rate risk on the balance sheet. For some bank it may be equally important to manage interest rate risk arising from off balance sheet, but it is instructive to look at the traditional methods and progress to the relatively new procedures. (HEFFERNAN, SHELAGH A. 2005) Moreover banks have mismatch in maturity of their asset and liability. Banks use asset liability management to manage interest rate risk, mar ket risk and credit risk. Let’s take an example where all deposits are on fixed rate of interest but all loans are made on floating rate of interest. Commercial banks mainly use three types of markets to cover these risks. These are money market, capital market and derivative market. Capital Market is generally used by large companies or governments to raise funds for the long period. Capital market can be of two types like primary market, securities are traded for the first time and secondary market, and in this securities are traded after they are traded in the primary market. Another subdivision of capital market is bond market and stock market. There are various stock market around the world like London Stock Exchange, whereas bond market includes different kinds of bonds like government bonds (US Treasury bills), foreign bonds etc. One of the most important changes in this market is the development of asset backed securities. text:bookmark-start} â€Å"Securitization {text:bookmark-end} is a financial transaction in which assets are pooled and securities representing interests in the pool are issued†. (http://www. riskglossary. com/) When securitization is backed by any assets such as student loan, mortgages this becomes asset backed security. Lloyds TSB also securitizes its assets in order to overcome its liquidity problem. The process of securitizati on has become quite complex with the introduction of Collateralized Debt Obligation, Collateralized Loan Obligation etc. And these complex securities are the heart of the financial crisis. Lloyds TSB is not having much exposure to these complex securities. Banks get into off balance sheet activities to get more profit. It helps the bank to get fee income. One more advantage of off balance sheet activity is that it does not appear into the balance sheet of the bank. The derivative market is also used by the bank to hedge their risks. â€Å"By their nature, derivatives instruments can be used for hedging different types of risks. Owing to this, banks and insurance companies use derivatives in the management of their Asset Liability Management† (Cornelius Nandyal, 2001). The derivative market is going through lot of new changes. Regulators are trying to put lot of new regulations in order to bring transparency. Banks use interest rate swaps, credit default swaps, total return swap, credit linked notes etc. But different people have different views on derivatives. According to Warren Buffet derivatives are weapon of mass destruction and can act as time bombs in the future. Whereas Alan Greenspan says â€Å"Derivatives have permitted the unbundling of financial risks. Because risks can be unbundled, individual financial instruments now can be analyzed in terms of their common underlying risk factors, and risks can be managed on a portfolio basis†. Banks have also used money market for asset liability management. The most important organ of the money market is the interbank market. In interbank market banks with surplus lend to bank with deficit. This market is severely hit by the recent financial crisis. Banks don’t know about the financial soundness of the bank to which they are lending. This has increased the liquidity problem of the bank. Other types of market are the gilt repo, commercial paper market and the certificate of deposit market. As we have seen above Lloyds TSB invest in commercial paper and certificate of deposit. Securitization and the Global Financial Crisis DIAGRAMATIC EXPLANATION OF SECURITIZATION: {draw:frame} Source: http://www. usbancortrusteeservices. com/images/ygpa7_chart_offering_structure_ptnm. pg The recent crisis started because of the sub prime mortgage loans that originated in the USA. But these loans were repackaged and sold all round the world, so this crisis which began in USA became a worldwide crisis. Securitization gives banks lot more leverage. The seeds of the recent crisis were sown in when the Federal Reserve made interest rates around 1% and the economy was pumped with lot of cash. Banks started giving these loans as mortgage to the s ub prime customers, without any credit check and at very easy terms and condition. Once interest rate started to increase in 2004, borrowers started to default on their loans. With the increase of interest rates house prices started to come down. Credit rating agencies who gave these securities AAA rating made these securities junk. The assumption on which these rating agencies were working was that house prices will keep raisingin the future as well. â€Å"The combination of low capital requirements imposed on AAA-rated assets and a commonly held perception that they were â€Å"safe,† allowed banks to hold on to any senior tranches that were not sold to investors. But when the structured finance market collapsed in late 2007, the investment banks found themselves holding hundreds of billions of dollars of low-quality asset pools, many of which consisted of leveraged buy-outs loans, subprime mortgages, and bonds from CDO’s in process-that is, where the tranches had not yet been sold to other investors. † (Coval et al, 2008) No one knows the worth of these complex securities which the banks are holding. Banks have stopped lending to each other because no one is sure of how much the other bank is holding. So interbank market is almost closed.

Appreciating Visual Art forms through Fashion

Art can be defined as the product or process of deliberate arrangement of elements in a manner to affect the emotion or senses of a viewer (Tolstoy, pp.28). A diverse range of human activities, forms of expression and creations encompass art. These would include visual and the performing arts that entail music, sculpture, paintings, literature and film among others.Visual art is the form of art that mainly produce works that can be appreciated visually (Bell, pp. 17). These include paintings, drawings, videos and films, fashion, photographs, graffiti, tattoos and even crafts.   Visual art can also be broken down to performing arts (plays, drama and other human performances), textile arts (fashion and fabric work), and conceptual art (artistic manipulation and representation of concepts).According to Bell, visual art is not only used for its aesthetic value but also for its practical application in industrial design, decorative art, fashion design, graphic design and also interior d esign. He adds that the aesthetic value of a piece of work may differ with its use among different users (pp. 19).Tolstoy adds that art has been seen to adhere to certain principles and elements that complete the different forms we have. Principles and elements of art include visual elements that are used to produce different works of art. These include line, shape and color with an addition of space, balance and movement.The use of color line and space has the capability of creating movement balance and space in a peace of art. Artists use these principles and elements of art to create works that send a message, affect emotion or are for aesthetic value (pp, 28).Visual art utilizes the elements and principles of art in that artists use color to make paintings, lines for drawings and also paintings, space in their drawings and paintings and also the creation of balance space and movement through the use of line color in their pieces of work.Different forms of visual art are products of different artists being inspired by personal preferences, different people, events, emotional experiences and/or other factors in creating different forms of visual art (Tolstoy, pp. 28).Visual art and fine art are closely interrelated. Fine art utilizes the elements and principles of art and takes a wide range of scope from paintings, to calligraphy, music and dance among others. The difference between fine art and visual art is that fine art is purely for aesthetic value unlike visual art that can be used in industrial application such as sculptures. Fine art can be termed as visual art is it is appreciated though seeing.This essay will concentrate on the appreciation of visual art in the fashion industry. Different visual art forms have been used in the fashion industry based on the preference of the artist, collector or the designer. Designers may choose to produce various visual works of art or even collect them. Collectors of visual works of art include photographers and c ollectors of antiques, paintings and other visual works who range from individual designers to museum employees (Abbott, pp. 22).Their work involves the collection and arrangement of these works of art in a manner that will affect the emotion or sense of the viewer in the message it conveys. The works of such an artist may also be for aesthetic value if not both to convey a message and for beauty. These artists also serve the function of storing history and events (Fashion Projects, para 1).The photographs and items collected act as a preservation of the information or art work conveyed therein which can be reviewed in future. In fashion, these collections (photographs and other items) are used for beauty as well as different functional uses. An example would be the imprints of iconic figures’ pictures on fabric such as bags, t-shirts, pendants and even shoes (Abbott, pp. 36).

