Freedom of Human Will Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Freedom of Human Will - Essay Example After all, without the notion of freedom as an attainable state another crucial phenomenon that exists in any society would virtually collapse. This phenomenon pertains to the notion of control that we may have over the ways we conduct our relationships in the wide sense of this word. The importance that human beings assign to the need of being in control of themselves, of those around them, and of external circumstances that they are immersed in, reflects one of the essential qualities of human nature as such - that of the striving of man to change the world we lives in, to adapt it to human needs, and to feel secure in it. All these aspirations presuppose the presence of at least some degree of control on the part of man, and with the development of human societies the phenomenon of control in its different social, economic, and political manifestations represented by schemes of distribution of power was gaining more and more elaborated and intricate forms. At the same time, along with macro events such as political and economic processes micro level of human relationships is not a less interesting realm of investigation aimed at finding out what the notion of control is, and whether we really have control over relationships in our life. Let us try to take a closer look at both macro and micro sociological scale of our life in order to examine what degree of control we really may have over the ways we conduct our relationships. Perhaps, such a discussion would also help us better understand the interrelation between the conception of control and the more fundamental notion of freedom of human will from which it stems. Definitions of control First of all, as we are speaking about control we have to define what we mean by it. In this respect, various definitions can be applied, ranging form the far-reaching characterisation of control as a power to determine, direct, and dominate, which in a positive way (similarly to the formulation of the concept of positive liberty that stands for 'freedom for'(Carter, 2003) suggests that an agent exercising control possesses creative and almost God-like qualities, to the much more humble description of control as an ability of a human agent to restrain for some purpose her or his emotions, desires, or certain impetuses (Miller, 1998, pp.9-12). This latter definition offers a negative account of control, which again can be compared with the concept of negative liberty formulated as 'freedom from' (Carter, 2003). In between these definitions a range of intermediary ones can be located that specify different application of control in social, economic, private, and other spheres of human activity. However, it seems that it is the consideration of the outlined extreme poles represented by the positive and negative definitions of cont

Top games Essay Example for Free

Top games Essay Nearly all the children could do the above I therefore suggest that the game is appropriate for the age range I planned it for. Throughout this observation the children have gained developing co-ordination and control over the cards. They have used fine motor skills to lift a turn over the cards, for the first few times the children turned over the cards they had a little difficulty all of the children discovered however that if they slide the card to the edge of the table it was easier to pick up. They have also been learning about sharing and turn taking and how everyone has to have fair turns and not to hurry them along. They have been thinking about ordinal numbers (first second etc) and what number comes next, and also through my open-ended questions, about lengths and sizes of the lines. B F Skinners theory of positive and negative reinforcement also fits in here. If a child gets a number and puts it in the correct order, they may be praised, told well done. There actions have been reinforced (positive reinforcement). On the other hand a child may not come first the first time they play the game, they may not like this feeling which would inspire them to really try the next time, although if they do not come first again the may take a disliking to the game. I was fully prepared for the activity as all I needed was the game cards, I didnt need any additional resources. I discussed with my placement supervisor the suitability of the game and whether she thought it to be age and stage appropriate to these children. I was mostly completely planned and ready for this activity although it would have been helpful if I could have more time, there was enough time to play quite a few games, but not all the children in the class got a chance to play and not also was that unfair to some of the children I could have benefited from seeing the whole class dealing with the game to support my evaluation more. As I have said the number of children in the group was correct it was easy to manage the situation. I think that I gave clear instructions although it may have made more sense to the children if I had set down some firm ground rules at the start. Again the only thing that did not go to plan was the amount of time I had allocated for the game. The resources I made was suitable for its purpose it lasted quite well and was quite durable as they were backed onto card I think in future I would laminate the cards so they were more durable. It did help the children to learn, but I think it would have been more helpful to them if the numbers were higher as most of the children already knew their numbers one to five quite well. I could also have made different versions of the game such as, instead of trains I could do flowers or animals depending on what the subject they were focusing on at the time was. Mind map-China-I think that including the whole class was suitable because the children all gained feedback off each other. Although it was quite difficult to tell how many of the children could count the suggestions as they all counted at the same time, some of the children could have been following what everyone else was saying. When the children were asked (separately) how many suggestions to make twenty? they took a little longer than I had expected to work it out but got it right in the end. Some of the children had a little prompting as how to work it out. As the suggestion about Chinese writing came up a lot I wasnt sure if the children were copying the first child who suggested it or whether they were going to suggest it in the first place. Tassoni and Beith (2002 p 400) state that between the ages of four and six years a child should normally be: Showing more understanding and using reason based on their experiences ? Starting to use and understand symbols e. g. reading and writing Again nearly all the children could do the above I suggest therefore that this activity is appropriate for the age and stage of these children. The children have been learning in the area of knowledge and understanding of the world they have been thinking of past events that they could link with the subject of China (e. g. I had a Chinese last night). The children have expanded in their knowledge of listening, not interrupting and waiting to be asked before speaking. They have also learnt a bit about how to discuss with people. They have also been learning about mathematics by counting how many suggestions are on the board and calculating how many more Again with this activity I can see where B F Skinners theory fits in. in a similar way to the first activity if a child comes up with good suggestions they will get a well done. This will encourage them to think deeper to think of another suggestion to get the same praise (positive reinforcement). B F Skinner also says that by ignoring certain behaviour it may disappear which could be done with the children that interrupt. Tassoni and Beith (2992 p 223) state that adults need to extend childrens vocabulary and help them to use language as a way of thinking, open questions can be used when working with children. This means asking questions where children have to give more than one worded answers during my activity I believe I covered this as I asked a few open ended and the children responded well. Children also need to learn the skills of listening and this means that we must be good role models for them by listening to them although the children were good at listening I still believe that I acted as a good role model to them by listening to all of the suggestions and not being dismissive. I wasnt prepared for the amount of suggestions that the children gave it may have been helpful if I had a spare piece of paper for such circumstances. I had discussed with my placement supervisor the suitability of this activity I discussed whether it was age and stage appropriate and whether it was stimulating enough for the children to sit there for a while and pay attention. I think that the time I had allocated for this activity was appropriate; the times were roughly similar when the children started to run out of suggestions and when we had to start the next activity. The activity was a success there was good feedback later on throughout the day and the children were also asking to have other people suggestions explained to them (showing they were interested in the subject). I had extra support from my supervisor to manage all of the children as it was a class of twenty-eight so it was managed quite well. I gave clear instructions about what we were doing but not about how they had to sit or that they had to wait to be asked. I think that it would have been beneficial to explain this before the activity was started to set down the ground rules. Other than this all went to plan with the activity. Recommendations The train game when I asked the children the questions I often got one-word answers, in order to help them expand on the subject more, the adult in the situations asking more open-ended questions about the subject could do this. During the game I had two children with the same favourite colour I dealt with this by playing two games, it may have been easier to ask the children to swap in the middle of the game or to not let the children choose at all I could just deal the cards to them. I could also for future games keep the colours the same (starting cards one colour, number one cards another colour etc). In order for the children to progress, I could make other cards numbered up to ten, if this proved to difficult because of the amount of cards on the table they could be separated into two piles one to five and six to ten. I could also play the game backwards if they had managed it the original way well. I could make the cards colour co-ordinated e. g. either they have to get the whole set of one colour to win or that the aim is to make a pattern. The best way I think to extend this activity would be turning it into a quiz each child is asked a maths question, if they get the question right they can turn over a card if they get it wrong they will wait until their next turn. In this activity whatever the version an adult would need to be present to make sure the game is being carried out in the way planned, that the children are all taking turns and that the children are being sensible with the cards.

Morals and Intelligence :: essays research papers fc

MORALS AND INTELLIGENCE The United States must maintain the highest standard of morals during intelligence missions. There are many ways that information from intelligence missions can be compromised, and far to many ways that the members of the mission teams can be exploited. Due to the risk of allowing one’s self or the mission to be compromised, a high moral professional and personal standard should be ever present when accomplishing intelligence missions. The first issue dealing with morals and intelligence is finding the right person(s) to conduct a mission. There must be a level of unquestionable integrity present if a person is to successfully complete missions without jeopardizing the information collected. The Mossad (Israeli Intelligence) has made a practice of finding and exploiting personnel that work around classified information as well as those in the position to observe the behavior of said personnel (Thomas 33). Intelligence agencies around the world look for behavioral patterns in an individual’s character. For instance, if a person drinks too much, desires expensive things, or is a sexual deviant there is a possibility that, with the proper motivation, the information they have been entrusted with could be revealed. Another problem when dealing with intelligence operations is that during an operation the agent is not allowed to collect, analyze, or disseminate any information that may be incidentally collected on a United States citizen. When the United States Marine Corps collects intelligence for operations on military bases with aerial photography, there must be expressed written permission by neighboring communities that may be photographed in conjunction with the collection methods (OpsO VMU-1). There are times when intelligence is collected while in training areas that bordering communities may be depicted as well. These individual families or businesses must each approve of being possibly viewed during surveillance, as long as they are not the actual target of the intelligence gathering operation. The same rules of engagement apply while in combat situations. The morality of secret operations has been questioned since intelligence first began. The President of the United States must decide at the highest level which secret operations should be conducted and which are not ethical. The problem that has happened in the past is that the President has looked at the Director of Central Intelligence as his â€Å"personal advisor† when it comes to advising on intelligence affairs (Johnson 292). President Kennedy looked to his brother Bobby when making decisions of national security, and President Reagan set up his personal friend, Walter Clark, as his National Security Advisor.

