Global Outlook Global Free Zones of the Future 2012/13

GLOBAL OutLOOk GLOBAL FREE ZONES OF tHE FutuRE 2012/13 Global Free Zones of the Future 2012/13 Winners fDi MAGAZiNE’S SEcONd GLOBAL RANkiNG OF EcONOMic ZONES HAS AwARdEd duBAi AiRpORt FREE ZONE tHE titLE OF GLOBAL FREE ZONE OF tHE FutuRE 2012/13. Grainne Byrne ANd Courtney FinGar REpORt ON tHE RESuLtS 20 www. fdiintelligence. com June/July 2012 GLOBAL OutLOOk GLOBAL FREE ZONES OF tHE FutuRE 2012/13 D ubai Airport Free Zone (Dafza), located in the United Arab Emirates, has been crowned fDi Magazine’s Global Free Zone of the Future 2012/13. It has moved from second place in the ranking two years ago to be awarded the top spot.Dafza, which was established in 1996 and considers itself to be the fastest growing free zone in the Middle East, impressed the independent judging panel for a variety of reasons. It has excellent transportation links and a clear focus on attracting FDI. The zone only registers foreign companies, and has more than 1300 operational presently. Dafza ha s an increasing environmental awareness and is implementing ‘green buildings’ and an Inter national Organisation for Standardisation energy management system. Second position goes to UAE-based Dubai International Financial Centre, a newcomer to the ranking.Chinabased Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone (WFTZ), the champion from the 2010/11 ranking, moves into third place. The remainder of the top 10 is made up by Iskandar (Malaysia), DuBiotech (UAE), Tanger Free Zone (Morocco), Freeport of Ventspils (Latvia), The Clark Freeport Zone (Philippines), Chittagong Export Processing Zone (Bangladesh) and Dubai Media City (UAE). As well as being overall fDi Global Free Zone of the Future 2012/13, Dafza takes the top spot in the ‘Best Airport Zone’ category. It is followed by Tanger Free Zone and The Clark Freeport Zone.The top three in the ‘Best Port Zone’ category is led by Tanger Free Zone, with Freeport of Ventspils placed second and Mauritius Freep ort coming in third position. Zones from the Middle East – in particular the UAE – dominated the rankings, with 23 of the top 50 zones coming from the Middle East region and 14 of them from the UAE alone. This is the second such ranking produced by fDi Magazine, with the inaugural Global Free Zones of the Future biennial benchmark being published in June 2010. June/July 2012 www. fdiintelligence. com 21 t GLOBAL OutLOOk GLOBAL FREE ZONES OF tHE FutuRE 2012/13 op 50 FREE ZONES OF tHE FutuRE 2012/13: OVERALL RANK NAme of zoNe couNtRy â€Å"We have made plans for expansion in the future, to [eventually] bring another 1500 companies to the dubai airport free Zone† dr mohammed al Zarooni 22 www. fdiintelligence. com June/July 2012 t 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11= 11= 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37= 37= 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Dubai airport Free Zone dubai international Financial centre Shanghai waigaoqiao Free trade Z one iskandar duBiotech tanger Free Zone Freeport of Ventspils the clark Freeport Zone chittagong Export processing Zone dubaiMedia city JLt Freezone katowice Special Economic Zone dubai Silicon Oasis Mauritius Freeport Bahrain international investment park khalifa Bin Salman port Salalah Free Zone Lodz Special Economic Zone Bahrain international Airport Aqaba Special Economic Zone twofour54 (Media Zone Authority, Abu dhabi) walbrzych Special Economic Zone dubai international Academic city dubai Healthcare city Rakia Economic Zone dahej Special Economic Zone dubai Studio city El paso international Airport dubai knowledge Village Bahrain Logistics Zone Ras Al khaimah Free trade Zone Montreal port Aqaba international industrial Estate Astana New city Special Economic Zone pomeranian Special Economic Zone klaipeda Free Economic Zone Starachowice Special Economic Zone Sheffield city Region Enterprise Zone industrial Free Zone – togo SEZ Alabuga Free Zone pirot international Media production Zone Zagreb Free Zone dead Sea development Zone & Jabal Ajloun development Zone polaris international industrial park Birmingham city centre Enterprise Zone technological industrial development Zone Skopje 1 & 2 Southeast-Ecka, Zrenjanin Freeport of Riga Rezekne Special Economic Zone Authority ae uAE china Malaysia uAE Morocco Latvia philippines Bangladesh uAE uAE poland uAE Mauritius Bahrain Bahrain Oman poland Bahrain Jordan uAE poland uAE uAE uAE india uAE uS uAE Bahrain uAE canada Jordan kazakhstan poland Lithuania poland uk togo Russia Serbia uAE croatia Jordan Egypt uk Macedonia Serbia Latvia Latvia Secrets of success The world-beating Dafza has set ambitious targets for expansion and diversification and made a point to hedge against potential challenges presented by the global economic climate in the short to medium term. It has also kept a careful eye on the long term. Speaking to fDi in his Dubai offices in January 2012, the Dafza director-general outlined plans to offset the prospects of a slowdown in its core investor markets of Europe and the US, while also increasing the zone’s status as a contributor to the emirate’s GDP. â€Å"The next expansion will be in the next year,† Dr Mohammed Al Zarooni said. We have made plans for expansion in the future, to [eventually] bring another 1500 companies to the Dubai Airport Free Zone, because we have space for that and we can expand. † In the nearer term, the goal is to attract 600 to 700 additional companies in the next five or six years – in line with Dafza’s rate of growth in the 15 years since its inception, which has seen it average 100 new companies each year. With Dafza currently based on a 700,000-square-metre site, it is hoping to expand eastwards this year, with a view to occupying a 100,000-square-metre leasable area. â€Å"We have [already attracted] 1450 companies,† said Mr Al Zarooni. The intention is to further increase that number, w hile keeping an eye on the quality of investments, he added.While keen to uphold the important role of the European companies in Dafza, which account for 37% of the businesses present, Mr Al Zarooni remains aware of the need to diversify the free zone’s economic partners as it expands. â€Å"The majority of our clients are from Europe and they are facing a lot of problems, but that doesn’t mean we are going to stop,† he said. â€Å"We are thankful we brought many companies in last year from Japan. This year our focus will be on the Far East: Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, GLOBAL OutLOOk GLOBAL FREE ZONES OF tHE FutuRE 2012/13 dubai international airport is home to dubai airport free Zone, which achieved first place in the global free Zones of the future 2012/13 ranking, as well as the leading airport zone top five BESt AiRpORt ZONES RANK NAme of zoNe couNtRy 1 2 3 4 5 5Dubai airport Free Zone tanger Free Zone the clark Freeport Zone Mauritius Freeport Salal ah Free Zone Bahrain international Airport uae Morocco philippines Mauritius Oman Bahrain Japan, China and even India, in case we face some difficulty in bringing in more companies from Europe, America and Australia. † Serving a variety The push for diversification is a mark of many of the world’s more successful zones, according to James Ku, managing director of Indev Partners, who served on the judging panel that helped assess the participating zones for the rankings. â€Å"The most successful zones are either diversified zones with scale or highly specialised zones catering to a specific industry,† he says. Large diversified zones have been able to invest in infrastructure and offer a wide range of amenities, such as ready-built factories that provide flexibility to investors. The large size required to attain economies of scale for such developments have meant that most of the top zones are in the rapidly developing Middle June/July 2012 www. fdiintelligence. com East and Asian countries where land is relatively easier to acquire. Specialised zones have been used most effectively in Dubai, where investors can have access to unique amenities such as laboratories or high-speed communications. † Mr Ku sees the free zone model continuing to have relevance, especially in the current economic climate. Almost all of the zones continue to offer significant tax holidays and fiscal incentives. It highlights that even in a time when budgetary constraints and fiscal austerity are at the forefront, it will be hard for governments to scale back such incentives if they wish to remain globally competitive,† he says. Chairman of the World Free Zone Convention (WFZC) Graham Mather, who served on the judging panel, has also highlighted the vital role that free zones can play in helping the global economy through difficult times. Addressing the 11th â€Å"the most successful Zones are either diversified Zones With scale or highly specialised Z ones catering to a specific industry† James Ku t 25GLOBAL OutLOOk GLOBAL FREE ZONES OF tHE FutuRE 2012/13 tanger free Zone is strategically located near to the tanger-med port and is rated the best port zone and sixth best overall free zone top five BESt pORt ZONES RANK NAme of zoNe couNtRy 1 2 3 4 5 tanger Free Zone Freeport of Ventspils Mauritius Freeport khalifa Bin Salman port Salalah Free Zone Morocco Latvia Mauritius Bahrain Oman WFZC event in Shanghai in November 2011, he said free zones â€Å"have much to offer† at a time when the world is desperately seeking job creation, economic growth and development ahead of an anticipated downturn amid a worsening eurozone crisis. â€Å"Free zones are key to the world’s search for growth,† he added.Citing a World Bank study analysing the benefits of free zones, which include the ability to absorb unemployed labour, raise skills and productivity levels, and generate taxes from inception, Mr Mather said these a re among the reasons why many countries are returning to the free zone model or newly embracing it as a way out of economic troubles. â€Å"All areas of the world could benefit from free zones and they all need them,† he said. zonal marking Eastern Europe was well represented in the rankings, and judge John Worthington of IBT Partners was among those bullish on the region’s offerings. â€Å"Having worked closely with numerous European economic zones, IBT Partners can say from experience that the high quality of infrastructure and extensive network of all forms of transportation is something that sets European economic zones apart from those of other regions,† he says. With world-class airports, road, railway and port systems strategically clustered in various hubs across the continent, companies who are looking to expand their logistics network in Europe are consistently impressed with the efficiency and practicality of its transport systems. According to fDiâ⠂¬â„¢s survey, all the European free zones featured in this list are highly â€Å"all areas of the World could benefit from free Zones and they all need them† graham mather 26 t www. fdiintelligence. com June/July 2012 GLOBAL OutLOOk GLOBAL FREE ZONES OF tHE FutuRE 2012/13 the Waigaoqiao free trade Zone in shanghai is ranked third best free zone of the future accessible and possess well developed transport infrastructure. Asia’s zones are, of course, not to be overlooked. â€Å"With the highest average levels of education among emerging economies, Eastern economic zones have at their disposal a labour force with one of the highest skill-to-cost ratios, resulting in massive influxes of FDI into China and s o u t h – e a s t A s i a ,† s ay s M r Worthington. â€Å"At different stages of transition between primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, these are attractive regions for a wide range of industries. India, China, Singapore and the Philippines, in pa rticular, are regarded as zones of fast growth and attraction, which is reflected by the huge increases in employment in he past two years in their respective economic free zones. † African zones, many of which look to the successful Middle Eastern zones as models, have lagged behind but many are now showing promise. The Industrial Free Zone of Togo was the lone sub-Saharan mainland African zone to make the top 50. â€Å"Due to their comprehensive list of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, low levels of regulatory restrictions, and rapidly improving standards of living, African free zones are becoming increasingly attractive FDI destinations. Those in Morocco and Mauritius, in particular, couple this with a stable political and economic structure, making them highly desirable destinations. It is worth men- ioning that the Tanger Economic Free Zone of Morocco boasts an impressive increase of 20,000 employees in the past two years,† says Mr Worthington. A booming region of the world, South America, has been far behind the curve in using free zones as a path to development, as well as in promoting the zones it does have to the world. This is reflected in the poor participation of zones from this region in the benchmarking study. None were cited in the top 50 list. Two North American zones, meanwhile, made the cut. John Hanna, managing director of GDP Global Development, also served on the judging panel, along with fDi editor Courtney Fingar. n October/November 2007 www. fdiintelligence. com June/July 2012 28 GLOBAL OutLOOk GLOBAL FREE ZONES OF tHE FutuRE 2012/13 skandar in Johor, malaysia, is ranked fourth in the global free Zones of the future 2012/13 JuDGiNG pANeL couRtNey fiNGAR Editor, fDi Magazine More than 600 free zones across 120 countries were invited by fDi Magazine to complete a survey requesting both qualitative and methoDoLoGy quantitative data regarding their free zones. The information collected was set under five categories: incentives , facilities, cost-effectiveness, transportation and best FDI promotion. A total of 56 zones submitted details regarding many aspects of their zones and this was judged and scored by an independent judging panel. JohN hANNA Managing director, Gdp Global development JuDGiNG cRiteRiAGeneral inForMation †¢ Totalsize †¢ Totallandavailablefordevelopment †¢ Expansioninlandareainthepasttwo years; and/or plans for expansion in the next two years †¢ Totalofficespaceavailable †¢ Totalemployment †¢ Increaseinemploymentinthepasttwo years †¢ Numberofbusinessesoperatinginthe zone †¢ Totalvolumeofgoodsprocessedinthe zone †¢ Increaseintotalvolumeofgoods processed in the past two years †¢ Percentageofinvestorcompaniesthat expand their presence in the zone †¢ Anyrestrictionsforsettingupinthe zone inCentives †¢ Typesofincentivesoffered †¢ Descriptionoftheincentivesoffered including any requirements for eligibility †¢ Administratives ervicesofferedtoassist investors FaCilities †¢ Keyeconomicandindustrialsectors supported by the zone †¢ Rangeofwarehousefacilities,industrial units, logistics and office spaces available †¢ Amenitiesofferedtohelpinvestors Costs †¢ Annualaveragerentalcostofindustrial facilities, warehouse space, office space, undeveloped land, condominium and others (per m? ) †¢ Averagecostperunitofwatercosts(per m? ), electricity costs (per kw/hr) and gas costs (per m? †¢ Annualaveragecostoflabourfor unskilled worker, semi-skilled worker and highly skilled worker transportation †¢ Presencewithinzoneofairport,port, major motorways, railway or other †¢ Presencenearzoneofairport,port, major motorways, railway or other †¢ Descriptionofanymajorplanned infrastructure projects proMotion strateGy †¢ Website †¢ Digital/webpromotionactivities undertaken to create interest in the zone †¢ Othermarketing,communicationsor promotional activities undertake n †¢ Methodsusedtoidentifypotential investors, and strategy for approaching and engaging them †¢ Thezone’smarketingslogan/brief summary of its appeal †¢ Statementfromzone’schiefexecutive, director or president on his or her vision for achieving the zone full Fdi potential serviCes *asked of services zones †¢ Descriptionofservicesofferedby companies in the zone †¢Telecommunicationandtechnology infrastructure †¢Disasterrecoveryservicesofferedonsite †¢Internetspeedoffered †¢Availablelabourpoolandthe%ofwhich speak more than one language †¢Officespaceavailability †¢Majorplannedprojects JAmeS Ku Managing director, indev partners GRAhAm mAtheR chairman, world Free Zone convention JohN WoRthiNGtoN partner, iBt partners An additional set of information was sought from airport and port zones regarding their facilities and capacity 30 www. fdiintelligence. com June/July 2012