Free Essays on California Blackout

California Blackouts Beginning in the winter of 2000, California’s power supply has had a shortage leading to many blackouts across the state. Electricity cannot be stored; it has to be generated, transformed, and distributed to meet the exact demand. Therefore, a power shortage occurs when the demand is not immediately met. There are four main causes of the blackouts: restricted hydroelectric power, no new facilities, growing population, and price mitigation. First, California has been relying on Pacific Northwest power industries to supply the generation of power. Because of recent droughts in the area, reservoir levels are too low to keep up with the growing demand for electricity in California. They cannot generate enough power to be considered a reliable source. Hence, the hydroelectric power companies have breached their agreement to supply power. Second, since 1970 there have been no new nuclear power plants built. The reason is that there has been tremendous pressure from environmentalists to keep the area free of the nuclear power industry. In addition, there have been no new generators produced to keep up with the growing population. Third, the growing population has posed to be another source of the problem. There have been dramatic increases in computers, air conditioners, and entertainment systems. Also, there have been increases in energy intensive businesses. Fourth, power shortages have created an increase in demand for electricity. The price for electricity has now increased dramatically from five cents per KWH to over one dollar per KWH. However, the Public Utility Board has limited distributors to charge only seven cents per KWH. Due to these conditions, suppliers are in billion-dollar debt. The government needs to use its powers of the utility industry to aid California in its power shortages. In order to get the region back into the 21st century the local governments are going to have ... Free Essays on California Blackout Free Essays on California Blackout California Blackouts Beginning in the winter of 2000, California’s power supply has had a shortage leading to many blackouts across the state. Electricity cannot be stored; it has to be generated, transformed, and distributed to meet the exact demand. Therefore, a power shortage occurs when the demand is not immediately met. There are four main causes of the blackouts: restricted hydroelectric power, no new facilities, growing population, and price mitigation. First, California has been relying on Pacific Northwest power industries to supply the generation of power. Because of recent droughts in the area, reservoir levels are too low to keep up with the growing demand for electricity in California. They cannot generate enough power to be considered a reliable source. Hence, the hydroelectric power companies have breached their agreement to supply power. Second, since 1970 there have been no new nuclear power plants built. The reason is that there has been tremendous pressure from environmentalists to keep the area free of the nuclear power industry. In addition, there have been no new generators produced to keep up with the growing population. Third, the growing population has posed to be another source of the problem. There have been dramatic increases in computers, air conditioners, and entertainment systems. Also, there have been increases in energy intensive businesses. Fourth, power shortages have created an increase in demand for electricity. The price for electricity has now increased dramatically from five cents per KWH to over one dollar per KWH. However, the Public Utility Board has limited distributors to charge only seven cents per KWH. Due to these conditions, suppliers are in billion-dollar debt. The government needs to use its powers of the utility industry to aid California in its power shortages. In order to get the region back into the 21st century the local governments are going to have ...

Electrochemical Cell EMF Example Problem

Electrochemical Cell EMF Example Problem The cell electromotive force, or cell EMF, is the net voltage between the oxidation and reduction half-reactions taking place between two redox half-reactions. Cell EMF is used to determine whether or not the cell is galvanic. This example problem shows how to calculate the cell EMF using standard reduction potentials.The Table of Standard Reduction Potentials is needed for this example. In a homework problem, you should be given these values or else access to the table. Sample EMF Calculation Consider the redox reaction: Mg(s) 2 H(aq) → Mg2(aq) H2(g)a) Calculate the cell EMF for the reaction.b) Identify if the reaction is galvanic.Solution:Step 1: Break the redox reaction into reduction and oxidation half-reactions.Hydrogen ions, H gain electrons when forming hydrogen gas, H2. The hydrogen atoms are reduced by the half-reaction:2 H 2 e- → H2Magnesium loses two electrons and is oxidized by the half-reaction:Mg → Mg2 2 e-Step 2: Find the standard reduction potentials for the half-reactions.Reduction: E0 0.0000 VThe table shows reduction half-reactions and standard reduction potentials. To find E0 for an oxidation reaction, reverse the reaction.Reversed reaction:Mg2 2 e- → MgThis reaction has a E0 -2.372 V.E0Oxidation - E0ReductionE0Oxidation - (-2.372 V) 2.372 VStep 3: Add the two E0 together to find the total cell EMF, E0cellE0cell E0reduction E0oxidationE0cell 0.0000 V 2.372 V 2.372 VStep 4: Determine if the reaction is galvanic. Redox reactions with a posi tive E0cell value are galvanic.This reactions E0cell is positive and therefore galvanic. Answer:The cell EMF of the reaction is 2.372 Volts and is galvanic.

The Great Gatsby Movie Adaptations

'The Great Gatsby' Movie Adaptations The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the great novels in American literature, but into which formats (and multimedia) forms have the novel been adapted? The answer is several. In all, there are six film versions of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald: 1926 - The Great Gatsby Distributed by: Paramount PicturesReleased: Nov. 21, 1926Directed by: Herbert BrenonProduced by: Jesse L. Lasky and Adolph ZukorSilent movie, based on a stage adaptation written by Owen Davis. Also written by Becky Gardiner and Elizabeth MeehanStarring: Warner Baxter, Lois Wilson, and William Powell.No copies of the entire film are known to exist, but the National Archives has a trailer for the film. 1949 - The Great Gatsby Distributed by: Paramount PicturesDirected by: Elliott NugentProduced by: Richard MaibaumStarring: Alan Ladd, Betty Field, Macdonald Carey, Ruth Hussey, Barry Sullivan, Shelley Winters, and Howard Da SilvaWriters: Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume (also the stage adaptation by Owen Davis)Music by: Robert Emmett DolanCinematography: John F. SeitzEditing by: Ellsworth Hoagland 1974 - The Great Gatsby Distributed by: Newdon Productions and Paramount PicturesRelease date: March 29, 1974Directed by: Jack Clayton (In MemoirsTennessee Williams wrote: It seems to me that quite a few of my stories, as well as my one acts, would provide interesting and profitable material for the contemporary cinema, if committed to ... such cinematic masters of direction as Jack Clayton, who made of The Great Gatsby a film that even surpassed, I think, the novel by Scott Fitzgerald.)Starring: Sam Waterston, Mia Farrow, Robert Redford, Bruce Dern, and Karen Black.Screenplay by: Francis Ford Coppola 2000 - The Great Gatsby Directed by Robert MarkowitzMade-for-TV movie.Starring: Toby Stephens, Paul Rudd, and Mira Sorvino. 2002 - G Directed by: Christopher Scott CherotModernizedStarring: Richard T. Jones, Blair Underwood, and Chenoa Maxwell 2013 - The Great Gatsby Directed by: Baz LuhrmannRelease date: May 10, 2013Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, and Tobey Maguire.