Every Child Matters

There is no duty more important than ensuring that children’s rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and that they can grow up in peace. Kofi Annan, the 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations The aim of this paper is to review and critically analyse the Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003) framework as well as to discuss the impact of Every Child Matters agenda on a specific role within an educational setting.For this purpose, information was gathered through elements of practitioner-based research and observations along with the study and analysis of materials presented in books, research journals and professional publications, so as to evaluate the main aspects of the policy Every Child Matters and identify the issues it has raised for professionals working with young children, and particularly early years practitioners, as well as to propose some strategies that could support those practitioners throughout the process of inevitable changes associated with the introduction of the policy.In 2003, the Government launched Every Child Matters, a comprehensive programme of reform for children’s services with wide-reaching implications for education, health, social services, voluntary and community organisations, and other agencies. Every Child Matters constituted the Government’s policy response to the findings and recommendations of Lord Laming’s Inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie, the young girl who died as the result of severe physical abuse and neglect in her family. It was published as a Green Paper for consultation on September 2003.Its proposals have since been further developed in subsequent documents including Every Child Matters; Next Steps and Every Child Matters; Change for Children. Many of the reforms proposed in Every Child Matters—including the establishment of a Children’s Commissioner for England—required amendments to statute. Consequent ly, a Children Bill was presented to Parliament in March 2004 and subsequently received royal assent on 15 November 2004. The Children Act 2004, as it now is, provides the legal ‘backbone’ for the programme of reform. House of Lords and House of Commons, 2005) The proposals of the Government for reforming children’s services aimed to combine the development of an overall framework for universal children’s services with the need for targeted services to protect vulnerable children. The framework has introduced five outcomes for children’s services as being of key importance during childhood and adult life: being healthy; staying safe; enjoying and achieving; making a positive contribution; achieving economic well-being.As Benton, Chamberlain and Rutt (2003: 30) point out, Thirty-nine quantitative indicators have been identified relating to these outcomes. For example, one of the key indicators of children being healthy is the infant mortality rate, w hereas achieving economic well-being might be partially assessed by the percentage of young people accessing FE and training after completing compulsory schooling. Each of the 150 local authority areas can be assessed using any of these indicators that are available at the local level.The research (Anning, Cullen and Fleer, 2004; Williams, 2004; Roche and Tucker, 2007) suggests that the introduction of the quantitative indicators along with other expectations of the Every Child Matters agenda has transformed the educational landscape in recent years. The need for effective and coherent multi-agency working has become apparent, and that was not just to ensure that abused children like Victoria Climbie no longer fall through the net, but also to bring together health, social care and education services for collaboration in the interests of all children and with effective provision at all levels.It is worth to mention that the story behind the development of the Every Child Matters sti ll presents â€Å"uncomfortable reading† (Roche and Tucker, 2007: 213) for politicians, children’s service managers, practitioners and academics alike due to the fact that the Every Child Matters framework emerged out of the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Victoria Climbie as well as many other child abuse inquiries.The study suggests that Every Child Matters has indicated the emergence of the notions of â€Å"a child† and â€Å"childhood† as the central subjects in New Labour’s social policy. Recently Gordon Brown declared: â€Å"Nothing is more important to the future of our whole country than that, with the best schooling, services and financial support, every child has the chance to develop their potential. † (Guardian, 2003: 19) Similarly, former Prime Minister Tony Blair stated: â€Å"For most parents, our children are everything to us: our hopes, our ambitions, our future. (DfES, 2003: 1) The above claims suggest that c hildren today are no longer seen as incomplete adults not yet able to participate in social life, but as â€Å"co-constructors of childhood and society† (Qvortrup, 1994: 14) In the same context, Moss and Petrie (2002: 40), talk about it being â€Å"time to welcome children as young citizens, equal stakeholders with adults† and state that â€Å"the child has a voice to be listened to† (ibid: 101).However, it is important to acknowledge that this notion of childhood does not seem to be the only one that shapes the status of children in the sphere of political and economic priorities. Tomplinson (2008) uses an example of Home Office activity linked to the Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO), which is being used to restrain children and make information about them public within their communities. According to Walker (2008: 149), â€Å"ten young people a week are being jailed as a result of ASBOs†.This activity is in clear contrast to the aims of Every Child Ma tters, one of which is â€Å"to minimise the use of custody† (DfES, 2004: 3) Prout (cited in Jones et al, 2008: 29) explains that â€Å"public debate swings between children as victims, in need of protection from harm, and children as threat to social order coming from problem families producing unruly and uncontrolled children. † The study also suggests that Every Child Matters possibly does not put enough emphasis on the importance of children’s participation and respecting of children’s opinions.Some acknowledgement of those issues is evident in Paragraph 1. 13 of the document, which states some factors that foster children’s resilience against disadvantage: Strong relationships with parents, family and other significant adults Parental interest and involvement in education with clear and high expectations Positive role models Individual characteristics such as an outgoing nature, self-motivation, intelligence Active involvement in family, schoo l and community life Recognition, praise and feeling valued† (DfES, 2003: paragraph 1. 3) Paragraph 5. 47 also mentions â€Å"Involving children in developing services† (DfES, 2003: paragraph 5. 47) As Williams (2004) rightly points out, the Every Child Matters framework refers to children’s consultation only twice. The first reference is in setting out its outcomes: â€Å"When we consulted with children, young people and families they wanted the Government to set out the aims in terms of a positive vision of what as a society we want to achieve for our children† (DfES, 2003: paragraph 1. 2).The themes of staying safe and enjoying and achieving are reinforced by the second reference to children’s opinions, when â€Å"somewhere safe to go and something to do† is mentioned in relation to the need for recreational activities (DfES, 2003: paragraph 2. 39). The study also revealed that, surprisingly, the theme of â€Å"enjoying† is hardly d eveloped in the framework. The section â€Å"Enjoying and Achieving† focuses mainly on educational achievement without taking into the consideration the fact that â€Å"enjoyment† was the main theme that came from children.Not only does it give the impression that children’s views are not very important but it also characterizes a rather dreary vision of childhood which is about getting through your exams and keeping out of trouble. This registers more about the processes of becoming an adult rather than the active enjoyment and negotiation of childhood and young personhood with friends and siblings. (Williams, 2004: 412) In addition to criticism towards the lack of emphasis on children’s participation, the study also revealed that there are some points of tension in the Every Child Matters document which reflect a weak framework of values.Walker (2008) expresses concern regarding the fact that no advice is given in the document to the agencies on how to cooperate together effectively and how to overcome difficulties and barriers, especially when it comes to a clash of different values. Williams (2004) shares this concern, arguing that while the document opens up new possibilities for the way society can transform the lives of children and their parents, it also, at the same time, closes these off due to its failure to be much more explicit about its vision and its values: There is an underestimation f the need for services and policies to underpin both trust and respect, and for strategies that can build consensus around such values. To some extent a case is put in the Introduction to the Every Child Matters: ‘Underpinning this must be not just the resources but an attitude that reflects the value that our society places on children and childhood’. But the values that might support a change in attitude are not spelled out. (ibid: 410)Nevertheless, despite the mentioned concerns about the conflicting nature of some serv ices and a failure to offer effective legislation in ways that will work for all children and families, it should be noted that the introduction of Every Child Matters and the legislation to support its implementation should be viewed as a staging post (my emphasis) for a government that is on a significant journey of reform for child-related policy and practice (Parton, 2005).The study suggests that the Every Child Matters agenda raised a number of important issues within the roles of all professional involved in children’s and young people’s services, including teachers and practitioners of early years childcare and educational settings. One of the main issues is related to the introduction of multi-agency approach, which encourages professionals to work in multi-disciplinary teams based in schools and Children’s Centres.An early manifestation of multidisciplinary approaches to work could be seen in relation to the rapid development of early years provision. T he mandatory introduction of Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships (EYDCP) in every local authority area clearly signalled the intention of the Government to build multi-agency working relationships across the public, private and voluntary sectors that would encompass education, social care and health.Crucially, the local education authority was given the lead role in bringing together related agencies â€Å"to draw up an annual local plan, linked together into the Government’s targets for early education places for 3- and 4-year-olds and the expansion of childcare† (Pugh, 2001: 15). Following the Every Child Matters agenda on integrated multi-agency approach put an obligation on early years practitioners to restructure and refocus their roles. The agenda for safeguarding children based on integrated pproach had to be carefully reviewed from the perspective of all those working with young children. While the traditional protection functions remained the sa me (looking for signs of abuse, reporting suspicion of abuse, etc. ), the other functions, specifically related to multi-agency involvement, had to be introduced, such as involvement in common assessment process, sharing and analysing information, reviewing outcomes for the children against specific plans.Within such a perspective the practitioners based at an early years setting have become central figures in developing services for socially excluded children and families and those who are considered to be at risk. The contribution of these practitioners has been viewed as vital, as it is argued that â€Å"health, education and social services all have an important role to play in improving and safe-guarding the well-being of vulnerable children and their families† (Abbott et al. , 2005: 230). However, Abbott et al. ibid) also note that there have been difficulties in promoting the vision of multidisciplinary working across organizations, and go further in their criticisms, arguing that there is a â€Å"lack of evidence to support the notion that multi-agency working in practice brings about benefits for children and families†. (Abbott et al, 2005: 23) The introduction of multi-agency multi-disciplinary approaches also is having an impact on the practitioners working with older age groups of children. The changes in those practitioners’ job roles are mainly related to the issue of developing extended schools.According to research conducted by Cummings et al. (2003) specific grounds for the development of extended schools appear to be emerging, however the evaluation of the extended schools revealed that there is no single model of the extended school, and there is considerable variation between the existing models depending on community need, geography and access to funding. The ‘full-service’ school in which services are located on the school site is less common, though many schools are working towards this (ibid). The chall enge to those working in extended schools to deliver effective practice seems to be considerable.The study suggests that, perhaps, the greatest challenge lies in the area of changing the culture of some schools. Smith (2005) supports the idea that multidisciplinary work challenges the isolated position of many schools: â€Å"where schools have had to work with other agencies their relative size, statutory nature and high degree of control over what happens within their walls have often made them difficult partners† (ibid: 13). Clearly, these issues have put additional pressure on all staff working in schools in terms of demands of being accountable to both schools and outside agencies.The study also revealed that those occupying teaching roles in extended schools have been faced with new expectations placed on them. Cajkler et al (cited in Rochea and Tucker, 2007) emphasize that the safeguarding agenda pursued in extended school along with the creation of extended education, leisure, care and health opportunities make teachers to undertake different forms of work. As the â€Å"Lead Professional† they find themselves working more closely with families, especially when it comes to improving their access to services that are based on school premises.At the heart of Every Child Matters agenda lies recognition that all practitioners working with children will require new skills and knowledge to work more within multi-agency systems. This demand instigated another change in the roles performed by the practitioners as the policy agenda also emphasises the reform of training schemes. As Abbott and Hevey (2001: 180) point out, â€Å"the development of new and innovatory ways of working will ‘require something more than benign cooperation across existing professions†.The authors go on to argue that the development of a new children’s workforce has put forward the need for flexibility in approach and a sharing of values and attitudes tha t had been advocated much earlier in the Rumbold Report (DES, 1990). Indeed, the Every Child Matters agenda implies that all those working with children will require knowledge and skills in six wide areas of expertise, which is referred to as the Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the children’s workforce.The areas of expertise include: the development of effective communication skills; an understanding of child development; promoting children’s welfare; supporting transitions; multi-agency working; sharing of information (DfES, 2005). Advocates of the ‘common core’ specifically argue that the roles and responsibilities outlined within the Every Child Matters framework require individuals and groups to develop such a range of skills and knowledge in order to increase their ability to work across professional boundaries (Tucker et al. , 2002).Along with the demand related to the new training schemes, the Every Child Matters agenda also challenges the p ractitioners to meet new requirements of OfSTED inspections, which require the practitioners to report the way they are meeting the â€Å"five outcomes†. Personal experiences as well as discussions with the professionals show that, in some ways, the delivery of the Every Child Matters agenda has been transformed from a framework of aspiration to one where evidence is apprehensively sought in relation to specific targets against each outcome.The paper so far has attempted to review and critically analyse the Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003) framework and to discuss the impact of Every Child Matters agenda on a role of practitioners within educational settings. One of the key intentions has been to provide a brief overview of the main issues of the Every Child Matters agenda, an agenda profoundly influenced by a consistent failure to safeguard and protect children and young people and, therefore, promote their welfare.Specific areas concerned with multi-agency approach, the dev elopment of extended schools and workforce training and OfSTED issues have been reviewed to demonstrate the scope and complexity of the changes in the roles of practitioners working with children. The impact of Every Child Matters certainly appears to be influential in terms of the way it has been transforming structures and processes at both the national and local levels.Every Child Matters has provided a framework for shaping practice, specifically in relation to multi-agency multi-disciplinary approach and the expectations of professionals within educational settings to improve the quality and outcomes of safeguarding children. The study also suggests that, notwithstanding efficiency or inadequacy of specific aspects of the framework, no all-embracing package has been devised, which proposes a perfect solution for safeguarding children and promoting their rights and participation.It seems unrealistic to expect a selected framework to offer ultimate solutions in the context of edu cational system in view of the fact that a wide variety of different initiatives and approaches continuously develop to meet new sociological, legislative and educational needs. Today children are seen as â€Å"social beings, active in the construction of their own realities and subjectivities and therefore potentially active in the construction and deconstruction of dominant ideologies† (Osler, 1998: 34). However, in the face of changes that ime brings into our society every day we must recognise that there is no objective truth about children; and there is no single, objective description of how we should protect and safeguard them. The process of developing the ideas of childhood is a continuous non-stop practice, which helps us to comprehend the children and their lives as they really are and in this way give the children's views a central role in our explorations and perceptions.