Outline How to Prepare for Winter

Title: Surviving winter Specific purpose: How to prepare for winter I. Introduction A. Attention Materials: Did you know on average Minnesota gets 50 inches of snow a winter. Accroding to Minnesota dept. of Natural resources. â€Å"The twin cities are the coldest major population center in the United States, with an average or zero degrees or below 64 days each winter. B. Tie to the audience: I’m sure all of us have experienced winter. Whether it was extremely light or extremely brutal. Being prepared is important. C. Creditability material: Well I’m from Minneapolis, MN, where winter is extremely brutal.We have heavy snow, temps below zero, and wind chills in the negative. So being prepared for winter is something I know about. D. Preview: I will explain three basic things, How to dress in the winter, how you can prepare your vehicle for winter, and how to winterize your home. II. Body A. How to dress in the Winter a)Make sure you have a coat or a heavy jacket(â€Å" Stay Warm – How to Stay Warm and Healthy in Winter†) b)Make sure you have a hat and gloves. c)Make sure you have waterproof boots so that your feet stay dry. {Transition: Now that you know how to dress for the winter, let’s move on to preparing your car for winter} B.Prepare your car for winter. a)Get all-purpose or snow tires (â€Å"Preparing Your Car For Winter Driving in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota – Preparing For Winter Driving in Minneapolis and St. Paul†). 1. Most cars have summer tires. 2. All purpose tires have more friction with the road so that you don’t go off the road, slid into someone else’s car. b)Have an extra pair of clothing and blanket in your car. 1. In case you get stranded you can stay warm and dry. 2. Make sure your heat works in your car. c)You do not want you heat to stop working, there’s nothing like driving while it freezing in your car. Transition: The last thing I’m going to talk about is how to get your home prepared for winter} C. Winterize your home. a)Seal your windows with plastic, this can be energy efficiency 1. To prevent cold drafts from entering the home 2. Keeps your electric bill from being high b)Move furniture away from windows. 1. If you decide you don’t want to seal your windows its keep draft from hitting you. c)Get your furnace checked before winter arrives. 1. Prevents from furnace from going out in the middle of the cold winter {Transition to conclusion: Now that you know how to be prepare for winter, let’s go what I told you today} III.Conclusion A. A Final Review: a)I told you how to dress for the winter b)How to prepare your vehicle fro the winter c)And how to winterize your home. B. Tie back to the audience: winter comes every year, weather it’s extremely light or extremely brutal. C. Conclusions remarks: So as this winter approaches, make sure you’re prepared you don’t want to get in a situation that could h ave been avoid by preparing in advance. Work cited Minneosta Profile: Minnesota Cold – Minnesota Conservation Volunteer: Minnesota DNR. (n. d. ). Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: Minnesota DNR.Retrieved from http://www. dnr. state. mn. us/volunteer/janfeb05/mpcold. html Preparing Your Car For Winter Driving in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota – Preparing For Winter Driving in Minneapolis and St. Paul. (n. d. ). Minneapolis / St. Paul – Guide to Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Retrieved from http://minneapolis. about. com/od/travelweather/a/winterizecar. htm Stay Warm – How to Stay Warm and Healthy in Winter. (n. d. ). Senior Living – Older Adult Lifestyle Advice & Information. Retrieved from http://seniorliving. about. com/od/healthnutrition/a/stay_warm. htm