Article Critque 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critque 2 - Article Example As a function of this differential of decision-making, the article in question, entitled â€Å"Wildlife Fire and Decision Making†, seeks to analyze the means by which the process of the controlled burn can be improved upon as a means to analyze emergent science with regards to forestry management and forest fires to secure a more efficient and helpful process by which the low lying undergrowth of a particular region can be reduced without impacting to a negative degree on the extant wildlife within such a region. The article seeks to pay a special level of attention to the fact that the decrease in forested lands has placed a greatly increased burden upon species, both endangered and non-endangered, to occupy a smaller and smaller territory; thereby impacting disproportionately on the means by which controlled burns can provide a positive impact upon the extant environment. On the one side of the debate, those within the fire sciences community have traditionally pointed to the fact that the controlled burns are ultimately beneficial in each and every way; however, those that promote such a one dimensional view of the beneficial nature of this particular application of the fire sciences cannot take into account the changing dynamics of the environment and the means by which extant wildlife is disproportionately affected by these controlled burns. Although it is true that the controlled burn was beneficial in the past, and could very well continue to represent a net positive, the authors of the article seek to analyze the means and metrics by which the controlled burns should be carried out. Rather than merely engaging in a controlled burn for the sake of carrying out a program that has been practiced for decades, the authors promote the idea that the controlled burn should be guided by a complex series of metrics which would help to maximize the good f or a changing environment and dynamic that exists within our current world as

Organised Crime in Films 'City Of God' Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Organised Crime in Films 'City Of God' - Essay Example ThÐ µ moviÐ µ shows how thÐ µ rÐ µlativÐ µ frÐ µquÐ µncy of juvÐ µnilÐ µ gun usÐ µ and possÐ µssion, whÐ µn combinÐ µd with thÐ µ abovÐ µmÐ µntionÐ µd situations, complicatÐ µs thÐ µ futurÐ µ furthÐ µr, and all of thÐ µsÐ µ situations togÐ µthÐ µr form organizÐ µd crimÐ µ as a sort of culturÐ µ of dÐ µlinquÐ µncy that prÐ µsÐ µnts a dangÐ µr for thosÐ µ juvÐ µnilÐ µs who do not havÐ µ morÐ µ fulfilling ways with which to occupy thÐ µir timÐ µ. So many pÐ µoplÐ µ comÐ µ to thÐ µ wrong conclusions about juvÐ µnilÐ µs and automatically assumÐ µ that thÐ µy don’t want to do productivÐ µ activitiÐ µs such as sports and clubs, but would rathÐ µr join a gang. This may bÐ µ wrong in thÐ µ long run, bÐ µcausÐ µ of problÐ µms of accÐ µss to thÐ µsÐ µ morÐ µ productivÐ µ activitiÐ µs in somÐ µ arÐ µas. Making thÐ µsÐ µ activitiÐ µs and organizations availablÐ µ to a widÐ µr rangÐ µ of studÐ µnts could producÐ µ signi ficant bulwarks against thÐ µ downward spiral into thÐ µ abovÐ µmÐ µntionÐ µd pattÐ µrns of dÐ µstructivÐ µ bÐ µhavior, chiÐ µf among thÐ µm bÐ µing gang violÐ µncÐ µ. This typÐ µ of â€Å"violÐ µncÐ µ oftÐ µn rÐ µsults from a complÐ µx intÐ µraction of Ð µnvironmÐ µntal, social, and psychological factors such as thÐ µ lÐ µarnÐ µd bÐ µhavior of rÐ µsponding to conflict with violÐ µncÐ µ, thÐ µ Ð µffÐ µcts of drugs or alcohol, thÐ µ prÐ µsÐ µncÐ µ of wÐ µapons, thÐ µ absÐ µncÐ µ of positivÐ µ family rÐ µlationships and adult supÐ µrvision† (PosnÐ µr, 1998). Many juvÐ µnilÐ µs who do not havÐ µ positivÐ µ family rÐ µlationships and structurÐ µd timÐ µ undÐ µr supÐ µrvision during thÐ µir hours away from school may sÐ µÃ µ that by pursuing positivÐ µ Ð µxtracurricular activitiÐ µs that accÐ µntuatÐ µ thÐ µir futurÐ µs rathÐ µr than throwing thÐ µir futurÐ µs away by indulging in pattÐ µrns of organizÐ µd crimÐ µ mÐ µmbÐ µrship such as gangs, violÐ µncÐ µ, and drugs, thÐ µy may put thÐ µmsÐ µlvÐ µs into a situation in which thÐ µsÐ µ positivÐ µ rÐ µlationships supÐ µrvision arÐ µ sÐ µÃ µn as positivÐ µ and prÐ µsÐ µnt and productivÐ µ in thÐ µir

Ethics and Values in Social work (National policy to promote equality, Essay

Ethics and Values in Social work (National policy to promote equality, enclusion independance) - Essay Example This paper delves in illustrating how the free meals policy in school has brought equality, independence, and inclusion among the pupils in pre-primary schools and students in post primary schools (Cross 2009) It is noted that this policy has however not stopped those pupils that are able to carry packed meals. The report found that providing hot lunches is more nutritious than bringing in a packed lunch, of which only 1 per cent meet the nutritional standards that currently apply to school food. This development in the England schools improved performance – students in pilot areas were two months ahead of their peers elsewhere. Chris Hazzard retaliated the importance of the free school meals when he said, â€Å"Many children were going to school without a proper lunch due to families being unable to either supply a packed lunch or pay for school meals.† (Gordon 2013) Free school Meals are services that are provided to school going children living in England that meet c urrent criteria as set out by the government. Universal free school meals will help give every child the chance in life that they deserve, building a stronger economy and fairer society. â€Å"Free School Meals are a crucial entitlement for families living in poverty† (children society). ... This has been emphasized and stressed by Nick Clegg, former prime minister when he said that, "A healthy hot meal gives children the ability to concentrate and do well in the classroom" (Cross 2009) â€Å"Healthy eating can stabilize children’s energy, sharpen their minds, and even out their moods,† Nutrition for Children. I wish to retaliate from the above that School meals for the children from poor families help them develop good and healthy eating habits. This is because their parents may not be able to provide proper and healthy diets at home due to insufficient income. A balanced healthy eating habit is required for every child developmental needs in biological, physical and psychological advancements. However, it must be brought to attention that the FSM as earlier stated is only available under certain criterion, which is available only if the parent of the child is in receipt of income support, income based jobseekers allowance, income related employment, any f orm of revenue and support allowance under part V1 of the Immigration Act of 1999 (Gordon 2013) The guaranteed element of state pension credit, and Child Tax Credits were also key factors put into consideration by the Government of United Kingdom before they dispatched the free school meals to the pupils. However, it must be stressed and vividly put into consideration that families in receipt of the Working Tax element of Tax credits are excluded and do not qualify under this policy for the free school meals. †Giving people something for nothing is rarely unpopular, even when they are paying for it through their taxes.† as it was said by Ross Hawkins .Based on this evidence it could be suggested that the government made an