Goffman’s The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life Essay

Goffman’s The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life considers how people act in daily life and in different circumstances. He employs the language of theatre to show how humans are ‘social actors’ who take on different roles in different situations and circumstances. Actors have the ability to choose roles and are aware of an audience. Chapter 2 focuses on ‘Teams’. Goffman suggests that people will form teams to support how they present themselves. Like actors on a stage, it is difficult to act alone and to fulfil a desired goal. So people incorporate performance teams. A team is â€Å"a set of individuals who co-operate in staging a single routine† (69). There are 2 kinds of relationships in teams: one is that of reciprocal dependency where each member must depend on the other to achieve their goal or stage their ‘show’ and the other is that of reciprocal familiarity where ‘members are in the know’ and they work together to ‘maintain’ the appearance. A team therefore is not necessarily an organisation or social structure but a group of performers coming together to sustain a definition of a situation which tries to claim what ‘reality’ is (e. g. political parties for an upcoming election). In order to achieve something, all members must observe a ‘principle of unanimity’. Interaction between groups is always about who ‘performs’ and controls the ‘scene’; the other team becomes the ‘audience’. Thus there is always an issue of power – dramatic and directive dominance. Dramatic power is power that is visible but has little reality because somebody else is directing that actor. This person who directs someone else with dramatic power has directive dominance (e. g. Queen of England has dramatic power but no directive power; the Prime Minister has directive dominance). Sometimes a performer can hold both kinds of power. Questions: 1. Provide some examples of ‘Teams’ that you observe in the everday. Ans: Political parties, business organisations, college fraternities, fan clubs 2. In those examples, what are they ‘staging’ (i. e. what is their task / goal)? Who holds dramatic power? Who has directive dominance? Ans: College fraternities: staging masculinities, teenage identities Business organisations: usually profit gain through transactions Ans: Apple’s Steve Jobs – has both dramatic power and directive dominance

Beloved Adenuga Essays - World, Geography Of Africa, Africa

Beloved Adenuga Essays - World, Geography Of Africa, Africa Beloved Adenuga Professor Seifert ENGW 102 sec 10 13 September,2017 Unemployment in Nigeria Nigeria is currently faced with a lot of problems which includes but not limited to Boko Haram insurgency in the northern part of Nigeria, poor infrastructures, unemployment, bad road, irregular power supply, inadequate health system, environmental pollution, disunity as some are fighting for a division of Nigeria into two separate countries-Biafra war. These problems are so numerous that it will take years of collective effort on the part of individual Nigerians to bring this country into its proper actualization as the giant of Africa. On a closer look, each of t hese problems are majorly caused by corruption and bad governance of leaders. For this research, I will d iscuss about the issue of corruption as it relates to u nemployment in Nigeria. In Nigeria, there are lots of graduates with good grades that cannot get a good job. Because of frustration, some of them take jobs that pa y below their qualification s or not even related to their field of study. Graduates that are meant to be working in factories, hospitals, business enterprises are found working in stores, in elementary schools or doing other low pay jobs. What are the causes of this ? C umulative number of unemploy ed graduates over the years makes it difficult to get jobs even if you are qualified for it. Employees appoint people based on favoritism and connections, some ladies even offer their bodies to get a job! But here lies the question what has been done to stop these practices? Basically, nothing has been done to stop all these because government officials are busy enriching their pocket instead of facing this issue with all seriousness. The government is not concerned with creating jobs or the right conditions for jobs to strive. Therefore, in Nigeria a lot of businesses have folded up. In further research, I will explain in detail the various ways in which corruption has led to the increas ed number of unemployed graduates. Nigeria is the number one country of origin of international students from Africa . According to data from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS), the number of Nigerian students abroad in creased by 164 percent in the de cade between 2005 and 2015 alone- from 26,997 to 71,351 . This is also evident in the relatively large number of Nigerian here at Howard. This only depicts that the issue of unemployment in Nigeria get worse yearly therefore people consider studying abroad as a solu tion to unemployment . But studying abroad is not a solution to unemploy ment, Nigerians cannot continue to leave because of the fear of unemployment. So, somethings must be done to reduce unemployment. I will give various ways to which unemployment can be combated in Nigeria. Another thing I will research about is the effect that unemployment has on Nigeria. Unemployment has made the youth to think of dubious and neg ative ways to make money. There is a term referred to as "419" in Nigeria , this is a corrupt practice in which the victim is convinced to give money to a stranger. The crime rate in Nigeria is also on the increase, which is not surprising because what do you expect from a bunch of jobless youth s ? I will be as analytical as possible by giving good estimates of figures where needed. I will also use charts to express ideas. I will also give various past events to explain the effect of unemployment on Nigeria. This project should be easy because I have in-depth knowledge of the topic to be researched such that I can add my own ideas and thoughts. The major problem I foresee is the credibility of the various sources I will get my information from. I also think that if I were to do this research in Nigeria I will be able to gather more information than what I can get from the internet. I chose to research about unemployment among various problem that faces Nigeria because it affects me directly. I would not have been here if there are better job opportunities in Nigeria. What is the essence of studying in a

Basic Computer construction essays

Basic Computer construction essays This report will tell you the 10 basic steps to constructing a high powered home computer in under 2 hours. Most people believe that you have to be a rocket scientist to build a computer. YOU DONT! It is very easy. The first thing you will need to do, is get the parts. MOtherboard, Processor, Video card, SOund card, DVD, CD-ROM, Monitor, RAM (SD-RAM) Case, speakers, DVD-EncoderCard, etc.. The next thing you will have to do, is set the jumpers on your motherboard, What this does, is set the amount of electricity that the motherboard will send to the CPU (processor). Different CPU's use different amounts of voltage. The newer CPU's use even less voltage. Most of the jumper setting's you will need are listed in the owners manual for the motherboard, or can be obtained from the dealer. Some motherboards dont even need to have the jumpers set, ITs done electronicly. These are called jumperless motherboard's. It will say weather or not it is a jumperless motherboard on the box or in the manual. Then the next thing you will need to do is install the CPU, By locating the ZIF socket. It is beije and square. It just drops into place and then all you have to do is flip the lever on the side and thats done. The next step, is installing the ram, The ram is usually 168 pin long, and will only fit into one slot ( out of 3 or 4 possible ) on the board. It will only go in one way so their is no putting it in backward. Then after you install the ram, you have to place the motherboard inside the case. Then after you mount it in the case, you can go ahead and install the video card. TOdays video cards use what is called an AGP port (Advanced Graphics Port) After you slide it in, you have to screw it down. Then you can go and install all your other cards, (sound card, modem, DVD-Encoder card, etc...) Then you have to install your hard drive and soundcard, YOu will first have to take out t...

What Type of Nurse Are You

What Type of Nurse Are You There are so many different types of nurses. These include registered nurses, travel nurses, nurse practitioners, and operating room nurses just to name a few. Have you ever wondered what type of nurse you might be if you decide to pursue nursing as a career? Or maybe if you are in the right field of nursing based on your wants? This quiz is perfect to help you decide based on your likes.  Source [ Playbuzz ]

Marketing strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing strategy - Essay Example When organizations pay emphasis and use its resources towards a small part of the consumers, they are involved in the business of market niche and by serving this portion of the market; businesses can perform better and gain an added advantage over their competitors. The process of market segmentation lies between an organization’s marketing strategy that targets a huge market by producing goods and services that satisfy the needs and wants of a huge market or the overall market and a marketing strategy that is used to serve the needs and wants of individual consumers by producing goods and services that are unique and only appeal to a specific portion of the overall market. Those organizations and marketers who follow niche marketing strategy and work on their market segmentation practices are of the belief that one product does not has the ability to satisfy a huge market as consumers have different needs and wants. Secondly, they are even aware that an organization can neve r have enough resources to satisfy needs and wants of consumers on the individual level. This is why marketers are involved in the process of marketing segmentation and they divide a huge market into smaller segments and then the marketers create marketing strategy as well as products that satisfy the needs and wants of a particular segment. Market segments are created while giving importance to the characteristics of consumers, these characteristics are regarded as segmentation bases and can be utilized to create segments of a market, and the most commonly used segmentation bases include: consumer’s age, the place they live in, their income levels and the purchasing behaviors (STEVENS, 2012, p.32). There are several strategies of marketing that a marketer can use for his/her product, one such strategy is recognized as marketing at the mass level, and this is even recognized by the name of undifferentiated marketing (FERRELL, 2011, p.168). Such a marketing strategy

How to Cope with the Problematic Situation Essay

How to Cope with the Problematic Situation - Essay Example The common feature of any social group or any size is that its members differ in the degree of their influence, and â€Å"†¦ the person who exerts the most influence on the rest of the group thus affecting group beliefs and behavior is usually addressed as the leader† (Hollander 1985, p. 14). However, while this definition of leadership highlights the essence of leadership, it is only one of the numerous of definitions that have been proposed in the literature: the second edition of The Handbook of Leadership by Bass lists more than 130 definitions of this phenomenon and 13 major approaches (Bass, 1990, p. 12). Availability of such versatile data significantly facilitates analysis of problems related to leadership because in many cases the existing approaches and definitions are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary. The present report is an attempt to analyze a situation that provides valuable insights into the essential aspects of leadership and is directly li nked to the effectiveness of managerial work. The story of Ted Willis who has been hired as the new supervisor suggests he is likely to face the classic type of leadership problem: the new leader vs. the old leader. One should not get misled by the fact that Ted is the new supervisor and the old supervisor has been fired. The so-called ‘workers of influence’ theory of leadership is particularly important to understand the distinction between managers and leaders. The key idea of this theory is that leadership may be exhibited by anyone in the organization in any type of position (Yukl 1989). According to this theory, leaders may operate at different levels within the organization and within the same hierarchical level as their followers. Such perception of leadership conflicts the traditional theories which treat it as a set of attributes and behaviors exhibited by persons with legitimate.