No Child Left Behind Essay

The education policy that I chose is on education today and the influence of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. In 2001, President George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act. The NCBL is a United States Act of Congress, which includes Title 1 (program for disadvantaged students offered by the government). This Act requires states to develop assessments in basic skills. Each state is required to give these assessments to all students to receive federal school funding. This Act does not set the standards nationwide; each individual state sets the standards. Diane Ravitch, an education philosopher was a supporter of this Act when it was being passed. She believed that every child had the right to a proper education. As the years passed she acquired more experience and knowledge on the Act, and is now completely opposed to the NCLB Act. Ravitch believes that the states dumb down the standards in light of the NCLB. The question now is: is the No Child Left Behind Act se eking to repair the problem, or is it the cause? Under NCLB, the accountability of a child’s education is examined by the Federal government and turned into the hands of the state. This was the first time an American president has set a goal of universal proficiency in reading and mathematics for all children. The federal emphasis on literacy, reading, and mathematics emphasizes teacher and school accountability, with negative consequences when schools do not meet established improvement goals (U.S. Department of Education, 2002). Under NCLB the state must have accountability provisions that include how they will close the achievement gap. According to the Department of Education the achievement gap is defined as such; The difference between how well low-income and minority children perform on standardized tests as compared with their peers. For many years, low-income and minority children have fallen behind their white peers in terms of academic achievement (Department of Education, 2002). States must also monitor that every student not excluding the disadvantaged achieve academic proficiency. Yearly assessments must be produced to inform parents of the progress of both the state and the  community. Schools that do not meet the academic proficiency standards must offer supplemental services and take corrective action. If within five years the school is still not making yearly progress, than dramatic changes in the school’s academic direction must be made. Dramatic changes according to the Department of Education are defined as follows; â€Å"†¦additional changes to ensure improvement.† The definition raises the question of whether there is a plan for failure at all. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, in its â€Å"National Report Card† shows that these goals may be falling short. Students in fourth grade show temporary improvement in math right after No Child Left Behind became a law, but returned to pre-reform growth rate. The NAEP estimates that by 2014 less than 25% of financially challenged and African American students will achieve NAEP proficiency in reading. Using the same time frame less than half the financially challenged and African American students will obtain proficiency in math. With so much pressure on the states to perform well, a trend is becoming apparent that they are inflating proficiency levels of students. This causes discrepancies between the NAEP and state assessments especially among the financially challenged, African American, and Hispanic students. With no sufficient evidence shown on that NCLB is working, the question is as follows; is the federal government capable of running our school systems? There are undoubtedly dangers in the public school system teaching a federally mandated curriculum. When one controls people’s perception of history, one controls the present. There is, of course, a point to be made that if the nations’ children are kept in watered down public schools, positions of power will be opened to the children of the aristocracy, who without fail, are being sent to private schools. So many of those Politicians who stand in the way of allowing poor children to escape failing schools, send their own children to private schools (sic). In New York City, where I have spent most of my professional life, both the current and the past chancellor of schools sent their children to private schools. Six of the seven members of the now-defunct Board of Education had  also sent their children to private schools at one time or another. One might add to the list other notables in New York-the governor, the mayor, the leaders of both houses of the legislature, and the junior U.S. senator (and former first lady). In fact, I cannot remember a mayor of the city who sent his children to public school (Viteritti, 2003). The reports of success of NCLB are encouraging to those who support the project. There have been schools in Sterling, Virginia and New York City that have received No Child Left Behind blue ribbons for their success in closing the achievement gap. Other schools have earned national praise for instituting such curriculum as â€Å"Fit for the Future,† a standards-based health and fitness curriculum for grades 1-10; and an anti-bullying intervention program in York, Pennsylvania (Department of Education, 2005). These programs are used to show the benefits of NCLB but are they academic necessities? The curriculum in a kindergarten class in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin included a lesson entitled â€Å"The Little Convincer.† In which a state trooper came into the classroom with a mechanism designed to simulate a car accident. In a discussion about car seat laws, a topic critics of the curriculum call too heady for kindergarteners, the students, ages five to six years old, were asked repeatedly which one of them were actively using car seats, and whether their parents wore seat belts as well. One child who innocently told the officer that his daddy did not wear his seatbelt was told by the trooper that his daddy could go through the windshield and the glass would cut his face and arms like ribbons, and once he hit the road, the car would roll on top of him. The dramatic lesson ended with each of the students taking a turn in the mechanism that simulated the car crash. The officer would speak softly to the child asking them questions about their class or the clothes that they were wearing and when the child began to speak would jerk them forward violently to teach them that an accident could happen at anytime. The question is, are these academic lessons that parents assume that their children are attending school for? Is placing the curriculum in the hands of legislators going to further our children’s grasp of the three R’s as most parents hope, or are they going to be taught how to become complacent law abiding citizens? The problem in purposing that the public school system is flawed beyond repair is offering an alternative that people are comfortable with. When a conversation about privatizing the school system begins many questions must be answered to abate the fears of the public. Would privatizing schools be affordable to all families? Many debates have waged on the validity of a voucher program, allowing families to choose any school they desire whether it is parochial, private, public, or chartered. Without public schools, there are no taxes necessary to support the program, and that money can be returned to the families of school aged children, creating extra funds for private education. In a system of free market education the individual and specialized institutions of learning would have to compete for students, because the money would be linked to the students themselves. Never in the history of the free market have advances been made without competition. When the monopoly on our children’s future ends, a true marketplace of ideas will be born. In an interview with US News, Ravitch was asked â€Å"What needs to happen to make the law more effective for school?† she responded â€Å"I think the main thing to change is . . . to get rid of the remedies and the sanctions because the remedies don’t work and the sanctions don’t work. What No Child Left Behind has given the United States is an atmosphere of punitiveness. The word accountability has come to be a synonym for punish. If students don’t learn, it’s the teachers’ fault. Fire the teachers. Close the schools. We’re now on a wrecking mission to destroy American public education.† Ravitch has completely rejected this Act, and believes we should do something to make our education system stronger. I questioned? Is the No Child Left Behind Act seeking to repair the problem, or is it the cause? I now have the answer. The NCLB Act sounded very tempting as it was passed by congress, and many like Diane Ravitch had hopes in such a great project for our education system, but everything is not perfect. The NCBL offers great support to schools, although standardized testing is not the correct way of determining the amount of financial support each school deserves or requires. After long hours of research I believe that the No Child Left Behind Act has taken a part in the cause of our problem in our education system today. Schools will not improve if the value is set only on what is tested. â€Å"The tests we have now provide useful information about students’ progress in reading and mathematics, but they cannot measure what matters most in education.† (Ravitch. The Death and Life of The Great American School System, pg. 226) In order to improve our public school system we must start by focusing on our schools, offering them an authentic and sincere education that encourages our students to learn.

Decision-making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Decision-making - Essay Example (Salaman, 2001. p.75) A smooth-decision making process is important for well-running of the organization. Decision-making process is considered to be the most important work the managers are assigned to deal with in an organization. This view is further consolidated by the fact that some people view managing and decision-making has two words with same meaning but different interpretations. There are infinite reasons to consider decision-making to be an integral part of organizations, a theory which has interested most of the theorists and economists. (Salaman, 2001. p.75) Some theorists believe that decision-making provides the door to the so called 'underworld' of an organization. The process involved in making a decision, brings out the political attitude of people involved, resulting in political activities being performed. So, it can be conceived that decision-making brings out two extreme conclusions about an organization. One end shows the strength of an organization in making crucial decisions, showing the solidarity of the management and their power. The other extreme is where the political games are played, where the leads play around the resources to get the decisions to go in their favour. Decisions made in an organization is always power played by people in influential powers and the way each decision shapes after going through these people is not even known to the people involved in it. The end decision always has as a byproduct in terms of disharmony within the organization but it is almost inherent and non deniable. (Salaman, 2001. p.9 7) According to Pettigrew, every decision has the above said political perspective added to it. According to him, an organization is a political playground, with different sub units having different perspective about a decision and each unit opposes the other in terms of their views, their struggle to show majority and finally, ending up in a lot of major implications both for nature and the end-decision. He views this political aspect of decision making to form the crux of any organization in creating the core structural and organizational processes. Several theists say that most of the people involved in decision making view governments as organization but find it reluctant to agree that all organizations are governments. (Salaman, 2001. p.97) They further reason for the neglect of this aspect explaining that people view decision making as part of a formal structure of an organization rather than viewing it as a political structure. Most people tend to work on decision making in psychological terms instead of seeing it in a sociological basis. In short, no person tends to see them as being political and in case if they act so, they justify it by reasoning that they do it for the well being of the organization. There are several features for this political perspective of decision-making that lends support to it. Pettigrew observes these features and explains how important they are to an organization. (Salaman, 2001. p.97) According to him, every organization is a group of several sub organizations. He views it to be a political system that is open for all. These sub-organizations specialize on each work and some of them may have to be dependent on one another to produce the result. In such cases of inter-dependence, a joint decision has to be done in a decision making process. These kinds of processes pave

China is the new Neo-Imperialist Power in Africa Essay

China is the new Neo-Imperialist Power in Africa - Essay Example In most African countries, independence and an end to colonial rule did not result in their gaining of complete control over economic, or even political affairs. Although considered as sovereign states, African countries continue to remain â€Å"under the economic and political control of their former rulers and the rich industrialized nations who direct the economic fortunes of the world †. This kind of indirect, hidden command exerted on developing nations by the more advanced and powerful nations is termed as neocolonialism. It is the last stage of imperialism; and is defined as â€Å"control of the economic and development destiny by a former colonial area such as Africa by outside powers after independence†. Neocolonialism is illustrated by the British giving independence to Nigeria while at the same time maintaining control over the country’s political, social and economic spheres. Europe and the United States had colonized Africa and continued to exert neocolonialism over the continent even after acceding it independence in the early 1960s. However, they have mostly seen Africa as a recipient of financial aid, and a region lacking economic development because of high levels of corruption and divisive rule by the African leaders. On the other hand, China with its drive for development and for achieving prosperity has been eager to invest in Africa with its rich natural resources. â€Å"China’s phenomenal economic growth has seen the country rise to world leadership status†. The country’s distinctive position in the community of nations enables it to span the developing world as well as the developed nations as a part of the United Nations Security Council. Over the last six decades, China has changed its foreign policy from confrontational measures to cooperation, economic development and international engagement. Capitalizing on its linka ge with the developing world, China has strengthened its relations with Africa through trade and cooperation. Muekalia (2004, p.5) argues that China sees Africa as a partner in fulfilling its strategic goals of energy, trade and geopolitical interests. However, African leaders eager to initiate and benefit from their country’s developmental projects, accorded China control over their own countries’ politics and economic sectors. As a result, and also based on Chinese self-interests, China is found to be the new neo-imperialist power in Africa. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to discuss China’s role as the new neo-imperialist power in Africa. China as the New Neo-Imperialist Power in Africa At the core of neocolonialism is the fact that an independent continent such as Africa with all the outward trappings of international sovereignty, in reality has an economic system and political policy directed from outside. Africa needs to strengthen the econo my of its countries and eliminate neocolonialism. On the other hand, the technological and economic inequalities between Africa and the rich industrialized nations are so great that it would be impossible to accomplish the material advances required without the assistance and cooperation of these advanced nations. Significantly, few countries offer such help without ensuring the advancement of their own interests in some way (Boateng 1978). Edoho (2011) investigated China-Africa relations by contextualizing China’s economic activities in Africa and determining the outcomes of the evolving relations for economic development in the region. China-Africa relations are found to be the consequence of the marginalization of Africa in the age of globalization. After the cold war ended, western disengagement from Africa created a vacuum which China is in the process of filling. Africa is embracing China because of the

