How to integrate computers into the curriculum Essay

Computer technology has become an integral part of every individual’s life. The advent of computers and their explosive use in practically every field has jolted the human race into what experts call the informational revolution (Veneris, 1984). In the current era, information ahs become so important and central to a business, it has occupied its true place as a resource rather than a by product of business operations. With the current society now headed towards what Drucker (n. d.) claims to be the next information revolution, it is only imperative that we train our future generations in this field like we do in any other subject that is considered to be vital by societal standards such as language, mathematics, general science etc. Being a fairly new field of study when compared to other courses of a curriculum, IT and such are constantly changing due to the technological leaps made everyday. A thing invented today becomes obsolete a month later. Skeptics argued that the technological bubble has burst; leaving in its wake many people broke who invested in dot com companies. This might be true but only to the extent where the boom in the jobs market is not as exponential as it used to be. If we look at the new products that come on market shelves every fifteen days or so, it will be proof enough for the fact that technology has never seen a better time than this before. And this creates problems when one tries to incorporate IT in school curricula. It becomes hard for schools to keep up with the ace of technology and many schools fail to fully equip their students with the skill set needed to compete effectively in the new world. Schools usually pose some questions regarding the matter such as: ? Can computer applications help improve student performance in basic skills and other key areas? ? For what specific skill areas, grade levels, and content areas are computer applications most effective? ? Which kinds and levels of students seem to profit most from using computers to learn? ? Which kinds of computer applications are most effective for which skill and content areas? ? Can computer applications improve students’ attitudes toward school, learning, and their abilities to learn? ? Will improved attitudes translate into better performance in school? These are in fact the key points that they should address and try to achieve the answers to when designing their course strategies. Guidelines to consider are: ? Grade and intellectual level of students ? Scope of subject ? Updating with external sources ? Type of instructor (industry experience or not) These are the most important factors that an institution should consider while designing the curriculum. The appropriate software too is important to compliment the overall course structure. The software to be used should be decided upon: ? User friendliness of software ? Degree of specialization ? Subject area (programming, multimedia etc. ) ? Skill level of students The hardware should be one that can support the requirement of the software. For example an application by Adobe such as the Adobe reader requires a minimum of a Pentium 2 but windows XP requires a minimum of a Pentium 3 processor to function. Hardware requirements are usually best when taken from the software vendor. One thing to note is that students should be exposed to as man types of hardware as they would come across in the corporate environment ranging from keyboards, printers to graphics tablets. References: Abernethy K. , T. Kevin, & Piegari G. Assessing the impact of the emerging discipline of information technology on computing curricula: some experiences.Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges. Volume 22 Issue 2. Publisher: Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges. Dreher F. , Cummings M. , & Harris J. (2006). The role of IT policies in the CS/IS curricula. Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges. Volume 22 Issue 2 Publisher: Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges Drucker P. (n. d. ). The Next Information Revolution. ASAP: E-Commerce. Retrieved January 26, 2007, from http://www. versaggi. net/ecommerce/articles/drucker-inforevolt. htm Veneris, Y (1984). The Informational Revolution, Cybernetics and Urban Modeling. PhD Thesis. University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Zhu L. , & Tang C. (2006). A module-based integration of information retrieval into undergraduate curricula. Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, Volume 22 Issue 2 Publisher: Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges.

