Motivation and Retention of Adult Online Sophomore Students Research Proposal - 1

Motivation and Retention of Adult Online Sophomore Students - Research Proposal Example The purpose of the study is to find out â€Å"Why the level of adult online dropout is increasing and how to motivate and retain the adult online sophomore students?† Various issues that may lead to an online dropout may vary from issue of isolation, disconnectedness to technological problems. According to an online survey conducted to understand the various reasons of online dropouts of sophomore students, reasons are varied and unique to each individual dropout. Although there are very less literature work as well as national statistics on online adult sophomore dropouts, a recent report published in â€Å"Chronicle of Higher Education† indicates that â€Å"Institutions report dropout rates ranging from 20 to 50 percent for online learners and administrators of online courses agree that dropout rates are often 10 to 20 percentage points higher in online offerings than in their face-to-face counterparts† (Frankola, n.d.). The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), in a research report conducted in the 1999, on the effectiveness of online learning, found that there are higher rate of sophomore dropouts in online learning than the traditional institutions. There are two theories which may provide an outline on dropout of online adult sophomore students. Tinto’s Student Integration Model and Bean’s Model of Student Departure are the two theories. The â€Å"Tinto’s Student Integration Model theory theorizes how well the individual’s motivation and academic ability match the institution’s academic and social characteristics. This match shapes a person’s commitment to completing college and commitment to the institution. The second theory, Bean’s Model of Student Departure, predicts persistence based on behavioral intention† (Willging & Johnson, 2004, p. 104). According to the US Census Bureau (2000), â€Å"one in every three Americans is a sophomore dropout†. It is becoming a

Partnership among employees Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Partnership among employees - Essay Example When one speaks or thinks about an industry or an office or an organization, the 'mental picture', one visualizes is of machines, smoke outlets, sirens etc, etc (in case of industries) and papers, computers, cabins etc, etc (in case of offices). But, the crucial thing that the mind 'crops out' is the picture of a working human. Without delving deeply into why mind always associate industry and office with non-living things, the point is, humans are the crucial things who can put an organization in a cruise mode in terms of production, sales, profits, etc. So, the workers only form the crucial 'cog' in the running of the organization. Only if these crucial workers are recruited or staffed optimally through an effective recruitment process, the organization can achieve optimum success. Even with automation and computerization happening in every segments of organization, all the important processes inside the organization mainly rests with the humans. Even though, all the important proc esses starts and ends with the leader or the management team, the workers will also be included, as part of "successful work teams" or "Partnership for Progress". "Partner for Progress" is the organizational term given to the UK government policy which spelled out how employees should work in partnership as teams for the successful functioning of the organizations. That is, since late 1990s, the U.K. ... So, this paper will critically evaluate the concept of 'Partnership' in employee relations by identifying and describing what organizational requirements must be in place and also what impediments should not be in place, to set the stage for successful Partnership, focussing particularly on the role of leaders. Organization requirements for the establishment of successful Partnership Involving the employees productively and creating partnershipIn any organizations, the successful Partnership can be successfully set or established, if the head or the management team of the unit put their thoughts, strategies and also the organizational goals for discussion among the other organisation officers or workers. This way the workers as a form of work teams can be involved productively. That is, the workers can input their gained knowledge and experience in the decision making process. This strategy will have unexpected at the same time favourable results, because one may never know from where, when and importantly from whom a great idea could come. "Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results" (Patton). So, involving and allowing co-workers to play a part as work teams will yield optimum results, as it create as well as optimize partnership and thereby performance among the employees. But, the aspect that should b e taken care is, even though the workers can be optimally involved as work teams, the head or the management team of the unit should be the final authority. So, if this requirement is fulfilled, successful partnership among the employees can be established successfully, by involving the co-workers of the unit in the appropriate stages. Leaders should be a role model to