Managing people essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Managing people - Essay Example (Tulsian.P.C.& Pandey.V. 2006). Motivation is an important aspect in the process of directing people in an organization. Motivation aims in influencing the behavior of subordinates for enabling them for a better performance as well as for accomplishing desired results. Motivation always deals with actuating people towards work. Without motivation, people in the organization will not have the urge to maintain and improve their efficiency. Motivation is considered as the core of management (lazar. P.K. 2007). The topic of motivation is large. Human motivation is a set of reasons that will establish a person to act as well as to engage in an exacting action or conduct (Definition of Motivation. 2008). Motivation is considered as the core of the management. It is non avoidable in modern business management, It has many importance aspects. Motivation always sets in motion the action of people. It activates human resources by creating the will to work among human beings. Motivation improves efficiency of work performance. This is by bridging the gap between the ability and willingness to work. As a result the quantity and quality of production is increased and the cost of operations is reduced. Moreover motivation ensures achievement of organizational goals. This is through meeting of individual needs through a satisfactory system of rewards and by inspiring people at work to contribute to the best of their capacities. Motivation also creates a friendly relation between the employers and the employees’ through monetary and non monetary incentives. It also leads to stability of the workforce by providing the workforce with job satisfaction. Motivation also facilitates to introduce changes in the organization. This is necessary for overcoming the resistance to change among the employees. Vroom formulated his expectancy theory of motivation as a criticism to Herzbergs two factor theory. According to vroom, people will be motivated to do things to achieve

Protectionism, Gains from Trade, and Trade Balance Deficits and Essay

Protectionism, Gains from Trade, and Trade Balance Deficits and Surpluses - Essay Example Explanations of concepts: Protectionism, an economic policy, aims at restricting trade between nations. The economic instruments used in this policy are imposition of tariffs, imposition of quota, and many other fiscal measures. Free trade is the opposite of the concept of protectionist policy. It is the openness of the countries in order to achieve gains from trade through mobility of goods and services between nations (Mankiw, 387-411). There are two components of trades, one is export, and the other is the import. There are several gains that a nation can achieve from trade. In terms of economics these gains are measured in terms of the real wage and the relative prices of goods and services being traded. Real wage is measured in terms of the amounts of goods that a worker can purchase. The relative price is the domestic price of a good and service being traded as a ratio of the foreign price of the same good or service. An increase in the real wage and a decrease in the relative price indicate that the gains from trade have been achieved. Trade between two nations contributes to the growth of GDP and GDP rate. In order to measure the contribution of trade components in the GDP, every economy maintains a trade balance accounting of its exports and imports. Whenever the volume of exports appears (measured in terms of money value) to be greater (smaller) than the volume of imports (measured in terms of money value), then there occurs a surplus (deficit) in the trade balance. When they are same, trade remains balanced. But the concept of balanced trade is used as an accounting sense; in practical it is very difficult to achieve balanced trade for any country. Tax Cut and fiscal policy: In 2002, President Bush initiated a fiscal policy of cutting tax rates. The main aim of the tax cut was to raise the volume of private activities within the economy. This is major merit of any tax cut policy, as it raises the disposable income of people and hence demand. It also raises the volume of private savings and hence investment. This is basically the Keynesian view of this fiscal policy (Mankiw, 388-399). This decision caused USA to lose its national income by 1%. This tax cut caused huge budget deficits and defense costs and increased the volume of fiscal deficit (Auerbach). This fiscal policy increases the budget deficit by increasing the demand for imports relative to exports and hence it reduces the volume of stock of foreign currency of the country. For the US economy this has happened. Monetary policy: Monetary policies are taken the monetary authority of the country in order to control the values of the variables like interest rates and output or income of the economy (Mankiw, 390-410). Monetary policy includes open market operations by the government, changes in the repo rates and reverse repo rates etc. All these policies are taken to control the volume of money supply in the economy. An increase (decrease) in the money supply raises the ra ises (lowers) output and employment, but lowers (raises) interest rates. Money supply is determined by the amount of money in circulation in the economy and by the volume of demand deposits in the economy. Monetary policy can be used to stimulate real GDP in the short run as well as in the long run. Increase in the supply of money can augment the demand for goods and services and hence

Knowledge Management - the Knowledge Creating Company Essay

Knowledge Management - the Knowledge Creating Company - Essay Example Another important element of the Japanese perspective on knowledge is how an organization is treated as a living organism. It is not merely a separate legal entity or merely a machine for production wherein people are divided into parts that play specific roles but considered as sentient due to the collective sense of identity and fundamental purpose. According to Nonaka, this makes the area of research, product development, marketing and planning not exclusively the domain of research and development or marketing departments. Rather, each employee contributes something and is a working and functional knowledge worker. The above points were supported by several principles and Nonaka attempted to be as comprehensive as possible, outlining many very important ones. For instance, he cited the idea that innovation would always come from an individual – a manager who has the skill to keep up with the fickleness of the market, a researcher who has the knowledge to develop effective strategies or a cleaner who may have a brilliant idea about effective processes based on his work experiences. So each employee in an organization regardless of his or her position is considered a source of excellent ideas.

Strategic Mangement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic Mangement - Essay Example Basically, the company has witnessed a steady growth in the Australian Wine Industry and is one of the leading export industries especially to the United States. 2. Yellow Tail operates in an environment where there are also competitors who offer the same products and in this case, a SWOT analysis is more appropriate for this task of analysing the environmental factors that affect the organisation’s operations. It defines the relationship between the internal and external environmental factors that can affect an organisation in a bid to deal with its strategic analysis (Robinson 1997). Basically, SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses which represent the internal environment of the firm while opportunities and threats are external environmental factors. The major strengths of the company include the following: The name is unique and interesting, the packaging depicts the famous kangaroo and the pricing is low among other factors. The company is able to offer satisfactory products to its customers abroad as well. Its weaknesses are; it heavily relies on export market, it has limited brands and cannot continue attracting customers over a long period and the fact that it uses limited advertisements is another major weakness which can negatively impact on the organisation. There are different opportunities for the company. The distribution pattern in global markets is a very big opportunity for the company compared to other locally based players in the industry. Using new technology in brewing wine is another opportunity for the company. The other opportunity is the need for adoption of new information and communication technology tools such as the internet to effectively market its products. It can utilize the internet to reach the customers who are beyond the local markets. Through specially designed websites, it can also be possible to market other products that are not found in the local stores. However, one notable threat to Yellow Tail is the

Reality and Knowledge in Plato's Myth of the Cave Essay

Reality and Knowledge in Plato's Myth of the Cave - Essay Example Therefore, analyzing philosophic ideas of the rationalists and empiricists, dualists and monists, idealists, materialists and pragmatists begins with perception or rejection of Plato’s ideas of reality and knowledge. The expression that philosophy is a footnote to Plato does not necessarily mean that the philosophers continue Platonic traditions or agree with Plato’s ideas. However, in my opinion, it is Plato who we think of first when we start dealing with philosophic issues. The tendency to incline to the ideas regarding the nature of knowledge and reality can be found in thinking of many European philosophers. Furthermore, it would be wrong to associate every philosopher with Plato, as there are many great thinkers whose ideas were not based on Plato’s teaching or are contrary with them. Of course, Plato is one of the greatest philosophers standing in line with Aristotle, Socrates, Hume, Locke, and Kant. Nevertheless, power of Plato’s thought like nobod y else’s is so great that his ideas can be traced in others thinkers’ philosophy, especially when to speak about European philosophy. Intellectual tradition started by Plato has never ceased to prosper. Europeans are the first and the most frequently said to be referring to Plato’s philosophy, because his thinking seems to be the closest to this particular group of people. The meaning of the statement that philosophy is a footnote to Plato is nothing else, but a metaphor which means that power of his thinking can be neither denied nor rejected, because it has been interwoven into the philosophical tradition of many other great philosophers. Therefore, today it is difficult to discern the ideas regarding, for example, knowledge and reality and classify them into Platonic and non-Platonic. It is difficult to say exactly which philosopher was influenced by Plato and which was not. My understanding of knowledge and reality is that reality is limited to the point wha t we can comprehend and see on basis of our senses usage. To put it simply, if we see a beggar on the street, we conclude him to be a poor and miserable man because of his real physical appearance. However, this person can be a great thinker the same as the worst conman, but we do not know as our knowledge is limited by what we can only see on the surface. The knowledge about this man as well as about different things in the world is hidden. We can discover the knowledge only when we strive for such discovery and keep searching even at times it seems pointless. I agree with Plato that people must try to rise above their limited knowledge to learn more and to attain the highest form of knowledge. At the same time, I think that one type of knowledge can be perceived and explained differently as we have ability to compare things. Our experiences and knowledge of something is relative: for example, if we’ve tried a very delicious cake, we tend to think it’s best in the wor ld. But when we continue tasting more and more delicious cakes, we understand that the first one was not the best one. The same can be claimed about anything which exists in reality. Besides, I’d like to conclude that real knowledge and true wisdom comes with life-long learning. To start, the allegory of the cave also referred to as Plato’s Myth of the Cave is the allegory used by the Greek Philosopher Plato in his work The Republic. Plato basically uses this allegory to illustrate the nature and wanting of education. He describes the interacting phenomena of