Advantage And Disadvantage Of CCTV

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) is a camera which is used to produce images or recordings for surveillance purposes. CCTV can be either video cameras, or digital stills cameras. Video cameras are either analogue or digital, which means that they work on the basis of sending analogue or digital signals to a storage device such as a video tape recorder or desktop computer or laptop computer wherelse digital stills cameras can take excellent pictures in most situations and can be plugged into the USB port of any computer and pictures can be taken of any camera scene.The name of the CCTV camera’s inventor is Marie Van Brittan Brown. CCTV is usually installed in areas that may need monitoring such as banks, casinos, airports, military installations, and convenience stores. In this days and age, it is critical to take security seriously. Some people think that only businesses and commercial properties need good security, but it is not only that our homes need good security too. Wit h the rapid increase of crime rates and breaking and entering, it is very important to mull over the available security options and choose one that is the best fit for us.Therefore using CCTV cameras and equipment is one of the most popular and cost effective ways of providing security in the home and place of work. The reason why CCTV cameras is used because it can act as a very successful deterrent to thieves and burglars, certainly making them think twice at the very least. The technology these days have made our work much easier. For example, it is even possible to hook the cameras up to an ordinary television or computer to watch the footage. In this report we are going to discuss on the pros and corns of a CCTV camera system.BODY:The use of CCTV (close circuit television) cameras in streets, stations, shops and other public places has increased rapidly in recent years. I completely agree with the statement above. We can’t overlook at the importance of CCTV in our daily lives. Indirectly CCTV makes our lives much easier because it protects the public, buildings and vehicles. One of the importance of CCTV are to prevent crime. All of us are worried about crime. CCTV cameras can not only catch criminals in the act, but the existence of CCTV systems can make a would-be criminal think twice beforecommitting any wrong-doing. There are many different types of crimes, including from crimes against persons to victimless crimes and also violent crimes to white collar crimes. Crimes against persons are also called personal crimes. For example, murder, forced attack, rape, and robbery. Next is a victimless crime. It is an offense that lacks an exclusive victim who is the object of the crime. This offense is usually against society itself through norms, values, attitudes, and beliefs.For example when someone smokes or uses cocaine they are going against cultural values about apposite behavior. They are eventually committing a crime, but there is no direct vict im, as there is when someone is robbed or murdered. Other example includes prostitution, illegal gambling, and illegal drug. White-collar crimes are crimes committed by people of high social status. For example, stealing money from one’s employer, insider trading and tax evasion. All this kind of crimes can be prevented by using a CCTV camera.There were some researchers conducted on the use of CCTV cameras and they found that surveillance systems were most effective in parking lots. The use of CCTV cameras resulted in a 51% decrease in crime As we all know CCTV cameras helps in preventing crime. Besides preventing crime CCTV cameras have other functions too which are beneficial to us. CCTV cameras can be used as a useful piece of evidence in lawsuits. In legal cases of robbery and other forms of crime, videos and images provided by the CCTV camera system can serve as a valid proof and evidence against the defaulter.To be more specific if a crime is committed around us and the person accused of committing the crime was caught on camera, we will have an extra and strong piece of evidence for a court case. To confirm that the person accused did indeed commit the crime, jurors and judges can watch footage or view photos that was recorded and captured from the security cameras. By doing so not only will we be preventing the same person from causing us more trouble in the future, but we'll be helping out our entire community. Eventually, this useful piece of evidence by the CCTV camera can help law enforcement to solve crime.Whenever someone is caught on CCTV camera committing a crime, police and other law enforcement officials resembling customs officers, probation officers, immigration officers, and corrections officers can use the footage to release video or photos to the public via various media outlets like newspapers, magazines and internet. Many of us don’t realize that having a picture of the suspect can make a world of difference when it comes to making an arrest and getting dangerous criminal off the street. Besides those that was stated above, with the use of CCTV camera we are able to keep an eye on children, elderly folks and things.Many of us are too busy out there that we are not aware of what is going on at home. With a CCTV system at home, we will be able to monitor the safety of children and elderly folks while we are away. More to the point, we can also keep an eye on maid and make sure nothing out of the ordinary is going on. That is if we were to keep track on what’s happening at home. What if it’s about work? If we can't be at the office all the time but like to know what's going on, installing a security camera can help do just that.We can keep an eye on things from our home computer with a few quick clicks of your mouse and at the same time we can make sure our work related matter is running smoothly and nothing out of the ordinary is going on. If we have our own business and staff working un der us, CCTV is the best equipment that can protect our staff physically against violence from customers. At the same time, it can also protect them against false accusations that perhaps may be coming from colleagues or even from client and customers.It is also helpful to keep track on the activities of the staff. Although we are told that a CCTV camera help in the fight against crime and has many benefits, however some people are opposed to their use. They believe that everyone has a right to privacy. As we all know where there is good there is bad also. Invasion of privacy is the major issue that everyone would bring up when it comes to any security system device like the CCTV camera system. The role of CCTV cameras is to constantly monitor the activities of people working and living in a location.This actuality alone upsets people, mainly because many of us simply don't like our privacy being marched into. We don’t look at the reason why the CCTV equipment is there. For e xample, when a CCTV camera is installed at a work place all the activities that are done by the employees are being recorded. Basically, it lowers the employee self-esteem and hampers productivity at times. Employees may feel ill at ease due to the constant monitoring of every activity. Besides that, hacking is one of the issues that is related to privacy.The value of CCTV information has increased as the value of shares in market. This results in a higher risk from hackers. Hacking CCTV footage has led to privacy issues. The most common issues and are happening often among our community are images captured by CCTV of naked women distributed across the Internet. Complete protection of public security systems from hackers is definitely not possible. The reason is because the system connects to a network, therefore hackers can hack into the system virtually from outside locations easily.Another example is if there is a CCTV camera installed near an ATM machine, hackers can easily hack the video of that camera and can easily get the pin code and any other information about a customer or ATM user which he wants. Therefore, installing a CCTV camera in the wrong place could lead to a privacy violation. Property managers should play their role by being sure they're not acquiring any legal risks before setting up CCTV equipment. Besides those disadvantages that were mentioned above there is another disadvantage of CCTV camera.Not everyone can afford to get it because the price range of CCTV camera is from RM1,500 (the cheapest) to RM10 000 and more depending on the brand. The initial cost per camera is high. Moreover the installation of CCTV camera may also increase the initial expenditure depending upon the complexity of the CCTV camera system as well. For example, if a property manager or owner is taking into account to equip a whole building with ample amount of surveillance equipment, then he's looking at quite a bulky bill.Not only that, once CCTV cameras are bou ght they must also be installed correctly by experts and monitored regularly, which eventually drives the cost up. Another disadvantage of CCTV camera system is that they can only monitor a limited area not every area of your office or home at all times. So many people don’t consider it as a foolproof method for crime prevention. Usually most CCTV cameras are installed out of the reach of humans, but sometimes a camera can still get damaged. Criminals who have intention to rob or do crime can vandalize the cameras in various ways, such as sticking gum or spraying something on the lens.With that the CCTV camera will not be able to monitor any wrong doing of theirs. Besides sticking gum and spraying, they may even be able to change the angle of the camera. As we all know technology are evolving all of the time. The same goes for CCTV systems. When older models are replaced by new systems, the result is often a mix of both modern and old cameras, and this can lead to incompatibi lities between systems. Older cameras might also produce low-quality footage that might not be accepted by a court as evidence if continued to be used for long.Other than that, the camera might miss details. For example, a covered weapon which is not immediately visible on a person might not show up on CCTV footage and a CCTV camera might not catch all activity due to its position. CCTV cameras can be sensitive to hostile weather and so are generally installed in sheltered or indoor locations. Lastly, CCTV equipment is sensitive to knocks and can malfunction if interfered with in this way. Therefore, the process of monitoring can be interrupted.CONCLUSION:In a nutshell, CCTV camera has its own pros and corns.  Some people agree that these cameras help in the fight against crime, but not all the five fingers are the same. However some people are opposed to their use because they believe that everyone has a right to privacy. I personally feel that CCTV cameras should be installed in most of the places to decrease the crime rate that is increasing rapidly in our country. One strong reason to support my opinion is despite all these disadvantages CCTV camera still allows us to secure our place to a great deal. I agree that it has disadvantages but we all know nothing is perfect.The disadvantage can be solved by using different methods. These days CCTV cameras are becoming increasingly affordable to install. In order to install CCTV surveillance systems it is a one-time expense. It is better to install a CCTV camera instead of hiring multiple security officers to monitor several different areas of your establishment or town. A handful of officers can practically â€Å"patrol† an area from a comfort that monitors a wide area, reducing manpower costs to provide the same level of security. I would like to stress that CCTV camera is very useful equipment and its advantage outweigh the disadvantage. Advantage And Disadvantage Of CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV) is a camera which is used to produce images or recordings for surveillance purposes. CCTV can be either video cameras, or digital stills cameras. Video cameras are either analogue or digital, which means that they work on the basis of sending analogue or digital signals to a storage device such as a video tape recorder or desktop computer or laptop computer wherelse digital stills cameras can take excellent pictures in most situations and can be plugged into the USB port of any computer and pictures can be taken of any camera scene.The name of the CCTV camera’s inventor is Marie Van Brittan Brown. CCTV is usually installed in areas that may need monitoring such as banks, casinos, airports, military installations, and convenience stores. In this days and age, it is critical to take security seriously. Some people think that only businesses and commercial properties need good security, but it is not only that our homes need good security too. Wit h the rapid increase of crime rates and breaking and entering, it is very important to mull over the available security options and choose one that is the best fit for us.Therefore using CCTV cameras and equipment is one of the most popular and cost effective ways of providing security in the home and place of work. The reason why CCTV cameras is used because it can act as a very successful deterrent to thieves and burglars, certainly making them think twice at the very least. The technology these days have made our work much easier. For example, it is even possible to hook the cameras up to an ordinary television or computer to watch the footage. In this report we are going to discuss on the pros and corns of a CCTV camera system. BODY:The use of CCTV (close circuit television) cameras in streets, stations, shops and other public places has increased rapidly in recent years. I completely agree with the statement above. We can’t overlook at the importance of CCTV in our daily lives. Indirectly CCTV makes our lives much easier because it protects the public, buildings and vehicles. One of the importance of CCTV are to prevent crime.All of us are worried about crime. CCTV cameras can not only catch criminals in the act, but the existence of CCTV systems can make a would-be criminal think twice before  committing any wrong-doing. There are many different types of crimes, including from crimes against persons to victimless crimes and also violent crimes to white collar crimes. Crimes against persons are also called personal crimes. For example, murder, forced attack, rape, and robbery. Next is a victimless crime. It is an offense that lacks an exclusive victim who is the object of the crime. This offense is usually against society itself through norms, values, attitudes, and beliefs.For example when someone smokes or uses cocaine they are going against cultural values about apposite behavior. They are eventually committing a crime, but there is no direct victim, as there is when someone is robbed or murdered. Other example includes prostitution, illegal gambling, and illegal drug. White-collar crimes are crimes committed by people of high social status. For example, stealing money from one’s employer, insider trading and tax evasion. All this kind of crimes can be prevented by using a CCTV camera.There were some researchers conducted on the use of CCTV cameras and they found that surveillance systems were most effective in parking lots. The use of CCTV cameras resulted in a 51% decrease in crime As we all know CCTV cameras helps in preventing crime. Besides preventing crime CCTV cameras have other functions too which are beneficial to us. CCTV cameras can be used as a useful piece of evidence in lawsuits. In legal cases of robbery and other forms of crime, videos and images provided by the CCTV camera system can serve as a valid proof and evidence against the defaulter.To be more specific if a crime is committed around us and the person accused of committing the crime was caught on camera, we will have an extra and strong piece of evidence for a court case. To confirm that the person accused did indeed commit the crime, jurors and judges can watch footage or view photos that was recorded and captured from the security cameras. By doing so not only will we be preventing the same person from causing us more trouble in the future, but we'll be helping out our entire community. Eventually, this useful piece of evidence by the CCTV camera can help law enforcement to solve crime.Whenever someone is caught on CCTV camera committing a crime, police and other law enforcement officials resembling customs officers, probation officers, immigration officers, and corrections officers can use the footage to release video or photos to the public via various media outlets like newspapers, magazines and internet. Many of us don’t realize that having a picture of the suspect can make a world of difference when it c omes to making an arrest and getting dangerous criminal off the street. Besides those that was stated above, with the use of CCTV camera we are able to keep an eye on children, elderly folks and things.Many of us are too busy out there that we are not aware of what is going on at home. With a CCTV system at home, we will be able to monitor the safety of children and elderly folks while we are away. More to the point, we can also keep an eye on maid and make sure nothing out of the ordinary is going on. That is if we were to keep track on what’s happening at home. What if it’s about work? If we can't be at the office all the time but like to know what's going on, installing a security camera can help do just that.We can keep an eye on things from our home computer with a few quick clicks of your mouse and at the same time we can make sure our work related matter is running smoothly and nothing out of the ordinary is going on. If we have our own business and staff workin g under us, CCTV is the best equipment that can protect our staff physically against violence from customers. At the same time, it can also protect them against false accusations that perhaps may be coming from colleagues or even from client and customers.It is also helpful to keep track on the activities of the staff. Although we are told that a CCTV camera help in the fight against crime and has many benefits, however some people are opposed to their use. They believe that everyone has a right to privacy. As we all know where there is good there is bad also. Invasion of privacy is the major issue that everyone would bring up when it comes to any security system device like the CCTV camera system. The role of CCTV cameras is to constantly monitor the activities of people working and living in a location.This actuality alone upsets people, mainly because many of us simply don't like our privacy being marched into. We don’t look at the reason why the CCTV equipment is there. F or example, when a CCTV camera is installed at a work place all the activities that are done by the employees are being recorded. Basically, it lowers the employee self-esteem and hampers productivity at times. Employees may feel ill at ease due to the constant monitoring of every activity. Besides that, hacking is one of the issues that is related to privacy.The value of CCTV information has increased as the value of shares in market. This results in a higher risk from hackers. Hacking CCTV footage has led to privacy issues. The most common issues and are happening often among our community are images captured by CCTV of naked women distributed across the Internet. Complete protection of public security systems from hackers is definitely not possible. The reason is because the system connects to a network, therefore hackers can hack into the system virtually from outside locations easily.Another example is if there is a CCTV camera installed near an ATM machine, hackers can easily hack the video of that camera and can easily get the pin code and any other information about a customer or ATM user which he wants. Therefore, installing a CCTV camera in the wrong place could lead to a privacy violation. Property managers should play their role by being sure they're not acquiring any legal risks before setting up CCTV equipment. Besides those disadvantages that were mentioned above there is another disadvantage of CCTV camera.Not everyone can afford to get it because the price range of CCTV camera is from RM1,500 (the cheapest) to RM10 000 and more depending on the brand. The initial cost per camera is high. Moreover the installation of CCTV camera may also increase the initial expenditure depending upon the complexity of the CCTV camera system as well. For example, if a property manager or owner is taking into account to equip a whole building with ample amount of surveillance equipment, then he's looking at quite a bulky bill.Not only that, once CCTV cameras are bought they must also be installed correctly by experts and monitored regularly, which eventually drives the cost up. Another disadvantage of CCTV camera system is that they can only monitor a limited area not every area of your office or home at all times. So many people don’t consider it as a foolproof method for crime prevention. Usually most CCTV cameras are installed out of the reach of humans, but sometimes a camera can still get damaged. Criminals who have intention to rob or do crime can vandalize the cameras in various ways, such as sticking gum or spraying something on the lens.With that the CCTV camera will not be able to monitor any wrong doing of theirs. Besides sticking gum and spraying, they may even be able to change the angle of the camera. As we all know technology are evolving all of the time. The same goes for CCTV systems. When older models are replaced by new systems, the result is often a mix of both modern and old cameras, and this can lead to incompa tibilities between systems. Older cameras might also produce low-quality footage that might not be accepted by a court as evidence if continued to be used for long.Other than that, the camera might miss details. For example, a covered weapon which is not immediately visible on a person might not show up on CCTV footage and a CCTV camera might not catch all activity due to its position. CCTV cameras can be sensitive to hostile weather and so are generally installed in sheltered or indoor locations. Lastly, CCTV equipment is sensitive to knocks and can malfunction if interfered with in this way. Therefore, the process of monitoring can be interrupted. CONCLUSION: In a nutshell, CCTV camera has its own pros and corns.Some people agree that these cameras help in the fight against crime, but not all the five fingers are the same. However some people are opposed to their use because they believe that everyone has a right to privacy. I personally feel that CCTV cameras should be installed in most of the places to decrease the crime rate that is increasing rapidly in our country. One strong reason to support my opinion is despite all these disadvantages CCTV camera still allows us to secure our place to a great deal. I agree that it has disadvantages but we all know nothing is perfect.The disadvantage can be solved by using different methods. These days CCTV cameras are becoming increasingly affordable to install. In order to install CCTV surveillance systems it is a one-time expense. It is better to install a CCTV camera instead of hiring multiple security officers to monitor several different areas of your establishment or town. A handful of officers can practically â€Å"patrol† an area from a comfort that monitors a wide area, reducing manpower costs to provide the same level of security. I would like to stress that CCTV camera is very useful equipment and its advantage outweigh the disadvantage.