Data Mining Techniques and Job Assignment Effectiveness

Data Mining Techniques and Job Assignment Effectiveness Introduction Bayer AG, a chemical and pharmaceutical company, was founded in 1863 by Friedrich Bayer and John Friedrich Weskott. Bayer’s headquarter is located in Leverkusen, Morth Rhine – Westphalia, Germany and they are well known for its originality in their brand of aspirin globally. Till date, Bayer has 290 subsidiaries in 73 countries throughout the world and corporate are located in close proximity to their customers and market worldwide. Bayer is an organization that deals with core competencies in the areas of health care, agriculture and high – tech polymer materials where their primary areas of business consists of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, consumer healthcare products, agricultural chemicals and biotechnology products and high value of polymers. (AG 2014) Bayer Healthcare, Bayer Cropscience and Bayer Materialscience were established to target the respective sectors of healthcare, agriculture and high – tech polymers in the market. The holding company and subgroups are supported in their activities by three service companies Bayer Business Services, Bayer Technology Services and Currenta. The mission of Bayer is â€Å"Bayer: Science for a better life†. It speaks of scientific successes aim to improve people’s quality of life and at the same time form the foundation for business sustainability and profitability. Their values is revolves around the word LIFE which represents Leadership, Integrity, Flexibility and Efficiency in guiding them to fulfill their mission statement. (AG 2014) Table of Contents Introduction Table of Contents What is Signaling? Effectiveness of Signaling Related Literature Review Data Mining Techniques Job Assignment Education Incentive / Wage Application in business world Advancing knowledge and leadership skills Effectiveness Signaling Approaches Recommendations Conclusion References What is Signaling? Signaling is the idea whereby one party credibly conveys information about itself to another intended party. (Brewer and McEwan 2010) In firm’s perspective, they often face the difficulties of choosing suitable individuals out of the pool of applicants with different levels of skill. It is difficult and costly for firm to evaluate every job applicant to show their competency to them. Hence, signaling plays an important role in helping firms to differentiate potential candidates and not underestimating or overestimating individual’s talent and ability in job screening process. Likewise, employees could also send signals to their employer as they act as ‘sellers’ of their human capital so that employer are willing to give them employment opportunities or high wages for better worker with outstanding performance and productivity in the company overtime. Effectiveness of Signaling It allows employers to sort talent out of the pool of candidates appropriately in assigning them position they are capable or potential doing the required job. Asymmetric information are often presented during recruitment, company have to screen using signaling approaches to aiding the accuracy of screening process. (Lazear and Gibbs 2009) Related Literature Review There are a number of economic literature reviews that can discuss a few approaches that companies could actually examine and consider the few possible approaches in enhancing or implement in their existing signaling approaches. Data Mining Techniques Firstly, the quality of human capital is crucial for companies to maintain their competitive advantage but companies are facing and suffering from high turnover rates making them hard to neither retain nor recruit the potential employees. Hence, there is a need to develop personnel selection mechanism in finding suitable employees for companies. A data mining framework based on decision tree and association rules to generate useful rules for personnel selection. Results for data mining framework could provide employer with decision rules relating to personnel information in regards to their work performance and retention. Studies have shown and support that employers hiring decision for indirect labors including engineers and managers with different job scopes or function. (Chien and Chen 2008) Job Assignment Secondly, in labor market, it is often the case that employee’s lifetime, information about their ability is gradually revealed in a company they are committing. However, information about an employee’s ability is only directly revealed to the employing company however other companies use employee’s job assignment as a signal of ability. Therefore, wage rates tend to be closely related with jobs than with ability levels, frequent inefficient assignment of employee to job and severity of inefficiency tends to be negatively correlated with the level of firm specific human capital. Thus, other companies are usually at informational disadvantage when it comes to experience workers, but somewhat reduce by the fact companies can use individual’s job assignment as an imprecise signal of individual ability. (Waldman 1984) Education Thirdly, higher levels of education and more work experience tend to have higher wages are commonly linked to time spent in school or job increase the wage by directly increasing employee’s productivity. It is unlikely to explain that most wage differential are associated with schooling and work history. Higher educated employees elicits lower quitting or absenteeism rate as compared to lower educated employees. Employer can take education into account when hiring worker as a means of hiring worker with lower absenteeism and job turnover rate hence, demanding a minimum education level in part of job requirement. In turn, employees can use duration of schooling to signal their ability to potential employers of their ability and take them into consideration pool. (Weiss 1995) Incentive / Wage Fourthly, employees work due to the incentives they receive at the end of their working outcome. Workers are heterogeneous in their intrinsic motivation to work in a company. Optimal incentive schemes allow the firm to attract and select highly motivated workers to fill in the vacancies available in the company. Posting of higher wage rates increase the probability of filling the vacancies faster with more applicants trying to apply for the job or position to get higher work wage. Moreover, it decreases the expected average quality of job applicants as less motivated workers would apply for the job. Optimal wage scheme involves a tradeoff between the probabilities of filling the vacancy; rent left to the worker and expected worker’s motivation in workplace. (Delfgaauw 2007) Application in business world Bayer pursue after a sustainable human resource policy revolving around the acronym LIFE, Leadership, Integrity, Flexibility and Efficiency values in their employees. These values enclose the company culture combining with a strong focus on performance and development of high degree of social responsibility which at the same time made it practical and simple for the employees in their work. They believe in systematic people development is important in future success of the company. The fundamental principle is that every employee has his or her own individual strengths and talents that deserve recognition and development in the workplace. (AG, Annual Report 2014) Vacancies in Bayer from non-managerial to senior management level are advertised via a globally accessible