Critical Analysis of Giac Duyen in The Tale of Kieu Essay

Critical Analysis of Giac Duyen in The Tale of Kieu - Essay Example I say this because Giac Duen is the only character whose religiosity represents the Buddhist institutional belief through her actions. Being the embodiment of Buddhist virtues, a Buddhist nun Giac Duen appears to be friendly, kind-hearted and compassionate to distressed Kieu. Indeed her friendly guardianship seems to fill up the vacuum of a religious authority that the medieval Vietnamese literary tradition often required. Du does not tell us much about the prioress’s past. Yet she appears to be self-evident because of her admirable religiosity and her actions accordingly. Indeed at times, her humanity surpasses her religiosity also. Ultimately her religiosity as well as her universal humanity makes her an outstanding figure, in the poem, which serves as an instrument that assists Kieu to get relief of the karmic retribution. In the story ‘The Tale of Kieu† Nguyen Du shows that a true friend’s assistance and love can make one successful in the end and the pr ioress Giac Duyen is the perfect example of such friendship. Giac’s relationship with Kieu grows on the basis of fellow-feeling, compassion and humanity. Though in the story Giac appears as a representative of the Buddhist religious institution, she is essentially a universal humanitarian who could surpass the boundary of her religious restriction. When Kieu flees from Hoan, the tyrant wife of Thuc, and reaches the prioress’s home, she compassionately provides her with shelter and food. This humanitarian face of Giac could have been overshadowed by her religiosity, when Kieu discloses her miserable past. But it did not happen in reality. Learning about Kieu’s past suffering, sorrow and life of prostitution, she was swinging between her compassion for the distressed girl and her religious fear about Kieu’s sin in her early life. Indeed her compassion wins over her religious fear. Even though she believes that Kieu’s suffering is the result of her Ka rma in early life, she has tried to minimize her agony. She advises Kieu to walk the noble path of a prioress. She says, â€Å"The Buddha's gate is open wide to all. But things I can't foresee are what I dread. I'd sorely grieve if something struck you here. Plan far ahead and flee - you'd be unwise to sit and wait till waters reach your feet† (line 2076). Kieu the protagonist is only able to change her destiny through the kind-hearted Buddhist nun by the name of Giac Duen. And consequently, Kieu is highly induced by the way of life of Giac and meanwhile Giac’s dominance starts playing with more priority over Kieu even her lover and husband too. Kieu took very little time to win the support from Giac. Knowing Kieu’s destiny, Giac responds to Kieu for helping her by prediction and to save Kieu from her sorrow and distressed condition which she experienced a lot in her early life. Giac also helped Kieu from jealous of Miss Hoan. So, Giac is somehow appeared as a s avor for Kieu. Giac, a strong character of integrity and loyalty tries to recover Kieu from the experience of her harsh destiny with every time assistance even with the absence of Kieu, made her great one and high character and the centered women in the story. We see that Giac didn’t leave Kieu even after her successive events of her life including death of

Corporate Law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Corporate Law - Coursework Example However, by virtue of a floating charge, the charge is for the most part treated as unsecured allowing the company to deal with the asset or assets to which the charge is attached as if it was not subject to a loan.9...... Should DART fail to satisfy the terms of the loan agreement, the lender will have the right to take possession of the asset subject to the fixed charge. This limits the extent to which the company may deal with the asset subject to a fixed charge until such time as the loan is discharged. However, by virtue of a floating charge, the charge is for the most part treated as unsecured allowing the company to deal with the asset or assets to which the charge is attached as if it was not subject to a loan.9 In addition or as an alternative, lenders may insist on including a clause in the loan agreement allowing them to have a measure of control over the business transactions of the company. This kind of an arrangement involves an obligation on the part of corporate management to obtain the lender’s consent prior to conducting specific business transactions.10 There are other mechanisms that lenders may use that go beyond that which is typically characteristic of a simple loan agreem ent. One of these mechanisms is the attachment of larger than usual interest payments or the retention of title to an asset purchased by virtue of a loan until such time as the loan is discharged.11 Essentially, the various mechanisms of going beyond the simple loan agreement for additional lender protection are known as â€Å"creditor self-help†.12 C. If new ordinary shares were to be issued, to raise additional capital, the entitlement of each of the existing shareholders to these shares Ordinary shares confer upon the owner the right to dividends as well as voting entitlements.13 When a company contemplates issuing new ordinary shares it must first offer those shares to existing shareholders under the right of pre-emption.14 However, since the statutory provision prescribing pre-emptive

Ancient Mexico and the Spanish Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ancient Mexico and the Spanish - Essay Example On the other hand, the political control and power of the Spanish even before they came to conquer new world in the 1500s was invested in military personnel who were qualified in terms of leadership skills and prowess to fight. This is thus the reason it was not so hard for the Aztec rulers to welcome the Spanish due to their lack of leadership skills and wisdom. According to history, there are three major reasons that led to the defeat of the Aztec by the Spanish in not only a short span of time but also by a very small number of Spanish people. These reasons include but are not limited to: technology, disease and religion (Pohl, 2005). As discussed earlier, the technology of the Aztec and that of the Spanish was incompatible. The technology used by the Aztec was naà ¯ve, ancient and could not stand a chance with the modern technology of the Spanish. This is especially so with fighting technological gear. The Spanish therefore easily used their horses, guns, cannons and qualified military to fight the unqualified, sword-fighting Aztec soldiers. The Aztec people were religious individuals who related everything in their life with religion including sickness, death and success. As a result of their many gods, they thought the Spanish were one of their gods and hence welcomed them in their empire and exposed them to their lifestyle and once the Spanish had learnt enough about the Aztec people, they easily conquered them without using much military force or personnel. The Spanish brought with them diseases like measles when they came in 1519 to Aztec. Since the Aztec people had no developed technology in medicine and relied on herbal doctors who had no idea what measles what or even how to cure it, many Aztecs died of the disease and the remaining were too weak to fight the conquers hence it was easy for the Spanish to defeat them. The

Corporate Law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Corporate Law - Coursework Example However, by virtue of a floating charge, the charge is for the most part treated as unsecured allowing the company to deal with the asset or assets to which the charge is attached as if it was not subject to a loan.9...... Should DART fail to satisfy the terms of the loan agreement, the lender will have the right to take possession of the asset subject to the fixed charge. This limits the extent to which the company may deal with the asset subject to a fixed charge until such time as the loan is discharged. However, by virtue of a floating charge, the charge is for the most part treated as unsecured allowing the company to deal with the asset or assets to which the charge is attached as if it was not subject to a loan.9 In addition or as an alternative, lenders may insist on including a clause in the loan agreement allowing them to have a measure of control over the business transactions of the company. This kind of an arrangement involves an obligation on the part of corporate management to obtain the lender’s consent prior to conducting specific business transactions.10 There are other mechanisms that lenders may use that go beyond that which is typically characteristic of a simple loan agreem ent. One of these mechanisms is the attachment of larger than usual interest payments or the retention of title to an asset purchased by virtue of a loan until such time as the loan is discharged.11 Essentially, the various mechanisms of going beyond the simple loan agreement for additional lender protection are known as â€Å"creditor self-help†.12 C. If new ordinary shares were to be issued, to raise additional capital, the entitlement of each of the existing shareholders to these shares Ordinary shares confer upon the owner the right to dividends as well as voting entitlements.13 When a company contemplates issuing new ordinary shares it must first offer those shares to existing shareholders under the right of pre-emption.14 However, since the statutory provision prescribing pre-emptive

Is it fair to isolate someone just came back from a country that has Essay

Is it fair to isolate someone just came back from a country that has insect borne diseases - Essay Example However, the situation should be viewed in two aspects; economic and financial aspects and social aspect. Isolation is one of the most irritating experiences that one can face after returning home from a long business trip. However, it is of the best interest to the country. Isolation should be done if it is proven that the subject was into zone where there is a high probability of acquiring an infection. The cost of managing the risk of infection is much lower than the risk of managing the actual disease. Thus, screening is necessary. This implies that the person should not be allowed to be in contact with any person until testing is complete. Some illnesses are highly communicable and not easily contained (CDC). Therefore, it is in the interest of the public health to detain the suspected person. Detaining an individual for three moths can only be justified is the person poses an active threat to the health satiation of the country. Most diseases have the capability of ‘hiding’ in the body such that they cannot be detected easily without regular testing for a period. This can justify detaining a person for 3 months. The economic and social costs of managing an individual can be so affordable than managing a viral infection. Moreover, it is worthwhile to note that immediate family members are the most vulnerable to infection, just in case one of them has it. In an extension, with other factors constant, isolation of a family member on suspicion of a disease protects the whole family. There are several contrary opinions which depict the unfairness of isolation. First, the subject is denied his or her social rights to see and interact with the family. It is expected that after being outside the country for 3 months, the family is very expectant to receive a family member. Isolation constricts the social welfare that the family members enjoy. It is not fair for children to have a parent detained or parents having a child