Literature 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Literature 4 - Essay Example ading as well as for their recreation on the one hand, and for the character building and moral uplift of the innocent minds on the other, the writers take it as their moral obligation and professional duty to create such theme which portrays dutiful, honest and chaste as the follower of good, while liars, dishonest and trouble-creating characters as the representatives of evil. The writers also cite the fate of the transgressors and disobedient to the ways of the Creator, by which they look after keeping the children far away from the wrong-doing and evil. The same can be witnessed by going through the novel under analysis. Renowned fantasy writer Nancy Veglahn in her work has posed the question ‘who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Women know – and likewise men know what evil lurks in the hearts of women’ (2003, p.114). By her proposition, she simply views that both male and female are can assess and comprehend with the negative and evil thoughts growing in the hearts of the members of their opposite gender; it is therefore, they portray each other as monsters and evils in their works because of the very reality that they are actually fearful of the hidden emotions prevailing in the breast of each other. Hence, the writers of both the sexes are psychologically aware of the flaws and faults of the individuals belonging to opposite gender; consequently, they project, promote and highlight these negative traits and characteristics in such an astounding way that it creates the same image in the innocent minds of children while their reading the fantasy, so that they could im agine the evils in the same lines on which they have studied them. Here arises the question whether there exists or not any need for the specification of gender identity in the literature meant for children. The theorists are of the opinion that since children have to take various responsibilities on the foundation of their gender in future, so there must be established the

Safety Health and Occupational Hazards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Safety Health and Occupational Hazards - Essay Example Welding, a major industrial process is concerned with joining metals by using a filler material. This filler material, known as the consumable is usually a coated electrode or wire. The process of melting this and the parent metal releases particulate fumes and gases, majority of which is produced from the consumable. The four most common welds are the tungsten inert gas (TIG), metal inert gas (MIG), metal active gas (MAG), and manual metal arc (MMA). (Pires et al, 2006) Some of these emissions are toxic in nature which can prove hazardous on prolonged exposure. Presently, 1-2% of workers from different professional backgrounds (some 3 million persons) are subjected to welding fume and gas action (Pires, 1996). In confined spaces, welding can be deadly, as without proper ventilation, toxic fumes and gases can be much more intense, and possibly over the respective limits for toxic substances. . In the recent years, occupational health hazards have formed the locus of intense academic study and research. The harmful effects of welding fumes have also been studied in great detail. The potency of the gas emissions depends on a number of factors like the nature of electrodes employed, the type of welding, filter metals, and also the ventilation facilities in the welding area. The emissions include metal oxide particles, gases, solvents, coatings and residues. Most of these are air borne and thus are constantly inhaled by workers. Harmful Effects of different Metals Compounds The welding fumes also contain compounds of metals like hexavalent chromium, nickel, manganese, zinc etc. It is difficult to find out the respective effects of different metals as most of tem are interrelated. (Hilton & Plumridge, 1991). But technological advancements have made it possible to draw a rough idea about each element's effect on the human body. It has been medically proven than nickel and chromium cause nausea, headaches, dizziness, thirst, fever, muscle ache, chest soreness and respiratory illnesses on short term exposure. Short term usually implies 12-24 hours, and these short term effects are generic for nearly all emissions. These effects also include gastrointestinal ailments, such as appetite loss, vomiting, cramps, and slow digestion. Nickel and Chromium fumes can also cause skin rashness and dermatitis. Nickel is also known to cause asthma, while chromium may cause sinusitis. The chronic, long term effects of fumes containing nickel and chromium still remain ambiguous, but there are vague indications that they might be carcinogenic in nature i.e. they might act as cancer causing agents. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has declared that some forms of hexavalent chromium, nickel and their inorganic compounds be considered carcinogenic.(American Welding Society, 2003) As a matter of fact, the long term effects of welding smoke in general remain disputes. Though there are reasons to believe that prolonged exposure might lead to immunosuppression, lung cancer development,

Critiquing a science article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critiquing a science - Article Example Thus, the number of subjects were reduced to 70. The group was divided into two: ( High Glycemic Index) HGI and LGI ( Low Glycemic Index ) group. However, three members of the LGI group withdrew since two of them cannot comply with the nutritional intake while the other one gave birth. Therefore, the total number of subjects were reduced to sixty-seven. Towards the end, only sixty-two women completed the study. Considerably, this figure is statistically significant since this is composed of the pregnant women at that time. In fact, sample size is one of the strengths of this study which contributes to the studies’ reliability. Since obstetrics outcomes are the parameters for evaluation of the results, pregnant females were obviously used for this study. Considerations for inclusion in the study are the following: aged 21–40 y, had a singleton pregnancy, were between 12 and 16wk.gestation, were nonsmokers, and had no more than 1 alcoholic drink each day. All participants must fit into these requirements. Consent was properly sought before conducting the baseline trial. The study was done 5 times between 16 weeks gestation and delivery. Considerably, it is a long period of time since the women’s pregnancy were completely monitored until the time they gave birth. The whole study lasted for about 6 months since the women were at least 3 months pregnant at the time the study was conducted. Fetal size is the indicator in the principal findings, thus this meant that the study continued until the time the women gave birth. The study’s primary aim â€Å" was to assess effects of inclusion of high- or low-GI carbohydrate-rich foods on the outcomes of pregnancy. For this purpose the principal findings were indicators of fetal size†. In fact, the article mentioned that two studies on glucose intolerant women were done before but gave conflicting findings. This is the first study that