platform. They believe regular feedback system is necessary for the continuous development of their employees and organization and that it helps them to adapt to changing requirements. Group-wide employee survey is their feedback tool at the corporate level is. Survey is held every two year to monitor the employees and receiving competent feedback the strategy, culture and working conditions. Shortcomings are identified in specific areas in the process and making rooms for improvements. Advancing knowledge and leadership skills Fostering of employees’ â€Å"lifelong learning† is an important element of both the development of people and the demographic management at Bayer. In Bayer, they encourage all their employees to refresh and expand their knowledge and skills in all phases of their working lives. Education and training programmes comprises of a wide range of work-related activities that enable employees to broaden their specialist knowledge or acquire a new set of skills, for example by learning a language or acquiring leadership competencies. Bayer makes an effort to appeal to talented people worldwide and tries to retain employees for long periods of time by providing them with attractive development opportunities. Their success in recruiting employees is attributable to their attractiveness as an employer, which was justified by numerous awards earned in 2013 by their active drive in recruiting activities at the local level. Bayer also collaborated with leading universities in most countries in order to raise students’ awareness of the wide-ranging opportunities it offers. For example, in China, they have currently cooperate with more than 40 universities and offer up to 500 students a year an opportunity to undertake internships in all areas of the company. In addition, Bayer also offered training programs, scholarships and technical support for their dissertations. (AG, Annual Report 2014) Effectiveness Signalling Approaches Bayer had effectively used education and incentive signalling approaches to signal the potential employees since they have invested a lot in their recruitment activities moreover, partnering with universities globally and providing internships and trainings for them. Through these activities they can effectively signal potential employees and measure their possible potential or possibilities they can provide to the company. As failures is costly to employees, employer and their reputation. Hence, it is important that they screen the correct candidates and minimize adverse selection and irreversible damage cause to public health. Therefore, education used as a signal is important due to the work nature of Bayer. Their job scope is highly inclined and dependent to education where applicants must be highly knowledgeable eliciting competency as the same time as the jobs they offer requires high specialization instead of a general knowledge for productivity and the future successes of Bayer. Internship programs could also serve as their probation and self selection model to actually assess the applicants and screen those interns that they would like to extend or offer an employment. This could indicate that with higher level of education, these could mean higher level of productivity whereby grades could be an assessment of their potential productivity with same degrees attainment employees hence, resulting in wage differentials. Bayer tries to appeal to the potential individuals globally and retain employees for long periods by providing good development opportunities, a modern working environment and competitive compensation Training programs they provide is opportunity given to employees to upgrade their skills to yield higher productivity where this could also means opportunities given for employee to actually have a promotion with increased productivity which in turn gain more incentives or wage with the promotion in their incentive scheme to signal and motivate ability employees. Signaling only works if the incentives of employees are being addressed, ultimately workers aim is the incentives they are looking for in exchange of their labors. Recommendations Bayer could try to employ data mining technique as one of their signalling approaches. As this technique could allow them to screen existing employee or new candidates more accurately as more information is being reflected clearly in this method and compare against other candidates. Company would have information they needed on individuals they want to screen for internal promotions to fill up vacancies available before sourcing externally their behaviour, job performance, productivity and education would be clearly shown over time. But internal infrastructure would be ideal for data mining technique since it is a technique suited for long term use. Moreover, due to the job nature requirements of Bayer, it is ideal that they screen for internal candidates first before sourcing externally as their inventions revolves around a lot of patents and trade secrets as the higher the ranking or hierarchy the more things they would be facing and dealing with. Job assignment could be used as a signalling approach although not a very precise method but it could be an add on in assessing employees. It would reflect efficiency of employees although not productivity. After all, with education used as a major signalling approach, employees employed have more or less elicited certain abilities and productivity which is why they are valued. It could be a signalling approach when comparing against employees of same degree or specialization to be competitive advantage and promoting the correct candidate in order for Bayer to achieve higher productivity and success rate. Conclusion Although Bayer have an outstanding recruitment activities being used and improved actively and well known for being an outstanding employer with the high rates of employment they can achieve globally and providing numerous of employee benefits, but there are some minor improvement which they can make to improve overall system. Hence, Bayer reflects heavy investments made in their recruitment activities therefore it is costly for them to recruit wrong employee which might lead to severe losses incur to them. In conclusion, data mining techniques and job assignment could also be some of signalling approaches they could employ to improve their accuracy of signalling so that adverse selection and risky hires could be minimize as much as possible as mentioned above. References AG, Bayer. Annual Report. 28 February 2014. http://www.annualreport2013.bayer.com/en/employees.aspx (accessed July 20, 2014). —. Bayer : Science For A Better Life. 23 July 2014. http://www.bayer.com/ (accessed July 17, 2014). Brewer, Dominic J., and ‎Patrick J. McEwan. ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION. Spain, 2010. Chien, Chen-Fu, and Li-Fei Chen. â€Å"Data mining to improve personnel selection and enhance human capital: A case study in high-technology industry.† Expert Systems with Applications, 2008: 280–290. Delfgaauw, Josse. â€Å"Signaling and screening of workers’ motivation.† Journal of Economic Behavior Organization, 2007: 605–624. Lazear, Edward P., and Micheal Gibbs. Personnel Economics in Practice. 2nd. United States of America: Don Fowley, 2009. Waldman, Michael. â€Å"Job Assignments, Signalling, and Efficiency.† The RAND Journal of Economics, 1984: 255-267. Weiss, Andrew. â€Å"Human Capital vs. Signalling Explanations of Wages.† The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1995: 133-154.