Teaching A Diverse Population Essay Example for Free

Teaching A Diverse Population Essay Diversity within the American classroom makes the process of teaching and learning a growing challenge.   The faces of todays students are becoming increasingly dissimilar. Schools are faced with the challenge of integrating the cultures and ethnicities of American based curriculum and students from a variety of cultures and ethnicities. Each of these students brings different culturally based rules, expectations, value systems, and educational needs to the learning environment. Facing the challenge of educating these increasingly culturally and ethnically diverse learners begins not only with a change in the management, pedagogy, and instructional delivery system, but also with a change in designers, trainers, or teachers. Research indicates that most mainstream cultural educators automatically view the world exclusively from their own viewpoints, which serves as a reference against which all others should be evaluated. This process has been commonplace in the classroom.   This results in an unwarranted belief that ones own way of doing things is best and that ones own group is markedly superior to another. â€Å"Generally speaking, this type of person is the one who neither understands nor accepts the culturally different learners values, their motives, the rewards that are meaningful to them, their locus of control, their linguistic systems, their learning styles, and their cognitive styles.† (Zhang, 2001)   This is a person who may, upon entering or creating a learning environment, do so with cultural orientations and expectations that reflect his/her own cultural values and expectations.   This can create an environment that perpetuates the predominant culture and shuts out others learners. Zhang identified talking points to enable an educational system evaluate their ability to meet the needs of minority or diverse students.   These questions include: (1) What form of educational system is most familiar to the students? (2) What kind of learning environment is most customary to these students?   In some cultures, for example, teachers are revered individuals who teach sacred truth. The task of the students is to absorb knowledge, and they seldom disagree with the teacher. In the programs designed for these particular students, we can put more fundamental basic skills for them to memorize. (3) How do the cultural backgrounds of the students influence their uses and views of time? Americans uses and views of time reflect cultural biases that alter their educational processes.   In contrast to the American clock-oriented value, some cultures are not conditioned to use every moment in a productive, task-oriented manner.   Classrooms may not be able to design curriculum in a strictly time-controlled system. Some students may need more time. (4) What kind of relationship is most natural for these students to have with the teachers? The teacher-student relationship is culturally mandated. (5) What rewards are attractive to these students? Rewards and reinforcement for learning differ in effectiveness across cultures. Some cultures teach their children different reward systems.   For instance, verbal praise, which is viewed by most teachers as a reward, is not perceived as such by children of some minority groups. (6) How can the program use some slang? American classrooms are structured on standard English, but some minority students feel more comfortable learning in a rather informal setting. The use of some slang in the program may improve learning achievement. (7) What about the students cognitive styles? American schools favor the abstract, conceptual style. Studies have shown that some cultural groups develop different cognitive styles. Some theorists express the view that culturally different children are often judged as incompetent, whereas in reality, it is their individual performance, not their competence, which is deficient. The gap between competence and performance is attributed to inappropriate situation cues inappropriate because they fail to stimulate the child into action. Mathematics requires more abstract, conceptual ability. Some minority students develop their cognitive style with concrete, objective base. Therefore situated learning environment supported by most of constructivism theorists is a good choice.   (Zhang, 2001)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Zhang offers the following criteria to evaluate a good culturally balanced curriculum: 1)   Materials are respectful of cultural, ethnic, sexual, and/or religious diversity. 2) A balance of historical perspectives is represented that recognizes the complexity underlying historical events, especially wars, and politics. 3) Gender inclusiveness is evident. 4) A balanced perspective on the values and contributions of diverse cultures is represented. 5) Images and icons are sensitive to cultural taboos and customs. 6) An ethical perspective is presented that maintains that cultural practices should be respected unless they violate principles of basic humanity. 7) Ethnic groups are represented in ways that reflect the diversity within these groups. 8) A balance of different cultures and societies is represented in images or texts. 9) Ethnic groups are represented in ways that reflect accurately their overall contributions to society. 10) Ethnic pluralism based upon respect for differences are held forth as the ideal approach to societal development. Teachers are well aware of the demographic trends in todays schools indicating that the student population is becoming more ethnically, culturally, and racially diverse.   Curriculum development and teachers are challenged to provide meaningful, relevant, and motivating educational interventions to all learners. Instruction must be responsive to the needs of these new learners, who often have backgrounds different from our own. This pluralistic focus, which requires us to accommodate diversity in the education process, must start with our own cultural   sensitivity.   This requires being able to view the world from the standpoint of a culture other than ones own.   For educators, this means accepting as valid the culturally different learners values, their motives, rewards that are meaningful to them, their locus of control, their linguistic systems, their learning styles, and their cognitive styles. Incorporating these issues into program designs, valuing this diversity and seeing it as an asset to meaningful and effective instruction are key components for relevant instructional design. Deep Teaching   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Angela Rickford, while assessing the progress of reading skills among culturally diverse classrooms, found that there still exists inequities with the system and the instruction methods of teachers.   Rickford identified six sound principles, which formulate her theory on deep teaching, which is defined as â€Å"a teachers ability to communicate and impart stated concepts, curriculum content and lesson objectives to a class of students with enjoyment, clarity, understanding, and the permanent acquisition of new knowledge by those students even if they are academically challenged.† The six principles identified in deep teaching are: 1) student engagement, 2) learner participation, 3) repetition and reinforcement, 4) high expectations, 5) sound pedagogy and 6) conceptual understanding. Student engagement: In order to educate our children successfully, we should first seek to discover where their interests lie, and then teach to those interests. Contemporary educators believe that a curriculum that incorporates real-world connections and applications will engage learners. Real-life work is meaningful to students, and effective as it allows the student to apply what they are learning.   Rickford promoted culturally relevant literature for teaching ethnically diverse studentsliterature containing themes, ideas, and issues that are consonant with their lived experiences, and with which they could readily identify. Learner Participation:   The second element of learner participation forms a natural pairing with student engagement. In the classroom, the reading teacher must be a facilitator of knowledge, and a guide and coworker. The current educational emphasis is on learning strategies such as partner reading, shared reading, homogeneous and heterogeneous grouping, authentic assessment and interactive reading comprehension techniques (predicting, visualizing, questioning, and self-monitoring), and on communication and interaction. These techniques are designed to foster a participatory, pro-active, hands-on approach to student learning. Repetition and Reinforcement:   Practice it until you can get it without thinking. It should be automatic.   It should become part of the individual. Expectations:   The issue of low expectations continues limit the progress made by minorities in todays classrooms in both direct and indirect ways. It has been well documented that low expectations are endemic in the mechanism of schooling that supports low-achieving students, and the trend is further manifested in fundamental measures of excellence such as teacher quality, teaching pedagogy, classroom management, and curricular selection.   The direct impact of low expectations on the part of classroom teachers has a cumulative effect on students. One of social psychologys most profound contributions to education has been the finding that teacher expectations can affect both childrens intellectual growth and their academic achievement.   High expectations should be the prevailing standard for all students. Sound Teaching and Conceptual Understanding:   Sound teaching pedagogy is the principle upon which the successful transfer of knowledge from teacher to student depends, while conceptual understanding is what the student gains when that knowledge has been successfully transferred. Sound teaching pedagogy and conceptual understanding are the hallmarks of effective teachers. Research has shown further that teacher knowledge and expertise are directly and systematically related to student growth and achievement. Multicultural Strategies Coleman Hamm identified multicultural strategies (integration, fusion, and alternation) that involve a desire to relate positively to individuals from multiple cultural groups, and are characterized by positive attitudes toward ones own and other groups, a moderate to high degree of facility with the roles and values of multiple groups, and a belief that members of different cultures can successfully form positive relationships. Although integration, fusion, and alternation strategies differ with respect to the specific knowledge, beliefs, and skills that guide them, each is based on a belief that cultural boundaries can and should be implemented successfully without compromise to either culture and are believed to motivate behavior to further integration. A common experience in ethnically diverse schools is to collaborate in a group format on academic tasks with peers who are from ones own, as well as from other ethnic groups.   Using a multicultural strategy, students would interact with all members of the learning group, taking steps to ensure that group members of all ethnic backgrounds are respected and are involved with the project. Learning as a Social and Cultural Process   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Given that research has demonstrated the under-performing of minority students within the Western classroom, perhpas learning is primarily a social and cultural process.   This is not to diminish the role of the individual; however, individual thinking is strongly influenced by cultural assumptions and beliefs.   Because all communities do not think, believe, or learn in identical ways, there may still be much, that is confusing to or misunderstood by children with   language, culture, and socioeconomic differences. Teachers must be willing to learn not only who their students are but also who they, themselves, are as cultural beings and how that strongly affects their teaching.   (Pransky Bailey, 2002)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pransky and Bailey identified a four step process for teachers to implement in the classroom to increase effectiveness: Step 1. Awareness. A teacher notices a breakdown in communication or an inability (or unwillingness) of a student or group of students to perform adequately on an academic task. Step 2. Inquiry. The teacher examines the nature of the lesson and begins to identify cultural assumptions that may negatively affect at-risk students. Step 3. Reconceptualization. With this new information, the teacher reconceptualizes his or her perspective on the students, lesson, curriculum, or school culture. Step 4. Lesson. A lesson is revisited, revised, or restructured, and ones instructional decisions change based on that new conception. What is learned through this process expands the awareness of the teacher, and effectively increases teaching skills.   As one develops more awareness, knowledge, and experience with a cultural perspective on learning, one is better able to reconceptualize and then redirect or refocus ones teaching within the flow of the lesson. This might be termed real-time inquiry. In real-time inquiry, especially, it is important to engage in dialogue with students to try to discover the understandings they have of the lesson task or interaction. (Pransky Bailey, 2002) Teaching Science in a Diverse Classroom Houtz Watson evaluated teacher performance in the science classroom and identified the following needs in order to meet the needs of diverse students: They must recognize what is required in learning tasks such as vocabulary knowledge, the ability to make inferences, and the ability to work independently. They also should know their students strengths and weaknesses. Once these tasks are accomplished, the educator must determine the reason for the mismatch between a students abilities and the task requirements of the lesson Culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students may be at risk of performing poorly in science if they lack the linguistic, the cognitive, the social, and the emotional behaviors required by science learning.   Because the behavior, culture, and language of CLD students may be different from those involved in the task requirements, these students may experience difficulty completing science projects.   Teachers need to identify the discrepancy between task demands and student ability and then modify to their lesson plans accordingly. By understanding the process of acquiring a second language and a second culture and the cognitive, linguistic, emotional, and social demands involved in the process, science teachers can incorporate instructional conditions that attend to the students needs. Science teachers can use numerous instructional strategies to accommodate CLD learners without weakening the curriculum.   Contextualization allows students to draw from personal experiences and build on their prior knowledge to learn the new scientific concept. Teachers can group individualize the process by structuring questions that encourage students to think about their own personal experience as it relates to the topic or content to be learned. The use of contextualized instruction provides CLD students the support they need for understanding the lesson by visually representing the information through experiments, pictures, graphic organizers, and charts. Contextualization allows teachers to (a) consider their students language proficiency levels of vocabulary control and (b) highlight specific text information. Analogies and examples that are culturally relevant may also be used to help students understand scientific concepts.   Analogies show the similarities between a new concept and a familiar concept, making the new concept more meaningful to the student. Analogies can assist in diminishing the cognitive and linguistic requirements of the task. Cognitive modeling and demonstration are especially beneficial for CLD students because these strategies increase understanding by providing concrete, step-by-step procedures that lessen the cognitive, linguistic, and social requirements of the task.   (Houtz Watson, 2002) A Learner Centered Approach   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An essential factor for a learner-centered approach is placing the learning characteristics of all learners under close scrutiny with emphasis on low-performing learners.   The focus in a learner-centered approach is on individual learners heredity, experiences, perspectives, backgrounds, talents, interests, capacities, and needs.   A learner-centered approach is defined as clarifying what is needed to create positive learning contexts, in order to increase the likelihood that more students will experience success.   The culture of the learning context is as important to learning as the content and the methods used.   (Brown, 2003) In the learner-centered environment, classroom teachers share narratives about students interaction with content and methodology. Teachers participate in professional development to learn how to differentiate instruction. Differentiation is a way of thinking about teaching and learning that is based on a set of beliefs that students who are the same age may differ in their readiness to learn, their interests, their styles of learning, their experiences, and their life circumstances.   The differences in students are significant enough to make a major impact on what students need to learn, the pace at which they need to learn it, and the support they need from teachers and others to learn it. Differentiated instruction meets the needs of diverse student populations by combining   student needs with a focus on content, process, and learning profiles.   The learner-centered approach, focuses on content knowledge and design flexibility to allow learners to construct their learning. Learner needs and characteristics take precedence over knowledge of facts and skills; the emphasis is on engaging learners in learning for understanding and thinking, to help them build their own interpretations. Creating Equitable Classroom Climates Kelly outlines recommendations that include creating a mixed set of expectations for all students in order to reduce the participation inequity altogether. These expectations focus on being able to identify each individuals area or areas of strength and expertise. In order to create this new set of expectations,   teachers must convince students of three things: (a) the cooperative task requires many different intellectual abilities, (b) no one will have all of these abilities and, (c) everyone will have some of these abilities.   Kelly believes that teachers who teach and model equitable classroom culture will probably be more likely to convince students to behave more equitably to their peers.   (Kelly, 2002) This method of implementing change by using a multiple-abilities approach and assigning competence to low-status groups, teachers will limit the impact of high expectations for high-status learners and low-expectations for low-status learners, and create a mixed set of expectations for everyone. This approach should reduce the differences in participation noted previously in high- and low-status students.   Kelly identifies the key factor to success in the latter intervention is recognition, a truthful evaluation by the teacher of the low-status student showing him/her as being strong in a specific, relevant area. Conclusion Diversity in the classroom and the challenges faced by teachers to meet the needs of minority students has been studied and debated for more than twenty years.   Progress in the identification of strategies has been made, but implementation is likely to be slow, as the revision of curriculum is a costly and time consuming project. The strategies outlined in this paper are not dependent on the revision of curriculum however, and may provide for ease of implementation.   One focus of these strategies is to assess each student, understand who they are, based on their culture, and direct your teaching methods accordingly.   Further, teachers must identify their own cultural beliefs and how those may prejudice their teaching methods.   Including students in the process of learning, modifying the process, and outlining the challenges will be beneficial to the learning of all. References Brown, K. L. (2003). From Teacher-Centered to Learner-Centered Curriculum: Improving Learning in Diverse Classrooms. Education, 124(1), 49+. Retrieved May 19, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5002018664 Hamm, J. V., Coleman, H. L. (2001). African American and White Adolescents Strategies for Managing Cultural Diversity in Predominantly White High Schools. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 30(3), 281. Retrieved May 19, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5001037737 Kelly, C. A. (2002). Creating Equitable Classroom Climates: An Investigation of Classroom Strategies in Mathematics and Science Instruction for Developing Preservice Teachers Use of Democratic Social Values. Child Study Journal, 32(1), 39+. Retrieved May 19, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5000659006 Mitchell, B. M., Salsbury, R. E. (1996). Multicultural Education: An International Guide to Research, Policies, and Programs. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Retrieved May 19, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=26227378 OByrne, B. (2001). Needed: A Compass to Navigate the Multilingual English Classroom. Journal of Adolescent Adult Literacy, 44(5), 440. Retrieved May 19, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5000100580 Pransky, K., Bailey, F. (2002). To Meet Your Students Where They Are, First You Have to Find Them: Working with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse At-Risk Students Research Has Shown How Attention to Cultural Mismatch May Be a Key to Equitable School Achievement. This Article Presents a Series of Case Study Vignettes to Assist Practicing Teachers. The Reading Teacher, 56(4), 370+. Retrieved May 19, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5000600644 Rickford, A. E. (2005). Everything I Needed to Know about Teaching I Learned from My Children: Six Deep Teaching Principles for Todays Reading Teachers. Reading Improvement, 42(2), 112+. Retrieved May 19, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5010994248 Watson, S. M., Houtz, L. E. (2002). Teaching Science: Meeting the Academic Needs of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Intervention in School Clinic, 37(5), 267+. Retrieved May 19, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5000755185 Zhang, J. X. (2001). Cultural Diversity in Instructional Design. International Journal of Instructional Media, 28(3), 299. Retrieved May 19, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5001037930