Safety Health and Occupational Hazards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Safety Health and Occupational Hazards - Essay Example Welding, a major industrial process is concerned with joining metals by using a filler material. This filler material, known as the consumable is usually a coated electrode or wire. The process of melting this and the parent metal releases particulate fumes and gases, majority of which is produced from the consumable. The four most common welds are the tungsten inert gas (TIG), metal inert gas (MIG), metal active gas (MAG), and manual metal arc (MMA). (Pires et al, 2006) Some of these emissions are toxic in nature which can prove hazardous on prolonged exposure. Presently, 1-2% of workers from different professional backgrounds (some 3 million persons) are subjected to welding fume and gas action (Pires, 1996). In confined spaces, welding can be deadly, as without proper ventilation, toxic fumes and gases can be much more intense, and possibly over the respective limits for toxic substances. . In the recent years, occupational health hazards have formed the locus of intense academic study and research. The harmful effects of welding fumes have also been studied in great detail. The potency of the gas emissions depends on a number of factors like the nature of electrodes employed, the type of welding, filter metals, and also the ventilation facilities in the welding area. The emissions include metal oxide particles, gases, solvents, coatings and residues. Most of these are air borne and thus are constantly inhaled by workers. Harmful Effects of different Metals Compounds The welding fumes also contain compounds of metals like hexavalent chromium, nickel, manganese, zinc etc. It is difficult to find out the respective effects of different metals as most of tem are interrelated. (Hilton & Plumridge, 1991). But technological advancements have made it possible to draw a rough idea about each element's effect on the human body. It has been medically proven than nickel and chromium cause nausea, headaches, dizziness, thirst, fever, muscle ache, chest soreness and respiratory illnesses on short term exposure. Short term usually implies 12-24 hours, and these short term effects are generic for nearly all emissions. These effects also include gastrointestinal ailments, such as appetite loss, vomiting, cramps, and slow digestion. Nickel and Chromium fumes can also cause skin rashness and dermatitis. Nickel is also known to cause asthma, while chromium may cause sinusitis. The chronic, long term effects of fumes containing nickel and chromium still remain ambiguous, but there are vague indications that they might be carcinogenic in nature i.e. they might act as cancer causing agents. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has declared that some forms of hexavalent chromium, nickel and their inorganic compounds be considered carcinogenic.(American Welding Society, 2003) As a matter of fact, the long term effects of welding smoke in general remain disputes. Though there are reasons to believe that prolonged exposure might lead to immunosuppression, lung cancer development,

Optimal Experiences, Temporality and Participation Assignment

Optimal Experiences, Temporality and Participation - Assignment Example From this paper it is clear that according to definition of the concept, it actually may be regarded as the most rewarding of all values, and thus the most important one. In my opinion, this is an ideal representation of flow that is hard to be reached on practice due to different limitation and obstacles like failure to understand what the client wants, clarity of final goal, main value prioritized by the clients in favor of other, extrinsic features, etc. Also, I would like to know what others think about relevance of helping the latter category of clients finding the occupations they enjoy more than others instead of seeking for jobs with high level of compensation and other material benefits. It is probably often not worthy of efforts since the person, even seeking more enjoyable occupation, would fail in reaching the flow due to the more complicated nature of enjoyment that is of combined nature.This essay discusses that  while there are people who know exactly what they are l ooking for and what activity brings them joy, there are also people who are not sure. This may be due to them still searching for their area of interest, as well as the possibility that some people like changing occupations, and this is their ‘flow’ of some kind. While such clients do not fit in the elaborated scheme, yet helping them is as necessary as helping others, this question necessitates further research and discussion.  

Fight Against Crimes And The Effect On Community Criminology Essay

Fight Against Crimes And The Effect On Community Criminology Essay To aid in the fight against crimes, community policing is a philosophy that has re-defined the police roles ,from that of serve and protect by responding to incidents and addressing criminal problems so they would be viewed as member of society who can help those in trouble and as well as persons who can be trusted. Todays police force has been focus on crime prevention through the diligent implementation of a strong neighborhood watch program. Community policing programs policies have remained active in almost all police departments in the united states. Although we might come to know such methods of policing by several different names such as neighborhood watch, block watch etc. We have acknowledged those communities who have successfully reduced and prevented crime to re-occur in their neighborhoods. These communities have successfully demonstrated that police departments can be more successful at crime analysis and problem analysis (S.A.R.A), fighting Methamphetamine usage, addressing property theft problem properties through collaborations with local institutions and neighborhoods by allocating police resources to aid communities in reducing crime and criminal disorder. These are successful community policing policies that implemented the problem solving processes to address the public safety issues in their communities. Successful Strategies to Combat Methamphetamine (Phoenix, Arizona) Public safety concerns such the production, distribution, and use of methamphetamine lead to drug use ,larceny, prostitution and theft have become chronic problems for the Arizona police agencies .To combat the ever increasing production ,use of meth(methamphetamine) in 1998, the COPS Office began funding state and local law enforcement agencies though the valley(cops). The initial grant went to Phoenix, AZ along with grants awarded to five other cities ;( Dallas, Texas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Salt Lake City, Utah; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Little Rock, Arkansas) . The COPS grant aided the phoenix to enforcement in creating advanced technological problem solving strategies such as aggressive advertising campaigns targeted to all students in the state. These campaigns included the use of television ads, radio campaigns, YOU TUBE, face book, my space, twitter and other popular social web medias. The COPS grant allowed the phoenix police department to invest in community events and increased the participations of students, teachers, parents and local businesses. The City of Phoenix is committed to working with schools, law enforcement, neighborhoods and other local governments on the crystal meth issue, with the goal of making our community even safer (phoenix.gov). The grant allowed for the creation of a Crystal Meth Task Force. By targeting a specific problem such as the production, distribution, and use of methamphetamine (meth). The city of phoenix was able to pass legislation that allowed neighborhoods to take their communities back from drugs. By educating the community to identify and attacking the causes and conditions that lead to meth use and delinquency, finding truant kids, and work in the shop and recreational facilities the kids use. Resulting in widely accepted zero tolerance for meth consumption. Local and state partnerships were a key component in the successful funding of the meth campaigns. Also the Creation of policies addressing tough prosecution policies, increase public awareness though training and community involvement and an increased police involvement in the communities. The Phoenix department serves as successful community policing program that developed solutions to better deal with the local meth problems Developing Police collaboration in the Native American Community (Scottsdale, Arizona) The city of Scottsdale, though the collaborations with the Scottsdale Police Department and Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Police Department , established a goal to provide the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community with Indian officers within their social ranks and aided in changing the restrictive social system of the Native American community. To successfully accomplish this goal the Scottsdale Police Department along with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Tribal Council selected young native American Indians between 16 and 20 years of age from different reservations and created the Community United in Finding Criminals (C.U.F.F.) Crime Stoppers Program. They trained them in become effective participant in the fields of drug and law enforcement and community service. The Indian participants would successfully complete a 10-week course which offered training by experienced Scottsdale police officers on crime deterrence policies. The successful implementation of this community progr am also served to deter delinquency, drug trafficking, car theft and a decrease of petty crimes which involved the Native American Community. Established in 1994, the Salt River Police Department was the first in Indian Country Law Enforcement to begin a CRIME STOPPERS PROGRAM. The program allows individuals with information about any unsolved crime to call the program 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, remain anonymous and receive cash rewards of up to $1000 for information leading to the arrest or conviction of persons who have committed a crime. Since inception, several homicides, narcotics and drug trafficking cases have been solved.(Salt River Police Department) Through the Indian community, officer aided training programs increased public awareness and the development of successful community policing strategies by local police and tribal government there exist a positive impact on the quality of life in the salt river Indian community. Shield of Confidence (Littleton, Colorado) To prevent home burglaries, a shield of confidence program established by the Littleton Police Department .The Littleton Police Department (LPD) identified and increased in burglaries and robberies of residents in predominantly Hispanic apartment communities as a significant criminal problem. The CMPD will demonstrate how the process used to respond to this problem has been successfully replicated in five additional predominantly Hispanic apartment communities. The Littleton Police Department (LPD) will discuss how it has reduced crime in areas where problem properties exist. Partnering with property owners and the City Housing Department, the LPD identified properties having the highest number of calls for service. Littleton Police Department (LPD) community program focused on its use of the SARA model and community policing -related resources to rehabilitate high crime areas. This community program allowed the property owners to identify and track incidents of home burglary. The Littleton Police Department (LPD) goal of the community intervention program was to establish a data base that ready available to the community and the burglary victims .The (LPD)used the data base to conducting home security checks and assist residents by make home improvements to deter future break-ins. The communities also establish a burglary deterrent program (Shield of Confidence) that certified homes after recommended changes from the (LPD) had been made by the home owner. This type of security check program has been used by residential building companies, business owners and one local insurance agencys to offers additional insurance premium discounts to program participants. Littleton Police Department (LPD) through information provided in Active community Problem-Oriented Policing programs attempts to actively address the needs of all crime victims through partnerships between law enforcement, community groups, businesses, and citizens. These communities have successfully demonstrated that police departments can be more successful at fighting crime through collaborations with local institutions and neighborhoods by allocating police resources to aid communities in reducing crime .These are successful community policing policies that implemented the problem solving processes to address the public safety issues in their communities. In having successful community policing policies ,these communities we able to promote local organizational strategies, which supported the police relationships and the success in establishing partnerships and implementing the problem-solving techniques, to address the communities public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and an increasing fear of becoming a victim of crime These police agencies are great examples of successful community policing program implementation: each employed the SARA model and demanded active participation from its citizens, police department and community religion based community members which included local private business no/ charities, government agencies and the local news media. There must always be an ongoing effort to reduce crime while improving the quality of life for its residents. By working with citizens, partnering with the local high school, and involving students, these type of programs become instrumental in increasing the quality of life by ultimately reducing and preventing crime in the neighborhoods. These police law agencies used problem-solving models to greatly enhance their community projects likelihood of success. Community Policing programs benefit not only police agencies that wish to adopt such policies but it also reduces their work load creates safer work environments, and allows police officers t o focus more on addressing specific types of crimes and enhance the quality of services being provided to a community and increased the necessity of the community to develop solutions to problems and increase trust in police.