Reservoir Dogs :: Art

Reservoir Dogs Gangsters, violence, murder and corruption !!!!! If these are some of the things that you're into, then this is your kind of movie. Be ready to watch it more than once to be sure to get all the movie has to offer because it jumps from subject to subject and can be a little confusing. The movie on the whole was really great. It was filled with some pretty gory scenes and extreme violent content, Tarantinos' trademark. The way he portrays the real life aspects of crime and violence are unbelievable. I wonder if he experienced some of these things himself and that's why he has a realistic view of them. Then again, I can't really gauge how realistic any of these themes are because after watching this kind of movie it makes me feel like I lead a really sheltered lifestyle. Why does all the violence in Tarantinos' movies become so attractive to us normal people? I think it's because most of his material is underworld stuff. He deals with things we can barely relate to. Topics that are so far fetched to a "normal" person that they kind of hypnotize us into watching. Things happen in his movies that are so bizarre, we can't begin to imagine them happening to us in real life. The weird part is, many of these things DO happen every day. We all know there really are gangsters, mobsters and really low-life people that involve themselves in what we think of as underworld crime. Drug deals.... on a level so great... amounts we can't begin to comprehend. Murders, for whatever reason. Even the thought of hiring someone to kill someone else gives us a goose bump or three. In his movies it's almost like borrowing a cup of sugar from your next door neighbor. Chopping off someone's ear would repulse me and probably make me want to spew my lunch. Tarantinos' characters chop off ears then talk into them as if they were using ma bell. His characters attitudes are totally ruthless. They could give a shit if you were the cousin of the president or a nanny. They have a job to do and they do it. No holes barred, no questions asked, no thought given to actions or consequences. They are almost like robots, zombies of the underworld that have no emotions or respect for the value of life.