Encoding Essay Example for Free

Encoding Essay It is known that information about the outer world is encoded either consciously or subconsciously. Therefore, two types of information encoding exist: automatic and effortful processing. The main difference is that automatic processing suggests that people absorb information about the world without any efforts, whereas effortful processing is absorbing information due to rehearsal or repetition. For example, people automatically absorb information about time, space and frequency. In its turn, consciously people process names, phone numbers and other information they are unfamiliar with. Nevertheless, more information is encoded automatically and information that is repeated or rehearsed is kept in mind for less time compared with information absorbed without conscious effort. Brain capacity allows people to remember things without paying proper attention to them. However, it is rather difficult to get rid of information obtained both automatically or effortful. There is one more interesting thing: it is claimed that even effortful information can become with time subconscious. For example, when children learn how to read, they have to repeat words and letter, but with the years of practice reading and writing becomes automatic process. Therefore, automatic and effortful processing are interrelated in a certain way. It is proved that effortful processing ensures more durable memories compared with automatic one. Due to attention and effort people can absorb more interesting facts and necessary information: through rehearsal information is encoded for storage, though, for example, information absorbed just before sleep is hardly remembered. So, effortful processing provides more benefits than automatic one because it allows to process information more carefully and thoughtfully.

Administrator Challenge Paper Essay Example for Free

Administrator Challenge Paper Essay My experience in corrections is limited to only 4 years. I feel that in my time there, I learned a lot about what the custody part of corrections job consists of, not necessarily what the parole portion or the prison administration does. As a first line supervisor within the correctional system, the staff was held to somewhat of the same standards as I did young airmen in the military. They were expected to be at work on time, read their post orders daily, and maintain control of the dormitory or segregation unit in which they worked. They were given the opportunity to make decisions on their own and only to keep me informed of what they were doing. Most of the decision making came from the Warden and his staff. We had a Correctional Major and Captains as intermediate level supervisor who took the brunt of the complaints between custody and administration. There were policies and directives being disseminated constantly within the prison. At time it felt like the saying â€Å"going blind with paperwork†, having to read everything being passed down. Some of the policies had justification and some seemed to be just frivolous fodder to give administration something to do. See more: Recruitment and selection process essay Another issue which was the cause of much contention within the custody ranks was the adherence to the rules or policies. One of the main culprits of many custody staff being fired or quitting was the use of tobacco within the facilities. The facility is a â€Å"tobacco free† facility. That means no tobacco for any offenders or staff members. Tobacco is an addictive drug and there were many staff members who snuck cigarettes and smokeless tobacco into the facility because of their need to have it, instead of waiting until their shift was over. This in-turn was also the cause of offenders running illegal contraband within the confines of the facility. Staff members would smuggle tobacco by the pouches into the facility as staff was rarely shaken down. This made it ideal for dishonest staff to make some extra money bringing in contraband to offenders. Once the offender had the staff member on the hook for smuggling, it was just a matter of time before the staff was caught and fi red for it. Tobacco often times was more expensive than drugs like marijuana, prescription medication, or cocaine. I feel that another of the main issues, at least within the facility I worked at, was the discord between custody and non-custody staff. Custody was in charge of all the offenders within the facilities, while non-custody had interactions with offenders, their main job was to teach in most cases. Many were college or high school teachers, facility supervisors over the industrial areas, and nursing staff or administration. These non-staff positions often tried to tell custody staff how to do their jobs. This often caused contention between all parties and when brought to the custody supervisor, was corrected after having spoken with the non-custody supervisor. This course has opened my eyes to the administration side of Criminal Justice. Prior to this course, I had no idea about how budgeting or the financial aspect of Criminal Justice actually worked. This topic is one which I am glad to have studied. I may not get to the administrative level of whatever Criminal Justice profession I choose, but having some knowledge of how it works will definitely benefit me in the long run. I would encourage anyone taking Criminal Justice or pursuing a career in Criminal Justice to take this course as the material if very relevant to the job, especially those seeking positions as administration. Also, mid-level supervisors should take it as it gives them insight into what is expected of the administration when it comes to policy, budgets and financial planning for the Criminal Justice System. I wish I had taken this course just a bit later in my college studies as I had quite a few irons in the fire during this courses duration. Trying to juggle college, a fulltime job, family life, and other outside entities were definitely distractors during this course. I did not get to dedicate the time fully to the course that if deserved and my grade refle cts that.