The Struggle of Assata Shakur

Asset Shaker is a very strong and determined individual that refused to give up her beliefs and ideas to receive her freedom. When she was incarcerated, treated like an animal, beaten to a bloody pulp and lost all basic human rights, she only grew more stronger and determined. Shaker was a political prisoner and suffered because of her Black Panther & Black Liberation Army affiliation. She spent six years in prison for crimes that she was not proven to have done or had any connection to.Most people would have given up and â€Å"sold out† to get their freedom back, she didn't because she simply took it back! Shaker's life changed dramatically on the night of May 2, 1973 on the New Jersey Turnpike when Caddy Mali Shaker, Sundials Coli and her car was stopped because â€Å"of a taillight. † After an altercation between Caddy Shaker and Trooper Harper, shots were fired which left Trooper Forester and Caddy Shaker dead, Asset Shaker and Trooper Harper wounded. Shaker's autob iography does a great Job detailing the event. Shaker described the experience saying â€Å"Caddy was dead.My mind knew that Caddy was dead. The air was like cold glass. Huge bubbles rose and burst. Each one felt like an explosion in my chest. My mouth tasted like blood and dirt. The car spun around me and something like sleep overtook me. In the background I could hear what sounded like gunfire. But I was fading and dreaming. † (Asset 3) She was beaten very badly during the ordeal. The officer's were very brutal towards her because they knew she was involved in the Black Panther Party and wanted information out of her. â€Å"Where did they go?†¦Pitch you'd better open your goddamn mouth or I'll blow your goddamn head off† (Asset 3) was how these officers talked to her. She doesn't say a word. This is another example of her showing her resilience in an adverse time. She was in tremendous amount of pain. Shaker said â€Å"l felt myself being dragged by the feet ac ross the pavement. My chest was on fire. My blouse was purple with blood. I was convinced that my arm had been shot off and was hanging inside my shirt by a few strips of flesh. I could not feel it. † (Asset 3) Eventually the ambulance came and got Shaker.She tried to speak but only bubbled at the mouth. She blacked out during the ride to the hospital. She gets to the hospital where she is interrogated by every person that is around her. The police felt that her capture could lead to the capture of many other African American political leaders if she cooperated with authorities. If these leaders were captured, that would be a serious blow to the movement. Asset sat handcuffed to a bed as detective after detective asked questions about the Black Liberation Army. She said â€Å"Detectives and more detectives. Questions and more Questions†¦Now they want to know about the Black Liberation Army: how big is it; what cities is it in;who is in it, etc. ,etc. † (Asset 8) If Shaker talked, that may have lead to the end of the BLAB or Black Panther Party because the FBI and CONTINENTS was desperate for the end of these groups. The purpose of CONTINENTS (Counter Intelligence Program) was to infiltrate, discredit and disrupt any domestic political organization (such as BLAB or the Black Panther Party). It was lead by the FBI and played a critical role during this time period. The information that Shaker could have given the FBI could have lead to the destruction of these organizations.But Shaker remained uncooperative throughout her stay in the hospital and even during her indictment. She did not say anything bout her party or its members, nor the activities of the groups. Her time in the hospital became better as her body healed and the abuse from the officers stopped. A short time later Shaker was transported from the hospital to Middlesex County jail. â€Å"It seemed like the middle of the night†¦ A wheelchair was waiting for me. I figured they w ere taking me to Jail† said Shaker describing the experience. (Asset 45) Shaker's status as a political activist would affect her greatly in prison.The federal authorities wanted Shaker isolated from all the other prisoners because they did not ant her to spread her â€Å"radical† ideas to any of the other prisoners which could possibly result in a revolt. Her cell was isolated from all the other prisoners and was patrolled by guards at all times. In prison, Shaker was subjected to the nihilistic ideas that she encountered on the outside. During this time blacks were treated as lower class citizens. Society wanted to keep African Americans in the same ghettos and isolate us from the nicer neighborhoods (domestic colonialism).They did this by racial profiling (Asset Shaker's arrest on the turnpike), police highly populating certain areas and raising ricers to live in certain areas. These methods create a sense of self-worthlessness inside of a person which often lead to crime. This trend often leads to African Americans being arrested and incarcerated. Once in prison, the system has now taken the little power that the person once had (the right to vote, speak etc. ) The prisoner now becomes more like property, which is Just like slavery in a sense because prisoners perform labor for â€Å"free†. Shaker and her party took a different approach to the nihilistic feeling.They wanted to fight the oppressor and take what they deserved. This is why the BLAB and Black Panther Party was so feared by the government. Government knew that these groups carried an â€Å"any means necessary mentality which meant that they would use violence if needed. Conservatism was the belief that many government officials believed during this time period. They did not want the the social or political structure of society to change. This is where the conflict occur. African Americans were not receiving equal treatment which means that if society were to remain the same African Americans would always be second-rate citizens.Black people shared a liberal view in the sense hat liberty and equality for all. The liberal view was the driving force behind every African American group or movement for equality/ civil rights. Shaker would remain in prison for six years bouncing from correctional facility to correctional facility as authorities tried to make it as inconvenient as possible for her and her loved ones. She was eventually able to escape from prison and currently lives in Cuba in isolation, but many political prisoners like her are unable to escape. Often these people remain in prison for very long periods of times because of their beliefs.Shaker would have been the same way but she was fortunate enough to escape. These people have great pride and integrity because they are willing to withstand any abuse or consequence they might receive for doing what they believe is right. Shaker is one of those special people and her story shows it. Shaker's story Asset documented her life and experiences very accurately and allowed for the reader to relate to her experiences. I was able to view her as an overall person and not Just an political leader. Her childhood stories in certain chapters showed her more as a normal, everyday person.While her stories of her arrest or stay in prison show how strong of a woman she really was. Shaker was a truly extraordinary person. Many people would have crumbled under the circumstances she endured. She fought social injustices, cultural struggles and economic forces. Her upbringing was a pure example of the life of most people. Blacks were compressed in certain communities where crime and drugs were often used as temporary outlets to a better world, but Shaker chose a different path. She chose to be an leader in the community and fight for civil rights.She did not settle for Ewing the victim, she played the cards she were dealt and tried the best she could. The ironic part about everything is the same problems that she encountered back then, exist today. The Tramway Martin case shows how race has not changed much in this country. White Society viewed this small woman Asset Shaker like a huge criminal, Just like society wants to paint the picture that an unarmed Bibb black male could harm an armed white man. Shaker legacy and deeds did help African Americans, but the Tramway Martin case (along with countless others) make you ask â€Å"how much? â€Å".