Intellectual and Cognitive Development

Understanding Child and Young Person Development Assignment 023 – Table 2 – Intellectual and Cognitive Development Explain the sequence and rate of development Age Range 0-3 Months Babies at this age are learning a lot about their parents they are beginning to recognise the sound of their voices, especially Mum's voice and smell, they may stop crying when Mums voice is heard. 3-6 Months Objects and toys become very interesting to babies at this time.Toys are explored with fingers and mouth. They are very alert. 6-9 Months Around this time babies will cry when their primary carer leaves the room but then around 8 or 9 moths learn that people and objects do not disappear but continue to exist even when they are out of sight. 1-2 Years At this time in their life they recognise routines throughout the day, babies may get excited when they see a familiar face or toy or when a bib is put on for feeding.They enjoy toys that they put things in to containers and out again, they may pull off hats and socks repeatedly. They also respond well to brothers and sisters. 2-4 Years Children begin to know what they like and play with the same games over and over again. They like pretend play games like drinking from an empty cup or dressing up in clothes of their hero's. 4-7 Years This is the age they gain load of confidence and co-ordination. They start school and learn to read, write and count they also do simple maths. -12 Years By this age children are well co-ordinated, the way children think and reason is reflected in their play, they are much more organised and focused. 12-16 Years Children of this age have learnt how to solve problems and have an understanding of reasoning. 16-19 Years Decisions have to be made at this tae of ones life, if to stay in education or to find a job. If leaving your familiar environment you have to embrace new settings, rules and people.