Broken Windows Theory Analysis

Broken Windows Theory Analysis Assessing the theory of Broken Windows Wicked people exist. Nothing avails except to set them apart from innocent peopleWe have trifled with the wicked, made sport of the innocent, and encouraged the calculators. Justice suffers, and so do we all James Wilson The basic idea for the Broken Windows theory is that any kind of urban blight – a broken window, graffitied walls, rubbish on the streets, etc. – does no harm to a neighbourhood if it is immediately remedied. However, if left untended, it signifies a lack of care in the community, the kind of environment in which it is acceptable for residents to relinquish any notions of concern. And while the initial damage and disrepair is physical, the next stage is psychological. That is, if it becomes acceptable for people to litter and vandalise at will, why not walk around drunk, or beg for money, or mug others for it? Why not even kill for it? Why follow any kind of rules at all? In sum, the Broken Windows theory postulates that the smallest symptoms can lead to the greatest crimes. This paper will examine the effectiveness of this idea. The Broken Windows theory first became widely known in 1982, when James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling published an article in the Atlantic Monthly called Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety. The article articulated the reasons why minor neighbourhood slights should not be ignored: A piece of property is abandoned, weeds grow up, a window is smashed. Adults stop scolding rowdy children; the children, emboldened, become more rowdy. Families move out, unattached adults move in. Teenagers gather in front of the corner store. The merchant asks them to move; they refuse. Fights occur. Litter accumulates. People start drinking in front of the grocery; in time, an inebriate slumps to the sidewalk and is allowed to sleep it off. Pedestrians are approached by panhandlers (Wilson and Kelling, 1982). On the surface, this idea, that small acts of antisocial behaviour can act as catalysts for others, and that a broken window sends a signal to criminals that it okay to break the law, seems perfectly reasonable and logical. The notion that once people begin disregarding the norms that keep order in a community, both order and community unravel, even follows the concept of entropy and the second law of thermodynamics (systems naturally progress from a state of order to disorder). And almost from its inception, the idea took hold. While the Wilson/Kelling article did the most to publicise the theory, there were some precedents, namely Philip Zimbardos 1969 experiment, in which he left two identical 1959 Oldsmobiles in different neighbourhoods, one near the Bronx campus of New York University and one near the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, California. The license plates of both cars were removed and the hoods opened to provide the necessary releaser signals (Zimbardo, 1969). In the Bronx, within ten minutes, the car was vandalised, and by the end of the day was stripped bare. In Palo Alto, the car remained untouched for a week, until Zimbardo himself broke one of its windows with a sledgehammer, at which point others joined in. Within a few hours, the car was completely destroyed. (Gladwell, 1996). Zimbardos focus was on the psychological aspects of authority and anonymity, and his experiment aimed to understand what factors and to what extent human behaviour was governed by environmental and physiological stimuli, a process known as deindividuation: a series of antecedent social conditions lead to a change in perception of self and others, and thereby to a lowered threshold of normally restrained behavior (Zimbardo, 1969). Wilson and Kellings article, however, was more prescriptive, and was focused on applying the Broken Windows theory to law enforcement procedures. And it is in this way that politicians and police have regarded the theory over the past twenty-five years, paving the way for a slate of reforms aimed at promoting deterrence through arrests, imprisonment and harsh sentencing, with a heavy reliance on the criminal justice system to impart severe and swift penalties (Conklin, 1992). Within the article, the authors discuss the historical function of police work, which they describe as maintaining public order: From the earliest days of the nation, the police function was seen primarily as that of a night watchman: to maintain order against the chief threats to order – fire, wild animals, and disreputable behavior. Solving crimes was viewed not as a police responsibility but as a private one (Wilson and Kelling, 1982). However, this eventually changed, and detective work (solving crimes) took on a greater role, a shift that the authors feel should be reversed: A great deal was accomplished during this transition, as both police chiefs and outside experts emphasized the crime-fighting function in their plans, in the allocation of resources, and in deployment of personnel. The police may well have become better crime-fighters as a result. And doubtless they remained aware of their responsibility for order. But the link between order-maintenance and crime-prevention, so obvious to earlier generations, was forgotten (ibid). Another criticism felled by Wilson and Kelling was the lack of community policing, or the beat officer on foot, patrolling the neighbourhood. Instead, there had been a steady shift towards keeping the officers in their squad cards, in which case they were isolated, removed from the people of the neighbourhood and the life on the street, whereas what foot-patrol officers did was to elevate, to the extent that they could, the level of public order in these neighborhoods (ibid). In short, the officer on foot was not only more accessible, and thus a part of the community; he was better able to understand it and serve it. The majority of the theory, however, has to do with a new focus on smaller crimes – beggars, drunks, teenagers, litter, etc. – rather than big ones. These so-called gateway crimes are where the real offenses take root; eliminate these, and the major crimes will be stopped before they have a chance to foster and spread: The citizen who fears the ill-smelling drunk, the rowdy teenager, or the importuning beggar is not merely expressing his distaste for unseemly behavior; he is also giving voice to a bit of folk wisdom that happens to be a correct generalization – namely that serious street crime flourishes in areas in which disorderly behavior goes unchecked. The unchecked panhandler is, in effect, the first broken window (ibid). But does the theory work? As of yet, there has been no scientific evidence proving it does. Even Wilson himself a few years ago admitted: People have not understood that this was a speculation (Hurley, 2004). It should be noted that on the very first page of the Atlantic Monthly article, where the authors were giving a history of community policing in Newark, NJ, they mentioned a study by the Police Foundation that discovered that while foot patrol had not reduced crime rates, residents seemed to feel more secure than persons in other areas (Wilson and Kelling, 1982). On the surface, this seems pretty straightforward – because foot patrols did not lead to a drop in crime rates, they didnt do anything to make neighbourhoods safer. However, Wilson and Kelling use the residents testimony to argue that, in fact, the community is safer, because disorder itself is something to be feared: We understand what most often frightens people in public places. Many citizens, of course, are primarily frightened by crime, especially crime involving a sudden, violent attack by a stranger. This risk is very real, in Newark as in many large cities. But we tend to overlook another source of fearthe fear of being bothered by disorderly people (ibid). This is all very well and good, that people appreciate not having to deal with aggressive and disorderly people. But how then is safety being measured, if not by crime rates? The authors certainly arent implying that it can be measured by residents feelings of safety? Regardless, the rest of the article makes no mention of this issue, and concentrates primarily on perceived dangers (how to curb a communitys fears of being bothered by disorderly persons), rather than actual ones (curbing crime rates themselves). The theory had its first test in the early 90s, when the Mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, implemented his own version of it to target the citys high crime rate. This didnt happen simply by chance; George Kelling was a senior fellow of the Manhattan Institute, and was one of Giulianis advisors (DePalma, 2002). The term that was used to describe the new initiative was the no tolerance policy. This phrase, along with another that soon followed (quality of life), acted as the cornerstones for Giulianis mayorship. He aimed to aggressively target even minor infractions (no tolerance) in order to clean up the city and make New York a safe place to live (improved quality of life). Police were given powers that they never before had, and were encouraged to hand out tickets and arrests for anything and everything. For the cops, Chief of Police William Bratton commented, they were a bonanza. Every arrest was like opening a box of Cracker Jacks. What kind of toy am I going to get? Got a gun? Got a knife? Got a warrant? Do we have a murderer here? Each cop wanted to be the one who came up with the big collar. It was exhilarating for the cops and demoralizing for the crooks (Bratton, 1998). In addition to the usual list of offenders – drunks, panhandlers, juvenile delinquents – were added jaywalkers and squeegee men, those homeless men and women who aggressively and without asking would clean a cars windshield while the driver was stuck in traffic, and then demand payment. The effect of the new procedures was instant and irrevocable: crime dropped to its lowest figures in four decades, and stayed there. At the present moment, New York City is the safest big city in America. However, whether this decline can solely or even partially be attributed to Broken Windows is up for debate. At the same time the police were implementing harsh no tolerance crackdowns, the crack cocaine market bottomed out, which resulted in less drug deals, fewer addicts on the street and a reduction in violent turf wars, all of which at one time were responsible for numerous muggings and murders (Harcourt, 2002). In addition, over the same time period, there were dramatic improvement s in emergency response capabilities and medical care, which ended up saving the lives of countless people who previously would have died (Lizza, 2002). There were also important changes at the New York Police department during this time that could have explained the drop in crime, including a significant increase in the number of police officers. In 1992, Giulianis predecessor, David Dinkins, hired over two thousand new officers under the Safe Streets, Safe City project, and Giuliani himself hired another four thousand, and merged another six thousand Transit and Housing Authority officers into the ranks of the New York Police Department (Harcourt, 2002). Because of this, the department increased from 26,856 in 1991 to 39,779 in 2000, giving New York the largest police force in the country, with the highest ratio of officers to civilians of any major city (U.S. Department of Justice, 1992). Another argument against the success of Broken Windows is that the 1990s were generally a boom time. The stock market, employment and wages were all at record highs throughout the United States, and crime rates are usually more prevalent when times are hard. For example, crime fell in many large cities – San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Houston, Boston and others – at exactly the same time, and in some cases in an even more dramatic fashion: One study found that New York Citys drop in homicides, though impressive, is neither unparalleled nor unprecedented. Houstons drop in homicides of 59 percent between 1991 and 1996 outpaced New York Citys 51 percent decline over the same period. Another study looked at the rates of decline in homicides in the seventeen largest U.S. cities from 1976 to 1998 and found that New York Citys recent decline, though above average, was the fifth largest, behind San Diego, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, and Houston (Joanes, 1999). And many of these cities did not implement the kind of order-maintenance procedures that New York did. For example, the San Diego police department instilled a model based on community-police relations. Their strategy was one of sharing the responsibility of identifying and solving crimes with neighbourhood residents. Because of this, San Diego not saw a marked decrease in crime, but experienced a 15 percent drop in arrests, and an 8 percent drop in complaints of police misconduct (Greene, 1999). In addition, San Francisco made community involvement a priority, and felony incarcerations dropped from 2,136 in 1993 to 703 in 1998, and rape, robbery, aggravated assault and total violent crime decreased more than the rate in New York over the same period (Khaled and Macallair, 2002). Other cities, including Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, also experienced significant decreases in crime without adopting as coherent a policing strategy as New York or San Diego. The fact is that there was a remarkable drop in crime in many major cities in the United States during the 1990s, many of which used a variety of different strategies. To attribute New Yorks declining crime rates to merely their implementation of more aggressive initiatives is overly simplistic. However, New Yorks success got the most publicity, and much of the country wanted to learn from Giuliani and to implement their own no tolerance policies. And its popularity in the U.S. was only matched by its appeal abroad. In 1998, representatives from over 150 police departments from around the world visited New York to learn about order-maintenance policing, and in 2000, another 235 police departments, the vast majority from overseas, followed suit (Gootman, 2000). However, even if the Broken Windows theory is correct, it has still never been fully explained as to how it works. It could be argued that those who choose to commit crimes, denied the signals they would normally receive from low-grade disorder, move on to different locales. But where do they go? And if such places existed, couldnt they implement their own Broken Windows initiatives? One possible answer comes from writer and social theorist Malcolm Gladwell, who suggests that crime actually does increase or decrease much like an epidemic, and at certain thresholds will turn, rather than rise and fall in a typical linear fashion (Gladwell, 1996). Wilson and Kelling for their part fail to talk much about the specifics by which public disorder turns into crime. They simply say it does, as do most of the theorys supporters. However, some seem to have taken the idea to illogical extremes, such as a Lancaster, Pennsylvania reporter commenting on the citys new quality of life initiatives: If you put a couch out in a backyard, somebody could get raped on that couch (Van Nguyan, 2001). Bernard Harcourt, who has written extensively on the issue, believes that the aggressive prosecution of disorderly behaviour has had little effect on crime rates dropping. His argument is that the increased number of arrests, searchers, surveillance, and police officers on the streets has had the fairly straightforward effect of bringing more small offenses to light, and that no provable connection has ever made between disorder and crime (Harcourt, 