ENTRY MODE AND PARTNER SELECTION IN TURKEY Article

ENTRY MODE AND PARTNER SELECTION IN TURKEY - Article Example Different firms with different times of entry into the Turkish market are highlighted. Specifically, Danish firms have collaborated with Turkish firms in doing business. This is done through establishing joint ventures by the concerned and interested firms. Successful business aspects are highly dependent on strategies. Decisions have to be made and interests into the activities to be undertaken must be clear. In this regard, collaboration with Turkey-based firms is seen as an easier route to operationalize foreign and new firms in Turkey (Beamish & Killing 176). Over and above effective collaborations, management is another critical area to consider. Successful management is an aiding route to business success. This of course must be undertaken within a favorable environment, where in this case Turkey is the environment. Therefore, joint venture mode of entry is fundamental if all market variables are to be exploited, but the right partner combination is of great importance. Firms operate under different goal and objectives. The underlying interest is to minimize costs of operations and consequently maximize business benefits, measured by profitability level. There are reasons why firms targeting the Turkish market opt to establish joint ventures other than seeking to establish individual business operations. It is more likely that there are significant barriers to entry into the Turkish market for a foreign firm and also high competition that is likely to negatively influence new local firms. The joint venture activity therefore becomes a strategic entry option in a bid to realize the expected business outcome by firms in different

Family Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Family Law - Essay Example are treated slightly better than unmarried fathers when it comes to issues regarding the children, however when relationships break up it is generally the father that loses contact with the child or is restricted in the amount of contact they can have. Infrequently fathers are given preference over mothers in residence orders6. In general terms the courts have to have substantial proof that the mother is incapable of looking after the child before an order is made for the father to have care and control of the child. In the UK fathers can acquire parental responsibility either by being married to the mother of the child at the time that the baby is born or by the registering of the child jointly with the mother. Married fathers are entitled to register the birth of the baby without the mother being present and will be automatically entered onto the birth certificate of the child even if they are not present when the child is registered. Unmarried fathers will only appear on the birth certificate if the mother of the baby agrees to the father’s name been entered on the birth certificate. Since the introduction of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 an unmarried father can have parental responsibility if his name appears on the register of births. The effect of the 2002 Act led to the Children Act 1989 being amended so that there is no longer a requirement that the father has to prove his genetic fatherhood in order to be entered on the birth register. The acquisition of parental responsibility entitles the father to the right of consultation with regard to any decisions that are to be taken in respect of the welfare of the child7. In cases were the mother is incapable of caring for the child a father with parental responsibility can apply to the courts for a residence order whereby the court can insist on the child residing with the father8. In such cases the court can sometimes grant a joint residence order which giving the mother and father equal rights over

Political Corruption Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Political Corruption - Essay Example But it is more often assumed than tested and proven. And on the politics political scandal is a black spot which restrain the flow of development and create a haphazard situation on the society breaking the peace and harmony. Corruption is a disease, a cancer that eats into the cultural, political and economic fabric of society, and destroys the functioning of vital organs. In the words of Transparency International, "Corruption is one of the greatest challenges of the contemporary world. It undermines good government, fundamentally distorts policy, leads to the misallocation of resources, harms the private sector and private sector development and particularly hurts the poor" (TI,1998). Corruption is found almost everywhere, but it is stubbornly entrenched in the poor countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, it is widespread in Latin America, it is deep-rooted many of the newly industrialized countries, and it is reaching alarming proportions in several of the post-communist countries. The issue of corruption has to some extent entered the political and economic sciences from the new interest in the role of the state in the developing world, and in particular from the idea that the state is an indispensable instrument for economic development. The 1997 World Development Report stated that An effective state is vital for the provision of... An effective state is vital for the provision of the goods and services - and the rules and institutions - that allow markets to flourish and people to lead healthier, happier lives. Without it, sustainable development, both economic and social is impossible (The World Bank 1997). Political corruption not only leads to the misallocation of resources, but it also affects the manner in which decisions are made. As political corruption is the operation of illegal procedure of the various offices, it affects the institutions of the government as well as the political system and political ideology. Political corruption is more than a divergence from formal legal form of justice. It occurs when misdeeds and wrong doings take place in the proceedings and the ideology of the politics of a country. Some definitions of corruption also emphasize the point that the rulers as a group or class, or as an institution or organization, make unjustified use of their influence to extract resources for the benefit of the group as such. Many well-known and well documented cases of grand corruption have involved political parties (ruling parties in particular, but also prospective ruling parties), entire administrative bureaus, and national governments. 3. Scandal Etymologically Scandal means a behavior or an event that people think it morally or legally wrong and causes public feelings of shock or anger. It may be an action, work or event of a particular person and that work is regarded in the society as a wrong doing or it is seen from a negative angle. There is divergence of scandals and different philosophies exist regarding this matter. A scandal is a widely publicized occurrence involving allegations of bad behavior, dishonor, or moral infuriate. A scandal may be based on

Globalisation and Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Globalisation and Diversity - Essay Example These are a set of indicative norms that companies can use to do their business. They help companies to adapt to international standards of corporate behavior. By adopting this, companies show their willingness to conduct their business in an ethical way and become role models for others to follow. Introduction It has been increasingly felt by all that there should be a proper alignment of objectives between the international community and the business community. This need has become stronger by the fact that they have common goals. Some of them are, fighting corruption, taking care of the environment and issues related to its safety, enabling social inclusion, and building common markets. All these factors have opened up avenues for an extraordinary cooperation and need for transparency between different stakeholders such as business, governments, civil society, labor force and the United Nations. The UN Global Compact is a very well planned initiative for all those organizations in the world, which are dedicated to align their business operations and strategies with â€Å"Ten universally accepted principles.† (United Nation, 2011). These principles are adopted in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti- corruption. This initiative is both local as well as global. In fact private and public enterprises can participate in this. There are no mandatory requirements to join this initiative. However once a company joins it, it must endeavor to remain accountable for its operations to its stakeholders. Discussion of question set By aligning the business operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles, the organizations are indicating their willingness to join it on a voluntary basis. They also agree and believe that business is the key driver of globalization. With this initiative, they can make sure that they make significant contributions to the growth of economies and societies at large (Schreck 2009). Their contribution c an be in several areas such as, markets, technology, finance and trading. The social, political and economic opportunities and threats have a significant effect on all the businesses. More and more companies are increasingly realizing the need to work together and collaborate with the all the stakeholders such as, governments, civil society, labor to improve their business volumes and profits. The UN Global Compact has made vital contribution to the development of business in an ethical way (Gjolberg 2004). The environmental principles of the United Nations Global Compact have left a great impact on the organizations. More and more companies have now started realizing the need for focusing on environmental issues and their effect on the industry and individuals (Rasche 2010). The first ten years of the existence of Compact have thrown interesting findings which have been endorsed by scholars, business tycoons, and stalwarts from the civil society as well the staff working in the Glo bal Compact initiative. Their comments clearly indicate the achievements of the Global Compact and the future trends it should follow to sustain the initiative. It also has to meet challenges and oppositions from the traditionalists. Rashce also highlights the changes in the structure of the Compact, role of Global Compact Local Network and the spread of communication on the progress of the policy. The story of UN Global Compact is not all successful and its strengths and weaknesses are clearly brought out by Rashce.

Financial Reporting Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial Reporting - Coursework Example Due to this increase in performance of the financial statements of the company, the earnings per share increased as well as the dividend payout ratios went up with a coverage of 2.8 times for the full year, which is the shareholder’s interest in the organization. As compared with the market ratios from IHG company, Next company shown a growth in all its financial aspects. The accounts have been presented in accordance with the IFRS 7 and 12 which requires disclosure of interest in other parties IFRS 10 which requires consolidating the group accounts and IAS 1 to 9 which talks of all the disclosures. The disclosures of the segments are contained in IAS 14 but superseded by IFRS 8 which requires every segment to be disclosed separately (Weygandt 2012). Since the exceptional items are material in nature, the materiality concept applies and that is the reason why they are disclosed separately since they are matters which might have an impact on the financial statements. They are d ivided into continued and discontinued exceptional items. Ratio Analysis: Liquidity Ratios This is a ratio that measures the firm’s ability to meet its obligations financially. Historically these ratios have been used to measure the overall health of organizations. Their usefulness is being diluted as the modern companies Next PLC are holding fewer current assets to generate revenue. However, these ratios remain a good measure in this industry because the hotel industry relies on huge amounts of current assets to generate income. The meaning of these ratios is measured based on the relevant industry norms (Clatworthy 2005). Current Ratio Current Ratio = Total Current Assets Total Current Liabilities Account 2013 2012 Increase/Decrease Total Current Assets 1,207.8 1,139.9 Total Current Liabilities 816.0 742.4 Current Ratio 1.48 1.53 -0.05 From the above analysis, Next PLC is a company which can meet its short term obligations in both year 2013 and year 2012, however at a close r look, it shows that it has decreased its ability to meet these short term obligations in the year 2013 which is a fall back from the previous period. A further identification is that the group has disposed a lot of its current assets and also paid more of its obligations in terms of liabilities. In further analyzing the cash position of the group in the cash flow statement, the group has covered more of its expenses on the revolving cash flows from operations, which is a healthy indication of the organization's ability to operate in the foreseeable future (Gibson 2012). Quick Ratio Quick Ratio = Cash and Equivalents - Inventory Total Current Liabilities Account 2013 2012 Total Current Assets 1,207.8 1,139.9 Inventory 331.8 371.9 Total 876 768 Total Current Liabilities 816.0 742.4 Current Ratio 1.072 1.034 This ratio is more accurate than the current ratio since it reveals how the company can meet its short term liabilities without having to dispose its stock. And in this case of s tudy, the company still remains stable and even better since the stock levels are low and that means the company can meet its short term financial obligations with ease. In year 2013, it indicates that the company did better than year 2012 just like the previous ratio. Any ratio that is positive means that the company can meet its obligations and any figure that is negative means that th