Media and Society Essay -- Papers Media TV Television Impact Essays

Media and Society Works Cited Not Included Media is all around us. We as a society absorb media from television, radio, magazines, billboards, and newspapers. Media has such a strong effect on our lives that we do not even notice its presence sometimes. Media is the central force in shaping our culture and democracy. Media reflects and sustains the values and traditions of our striving, but necessary democracy. We as a society can use mass media to our advantage if we watch over the impact it has over us (Media and Culture 35) Let me first give some insight on how media bombards our life everyday. In our society, television is the main source of news and information, and the main source of entertainment as well. More than 99 percent of U.S. households have at least one television set, and about two-thirds of them have two, three, or more sets (Nielsen 1993). As the number of TV sets in a household has increased, family viewing has declined, and individual program selection and so...

Business Law Essay -- essays research papers fc

Case study: David Jones Ltd v Willis (1934) 52 CLR pages 110 till 133. This case has created controversy among the Courts and such justices as Rich, Starke and Dixon. They all have different but similar decisions, relating to The Sales of Goods Act 1923(C ¡Ã‚ ¦th).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Summary This case deals with the defendant David Jones Ltd versus Willis the plaintiff, on the appeal from the supreme court of New South Wales. The case is related to The Sales of Goods Act 1923(C ¡Ã‚ ¦th). In the case the plaintiff purchased a pair of shoes from the defendant David Jones, a retail distributor of footwear not manufactured by it. On the third occasion of wearing the shoes the heel came off while the plaintiff was walking down the stairs. She fell over and suffered injuries. She sued for damages. The court held that there was a breach of the conditions of merchantable quality and fitness for purpose. The judge granted a new trial limited to question of damages. The appeal by the defendant was dismissed by the Full Court of the Supreme Court. Special leave to appeal from the judgment of the Full Court was granted to the defendant by the High Court on question whether there was evidence of implied condition or warranty within the meaning of sec 19 (1) or (2) of the sales of Goods Act 1923.The appeal then came on for hearing. The Sales of Goods Act 1923 (C ¡Ã‚ ¦th) „X  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Codifies the common law, with some modifications. „X  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this situation the contact was for a sale of goods. As we can assume that the pair of shoes purchased from the retailer David Jones cost greater than $20 and the plaintiff had evidence in writing such as a receipt. „X  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is a Sales of goods if  ¡Ã‚ §the test is whether the primary objective of the contract is to transfer ownership of goods ¡Ã‚ ¨ in this case that was exactly the situation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Contract- Section 6 defines a contract for the sale of goods as,  ¡Ã‚ §A contract whereby the seller transfers or agrees to transfer the property in goods to the buyer for money consideration called the price. ¡Ã‚ ¨ (Carvan, Miles C, Dowler W, 2003, 423). The defendant David Jones transferred a pair of shoes (goods), with the plaintiff for a certain price. As there was an exchange of property with money The Sales of Goods Act applies. The pair of shoe... ..., or whether the sales representative knew the particular purpose, it does not seem the parties are going to say something new, even if they were not telling the truth. And it seems the merchantable quality section has been fairly investigated and enough evidence has been obtained to come to a conclusion. In conclusion the sale between David Jones and Mrs. May Elisabeth Willis was a sale by description, it had breeched the implied condition of fitness for a particular purpose along with the implied condition of merchantable quality. Therefore I find the defendant David Jones guilty of sections 19 (1)  ¡Ã‚ §An implied condition of fitness for a particular purpose and 19 (2)  ¡Ã‚ §An implied condition of merchantable quality ¡Ã‚ ¨ as it sold faulty stock to the defendant Mrs. May Elisabeth Willis which caused her to fall down the stairs and brake her leg. The defendant can be sued for damages. I therefore support the trial limited to question of damages. Bibliography „X  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Carvan, Miles C, Dowler W, A Guide to Business Law 15th edition. 2003 Sydney: Lawbook Co. „X  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Case study: David Jones Ltd v Willis (1934) 52 CLR pages 110 till 133.