Nano-diamond Powder Layer Effect on Fast Neutrons Reflection

Nano-diamond Powder Layer Effect on Fast Neutrons Reflection A. Taghian, D. Rahi, H. Sadeghi Abstract: This paper has investigated the effect of nano-diamond powder on reflection of fast neutrons. It compares the effect of graphite and nano-dimond layers on reflection of fast neutrons. Nano-diamond as a new article that theres carbon in families of many of the behaviors and properties of carbon and other members of the family, the impact of the application of this article accepts it without knowing so, and understand it without understanding the carbon carbon and other members of the family is not possible. Nano-diamond in addition to diamonds, diamond properties such as hardness, resistance to different environments and The small size and a shell with active groups that it has different properties to conventional diamonds. On the one hand the diverse applications of properties and provide new and on the other hand, production and working with this article difficult. Of course, the proper use of diamond in different applications when possible, which is a non-diamond carbon and other impurities as possible are separated from it in addition any application requires special surface properties as well. The amount of impurities in synthetic diamond production depends on the extreme ways. We used 241Am-Be 100  µCi, BF3 and LiI detector in the present study. Two materials have been coated. The experimental and simulated results have good agreement with consideration of errors. The results show that fast neutrons reflection could be carried out by nano-diamond powder better than graphite. Keyword: 1-Nano-diamond powder 2-Graphite 3-Neutron 4-Neutron reflection 5- BF3 detector 6-LiI detector 1-Introduction Neutrons shielding is based on the fast neutrons reflection as prompt and delay gamma are produced by neutron capture [1]. The scattering cross section of hydrogen is high for neutrons. So, hydrogen containing material such as polyethylene and hydrocarbon are used for neutron shielding [1]. Diamond has cubic lattice structure [2]. In this structure, one carbon atom is surrounded by four atom of carbon with covalent bonds. Very strong covalent bond of a carbon adjacent atom is caused by increasing of elastic modulus and ultra-high temperature stability [2]. Therefore, they make the strongest natural material. The structure of bulk material is 3D. But, the structure of nanomaterial is 2D (thin film), 1D (nanorod and nanotube) and zero dimensions (nanoparticle and nanocrystal). In addition to change properties of material, this technology increases the surface to volume ratio. Therefore, the ratio of surface reaction increases on the material. By development of nuclear technology over the past 40 years, rules and standards of the IAEA have become more difficult and smaller for absorbed dose of personalities and environments in different conditions. There have been many limitations for neutron shield construction such as mass and volume of the shield [3]. 2-Investigatin of neutron reflector Reflectors are used in reactors to prevent neutrons escaping. The best reflector has small absorption cross section and large scattering cross section. Graphite and beryllium (according to solid phase) are usually used for reflection of neutrons. Actually, the size of structural units (a) must be comparable to the wavelength of neutrons (ÃŽ »). Coherent and efficient scattering of neutrons is proportional to the ratio of ÃŽ »/a. A neutron can be described by wavelength, ÃŽ » and wave vector . The neutron energy is equal to , and are mass, energy and Plank constant respectively [2]. The neutron beam intensity is decreased by transmission across material. The neutron beam intensity reduction is equal to , , and are thickness of material, number of atoms in unit volume and total cross section respectively [1,4]. 3-Experimental setup 3-1-BF3 detector BF3 detector is used for detection of thermal neutron. It works on proportional region. The isotope of 10B is used in the BF3 gas detector. The absorption cross section of 10B is large for absorbing of thermal neutrons. The BF3 counter detects the alpha and the lithium particles produced by the reaction [4,6,5]: The efficiency of BF3 detector is proportional to absorption cross section of 10B and it changes for neutrons with different energies. 3-2- LiI detector In addition of BF3 detector, LiI detector has been used for detection of neutron. 6LiI is an inorganic scintillator. Neutron detection by 6Li is based on the reaction The cross section for this reaction is of the l/v type up to 10 keV, with a value of 937 b at 0.025 eV [3, 6]. 3-3- The used material The neutron source was 241Am-Be 100  µCi. The BF3 and LiI detectors were used with 2 cm diameter and 20 and 14 cm height respectively. The BF3 and LiI detectors were located on polyethylene base. 3-3-1- The origin and fabrication method of the nano-diamond powders Diamond powder production properties depend on the method. Desired characteristics are obtained by purification and properties are determined. A manufacturing process for milling the nano-diamond to the appropriate size is explosive method. Diamond powder production common methods are carried out in dry (environmental gas synthesis) and wet (water base) mediums. The Nano-diamond powder production was carried out by blasting method which could lead to the Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, nitrogen monoxide and etc. creation. The tiny particles of diamond are formed along with some solid impurities mixed with gases in the blast chamber. Table 1 shows the chemical analysis of ash samples. The results recorded in the table indicate the chemical analysis of ash residue from the combustion of the samples by wet chemical methods which are XRD, ICP. Table 1: The chemical analysis of ash samples are presented In the nano-diamond powder manufacturing process through blasting, diamond particles are formed at pressures higher than 200 kilo bars. At temperatures above 1000  ° C, the low pressure converted particles into graphite. Methods of separation and purification of gas and liquid nano- diamonds are divided into two groups that raise the cost of investment. After all purification of the resulting material is carried out as the carbonic compound still has many types and amounts of impurities such as O, N, H, a small amount of metal and carbondioxide. Nano- diamond is then purified and turned ashen while the ash explosion leads to a large amount of black and dark -graphite production. Powder used in these experiments was purified by liquid method. In this method, different oxidizing agents such as acids, mixed acids, bases and salts are used. All these methods are only carried out in laboratory scale. Characteristics of nano-diamond powder used are shown in Table 2. Table 2: The properties of the used nano-diamond powder in experiments Figure 1 shows the measured spectrum of 100  µCi 241Am-Be neutron source supplied by I.R. Iran Atomic Energy Agency and figure 2 show absorption cross section of 10B and 11B. Figure 1: Neutron spectrum of 241Am-Be Figure 2: Variation of neutron cross section of 10B and 11B isotopes 3-4-Geometry The experimental setups have been sketched in figure 3 and 4 for investigation of graphite and nano-diamond layers effect on reflection of fast neutrons. Figure 3: The experimental setup for investigation of graphite and nano-diamond layers effect on reflection of fast neutrons Figure 4: The experimental setup for investigation of graphite and nano-diamond layers effect on shielding of fast neutrons In the present study of neutron reflection, the height and radial of the cylinder are 35 cm and 11 cm respectively with one side open and the other closed. The neutron source is in center of the cylinder and the detector is placed in front of the open side. The cylinder is made of polyethylene with 2 mm thickness. Graphite and nano-diamond are coated with polyethylene in cylinder. The distance of the detector lateral surface and the open side of the cylinder was 20 cm. The thicknesses of coated graphite and nano-diamond were 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 mm. The background neutrons are originated from walls, floor and other instrument in the around environment. A polyethylene cube with 10 cm thickness and a lead block with 2 cm thickness are located between source and detector for absorption of emitted gamma rays and neutrons from source. This geometry detects gamma rays background and neutrons. This work repeats for each measurement with and without absorbers. The first and second counts are foreground and background respectively. If background subtracts from foreground count, the result will be net count of reflected neutrons from cylinder to detector. To investigate the neutron shielding properties, neutron source has been located in center of graphite cubic with 2 mm thickness. Also, the LiI detector has been set in front of one side of the graphite cubic. Graphite and nano-diamond are coated on the same side of graphite cubic. The distance between the detector lateral surface and the open side of the cubic was 15 cm. The thicknesses of coated graphite and nano-diamond were 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 mm. 4-Results of measurements As mentioned above, the thicknesses of graphite and nano-diamond were 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 mm respectively. In each measurement, the same thicknesses were compared at a margin oferrorequal to  ±23 percent. The errors come from neutron source and count measurement as the error of neutron source was  ±15 percent and the count measurement (N) one was N1/2.The neutron counts in different thicknesses of graphite and nano-diamond are shown in figure 5 and 6. Figure 5: Neutron count diagram for graphite and nano-diamond layers with different thicknesses (Reflection) Figure 6: Neutron count diagram for graphite and nano-diamond layers with different thickness (Shielding) 5-Simulated results by Monte-Carlo method All the system parts have been simulated by Monte-Carlo method. We have used MCNPX2.6 to calculate the absorbed dose. MCNPX2.6 is a general purpose of Monte Carlo radiation transport code designed to track many particle types over broad ranges of energies. Form of molecule, bond and density are changed in a nano chemical composition. Coulomb force determines the form of molecules. The total charge of the neutron is zero. Therefore, there is no effect on neutron cross section with matter of nano scale. Also, the neutron reaction is nuclear and it is independent of charge or electron cloud so that it can be simulated by MCNP code. Therefore, it is not important to consider the nano-scale of the nano-diamond. However, nano-scale affects density and it must be noted in Monte-Carlo input. The neutron flux has been calculated in the sensitive volume of BF3 and LiI detectors with different thicknesses of graphite and nano-diamond. The results are shown in figure 7 and 8. Figure 7: Calculated neutron flux in sensitive volume of BF3 detector in different thickness of graphite and nano-diamond layers (Reflection) Figure 8: Calculated neutron flux in sensitive volume of LiI detector in different thickness of graphite and nano-diamond layers (Shielding) Because of hydrogen presence in the nano-diamond composition, it can reflect neutrons better than graphite. The neutrons counting is increased by graphite and nano-diamond thickness enhancement. However, determining thenumberofneutrons is faster for nano-diamond layer. Fig. 4 and fig. 6 show that the reflected neutrons are increased by thickness enhancement. The differences arise from the measurement method as the measurements are done by BF3 detector which measures thermal neutrons. The simulated results are considered the all of neutrons. Also, Fig. 7 and 8 show that nano-diamond has a more shielding effect in comparison with graphite because the net count rate becomes smaller by using nano-diamond shielding. The differences are because of the measurements done by BF3 detector and the simulation results are considered as the spectrum of neutrons. 6-Conclusion Two main factors effecting on neutron reflection are cross section and density. Nano-diamond (C10H16) contains hydrogen and it has larger cross section interaction in comparison with graphite. In addition, the density of nano-diamond and graphite are 3.5 and 1.8 g/cm3 respectively. According to the results, true count of nano-diamond reflector is 2 times of graphite reflector. The simulated and experimental results have good agreement by consideration of errors. Also, the number of low energy neutrons in nano-diamond reflector is larger than in graphite one. Therefore, conventional material can be put aside and nano-diamond is used for neutron shielding. References Glenn F. Knoll, â€Å"Radiation Detection and Measuremen†, Fourth Edition, 2010, , John Wiley Sons, Inc T. Taler, Characterization of Isolated Nnaodiamond Particle, Material Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University, 6-18 (2004). Nicholas Tsoulfanidis; †Measurement and Detection of Radiation†; 2th edition, university of Missouri- Rollapress. 706 (1995). V. A. Artem’ev, †Atomic Energy†, Vol. 94, NO. 4, 282(2003). H.W. Schmitt, R.C. Block, R.L. Bailey, Total neutron cross section of 10B in the thermal neutron energy range, Volume17, June–July 1960, Pages 109–115. K. Kleinknecht, Dtectors for Particle Radiation, Cambridge University Press, London New York New Rochele, 120-125(1986). [1] Isfahan University, Faculty Of Advanced Science And Technologies, Department of Nuclear Engineering, Isfahan, Iran Ahmad Taghian; Email: [emailprotected]; Telephone: 00989128482357 Davood Rahi: Email: [emailprotected] [2] Malek Ashtar University Of Technology, Health Physics Department, Shahin shahr, Isfahan, Iran Hosein Sadeghi: Email: [emailprotected]