Do all arguments about abortion come down to the question of what is Essay

Do all arguments about abortion come down to the question of what is the moral status of the fetus Explain - Essay Example Debate on abortion has two premises: pro-life and pro-choice. The pro-life argue in favor of the right of the fetus. The pro-choice school of thought is proponent for the mother has a right of choice on whatever she has to do with her body. They argue that the mother can decide to either terminate or keep her pregnancy. They recognize the fact that any being able to be pregnant can make autonomous choices and decisions regarding what they want to do with their body. Pro-life augments based on human reason: The reason why the bible does not speak directly about Abortion is because it was an unthinkable malady in the Israelite culture. Secondly, the bible views children as a gift from God and as such, life begins during conception and should thus be protected including the fetus. Secondly, Christians believe that God is in control of the womb and finally bareness is a bad omen. Apart from the biblical point of view on abortion, there are other arguments that are provided for non-believers. They include researched pro-life arguments whereby studies have been undertaken in medicine. In medicine arguments against abortion arise from the fact that after conception has taken place, this embryo is different genetically from its mother. A growing fetus has a DNA that is different from the mother. An embryo that is developing is scientifically dissimilar from the ova and sperms that created it. There are 46 or 47 chromosomes in a human being whereby a sperm egg is believed to have 23 chromosomes. Since geneticist can easily differentiate embryo’s DNA and that of sperms and ovum. However, there is no clearly distinct difference between the DNA of the fetus and the afterwards fully grown human being. In addition, the idea of defining death and life leads to a medical argument. It is known that death refers to the cessation of the heartbeat of an individual. In the embryo, the heart is formed on the 18th

Economic factors affecting food choice Essay Example for Free

Economic factors affecting food choice Essay The aim of this research is to find the economic factors that affect a person’s food choice for example the amount of disposable income, family size and spending patterns. This then helps us to decide a suitable dish for our chosen practical. This research helps understand the relationship between quality of diet and disposable income and how are eating patterns have changed from the past. Disposable income The amount of money left after tax and other deductions have been made is called the disposable income. The amount of money spent on food cooked at home has declined even though the disposable income has risen since the 1980s. Disposable income affects the food you eat because you tend to eat out more frequently, spend more money on premium ranges of ready prepared foods and shop at more expensive supermarkets and specialist shops if you have more disposable income. However families with less disposable income tend to spend more on convenience foods and snack foods. It takes careful budgeting and shopping around for cheaper prices to provide healthy meals for low income families. Family size and spending patterns Family size also affects how much you spend on food because declining family size and an increase in single person household has led to a change in patterns of spending on food as couples and single adult households spend more per person on food. Whereas due to larger families having young children with smaller appetites less is spent per person on food, also because less food is wasted in larger families. Larger families may also buy in bulk or shop around for cheaper prices or offers such as three for the price of two and buy one get one free. There is an increase in single person households because of an ageing population where there are more elderly people than young people in a population and due to more young, single people living alone.