2002). His worry is that this sets a dangerous precedent, and that the unfounded power of the police will only lead to more drastic action against less drastic offenses, especially minorities: Incidents like the NYPDs alleged torture of a Haitian naturally reinforce minority citizens distrust of the police. This mistrust has been boosted of late by numerous television videotapes showing police officers beating up unresisting citizens. In most cases, the cops were white and those on the receiving end of their clubs were black or Latino (McNamara, 1997). However, this is exactly in line with what Wilson and Kelling argue for, this bygone era of policing: The police in this earlier period assisted in that reassertion of authority by acting, sometimes violently, on behalf of the community. Young toughs were roughed up, people were arrested on suspicion or for vagrancy, and prostitutes and petty thieves were routed. Rights were something enjoyed by decent folk, and perhaps also by the serious professional criminal, who avoided violence and could afford a lawyer (Wilson and Kelling, 1982). Kelling himself spent some time accompanying an officer (Kelly) on his beat, the experience of which again illustrates a strange tolerance for lawlessness on the part of the police: Sometimes what Kelly did could be described as enforcing the law, but just as often it involved taking informal or extralegal steps to help protect what the neighborhood had decided was the appropriate level of public order. Some of the things he did probably would not withstand a legal challenge (ibid). After all, what can extralegal possibly mean other than illegal? It seems odd that this is the sort of behaviour the authors advocate, one in which officers are allowed to take the law into their own hands, but anyone who commits even the smallest of trespasses – jaywalking, littering, urinating in public – needs to be several punished. It certainly doesnt put much faith in the fairness of the model. And, in fact, the Broken Windows model is far from fair. One of its constant critiques is that the kinds of offenses it targets are primarily those carried out by the poor. There is no mention of embezzlement, crooked accountants, insurance scams, loan sharks or slumlords, crimes typical of the wealthy. And these offenses, certainly, can have just as detrimental effect on a community as a host of unsightly behaviours, if not more so. The broken windows metaphor is interesting in that it is actually up to landlords to fix real-life broken windows, while it is often those who are not in a position to do so, the community, who are held responsible for the damage. Aside from more people being arrested and subsequently incarcerated, the theory doesnt actually do much to aid a neighbourhood. If the aim is improved public order, couldnt that be achieved with homeless shelters, urban renewal projects and social workers? (Harcourt, 2002). In many ways, the philosophy behind it is almost out of sight, out of mind. And, in fact, this seems to be the view expressed by Kelling and his wife Catherine Coles in Fixing Broken Windows, a book-length exploration of the policing strategies first advocated in 1982: Kelling and Coles take a tough-minded view of who the street denizens we frequently label the homeless really are and what they are doing, sidestepping the politically constructed images of claimants like the homeless that little resemble the aggressive, conniving, often drug-crazed schemers that Kelling and Coles see populating the streets (Skogan, 1997). Skogan, in fact, is so skeptical of the motives of the poor that he cannot even use the word homeless without quotation marks, as if they all have houses somewhere. The problem with this kind of thinking is that it leads to a dangerous two worlds model, where people are either decent and respectable or disingenuous and no good. And, naturally, all the problems in neighbourhoods arise from the actions of the latter. This kind of precedent was set down by Wilson as far back as 1968: The teenager hanging out on a street corner late at night, especially one dressed in an eccentric manner, a Negro wearing a conk rag (a piece of cloth tied around the head to hold flat hair being processed – that is, straightened), girls in short skirts and boys in long hair parked in a flashy car talking loudly to friends on the curb, or interracial couples – all of these are seen by many police officers as persons displaying unconventional and improper behavior (Wilson, 1968). If the police are allowed to restore public order according to their own beliefs and judgments, what is to stop them from carrying out whatever action they deem necessary against the unconventional and improper, including using extralegal measures? Unfortunately, cultural hegemony is nothing new, and many neighbourhoods have enforced rules that govern the actions and abodes of its residents. In every community there is a house that doesnt conform to the aesthetic principles of the rest, a lawn that is never tended or strewn with toys or trash, a derelict car that doesnt meet environmental standards, all of which raise resident ire. But should these things be dealt with under the Broken Windows theory? For example, the town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, adopted Broken Windows measures in the late 90s, and in 2002, the local newspaper received this letter: This being almost mid-April, shouldnt homeowners have had sufficient time to remove their December holiday decorations? Icicle lights hung year round give the impression of a homeowner with an aversion to work and negatively impacts on neighborhoods (Kelly, 2002). While there are obvious differences between public drunks and icicle lights, in other cases the line is much finer, and the potential for abuse is obvious. Wilson and Kelling, for their part, are aware of the problem, and speak out against it: The concern about equity is more serious. We might agree that certain behavior makes one person more undesirable than another but how do we ensure that age or skin color or national origin or harmless mannerisms will not also become the basis for distinguishing the undesirable from the desirable? How do we ensure, in short, that the police do not become the agents of neighborhood bigotry? We can offer no wholly satisfactory answer to this important question. We are not confident that there is a satisfactory answer except to hope that by their selection, training, and supervision, the police will be inculcated with a clear sense of the outer limit of their discretionary authority. That limit, roughly, is this the police exist to help regulate behavior, not to maintain the racial or ethnic purity of a neighborhood (Wilson and Kelling, 1982). Unfortunately, their only solution is to again have the community put its faith in the integrity and judgment of the law enforcement officer, a notion that does little to quell the doubts of those who might be wrongly typecast as criminal because of their race, age or class. In such a subjective atmosphere, with so much at stake, it seems dubious to give one party the last word, or the ability to render judgment (especially if that party is the one with the gun). By taking the focus off the community, and putting it on the individual, a dangerous precedent is being set. However, not everyone agrees with this line of thinking. In fact, many people, including police officers, understand that the only way for Broken Windows or any other community enforcement project to succeed is by people working together: Without the full cooperation of the community, local government and the courts community policing will not work (police officer Daniel Jenkins, 2002). Unfortunately, the authors themselves dont focus too much on this notion of working together, and, if anything, since the Atlantic Monthly article, have gone even further to highlight the vast differences between people. For example, in 1985, Wilson co-authored with Richard Herrnstein a book called Crime and Human Nature, which describes the various traits by which to classify and identify criminals. The book deals not only with age, class and race but body types, painstakingly sorting and measuring these and other attributes into definable composites of law-abiders and law-breakers. The authors conclusions are fairly predictable, describing those prone to commit crimes as an: Unattached, young, most often racialized other. The youth or young adult, threatening, defiant, suspicious, often black, wearing distinctive designer-label clothes. Or the down-and-out street person in a dirty oversized coat. Or the squeegee man, the panhandler, the homeless person, the turnstile jumper, the public drunk (Harcourt, 2002). In stark opposition to this are the ideas of Felton Earls and his colleagues, who conducted a large-scale study of street crime in Chicago in 1997. The studys main focus was on collective efficacy, which was defined as social cohesion among neighbors and their willingness to intervene on behalf of the common good (Sampson, Raudenbush and Earls, 1997). The concept, according to the study, is the greatest predictor of street crime, and not Broken Windows or any form of disorder: Testing broken windows was not the point of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, the study planned and conducted by Dr. Earls and colleagues to unravel the social, familial, educational and personal threads that weave together into lives of crime and violenceNonetheless the data gathered for it, with a precision rarely seen in social science, directly contradicted Dr. Wilsons notions (Hurley, 2004). Thus, the seemingly obvious and incontestable connection between crime and disorder may, in fact, not exist at all. Community presence and action may actually be what ultimately fells crime. According to Earls: Its not so much that broken glass or disarray in neighborhoods is the source or root of crime, its really in the social relationships that exist among neighbors, among people who work in neighborhoods, among services and so forth, that the social conditions are there to engage or not to engage citizens, neighbors in watching out for crime or crime-related activity in the neighborhoods (Earls, 2004). And in another no less extensive study two years later, Sampson and Raudenbush found that  disorder and predatory crime were moderately related, but that, when antecedent characteristics were added (such as poverty and neighbourhood trust), the connection between the two vanished in four out of five tests – including homicide, arguably our best measure of violence (Sampson and Raudenbush, 1999). In addition, they discovered that while disorder may have indirect effects on crime by influencing migration patterns, investment by businesses, and overall neighborhood viabilityattacking public order through tough police tactics was politically popular but an analytically weak strategy to reduce crime (ibid). In short, the central tenets of Broken Windows – that disorder leads to crime, and that said crimes are generally carried out by individuals belonging to a criminal class – are questionable. This is not to say that the entire theory is at fault; certainly the notion that a safe neighbourhood is one in which the residents feel secure enough to participate in its defense still holds water. In addition, Wilson and Kelling are correct in urging the community to work with police, and for police to become a part of the community. What they seem to have missed is that the focus of this kind of relationship should rest on there being a real and active presence in the community, and not on crime and disorder. One related irony is that, in the use of Broken Windows policing in New York, for all their effectiveness in cracking down on a wide range of antisocial behaviors, the New York City police never repaired a single broken window, fixed up a single house, or cleaned one vacant lot (Grogan and Proscio, 2000). Furthermore, because of the new aggressive tactics, the city experienced illegal strip searches, extensive sums lost to police misconduct charges, clogged courts and countless traumatic encounters for innocent, ordinary individuals (Harcourt, 2002). In addition, the implementation of a policy of arrest may have had unintended consequences: Someone arrested for turnstile jumping may be fired for missing work; and strained police-civilian relations can create friction between the community and the police force that may be detrimental to solving crimes (ibid). However, this has not stopped cities across the world from emulating Broken Windows procedures, or, for that matter, Giuliani and the Manhattan Institute from exporting their policing philosophies to places like Latin America (despite reservations that what worked in an economic boom in the U.S. may not do as well in extremely poor cities undergoing violent crime and corrupt police) (Village Voice, 2002). The truth of the matter is that Broken Windows is not applicable everywhere, and even within the theory itself there are vagaries, namely the categories of disorder and the disorderly. The concepts are not well-defined; while we identify certain acts as disorderly – panhandling, public drunkenness, litter, prostitution – others – police brutality, tax evasion, accounting fraud – we do not. In addition, the acts themselves are sometimes ambiguous. For example, while people loitering on a buildings front steps or the presence graffiti may signify that a community is disorderly, it is only if they are seen as such. In some neighbourhoods, people loitering may represent strong community bonds, and graffiti may be seen as an art form, or as political or social commentary. The darker truth about Broken Windows is that it attempts to enforce an aesthetically sterile and safe environment, in which one community looks like the next looks like the next. While no one can argue that panhandlers, prostitutes and homeless people, along with litter, dirt and broken windows themselves are not eyesores, their removal is not necessarily a sign of progress. And for those subject to countless and unnecessary searches, acts of intimidation, arrests, imprisonments and the like, it is anything but. Bibliography Bratton, William J. Turnaround: How Americas Top Cop Reversed the Crime Epidemic. New York: Random House, 1998. Conklin, John E. Criminology. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992. DePalma, Anthony. The Americas Court: a Group That Changed New York. The New York Times, Nov. 11, 2002. Felton, Earls. National Public Radio, Weekend Edition. Jan. 17, 2004. Gladwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point. The New Yorker, June 3, 1996. Gootman, Elissa. A Police Departments Growing Allure: Crime Fighters From Around World Visit for Tips. The New York Times, Oct. 24, 2000. Greene, Judith A. Zero-Tolerance: A Case Study of Police Policies and Practices in New York City. Crime and Delinquency 45, 1999. Grogan, Paul, and Proscio, Tony. Comeback Cities: A Blueprint for Urban Neighborhood Revival. Boulder: Westview Press, 2000. Harcourt, Bernard. Policing Disorder: Can We Reduce Serious Crime by Punishing Petty Offenses? Boston Review, April/May, 2002. Hurley, Dan. Scientist at Work – Felton Earls: On Crime as Science (A Neighbor at a Time). The New York Times, Jan. 6, 2004. Jenkins, Daniel. Community Policing Problems: Most People Dont Want to Become Involved. The Sunday News, June 30, 2002. Joanes, Ana. Does the New York City Police Department Deserve Credit for the Decline in New York Citys Homicide Rates? A Cross-City Comparison of Policing Strategies and Homicide Rates. Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, 33, 1999. Kelling, George L. and Coles, Catherine M. Fixing Broken Windows. New York: The Free Press, 199