The Life And Death Of 2pac :: essays research papers

The Life and Death of 2Pac In the stifling post-boxing match Las Vegas traffic jam, a new black 1996 BMW inched along impatiently, it's gold detailing glimmering brightly under the street lights. Any attempt to catch a glimpse of the passengers within the tinted windows revealed only a distorted reflection of the chaotic, yet relatively motionless urban scene. The glass sunroof slid open and a dark figure rose partly through the opening, like a tank commander surveying the horizon for signs of the enemy. Discreetly the rear window of a nearby car rolled down as it approached, and the muzzle of a gun emerged slightly. The gun, almost indiscernible from the cavernous blackness inside the car, spewed out thirteen bullets, each one punctuated by a startling yellow flash and a reverberating crack that cut through the buzz of the traffic. In one blurred and sweeping motion the black BMW roared to life, accelerating across the traffic flow and towards the oncoming cars, retreating from the scene as the dark figure collapsed li mply back into the vehicle. This incident is not a scene from a DeNiro/Pacino mobster movie. Nor is it an episode from an Oliver Stone or Quentin Tarrantino film. In fact, it is not a scene from any movie, although the story will likely wind up as a made- for-television drama. Rather, it is the dramatic finale of the life of rapper/actor Tupac Amaru Shakur, who was shot four times during this escapade while traveling from a Mike Tyson fight to a nearby club on September 7th. He later died of the wounds, after six days of intensive care and several unsuccessful operations. Tupac Amaru, or 2Pac, as he spelled it --distinguishing him from the violent Peruvian terrorist group of the same name-- was one of today's most popular "gangsta rappers." His lyrics are usually vulgar, offensive, and explicit, and glorify the type of life that he and many other gangsta rappers lead. They depict violence, drug use, crime and sexual abuse as acceptable, and as a necessary way of life. They often go so far as to threaten the lives of rappers from rival record labels, with whom he has an East/West coast disagreement resulting in sporadic violent episodes and threat volleys. Such lyrics as Tupac wrote accurately depicted his dangerous lifestyle. Unlike some other gangsta rappers who conjure the image only for money, he actually led the "thug life", as the tattoo on his stomach describes it. He was a magnet for violence, as his police record illustrates. He served eight months out of a three year sentence for sexual assault, and was to face sentencing this

Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory and the CSI Effect on Jurors Essay