What Are The Weaknesses Of Democratic Transition Theory Politics Essay

What Are The Weaknesses Of Democratic Transition Theory Politics Essay Throughout the 20th century, democracy has gained its status as the predominant and most legitimate form of national governance. Through complex and diverse processes of democratization, not all successful, increasingly more states embedded democratic characteristics and procedures into their governance systems. Consequently, democracy and democratization swiftly became the subject-matter of extensive academic literature, widely referred to as Democratic Transition Theory (hereafter: DTT), which aims to scrutinize various aspects of emerging democratic regimes and democratic transitions. This essay will focus on the question What are the weaknesses of democratic transition theory. It will assess, while using the case-study of democratization processes in the former-Yugoslavia states, different shortcomings of existing DTT, which arguably undermine its theoretical validity and call into question the extent to which it is useful in explaining contemporary democratic transitions First, at the theoretical level, DTTs incoherent and diverse use of concepts, variables and methods, which weakens its internal validity. Second, at the empirical level, DTT is inapplicable to contemporary variants of democratic transitions mainly due to the impact of globalization processes on notions of statehood and citizenship in post-conflict situations, which weakens its external validity. Third, at the practical level, DTT blurs boundaries between academic accounts and policy prescriptions as well as between descriptive and normative perspectives, which calls into question its utility as a guiding principle for democratization policy. Based on these three critiques, I will argue that we should differentiate between notions of DTT as an academic theory and as a political paradigm. As an academic theory, we should perceive it as an open project and thus further develop it in order to suggest plausible explanations of contemporary transitions. As a political paradigm, we should acknowledge the theoretical limitations in using it to underwrite democratization policy and therefore revisit its prescriptive and normative strands. (A)Democratic-Transition-Theory: A-Historical-Background DTT is a field of study that focuses on exploring the political phenomenon of regime transitions. In this sense, DTT is a fairly coherent research program, which encompasses various studies which aim to scrutinize the process by which a state attempts to embed democratic features in its formal and informal patterns of governance. DTTs contemporary incarnation evolved in light of the democratic transitions in Latin America and South Europe starting in the mid 1970s. These processes, which Huntington-(1991) dubbed the third wave of democratization, begat a prominent line of DTT studies (e.g. Huntington, 1991; ODonnell and Schmitter,1996), suggesting various explanatory frameworks for these transitions. Nevertheless, studies on democracy as a form of governance emerged before that. Seminal works of American scholars in the 1960s articulated the first configuration of DTT, which aimed to scrutinize the structural settings that arguably explained democratic patterns, these usually focused either on economic factors, like modernization and economic development or on cultural factors, like political culture. These were nevertheless more of an attempt to empirically identify the structural conditions that shape specific modes of political institutions and focused less on the studying the process of democratic transition itself. The political processes of the-Third-Wave, have generated a new approach to DTT, which diverted the focus from strictly structural explanations to agent-oriented ones. This new approach emphasizes the role of political elites as agents that realize and execute democratic transitions (for an overview on DTT, see Bunce,2000: 705-715) The study of democratization expanded in light of democracys worldwide expansion. Multiple regional and cross-regional studies were performed in various attempts to deduce theoretical generalizations regarding democratization. Altogether, these studies explored a common type of transition, characterized as the process through which a breakthrough of an authoritarian regime in a certain state results in transition toward democracy (Carothers, 2002:). In this sense, DTT studies differed in the various causal explanations of the factors that facilitate the political phenomenon of regimes transitions. By focusing on the processes features rather than on its diverse origins or potential outcomes, these studies suggested a certain and limited prism on democratic transitions. This prism, based on retrospective empirical evaluations of concrete and deliberated democratization processes in Latin America and South Europe, painted a picture of relatively sequenced and pre-determent patterns of democratic reforms within nondemocratic states. The criteria for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of theories are typically based on assessing their internal and external validity. Internal validity refers to the strength of the causal links a theory suggests in terms of conceptualizing, measuring and qualifying its variables-and the relations between them. External validity refers to the extent to which theories can be generalized and applied to situations other than those examined. In the next section, I will evaluate-both the internal and external validity of DTT. First, internally in terms of concepts and methodology, and then externally in terms of its applicability to explaining more recent regime transitions- specifically, the fragmentation of Yugoslavia from 1990-1999. (B)DTT-Weaknesses: Internal-Validity DTTs main weakness in terms of internal validity is the lack of sufficient coherence in its concepts, variables and the links it suggests between them (Munck,1994). DTT as a research program encompasses various studies aiming to explain democratic transitions; however, these studies define democratic and/or transitions in different ways. This in turn creates a situation in which theories that allegedly claim to offer alternative explanations to the same phenomenon, actually explain different phenomena. For example, the book of ODonnell and Schmitter (1986), a seminal DTT work, posits in its first paragraph that it deals with transitions from certain authoritarian regime toward an uncertain something else' (ODonnell and Schmitter, 1986:3). Huntingtons book, probably the work that is most identified with the DTT, declares in its preface that it is about the transition of some thirty countries from nondemocratic to democratic political system (Huntington: 1991, 3). Linz and Stephen (1996), present a third approach, which attempts to revisit the traditional DTT and explore how the character of different nondemocratic regimes affects, or does not affect, the paths that can be taken to complete a transition to a democratic regime (Linz and Stephen, 1996: 3). These three examples reflect three different conceptualization of democratization: ODonnell and Schmitter focus on the origins of a political transition, Huntington examines the factors that shape the process of democratization, and Linz and Stephan illuminate the final phase of the process, the consolidation. These different explanatory frameworks, although complementary to a certain extent, are incomparable in terms of evaluating the strength of their arguments and their plausibility. Furthermore, DTT studies not only conceptualize democratic transition differently, but-also conceptualize democracy differently. This illuminates two major disagreements that hinder the internal validity of DTT. At the conceptual level, DTT theorists disagree over which democratic features should be used to signify the degree of both existence and success of democratic transitions. At the methodological level, they-disagree on how these features can and should be measured. For example, while Huntington prefers to stick to the minimal definition of democracy as a political system in which decision-makers are selected through fair, honest and periodic elections (Huntington,1991:7), Linz and Stephan choose a wider definition comprising behavioural, attitudinal and constitutional elements (Linz and Stephan,1996:6). The challenge of defining and operationalizing democracy indicators corresponds with the extensive academic literature of democratic theory. The latter, a close relative of democratic transition theory, focuses on highly contested questions of defining, measuring and qualifying democracy both procedurally as a form of government and conceptually as a conduit of specific values and norms (e.g. Beetham, 1994). The challenge for DTT in this sense is obvious. If there is no consensus on how to define democracy, how to qualify it and how it can be measured, how could DTT attempt to portray the trajectories of transition to democracy, let alone explain the factors that shape them. For example, the common explanation of elite-driven transition, which emphasizes the essential role of political elites in the transition process, fails to explain the relations between democracy and political elites, namely to explicate why, and under what conditions, political elites will be motivated to perpet uate political transition (Bunce,2000). These are just several examples of the theorys internal shortcomings. Alongside others, these examples raise questions regarding the ability of DTTs causal explanations to depict a complete picture of the specific transitions they aim to explain (Munck, 1994). This by itself is a sufficient reason to question the transferability of the theory and the ability of applying it on other transitions (Pridham, 2000:1-3). The next section will focus on democratic transitions in the Balkans as a case-study to illustrate the limitations of using classic premises of DTT as plausible theoretical lenses for explaining political transitions in contemporary post-conflict situations. (C)DTT-Weaknesses:-External-Validity Yugoslavias disintegration and the Balkan wars (1990-1999) that followed led to the creation of seven new independent states (including Kosovo). All were required to face the complex mission of reconstructing (actually constructing) basic political and economic state-infrastructures. This mission is composed, according to Offe (quoted in Kostovicova and Bojicic-Dzelilovic,2006: 226) , of triple transition: (1) At the societal level, nation-state building (which can be separated into two different building processes state-institutions and the nation); (2) at the economic level, economic liberalization and (3) at the political level, democratization (see also Blunden, 2004:22-23 and Hippler, 2008). These are not separated transitions. In practice, they not only overlap and intertwine, but they also affect each other and are shaped by similar factors. In this respect, democratic transitions in the Balkans cannot be examined separately from the context of concurrent transitions on one h and and of the historical circumstances and legacies that generated those, on the other (Pridham, 2000:9-15). Herein lays DTTs main deficiency: it is almost blind to the importance of different contexts, at both the domestic and international realms which could potentially affect democratic transitions. . For years, DTT studies explained democratization from the inside, whether by structural variables like economic and cultural factors, or by agent-oriented approaches, which focus on political elites and their role in redesigning political institutions. By that, DTT largely refers to the transition as an isolated process that is dependent on the confluence of a set of (rather contested) driving forces that arguably promote democracy. It thus ignores the specific contexts and preconditions within which it takes place, as well as the related external forces (Carothers, 2002; Whitehead, 2002). I will elaborate only on the two contextual impediments of DTT, which seem most relevant for explaining political transitions in the global era: (1) the role of statehood and citizenship and (2) the international dimension. Both of these factors gain extra significance if one accepts the common understanding that processes of globalization for the past couple of decades have challenged classical no tions of the states legitimacy and authority. One of the main indicators of democratization processes in the Balkans is popular elections, which were held in all of the emerging Balkan states ever sense the-aftermath of the Balkans-wars. Even if we will accept the disputed assertion that elections endow a polity with the label democratic, the statehood of these polities still remains questionable (Edmunds, 2007; Krastev, 2002). The puzzling phenomenon of democracy preceding statehood, simply does not meet the basic premises of DTT, hence highlights the latter inapplicability to post-conflict political transitions. One of DTTs core assumptions is that the polity in transition is not only a state, but also a consolidated one. It assumes that the transition is occurring within the framework of an existing infrastructure of political institutions and is reconstructed through the transition process (Carothers, 2002). The case of the Balkan states imposes a new challenge to this. When former Yugoslav states declared independence, they not only lacked effective and legitimate governments, but were also locked in a state of ethnic conflict. Both conditions have fundamental effects on subsequent democratization processes. Democratization in the Balkans was essentially entwined with processes of state-building and nation-building, and thus was framed more as means to empower forces who wanted to shape the future nation-state and less as an independent aim. This argument could be applied to both nationalist forces operating within quasi-states and to the participating international and transnational acto rs (Blunden, 2004; Pridham, 2000). The fragmentation of Yugoslavia and subsequent wars created a great political and social vacuum in its former republics. Opposed to the basic assumptions of DTT, the political transitions in this region were not a consequence of a regimes breakthrough but rather of a state. This did not lead to processes of political reconstruction, but rather a fundamental need to construct social, economic and political institutions. The post-conflict vacuum, characterized by a great sense of social insecurity, facilitated a competition between various forces over power and authority within a given territory (Hippler, 2008). This competition was embodied in the Balkan conflicts and in the reconstruction processes that followed them. Subsequently, post-war processes of state-building in the Balkans became associated with nation-building processes evolving around ethnic-fragmentation. Given the legacies of the failure of the prior state-authority to maintain its statehood and conflicts that generated from that, the post-conflict situation in the Balkan illuminated the attractiveness of state authority alternatives in the form of nationalism and identity politics (Kostovicova and Bojicic-Dzelilovic,2006:229-230; 2009; Smith,1996: 2-3). Consequently, crucial power shifts within the realm of the state allocated more power to exclusive ethno-nationalist groups than to inclusive ones (Zakaria,2003:15). For example, In Bosnia-Herzegovina(BiH), since 1996 the parliament has been dominated by the wartime nationalist parties, reflecting popular support for ethnic divides and separatism (Waters,2004). This demonstrates the inability of the new state systems to create what Smith (1996) calls a balance between the civic and ethnic dimensions of nationalism (Smith,1996:97-102). Constant disagreements over the definition of the people and the transformation from a Westphalian d efinition, which is based on bordered territory, to an ethnicity-based definition of people, undermined the ability of any state representative to establish equilibrium and therefore to consolidate effective and legitimate democratic states. Furthermore, nationalist groups use democratic practices to recreate the nation and national identity rather than create a functioning state (Smith, 1996:80-82). For example, in 2004-5 Serbian and Montenegrin nationalist group used the political institutions in Serbia and Montenegro (unified state back then) as part of their as part of their struggle for independence and separation (Edmund, 2007). Under the circumstances of weak and fragile states, these ethnic fragmentations just could not be accommodated under any constellation of democratically-elected government (Edmunds, 2007; Krastev,2002:49; Waters,2004; Zakaria, 2003:113-155). As a result, the emerging Balkan states emphasized their ethnic components and therefore provoked processes of hyper-nationalism, ethnic-centralization and exclusion (Smith,1996:105-106), all of which are essentially counterproductive to state-building processes. The lack of a civic component, which essentially defines the relationship between the state and its citizens, imposes more challenges for DTT, which presupposes the existence of statehood and in particular, clear definitions of citizens and citizenship. In this respect, citizenship is acknowledged as prerequisite to democracy, not to mention one of its constitutive elements. After all, if democracy is literally the rule of the people, without agreement on who are the people there cannot be a democracy. Thus, if one embraces Grugels concept of democratization as the establishment of democratic practices of citizenship (Grugel,2003:250), the absence of a clear civic component in the Balkan states questions the mere existence of democratic transitions within them and emphasize their embedded weakness (Kostovicova and Bojicic-Dzelilovic,2009). In terms of DTT, this emphasizes the need to expand its explanatory frameworks to cases in which there is not only a regime transition but also a transition (or construction) of a state, which entails differentiating between the constitutive elements of democracy citizenship and statehood and its procedural practices, like elections. Another neglected dimension of DTT, which arguably has crucial impact on contemporary post-conflict transitions, is the international dimension (Schmitz,2004). International forces, and external forces in general have always had some impact on domestic democratization transitions as demonstrated by US efforts in the Alliance for Progress (1961) and various foreign aid schemes for democratization states in Latin America. Nevertheless, although prominent DTT scholars acknowledged the role of the US in third wave democratization processes (Huntington,1991:91-100), and recognized ,its part in the history of democratization, the role of external forces or superpowers was not incorporated into DTTs explanatory frameworks thus was absent from democratization theory (Schmitz,2004). More than that, the DTTs reliance on firm division between the external and domestic realms overlooks the involvement of external, international, global and transnational elements in these transitions and thus ign ores their role in shaping the course of contemporary post-conflict transition. Here again the political transitions in the Balkans reveal the inapplicability of the DTT to contemporary conflicts because of its tendency to decontextualize the political phenomenon it aims to explore. The DTT treats democracy and democratization as unitary concepts that have firm meanings regardless of time and space constraints, and thus assumes they can be defined and measured via objective and positivist lenses. Nevertheless, since democracy as a set of political procedures is the manifestation of set of ideas and concepts, its meaning is dynamic and interpretative, that is constructed and socialized by social institutions and actors under specific social and historical circumstances. An important shift in the ideas and meanings of democracy and democratization has occurred in the past few decades (Whitehead,2002:7-9). The end of the Cold-War marked for many the triumph of democracy as a desirable idea. This, accompanied by recently emergent ideas of human security, generated a paradigm shift in the academic and political agendas toward the need to embody and realize notions of human, liberal and political rights. President Clinton articulated this trend in its first inaugural speech (1992): [O]ur greatest strength is the power of our ideas, which are still new in many lands. Across the world, we see them embraced, and we rejoice. Our hopes, our hearts, our hands, are with those on every continent who are building democracy and freedom. Their cause is Americas cause.  [1]   In light of these notions, NATO, under U.S. leadership, framed its involvement in the Balkan wars at both diplomatic level (e.g. the Dayton Agreement, 1996) and military one (e.g. NATOs Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo,1999). Another example for the ideational framework of the external forces in the Balkans is the involvement of NATO the UN, the EU, and GCS bodies in managing reconstruction and state-building tasks in the region. The official objectives of these tasks illustrate their aim to develop in these states the civic components of statehood and democracy. For example, the mission of NATO-led stabilization force in BiH articulates that its legal and political framework was determined in light of Dayton Agreements goals (1996): To provide a safe and secure environment; To-establish a-unified, democratic Bosnia-and Herzegovina.; To rebuild-the-economy.; and To allow the return of displaced persons and refugees to their prewar-homes.  [2]   The mandate of the UN-Mission in BiH (1995) emphasizes the role of law enforcement, whose main tasks include: Monitoring, observing and inspecting law enforcement activities and facilities; advising law enforcement personnel and forces; assessing threats to public order and advising on the capability of law-enforcement agencies to deal with such threats  [3]  . It also makes its assistance to specific parties in BiH conditional and declares that it will: Consider-requests from the parties-or law-enforcement agencies in-Bosnia and Herzegovina for-assistance, with priority being given to ensuring the existence of conditions for free and fair elections. The objectives of the UN peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR, 1999) are also similar: Support the-establishment-of civilian institutions, law and order, the judicial and penal system, the electoral-process-and other-aspects of the political, economic and social life of the province.  [4]   The main-problem though, is that these forces by attempting to design and supply the civic components of the state in-light-of western models of statehood and democracy, served as substitute for the state and practically empowered the anti-statist forces in the region, namely the ethno-nationalist groups as a by-product of democratization (Waters, 2004:424-427). The American diplomat Richard-Holbrooks expressed his concern from this implication in the course of the 1996 Bosnian-elections: Suppose the election was declared free and fairà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and those elected are racists, fascists, separatists, who are publicly opposed to [peace and reintegration]. That is the dilemma. (Quoted in Zakaria,2003:17-18) As exemplified above, this has realized in practice, and the institutions that the external forces aimed to achieve in the Balkans, were used by ethno-nationalist movements as a platform to fuel trends of populism and claim their authority in the name of an exclusive ethnic majority (Smilov and Krastev, 2008:8-10). The above examples illustrate two important notions regarding the weakness of DTT to theorize the role of external forces. First, its indifference to the fact that international and transnational forces play a significant role in processes-of democratization and state reconstruction (Lewis,1997). Second, its indifference to the significance-of contextual and ideational-evolutions in concepts of democracy, as shaping and determining-this role. A comprehensive theoretical account on democratic transitions thus has to consider both the ways in which external forces fulfill their role in the transitions and the material and ideational factors that motivate them to do so. By further scrutinizing the role of external forces in democratization processes, DTT, could perhaps suggest refined and crystallized notions regarding the relations between external and internal forces in contemporary democratic transitions as well as provide further insights regarding the appropriate ways to manage and execute these transitions (e.g. Kostovicova and Bojicic-Dzelilovic,2006; Schmitz, 2004). The first question to be asked, in this respect, is if DTT in its essence is adequate to serve as a guiding policy tool for democratic transitions. (D) DTT: Between-Academic-Theory-and-Political-Paradigm: The relative success of the third wave of democratization coincided with the end of the Cold War, conferred extra normative weight upon concepts of democracy and democratization and anchored democratization processes to the conception that democracy is good and desirable. This conception developed in light of historical and social circumstances that generated specific normative perceptions and-interpretations of democracy. DTTs main theoretical and empirical assertions were combined with similar normative notions regarding the merits of democracy. It was thus shifted from a merely descriptive and explanatory framework to a prescriptive one, representing a new paradigm, in the academic and political realms, regarding the prospects of democracy promotions (e.g. Diamond, 2003; Fukuyama, 1992). Consequently, more and more entrepreneurs of democracy promotion framed and justified their policies via a mixture of normative and descriptive notions of DTT, as the paradigmatic foundation for attempts to support and encourage democratic transitions around the globe. The essential question thus is if indeed DTT is designated to serve as the theoretical basis of democratization policies in general and of contemporary post-conflict transitions in particular. The democratization attempts in the Balkans can shed light on this question. The attempts of the international community and GCS networks to democratize the Balkan states by emphasizing the virtues of elections as a platform for democracy and of law enforcement mechanisms as a platform for constitutionalism, exemplify the limitations of DTT. The overall success of these attempts is questionable as much as-the democratic transitions in the Balkan states are questionable due to, alongside other reasons, the theorys deficiencies pre sented above. First, in terms of cause and effect, these attempts were-based-on incoherent means and methods that were incompatible to the aim they wished to-achieve. Second, they were inapplicable under the ontological features of the political transitions in the Balkans, which were shaped by the new and unfamiliar context of globalization, manifested in non-statist (i.e., sub-national, transnational and global) trends and patterns of conflict and post-conflict reconstruction (Kostovicova and Bojicic-Dzelilovic,2009; On the EUs Europeanization-approach to the Balkans see Kostovicova and Bojicic-Dzelilovic,2006). These patterns demonstrate the blurred trajectory DTT has taken in recent years and calls into question its ability to serve as the theoretical basis for policies of democratization. This, I wish to argue, has less to do with DTT itself but rather with its transformation from academic theory to political paradigm. As argued above, the end of the Cold-War served as a normative leverage for democracy and democratization as political concepts. Those consequently gained normative weight, which altered the concept of democratic transitions from being a mere dependant variable in terms of DTT to aspired political objective. In this sense, DTT was politicized and shifted from being a framework, which aimed-to understand and explain reality into a framework which ascribed its shape and designed desirable political realities. Furthermore, DTT became a tool to justify and frame policy, migrating it from the academic sphere to the political one. Nevertheless, DTT was not simply applied to new c ases of political transitions as a guiding principle, but rather was translated and rephrased. Different entrepreneurs stripped DTT of its original theoretical constructs and rephrased them as both public conventions and political convictions (see also Ish-Shalom,2006 on the migration process of the Democratic Peace theory.). I use the word strip since once a theory migrates from academic to political discourse, it is detached from the skeptical and cautious discourse to which it was originally anchored. Academic theories are essentially specific adhered-to standards that qualify it to participate in the academic discourse. Among these requisites are expressed notions of cautiousness and skepticism that frame theorizing processes more as a set of probabilistic assertions than as a natural law. In return, theorists usually refer to-their theories as-project that is open to interpretations, refutations and further developments. More than that, theorists set the conditions under which their theories can-be-applied, and-by that acknowledge the limitations of theoretical generalizations (Ish-Shalom, 2008:683-685). This, for example, is clearly a part of the theorizing process of the DTT in its original setting as an academic-theory, which was explicitly cautious regarding its ability to serve as a model, rather than an explanation. Huntington for example, clearly states that his account of the third wave of democratization is limited-to the specific cases he selected for the study and thu s questions his own theorys external validity (Huntington,1991:xiii). ODonnell and Schmitter explicitly suggest in their books title tentative-conclusions and point that although there is a normative strand to the DTT that recognizes democratization as desirable, one has to acknowledge that transitions are essentially disordered and thus difficult to theorize and deduce to concrete generalizations. Democratic transitions thus should not be regarded as either linear or deterministic in their nature (ODonnell and Schmitter,1986:3-5). Interestingly, Carotherss critique (2002) The End of the Transition Paradigm implicitly acknowledges the theorys migration process by referring explicitly to subject under critique democratic transition paradigm rather than to democratic-transition-theory. It is important to stress the differences between theory and paradigm. A paradigm is a worldview composed of a set of axiomatic, possibly normative, notions regarding facets of the world. Theory on the other hand is the result of complex process of systematically organizing paradigmatic conceptions into sets of assumptions, testable hypotheses, and feasible arguments usually framed by conditioned if and then matrixes. DTT, in this sense, shifted from being a theory, constrained by the common standards of academic theorizing, into a political paradigm that embodies a specific set of values and norms. Consequently, the use some would even argue abuse of the idea of DTT as a paradigmatic-framework for democratization policies is inadequate given its initial purposes and limitations as a theory. This use can be seen as a selective, even distorte