A Clean Well-Lighted Place

A Clean Well-Lighted Place is among one of the many literary masterpieces of acclaimed writer, Ernest Hemingway. It is very characteristic of his writing style that contains deeper undertones than how they are presented. It suggests more complex meanings and perceptions about universal subjects like life and religion and may possibly be reflective of Hemingway's life in particular.This is a story about three characters who were in a cafe and have exchanged a few dialogues. The simplicity of how the story was written and it's short length definitely stirs the emotions of the readers. It cultivates interest on the concealed meanings in the different exchanges and manner of the characters. It may seem somewhat vague and does not elaborate on the details making it all the more enticing as much as it is frustrating.Take for example, details which concerns the old customer. Not much detail with regards to his act of committing suicide was included. Information on the reasons why he lost hi s wife was also omitted which might have been very useful in interpreting the man's reasons for doing an act that would end his life. This deliberate attempt by the author to conceal some points in the story keeps the reader in question about the authorial intention behind this presentation.In the analysis of the story's writing style, one can assume that the authorial purpose in his work is to amplify a certain idea that will contribute to the fullness of the story's theme. It aims to invite a sense of introspection that is important in understanding the concept of the story as well as looking within to futher realize the truthfulness of the story's relevance when applied to real life.Though the characters are only minimal, they are very much representative of the group that the author would like to emphasize. The old man as well as the older waiter represents the older generation and the young waiter is characteristic of the young generation. Both the waiters are having a conversa tion referring to the old man that is their customer.They are both referring to something that everyone will have to undergo — old age. Their different views and thoughts about the old man is different and contrasting, like the idea that the old waiter presented. He says that a wife would do the old man good which the younger waiter disagrees to. The old waiter also shows compassion and patience to the old man and even arguing with the young waiter about letting the old man extend.The young waiter reacts as would young persons usually do, be irritable and make rude remarks about the old man which they do not realize will be an eventuality for them in the future. The older waiter on the other hand, probably realizing that he is aged as well, exhibits a more emphatic manner when it comes to the old man. As the story develops, the characters also develop in a sense that contributes to the theme of the story.The old waiter soon evolves into a character very similar to the old man . The turning point of his character was when he said the following lines, â€Å"Each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the cafà ©.†This act of generosity simply shows that he can relate to all those who need refuge during the night and those who need a clean and well-lit place to stay. This is also evident in his act to mask his real problem by making himself believe that he has insomnia which a lot of people suffer from. He intends to make it seem that he is suffering from something that is common instead of suffering from a deeper ailment of the heart and the emotions.