Exploration Of The Failure Of Feminism Essay -- Essays Papers

Exploration Of The Failure Of Femininism When looking through Newsweek, the article "The Failures of Feminism" grabbed my attention, and I reacted to it strongly. My immediate response was one of defensive disgust, but the more I realized that I might actually understand and argue with the author on some points. This essay is an exploration of my own beliefs and reflection of my growth as both a writer and a person. There are many women, like Kay Ebeling, that feel that feminism has failed them, that the promises of Gloria Steinem and others remain unfulfilled, or are false altogether. In an angry and discontented voice, Ebeling employs her personal experience to mold and create "The Failure of Feminism," a vote for return to traditional patterns of interaction between men and women in order to recapture the "American Dream" family of the 1950's. Feminism is multi-faceted, each face containing an important idea or plan that strives to empower all people. Examples of this empowerment are presenting improved opportunities and environments for both genders; distributing equal bargaining power; expanding the boundaries of sharing and expression; and placing value on the flexibility of choice. All of these are necessary to break with tradition in order to achieve the ideal of a happy, stable family, where both partners are satisfied. Feminism is neither a cure for societal ailments, nor a crystal ball for unexplainable phenomenon, nor a simple recipe that can easily result in a sensational masterpiece of the kitchen. It is a complexity, one that is explained by many people in many ways. It is a conglomeration of ideas that can serve as inspiration for change, but change requires investments of time, energy, and emotion by ind... ... and enlightens me. With every review of my beliefs, challenge to my present knowledge of myself, and experience of new environments, I grow emotionally, my commitment to feminism grows, and my acceptance of my own mistakes as building blocks for the future grows. If Kay Ebeling had been willingstagnation and encourages me to continuously grow, each day learning new ways to deal with my frustrations and improve my relationships. to invest in feminism, feminism would have given her a new way to deal with her experiences. Instead of disillusionment, she could have gained new, positive opportunities and understanding Ebeling's complete repudiation of feminism takes away her enthusiasm to achieve goals, while my commitment allows me to be continuously inspired toward mine. Feminism directs me away from personal The complexities of feminism have endless possibilities. Exploration Of The Failure Of Feminism Essay -- Essays Papers Exploration Of The Failure Of Femininism When looking through Newsweek, the article "The Failures of Feminism" grabbed my attention, and I reacted to it strongly. My immediate response was one of defensive disgust, but the more I realized that I might actually understand and argue with the author on some points. This essay is an exploration of my own beliefs and reflection of my growth as both a writer and a person. There are many women, like Kay Ebeling, that feel that feminism has failed them, that the promises of Gloria Steinem and others remain unfulfilled, or are false altogether. In an angry and discontented voice, Ebeling employs her personal experience to mold and create "The Failure of Feminism," a vote for return to traditional patterns of interaction between men and women in order to recapture the "American Dream" family of the 1950's. Feminism is multi-faceted, each face containing an important idea or plan that strives to empower all people. Examples of this empowerment are presenting improved opportunities and environments for both genders; distributing equal bargaining power; expanding the boundaries of sharing and expression; and placing value on the flexibility of choice. All of these are necessary to break with tradition in order to achieve the ideal of a happy, stable family, where both partners are satisfied. Feminism is neither a cure for societal ailments, nor a crystal ball for unexplainable phenomenon, nor a simple recipe that can easily result in a sensational masterpiece of the kitchen. It is a complexity, one that is explained by many people in many ways. It is a conglomeration of ideas that can serve as inspiration for change, but change requires investments of time, energy, and emotion by ind... ... and enlightens me. With every review of my beliefs, challenge to my present knowledge of myself, and experience of new environments, I grow emotionally, my commitment to feminism grows, and my acceptance of my own mistakes as building blocks for the future grows. If Kay Ebeling had been willingstagnation and encourages me to continuously grow, each day learning new ways to deal with my frustrations and improve my relationships. to invest in feminism, feminism would have given her a new way to deal with her experiences. Instead of disillusionment, she could have gained new, positive opportunities and understanding Ebeling's complete repudiation of feminism takes away her enthusiasm to achieve goals, while my commitment allows me to be continuously inspired toward mine. Feminism directs me away from personal The complexities of feminism have endless possibilities.

We Must Stop Cloning Now! Essay -- Cloning Genetic Engineering Essays

We Must Stop Cloning Now! Did you know it took 277 tries to finally create the first mammal clone, Dolly? The process of cloning is not even close to being perfected to be used on animals or humans. It would also cause many different problems in the world if we did start cloning. We should stop this practice because it has to many flaws, it destroys individuality and uniqueness, will cause over population, and is against many religious and moral beliefs. Cloning started off with farmers cloning plants thousands of years ago in very simple ways, like cutting a plant and letting the roots combine to make another plant. Early farmers devised many different breeding techniques to reproduce plants with great traits like faster growth, lager seeds, and sweeter fruits. This is what led to the first clone of an animal. The process of animal cloning involves taking an unfertilized egg, or oocyte, and swapping the nucleus the oocyte with a different quiescient nucleus from another animal. The process of swapping is called Nucleus Transfer. Once the new nucl...

Borgmann’s Proposal to Reform Technology Essay -- Philosophy Albert Bo

Borgmann’s Proposal to Reform Technology Albert Borgmann follows the general project by Heidegger to see how technology has harmful effects on humanity and to determine how it can be reformed. Borgmann shares Heidegger’s view that modern technology is starkly different from premodern technology in its pattern of disclosing the world to human beings. Borgmann agrees that a sort of ethical reform must be undertaken to limit technological ways of living from dominating the lives of individuals and to keep technology in its place. His proposal for a direction of reform first takes cues from Heidegger but then asserts the need for different tactics. First, we look at Borgmann’s chapter "Focal Things and Practices." Here he names the things that matter in directing human lives "focal." Focal things contribute to the direction and ordering of one’s life in a productive way, and they disclose the world and illuminate the context of themselves and their related life activities. He actually uses a lot of verbs to convey the sense of focus with which he is concerned, so no one terse definition is given. Borgmann agrees with Heidegger that the simple kinds of things are those that focus a gathering of information about the world and benefit human beings by highlighting important life concerns, though he thinks that Heidegger sees the use of these things as too much an escape from technology rather than an affirmation of it. These simple, focal things are premodern objects, such as Heidegger’s example of an earthen jug, or even activities. The jug gathers and discloses the world because it is made of the earth and is used to store wine from grapes that grow in the earth; furthermore, the jug is used in the human context of tradition, ... ... things and practices are without being misguided by the level of a thing’s technological complexity. It seems that if focal practices engage certain elements but technology does not in principle exclude those elements, both of which Borgmann agrees, then it is not necessary to maintain Borgmann’s criticism of modern technological things. His concern is the pattern in which technology is currently engaged, and he has not at all made it clear how the troublesome disunities and commodities are necessarily related to the products of modern technology. We need to find the essential features of focal concerns and apply them to a reform proposal without Borgmann’s intermediate complications. Bibliography Borgmann, Albert. "Focal Things and Practices." Philosophy of Technology. Ed. Robert C. Scharff and Val Dusek. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2003. 293-312.

Lan Topologies

LAN Topologies IT240 10/14/12 1. Case Project 2-1 With a network of 50 computers I will use the Ring Topology to upgrade this network. With this type of topology all the devices are connecting in a loop form and the information travels in one direction, thus avoiding collisions. Here the cabling doesn’t terminate, it continually goes from one device to another till it gets back to the original device. It is also easier to manage the network since all the information is passed around the ring in the same direction. . Case project 2-2 With that many computer and four servers, I will use an Extended Star Topology. As pointed out in the case project that there are a few switches available here, I will use a central switch and connect the rest of the available switches to it and connect the 200 PC’s to those switches. Switches are good for determining each individual packet’s destination and ensuring that they are delivered to the right device.Note Even though they mi ght have two different uses in some cases, the hubs in my diagram represent the switches. 3. Case project 2-3 * Physical versus logical topology: A physical topology defines how the devices on a particular network are physically connected; logical on the contrast tells us how the systems on the physical topology communicate. * Bus Topology: In this topology all the devices are physical chained to one another through a single cabling system.This form of topology works better when the numbers of computers on the network are limited. * Star Topology: This is the form of topology where all devices connect to central unit through a hub, switch or even a router. One of the biggest advantages here is; in the event one of the devises failed, it does not bring the entire network down. * Ring Topology: In this form of topology all the devices are directly connected to the next existing device in a ring form.This kind of works like the bus topology, however, there is no termination here, as th e devices connect from one to another all the way back to the original device. * Ethernet and CSMA/CD: This is the type of technology networks use to sense if there is an ongoing transmission. In the event where there is one, the system goes into wait mode till the channel is free for it to begin its own transmission. This is one of the ways to avoid collision.