Cesare Lombrosos Theory of Criminal Traits

Cesare Lombrosos Theory of Criminal Traits Abstract Cesare Lombroso’s (1960) Criminal Man led to a new discipline in criminology, placing a link between physical anomalies and crime. Certain attributes were said to be the result of a biologically inferior presence which led to a life of crime (Ellwood, 1912). An observational study interpreted a number of ‘mugshots’ made up of criminals and Psychology staff from Canterbury Christ Church University. Independent t-tests revealed that there was no difference between the two groups in terms of physical characteristics and ‘criminal’ rating. These findings tie in with previous research in the field (Goring, 1972; Saladin, Zalman Breen 1988). COMPARING THE PREVALENCE OF ‘CRIMINAL TRAITS’ BETWEEN CONVICTED CRIMINALS AND PSYCHOLOGY STAFF Cesare Lombroso (2006) is best known as the founder of the discipline criminal anthropology; the study of mental and physical traits associated with the ‘born criminal’. Lombroso published Criminal Man (2006), a famous study in which he attributed criminal behaviour to ‘Atavism’, an inherited condition in which offender’s demonstrated evolutionary throwbacks to more primitive humans. According to Lombroso (2006) the criminal was fundamentally a living anomaly concerned with pathological and atavistic characteristics (Ellwood, 1912). After studying 66 deceased criminals, Lombroso (2006) compiled a list of physical features assumed to be associated with criminal behaviour. Traits included asymmetrical faces and excessive body hair. A person was thought to be a criminal if they processed 4 or more traits. Charles B. Goring (1972) subjected 37 of Lombroso’s (2006) characteristics to empirical testing and compared 2,348 London convicts with a control group of young Englishmen. Goring (1972) found little support for Lombroso’s work, instead suggesting criminal behaviour is simply an inherited lack of common sense. Support for Lombroso comes from a study by Hooton (1939), in which 13,873 male prisoners were compared with 3,023 males from a general sample. Hooton attributed criminal behaviour to biological inferiority, assigning a number of features such as sloping foreheads to criminals. Hooton was, however, criticised for his circular reasoning. Criminals were assumed to be physically mediocre and those features which distinguished criminals from others could be classified as precursors of biological inferiority. Only a small number of modern studies have tested the relationship among attractiveness and criminal behaviour. Saladin, Zalman and Breen (1988) invited students to judge the physical attractiveness of a selection of male photos. Other students assessed the same photos and judged the likelihood that those pictured would commit a crime. Those rated as less attractive were more likely to commit crime. Similar results were also found in other related studies (Cavior Howard, 1973; Kurtzberg, 1978). The current study is building upon the previous contradictory evidence, and much like Goring (1913), the study will focus upon comparing Lombroso’s (2006) original anomalies within the criminal and general population. As a result of previous evidence my hypothesis states that there will be no difference between Lombroso’s (2006) ‘criminal traits’ amongst convicted criminals and the general population. Method Design The design of the experiment consisted of independent measures as both groups were separate from each other. Participants There were 30 participants in total, 15 were Psychology staff members from Canterbury Christ Church University and the other 15 were convicted criminals. Materials and Apparatus Materials required for the experiment included the 15 criminal mugshots, 15 staff mugshots and finally a criminal characteristics coding sheet. Procedure The procedure involved going through each photo and deciding whether each person had Lombroso’s (2006) original ‘criminal characteristics’. These characteristics consisted of: asymmetric head, flattened/twisted nose, large ears, fat lips, enormous jaw, high cheekbones, narrow eyes and excessive skin wrinkles. Each photo was judged upon these criteria and whether they were present or not. The final part involved deciding whether each person was a criminal or not which was based on Lombroso’s (2006) ideas that if you perceived more than four characteristics then you were a criminal. In terms of ethical considerations the use of photos from the staff members would have required consent as well as the right to withdraw from the study at any point. Results Overall frequencies for the ‘criminal characteristics’ identified in both sets of photos are given in Table 1. This data reveals that in terms of the ‘non- symmetrical face’ and ‘twisted nose’ characteristics these were marked as being present in the staff photos (4 and 8 time respectively) more so than for the criminal photos in which they were reported 2 and 6 times. All the other traits were identified more on the criminal photos however ‘enormous jaw’ and ‘high cheekbones’ were equally coded for at 7 and 9 times. Table 2 provides data showing the frequencies of the total numbers of ‘criminal characteristics coded for in each group of photos. Both groups receive more total ratings in the middle of the scale, with the majority coded for 2 or 3 criminal traits. An independent t test yielded t(28) = .756, p > .05. The hypothesis was accepted: there was no difference between the criminal classification of ‘st aff mug shots’ and ‘criminal mug shots’. Discussion Overall there was no difference between the criminal classification of the ‘staff mugshots’ and the ‘criminal mugshots’ which replicates similar findings obtained in studies by Goring (1972) and Kurtzberg et al, (1978). This implies that Lombroso’s original ideas and theories about certain characteristics leading to criminality have been undermined by this study. The data presented in table 2 can be described as normally distributed as the ends of the scale are sparsely occupied; however the majority of participants from both groups were coded as having between 2-5 criminal traits. According to Lombrosso a criminal was said to have four or more traits, therefore based on results obtained it can be said that the distribution of seemingly ‘criminal’ characteristics is actually very normal. One limitation to this study is that it is entirely subjective as one person is judging the photos on whether they are ‘criminal’ or not bas ed on a set of perceived traits. This may lead to a lack of reliability as the same result cannot be guaranteed if the study is repeated. A further limitation concerning subjectivity is the classification of the criminal traits, for instance what constitutes as ‘enormous’ when describing the jaw or ‘excessive’ when labelling skin wrinkles. Further in depth classification is required to establish whether a particular trait is present. Although the results from this study and others suggest that Lombroso’s (2006) method of criminal profiling is out of date, it has led to the use of similar methods using information such as upbringing or substance use to establish whether a person is likely to commit a crime. References Cavior, N., Howard, L. (1973). Facial attractiveness and juvenile delinquency among black and white offenders. Journal Of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1(2), 202-213. doi:10.1007/bf00916114. Ellwood, C. (1912). Lombrosos Theory of Crime. Journal Of The American Institute Of Criminal Law And Criminology, 2(5), 716. doi:10.2307/1132830. Goring, C. (1972). The English convict. Montclair, N.J.: Patterson Smith. Hooton, E. A., (1939).Crime and the Man, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Kurtzberg, R. L. (1978). Plastic Surgery on Offenders. In N. Johnston L. Savitz (Eds.), Justice and Corrections, New York: Wiley. Lombroso, C., Gibson, M., Rafter, N. (2006). Criminal man. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Saladin, M., Zalman S., Breen, L. (1988). Perceived Attractiveness and Attributions of Criminality: What Is Beautiful Is Not Criminal,Canadian Journal of Criminology30(3), 205-215. Table 1 This table illustrates the present frequencies of each criminal characteristic as well as the total number of those classified as criminals in the ‘staff’ and ‘criminal’ mugshot categories. Face Nose Ears Lips Jaw Cheekbones Eyes Wrinkles Criminal Criminal 2 6 9 7 7 9 8 3 6 Staff 4 8 6 2 7 9 3 4 4 Table 2 Listed in this table are the total numbers of criminal traits identified for each type of mugshot, ranging between 1-6 characteristics. Number of ‘characteristics’ present after coding 123456 Criminal 045321 Staff 164220

Free Antigone Essays: Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely :: Antigone essays

Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely in Antigone "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," said Lord Acton generations ago. In the Greek tragedy Antigone, written by Sophocles, there was a character named Kreon, the antagonist, who was the king of Thebes. Thebes was an autocratic state where Kreon had absolute power. Throughout the course of the play, Kreon abused his privilege of absolute power; and this caused him to suffer greatly, even though he was warned by a few people of his bad deeds. What Sophocles commented on absolute power was that one should not abuse it. If it was abused, he or she had to expect bad consequences. This was indicated by what happened to Kreon when he abused his power. Kreon settled a decree that prohibited anyone from burying Polyneices' dead body. He was proud of his decree, and he also stated that he would be a good king by listening to what people said regarding his decisions. When the decree was broken by Antigone, Kreon sentenced her to death. This angered the gods because they wanted the dead body of Polyneices buried, and they did not want a live body (that of Antigone) buried in a cave. Kreon was told by Haimon to change his mind, but Kreon rejected his request and went ahead and buried Antigone alive. Teiresias warned Kreon that the gods were angry and his actions were to be blamed. Kreon rejected both Haimon's request and Teiresias' warning, and as a result, he suffered in the end. In the beginning of the play, Antigone and Ismene were found arguing about whether Polyneices' body should be buried. Antigone wanted to bury her brother's body, but Ismene objected because she said that they should not disobey Kreon, who had absolute power a nd had prohibited Polyneices' burial (26-80). Ismene indicated that the citizens of Thebes did not dare to go against what Kreon decreed. They all knew that if they objected to Kreon, punishment would be the result. In the play, Kreon was first found addressing the senate as to how a ruler should rule his state. He said in his long speech, "'I believe that he who rules in a state and fails to embrace the best men's counsels, but stays locked in silence and vague fear, is the worst man there. I have long believed so'" (217-221). To impress the senate Kreon told them that he would listen to any advice they gave him because that was what a good ruler should do.

Essay --

Statement of Purpose Do you remember your very first day of school? I fixed the memory of this day in my mind which makes significant contribution in my education life. I run from my school that day due to have very mixed feeling about starting the journey of my education life. My grandmother gave me advice that hacked to my mind forever. She said everyone has her/his own universe, someone prefers to lead a life at dark universe while others not only do try to light their universe but also they make an effort to light the universe of other people. Getting knowledge and studying hard lead to achieving enlightenment. At that time, I thought that I should come back to school and study hard in order to light my universe and avoid being blind. By passing years, I understand the secret of my grandmother sentences. During high school I was one of outstanding students with the first rank at mathematical major. I chose industrial engineering for my bachelor degree because I believe this major would have helped me to increase my knowledge about different core areas of engineering and even management. Passing certain courses like project control, system analysis and planning, and dynamic systems analysis inspired me to transfer my information to industrial scope in order to find how theory have been applied to industrial scope. I worked as a trainee at several automotive firms and interacted with experts who had invaluable experiences which would be never taught at university. I thought my universe got light with learning expert’s experiences and their correlation with my courses in university. At the third summer of my bachelor, working as a trainee at the one of big and well-know companies in our country; provide me with golden oppor... ...try to light their universe† I should seek the research on my interest scope and persuade PHD level at system engineering specifically supply chain and operation research in order to improve my skills as a researcher and be accustomed with special problems and their solutions that are related to developed countries which would never happen if I wanted to continue my education at my own country. Choosing Gorge Mason University to reach my purposes is the first step of this long learning journey. Talking with Dr. Huang assured me this university pays utmost attention to the potential of research of students which is my favorite hobby. I believe that by coordinating with the eminent faculty of the department of system engineering like Dr. Huang, I will be able to light my dark universe a little more. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely yours, Maryam