Individual Assignment Essay

Having a strong web presence is not only important in today’s world, it is vital for survival in today’s super connected world. Companies, banks, agencies and private industries must be able to create an environment to interact with customers, government officials and other companies in order to thrive. Opening yourself up to anyone through the Internet often means opening your system up to the world. Today we are more connected than ever, and cyberspace is littered with a multitude of individuals, some with the intent to compromise network confidentiality, integrity and availability. Anyone with a computer and Internet access can become a victim or criminal over the web. As a result, networks and servers are under constant attack these days. Attackers are changing their techniques daily and are on a never ended endeavor to disrupt companies for their selfish reasons. Two such forms of disruption are Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. These forms of disruption have cost companies millions of dollars and are showing no signs of stopping. That is why it is up to security professionals to create the best safeguards and impose efficient and proper techniques to prevent, mitigate and discover these attacks before they inflict terrible harm. In the following assignment, these important topics of prevention, mitigation and discovery will be discussed as they relate to DoS and DDoS attacks on today’s systems. Specifically, three academic journals have been selected that relate to this topic. This essay will first briefly summarize each article that was selected and state the methods of prevention, mitigation or discovery as they relate to denial of service attacks. The second part of this essay will explore in detail the specific methods discussed in the summaries as they relate to a proposed technique and practical approach, which can be implemented, into a platform. The strengths and weaknesses of each method that is selected will also be discussed within the summary. 2 Brief Overview In order to better understand the reasons for discovering, mitigating and preventing these attacks, it is necessary to first review what exactly Denial of Service and Distributed Denial of Service attacks are and why these specific journal articles were selected for this assignment. DoS and DDoS attacks are extremely popular cyber attacks launched by attackers because of their effectiveness and ease. The goal of a DoS attack is for the attacker to render certain specific resources of the victims’ computer or server unusable or make them unavailable. The attacker does this by sending large amounts of traffic that appear to be legitimate request to the victim. As a result, the victim’s computer or server is tangled up and that particular resource cannot be used. These attacks expose a significant loophole not just in certain applications, but loopholes in the TCP/IP suite (Joshi & Misra, 2010). A DoS attack only occurs when a resource on a computer or network is slowed down or stopped completely by an individual maliciously. A DDoS attack is very similar to a DoS attack. However, this form of attack is launched on multiple computers or devices in an organized manner. The goal, once again, is to attack a specific target or multiple computers and servers and make them unavailable for use. The first ever reported DDoS attack occurred at a University in 1999. From then on, these attacks have become increasingly more complex and sophisticated. Their widespread effect has ranged from simply slower speeds on websites, to financial institutions losing millions for not being accessible to customers. The journal article â€Å"DDoS Prevention Techniques† was chosen because it does a fantastic job of explaining the differences between the two attacks, multiple DDoS tools that attackers use, and lastly ways to prevent and defend against the attacks. The second article selected is titled â€Å"Prevention of Attacks under DDoS Using Target Customer Behavior. † I selected this article because it not only gives an overview of this form of attack but also a specific method of protecting a potential server by blocking DoS attacks with behavior based actions. The last article I chose â€Å"A Novel Technique for Detection and Prevention of DDoS† also gives a brief overview of the attack as well as a specific method to help filter DDoS attacks on online banking websites. 3 Article One The article â€Å"DDoS Prevention Techniques† mainly centered around DDoS attack and the methods of preventing them as well as the tools that criminals use to execute these attacks. One example of a tool that these individuals use is Trinoo, which can be used to, â€Å"launch a coordinated UDP flooding attack against target system† (Joshi & Misra, 2010). Another tool that Joshi & Misra discussed was Trinity. This DDoS attack tool is IRC based and uses flooding methods of the TCP SYN, TCP RST, TCP ACK request. This tool not only can flood the TCP/IP but also flood the UDP and IP Fragment. This article offers various forms of preventative methods against DDoS attacks. They separated them into two groups: General Techniques and Filtering Techniques. Since the article gave a plethora of examples of general techniques I will discuss two of them as well as the advantages and disadvantages to these practical approaches. One method of preventing against DDoS attacks is â€Å"disabling unused services. † Attackers can’t take advantage of something if it is not available to them. So, the fewer applications and open ports that are on a given host, the less likely an attacker can manipulate any vulnerability on that host. Therefore, if a network application is unnecessary it should be disabled or closed immediately (Joshi & Misra, 2010). The advantage of this approach is that it minimizes the attack surface, thus protecting the host from receiving certain request from ports that can be used to flood the system. The disadvantage to this approach is that you limit the amount of applications you may need to help run your organization more efficiently. Another method of preventing these attacks is by using a firewall. A firewall can help mitigate against simple DDoS attacks by using simple rules such as implicit deny, or deny any for certain ports and IP addresses. However, the disadvantage of using a firewall to mitigate attacks occurs when sophisticated attacks are launched on ports such as Port 80 used for web traffic. A firewall, cannot tell the difference between legitimate traffic and malicious traffic that comes through the port (Joshi & Misra, 2010). This can lead to an attack still being carried out if the firewall cannot decide what is good and bad traffic. One filtering technique that was discussed in the journal article was the technique of â€Å"History Based IP Filtering. † During normal function, traffic seems to stay balanced and stable. Yet, during most DoS attacks they are carried out with IP addresses that have never been seen before on the network to flood the system. This form of filtration relies on an IP Address Database (IAD) to store the IP addresses that are used frequently. If an attack is launched and the source address does not match any in the IAD the request is dropped. The advantage to this form of protection against DDoS attacks is that it will keep unknown IP address from ever reaching the host. However, the draw back is that it will not keep out legitimate or real IP address that are already in the database. Also, â€Å"Cost of storage and information sharing is very high† (Joshi & Misra, 2010). So if cost is an issue for an organization, this method may not be best. These methods can be implemented fairly easy for any organization. Most security professionals should already have these measures in place such as firewalls and minimizing the attack surface with an emphasis on disabling unnecessary services. History based IP filtering is a costly alternative to those methods but can be an additional form of security. 4 Article Two The second article that will be discussed is titled, â€Å"Prevention of Attacks under DDoS Using Target Customer Behavior. † This article discusses a method using an algorithm to determine if request to a specific server should be blocked or allowed in real time to mitigate the attack. The algorithm is used to maintain a list of users and to stop attacks from unknown users. The purpose of this tool is to prevent only authorized clients onto the server. This method accomplishes this by first determining which category the requesting client should be registered or non-registered. The tool uses an anomaly-based system during peak times to help determine if certain requests are deemed malicious or not. A client will deemed malicious if the client sends repeated request during peak hours and deemed an anomaly client, or possible attacking client (Kuppusarny & Malathi, 2012). This tool can track which request made on the server are authorized or unauthorized. Once the request is deemed unauthorized, the client is then placed in a group of non-registered users and blocked temporarily until the peak time is finished. This proposed method also features a count system for the amount of request a client may attempt, which are â€Å"Access Count† and â€Å"Warning Counts. † The article explains this in depth by stating, â€Å"The access count is the count that can be incremented every time the client sends the request. The Warning Count is the count that can be incremented once the unregistered client sends anomalous request† (Kuppusarny & Malathi, 2012). This count system helps to determine if the request are legitimate and if so are only temporally blocked during peak times in order to keep systems running and not flooded with request. This feature also presents a permanent block alternative as well. This occurs once the warning count reaches it’s threshold (Kuppusarny & Malathi, 2012). This can be extremely useful when defending against DDoS attacks because it works in real time. The chart below illustrates how this method is carried out for all users trying to request information from the server. This tool could easily be implemented for any organization looking to defend their systems as well as monitor customer and client user data. The only disadvantage that may occur while implementing this will be the temporarily lockout mechanism that legitimate users may encounter if they enter too many incorrect requests. Inconvenience for some users is the only drawback. However, this approach is extremely promising because it does not completely block IP addresses like some filtration systems. They are placed in a certain unauthorized category away from authorized clients and systems. And once they meet certain requirements their request may be authorized if they do not go over the warning count. Also as an added security feature if the client goes over the warning number of request and is also unauthorized they are blocked completely. 5 Article Three The final article that will be discussed is titled â€Å"A Novel Technique for Detection and Prevention of DDoS. † This article was dedicated around a specific method for detecting and preventing DDoS attacks. This method focused on using the Hidden Markov Model. Very similar to the previous method in being an anomaly based system that uses request behavior to block or authorize users. This method also uses an algorithm to track user behavior and determine whether the requests are legitimate or an attack. However uses a different form of authorizing request before allowing access into the system. During the Anomaly Detection Module of the system when resources are scarce and the server is under heavy traffic the filter is applied. The system uses a history to maintain each of the client’s IP addresses. If â€Å"unusual† behavior is detected through the algorithm the server then goes into a special detection mode. It, â€Å"reply’s with the captcha to that client. † And if a correct CAPTCHA response is not received within three responses, it then checks the request history sequence. If the difference between the request for the CAPTCHA is less than the threshold allowed, the client is blocked. (Patil, Salunke & Zade, 2011). This model is a great tool in defending against DDoS and also monitoring traffic on a server as a whole. When traffic begins to reach its peak this system can help alleviate between legitimate and flooding traffic. This model was put to the test in this article with a fake bank system. The testers used a script in java that repeatedly requested the log in page for a fake account. The server responded with CAPTCHA pages to verify if the requester was legitimate. After three failed attempts the IP address was blocked. This type of method should be implemented across systems everywhere. The only foreseeable disadvantage would be from those users who enter the wrong CAPTCHAs more than three times and are blocked out of the system. Other than that this method would be a great tool in the defense against DDoS attacks. 6 Conclusion Denials of Service and Distributed Denial of Service Attacks have proven to be a huge hassle for security professionals. Criminals are becoming more sophisticated in their attack schemes and are leaving security teams in a never ending game of catch up. It only takes one loophole in a defense strategy for an individual to wreck havoc on a system. None of these methods will stop DoS and DDoS attacks entirely. However, in the future we must look for tools that include multiple defense strategies to stop these forms of attack. Layering a computer network offers many benefits especially if one level of defense falls, it will not compromise the entire system. The fight to defend cyberspace against these malicious attackers is forever ongoing, but with the right tools and defense strategies we can help maintain a safer and productive Internet experience for all users. 7 Work Cited