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office presented a study in 2005 in which it examined the impact of the so-called â€Å"CSI effect† to its jurors. The data was gathered by means of surveying prosecutors who had jury trial experience, and from there, the study assessed the samples’ perceptions as to whether the â€Å"CSI effect† had played a part in the decision of some juries. Interestingly, although the â€Å"CSI effect† may be deemed an unlikely factor, the study showed that the â€Å"CSI effect† is real and may affect jury behavior (Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, 2005). Television watching, as some media theories have discussed, can create a psychological impact to its viewers especially as it can inevitably serve as an educational source; however, the problem lies in what television can actually teach (Condry, 1989). The presence of the â€Å"CSI effect† in justice and legal systems can be deemed significant especially as to how this may affect the judgment of the members of the jury. The idea that certain television genres, especially along the lines of the highly popular crime drama Crime Scene Investigation (CSI), can affect certain trial outcomes may seem outrageous, but the â€Å"CSI effect† has been established as a ground that connects the real-life justice and legal systems and products of media and entertainment (Smith, Patry and Stinson, 2008; Stevens, 2008; Mardis, 2006). As the effectiveness of the justice system also relies on the effectiveness of its jurors, the impact of the media and entertainment products towards people in this context may be deemed problematic (Stevens, 2008). This is why it is important to evaluate the impact of the â€Å"CSI effect† because of its implications thereby highlighting the relationship between the law and mass communications. The term â€Å"CSI effect† is based on the popular television show Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) and other shows that present the following basic premise: the ability of an (fictional) authoritative group in crime and justice that can expose the truth based on their systematic and sophisticated processes. However, since these shows are made for televisions, it is inevitable that these processes are glamorized and may not be realistic at all. The â€Å"CSI effect† therefore pertains to the influence of such television programs to the perceptions and behavior of the people, especially in relation to the justice and legal systems (Smith, Patry and Stinson, 2008). Stevens (2008) further explains that the â€Å"CSI effect† is based on fictionalized accounts as to what forensic science can do but, due to the twisted conceptions of reality of some viewers, there is the inescapable belief that these components of the shows are something happens in real life. Among the media and communication theories that can serve as fundamental framework of this assessment is Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory. The theory suggests that information sources such as television contribute to the cultivation of the individual and the social environment; therefore, conceptions of reality are formed (Gerbner & Gross, 1976; Gerbner, 1998). This theory can then be based on the concept that stories, as projected, tends to reflect a certain extent of reality, therefore, they animate a society’s cultural environment. As Gerbner (1999, ix) explained the functions of stories, they â€Å"illuminate the all-important but invisible relationships and hidden dynamics of life†; as these stories represent a degree of shared beliefs, the cultivation of these tales and representations therefore create a significant input to the perceived reality of individuals. The Cultivation Theory is also further supported by several studies conducted by Gerber and his colleagues with a focus on the impact of television to real world perceptions. This brings an interesting premise as the projected reality is based on fictional work; the impact of the cultivation thereby leads to behavioral effects. Television shows, as Gerbner (1998) pointed out, are important marketing tools that have affected not only the people’s perceptions but also their identity and expectations from the society. The validity of television can be based on its function, being a source of information and spectacle representing the shared images and history across many societies (Gerbner, 1998). This paper therefore aims to evaluate the relationship of Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory with the â€Å"CSI effect†, especially as to how this has affected and may affect juror perceptions and judgments. This study addresses this thesis by conducting a review of a series of related literatures that are deemed integral to a better and cohesive understanding between this phenomenon and the theory of cultivation. The findings and implications discuss the degree of impact of the â€Å"CSI effect† and whether this is something that the justice system should seriously consider and devote effort to. Furthermore, approaches towards the Cultivation Theory are also addressed especially in terms of its applicability to the â€Å"CSI effect† and juror behavior. The study then concludes with an analysis on how the findings may actually help in the formulation of a more effective jury screening process. Review of Literature Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory, the Media, and the Television A series of studies conducted by Gerbner and his colleagues tackled the effect of the television and its contribution to the formation of reality among its viewers which are, interestingly, found to be similar to the world in these television shows. Functioning under the umbrella of the Cultivation Theory, the studies also initiated cultivation analyses and the identification of cultural indicators that were also deemed to contribute to reality- and perception-formation among television viewers. As Gerbner (1998) explained these processes, the activity was spawned from the previous examinations on how stories, in general, may be formed for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing purposes. Television is therefore seen as an important medium in story-telling, especially how technological innovations seem to have continuously supported the role of the television in the society. As Gerbner’s studies (1998, 1999; Gerbner & Gross, 1984; Gerbner, Gross, Morgan & Signorelli, 1984) have emphasized the role and importance of television, the origins of cultivation found its venue in this particular technology and social tool. This is because media messages can be easily accessed through television, therefore the cultivation of social reality may be based on what the media feeds its viewers. However, as Gerbner (1998) noted, although the television may be an important tool, it merely plays an integral aspect in the overall dynamics of information processes and conception-formation. This is to say that, for instance, a person may be a huge fan of CSI because of its entertainment value, but the same person is also well-aware that what he or she is appreciating is fiction and not necessarily real and factual. Hence, it can be gathered from the cultivation theory that although television plays an integral role, its effect is not absolute as people are continuously exposed to many channels of information and messages (Gerbner, 1998). The cultivation, on one hand, is seen to be more effective is the viewer is experiences a repeated exposure to particular television images (Gerbner & Gross, 1976). The definition of cultivation is thereby defined as â€Å"the independent contributions television viewing makes to viewer conceptions of social reality. The ‘cultivation differential’ is the margin of difference in conceptions of reality between light and heavy viewers in the same demographic sub-groups† (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan and Signorielli, 1994, 23). An analysis towards Gebner’s theory is presented by Hughes (1980) who presented some shortcomings in the studies presented by the former and his colleagues in the context of the effect of violence in television to the perceived reality. The initial cultivation theory studies conducted by Gerbner in the1970s generally made use of the following controls: age, sex and education. Hughes pointed out that there were more factors that could affect the responses of the sample that participated in the General Social Survey such as race and income. This shows that the applicability of the cultivation theory is limited; hence, how television content may cultivate certain conceptions among individuals may be more minimal impact than expected. One of the studies that applied the notion of cultivation theory is a study conducted by Shrum (1999) where the author measured attitude strength and attitude extremity as implications of Gerbner’s cultivation theory. Shrum’s initial approach to the study was to weigh in theories along the lines of Gerbner’s work and its critics such as those presented by Hughes (1980). Basically, the author agreed with the identified shortcomings of Gerbner’s work although the criticisms were mostly based on the process Gerbner and his team used. Shrum also pointed out that one of the probable weaknesses of Gerbner’s work was the identification of the two main categories of samples in addition to the previously identified controls of age, sex and education: participants who were heavy television viewers and those who were light television viewers. The main purpose of Shrum’s study was to evaluate the impact of television towards the attitudes demonstrated. Although Shrum showed that what could limit Gerbner’s work was the issue on the lack of efficient design, the author approached the study in a similar manner — by comparing the results between heavy and light viewers — as a means to identify differences. The categorization between the heavy and the light viewers would prove to be simplistic yet substantial in the author’s approach especially as the samples he used fell in the same demographic categories which were students. The study’s result showed that it reflected Gerbner’s cultivation theory; apparently, heavy television watchers were found to have the tendency to perceive a â€Å"television world† as compared to the light television watchers. The study examined students who watched soap operas, hence, from the results, the sampled heavy viewers were found to have the tendency to experience more distrust and possibly, more marital problems. Shrum (1999) utilized regression approaches and analyses in order to come up with this conclusion. A similar study can be also found in Quick’s (2009) assessment of variation among patient response as based on whether they watch the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. The study found that patients who heavily watched the show are most likely to have positive associations in terms of their perceptions towards doctors. The perception, according to this study, is not necessarily based on the positive portrayal of the doctors but rather the show was seen as a credible reference to what happens in the hospitals and how doctors can be expected to behave in this space. Hence, despite the presence of both positive and negative portrayals of medical professionals, heavy viewers of this particular show count the courageous and compassionate aspects of the fictional characters, hence, the study found that these patient-viewers have a positive perception towards their physicians. Quick (2009) mentioned, however, that although this context does not necessarily provide harm, the problem is that the sensationalization of the show may further cultivate wrong or high expectations from patients. Quick (2009) further mentioned that the implications of such results can be used to communicate accurate depictions such as, in the case of Grey’s Anatomy, conveying important health-related information. In a sense, by using the fictional channel such as television, viewers are able to be more informed in important issues. This is discussed by Appel (2008) in which the television plays an integral role in just-world beliefs; as Appel mentioned, the cultivation of beliefs can be specially affective among those who heavily watch television. Appel (2008) supported this posit by conducting a comparison study between Austrian and German television viewers; the main purpose of this research was to determine the degree of just-world beliefs among television viewers. The study showed that fictional narratives can change the perceptions of the people, and interestingly, these narratives usually feature a world that is just. Basically, what can be attributed to this impact can be pointed at the content of the program. The effectiveness of these messages in the â€Å"television world† is due to the following factors: the stimulation of moral evaluation paired with the presence of resolution, and at the same time, the entertainment value of these programs (Appel, 2008). This is why, according to the author, heavy television viewers especially those who watch a lot of fictional narratives demonstrate a strong belief in a just-world as compared to viewers of infotainment and non-fiction where belief in the mean-world is seen to be more emphasized. From this, content evidently plays a role in the amount of influence to the viewers, but from this study, the fictional programs are seen to be a more effective venue in changing the beliefs of the viewers. When it comes to content, genre plays a very important role. An important point raised by Cohen and Weinmann (2000) is that the viewers themselves unconsciously â€Å"cultivate† themselves through television because the viewers choose which shows to watch. The selection can be based on many factors, from age, education, sex, personality and even life experiences. Since genres vary as based on content and certain plot norms, it can be gathered that social realities in these contexts also differ. Which is why, according to the authors, the view and representations on the world are not similar, and at the same time, these program contents may also present conflicting perspectives. Hence, in the aspect of cultivation, different attitudes and world-views can be formed; Shrum’s (1999) and Quick’s (2009) studies are only therefore applicable to the specific genres they focused on (soap operas and Grey’s Anatomy, respectively) and the results towards attitudes and viewer response may be different if the study evaluated viewer response towards different shows. Cultivation Theory and the Crime TV Genre When it comes to the cultivation impact in crime genres in television, Dominick (1973) examined Gerbner’s theory specifically his studies in cultivation when it comes to crime- or violence-related shows. Dominick mentioned that prior to Gerbner’s study published in 1972, there were already past studies as to the presence of crime-related shows as found on television. In fact, as the author mentioned, it was found that even in the majority of the television shows in the 1950s demonstrated many programs of this genre, and that law enforcers were already highly stereotyped. Dominick (1973) cited Gerbner’s previous study as a stepping stone to further analyze crime and violence on television; according to the author, Gerbner’s studies, which covered television shows in the later half of the 1960s, showed a significant amount of violence and crime on television yet, in reality, there was the noted decrease in violence among criminals but the law enforcers maintained a certain degree of violence. In reflection, Dominick noted that on television, the law enforcers were seen as the main authoritative figure that always saves the day. Hence, in agreeing with Gerbner’s study, Dominick’s analysis lead to further contribution as to the role of cultivation theory especially as to how the audiences are influenced on their stereotype perceptions, especially in crime- and violence-related shows. Stereotyping seems to be a common element in television crime shows especially as this genre play up certain norms when it comes to the supposed social reality of crime. What is interesting is that racial elements were found to be contributory to these portrayals. For instance, in a study by Dixon (2007), the author noted that responses from heavy television viewers of crime-related programs are most likely the ones to reflect a racial bias in the identification of the perpetrator and the police officer. This shows that even though fact-based programs such as the news present reality, as also adapted in fictional programs, there is the aspect of racialized portrayals. Hence, cultivation in this context has led to certain media imageries that have become a social reality based on the collective perception towards crime racial stereotypes. However, what challenges this is presented by a study conducted by Grabe and Drew (2007) in which the authors examined how crime in the media would actually successfully cultivate specific crime orientations. According to the authors, the study of crime in the media has been a prominent subject in studying cultivation. Grabe and Drew conducted a study among 505 selected adults located in Indiana, and from this, the study concluded that there was a significant variance depending on the many media genres and channels. Hence, the study showed that crime orientation among individuals may not be as strongly influenced by the media especially as viewers have different personal orientations that may affect their own worldviews. This is also reflected by a study executed by Diefenbach and West (2001) in which the authors tested the effect of cultivation theory when it comes to perceptions on violence and crime as seen on television. However, Diefenbach and West also showed results which point at the influence of light versus heavy viewers perceptions. The study showed that projections on crime rates are higher among heavy television viewers. On one hand, it should be also noted that in this study, as the authors pointed out, the samples were limited among the participants from a small North Carolina town with crime rates below the national average. The background of the participants can then be said to factor into perceptions, which is to say, for instance, that projections from samples from a small town may differ from those from the city who have a greater exposure to criminal incidences in their communities. Another variation of a study applying the cultivation theory in crime television is conducted by Heath and Petraitis (1987). According to the study, adapted perceptions projected from the â€Å"television world† were believed to be mostly realistic in distant settings and not in their immediate environment. The study concluded that the fear viewers feel towards crime are more apparent among viewers who see the possibility of such incidents in a distant urban setting rather than in their neighborhood. Basically, based on these applications of the cultivation theory in the crime genre, it can be observed that the varying results are due to the different impacts of many factors. It is evident that one of the crime genre norms is the utilization of stereotyped portrayals which, in the end, does lead the viewers to make certain conclusions thereby affecting their crime orientations. On one hand, other studies further look at the derivatives at the actual effect of crime television exposure among the viewers, and this shows that the cultivation theory is applicable only up to a certain extent. The validity of Gerbner’s cultivation theory still has to rely on the background of the viewers, the relevance of the show’s content to the viewers’ reality, and the amount of media exposure a viewer may have. Hence, it is possible that some viewers demonstrate a quintessential example or a manifestation of Gerbner’s cultivation theory, but as time went on and as can be seen in the more recent cited studies on audience response towards crime television, perceptions in this context are not homogenous. The impact of television towards perception and behavior can then be regarded on a case-to-case basis, especially as audience exposure is no longer limited to the offerings of television, in addition to the fact that there has been also the emergence of sub-genres among many other shows.