Judicial Precedent

Judicial precedent: A judgment of a court of law cited as an authority for deciding a similar set of facts; a case which serves as authority for the legal principle embodied in its decision. The common law has developed by broadening down from precedent to precedent. A judicial precedent is a decision of the court used as a source for future decision making. This is known as stare decisis (to stand upon decisions) and by which precedents are authoritative and binding and must be followed. In giving judgment in a case, the judge will set out the facts of the case, state the law applicable to the facts and then provide his or her decision. It is only the ratio decidendi (the legal reasoning or ground for the judicial decision) which is binding on later courts under the system of judicial precedent. Any observation made by the judge on a legal question suggested by the case before him or her but not arising in such a manner as requiring a decision is known as obiter dictum (a saying by the way). There may several reasons for a decision provided by the judge in any given judgment and one must not assume that a reason can be regarded as ‘obiter' because some other ‘ratio' has been provided. Thus, it is not always easy to distinguish ratio decidendi from obiter dictum when evaluating the effects of a particular decision. A single decision of a superior court is absolutely binding on subsequent inferior courts. However, certain of the superior courts regard themselves as bound by their own decisions whilst others do not: 1. Decisions of the House of Lords bind all other courts but the House does not regard itself as strictly bound by its previous decisions, for example, in Murphy v Brentwood District Council (1990) the House elected to overrule its earlier decision in Anns v London Borough of Merton (1978) on the issue of a local authority's liability in negligence to future purchasers of property. 2. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, holds itself bound by its previous decisions: Young v Bristol Aeroplane Co Ltd (1944) but in that case also identified three exceptional cases where it would disregard its own previous decision. These are (i) where two Court of Appeal decisions conflict; (ii) if the decision although not expressly overruled conflicts with a later decision of the House of Lords; and (iii) if the earlier decision was given per incuriam (through want of care) however it cannot ignore a decision of the House of Lords on the same basis. . Divisional courts of the High Court have adopted the rule laid down in Young's case although judges sitting at first instance are not bound to follow the decisions of other High Court judges although they tend to do so for the sake of certainty Judicial precedent is an important source of English law as an original precedent is one which creates and applies a new rule. However, the later decisions, especially of the higher courts, can have a number of effects upon precedents.. In particular, they may be: †¢Reversed: where on appeal in the same case the decision is reversed, the initial decision will cease to have any effect †¢Overruled: where in a later case a higher court decides that the first case was wrongly decided †¢A refusal to follow: this arises where a court, not bound by the decision, cannot overrule it but does not wish to follow it so it simply refuses to follow the earlier decision †¢Distinguished: where an earlier case is rejected as authority, either because the material facts differ or because the statement of law in the previous case is too narrow to be properly applied to the new set of facts †¢Explained: a judge may seek to interpret an earlier decision before applying it or distinguishing it, thus the effect of the earlier case is varied in the circumstances of the present ca Judicial Precedent Judicial precedent: A judgment of a court of law cited as an authority for deciding a similar set of facts; a case which serves as authority for the legal principle embodied in its decision. The common law has developed by broadening down from precedent to precedent. A judicial precedent is a decision of the court used as a source for future decision making. This is known as stare decisis (to stand upon decisions) and by which precedents are authoritative and binding and must be followed. In giving judgment in a case, the judge will set out the facts of the case, state the law applicable to the facts and then provide his or her decision. It is only the ratio decidendi (the legal reasoning or ground for the judicial decision) which is binding on later courts under the system of judicial precedent. Any observation made by the judge on a legal question suggested by the case before him or her but not arising in such a manner as requiring a decision is known as obiter dictum (a saying by the way). There may several reasons for a decision provided by the judge in any given judgment and one must not assume that a reason can be regarded as ‘obiter' because some other ‘ratio' has been provided. Thus, it is not always easy to distinguish ratio decidendi from obiter dictum when evaluating the effects of a particular decision. A single decision of a superior court is absolutely binding on subsequent inferior courts. However, certain of the superior courts regard themselves as bound by their own decisions whilst others do not: 1. Decisions of the House of Lords bind all other courts but the House does not regard itself as strictly bound by its previous decisions, for example, in Murphy v Brentwood District Council (1990) the House elected to overrule its earlier decision in Anns v London Borough of Merton (1978) on the issue of a local authority's liability in negligence to future purchasers of property. 2. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, holds itself bound by its previous decisions: Young v Bristol Aeroplane Co Ltd (1944) but in that case also identified three exceptional cases where it would disregard its own previous decision. These are (i) where two Court of Appeal decisions conflict; (ii) if the decision although not expressly overruled conflicts with a later decision of the House of Lords; and (iii) if the earlier decision was given per incuriam (through want of care) however it cannot ignore a decision of the House of Lords on the same basis. . Divisional courts of the High Court have adopted the rule laid down in Young's case although judges sitting at first instance are not bound to follow the decisions of other High Court judges although they tend to do so for the sake of certainty Judicial precedent is an important source of English law as an original precedent is one which creates and applies a new rule. However, the later decisions, especially of the higher courts, can have a number of effects upon precedents.. In particular, they may be: †¢Reversed: where on appeal in the same case the decision is reversed, the initial decision will cease to have any effect †¢Overruled: where in a later case a higher court decides that the first case was wrongly decided †¢A refusal to follow: this arises where a court, not bound by the decision, cannot overrule it but does not wish to follow it so it simply refuses to follow the earlier decision †¢Distinguished: where an earlier case is rejected as authority, either because the material facts differ or because the statement of law in the previous case is too narrow to be properly applied to the new set of facts †¢Explained: a judge may seek to interpret an earlier decision before applying it or distinguishing it, thus the effect of the earlier case is varied in the circumstances of the present ca

Decision Making in Romeo and Juliet Essays

Decision Making in Romeo and Juliet Essays Decision Making in Romeo and Juliet Essay Decision Making in Romeo and Juliet Essay As Elizabeth Kubler-Ross once wisely said, â€Å"I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime†. Carefully analyzing the decision one is about to make with incorporating others opinions assists one in reducing the likelihood of consequences. Young adolescents of the present day are making decisions of which they have not thought thoroughly, and its effects are shown well in Gina Higgins poem, Hash for Cash. Similarly as shown in the illustration of the two obese boys, parents often make choices for their children that they think are the best for them but they are entirely the opposite. Decision making from only one point of view is adequately shown in the William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet because in love one should not lose one’s senses of what is logical and what is completely obtuse. It is vital for an individual to cautiously consider one’s options as choices include consequences. All throughout one’s life an individual will make decision that at first seems perfect but in the long run one will abruptly approach the penalties in the future. With colossal amounts of information for young adults regarding issues that these individuals face in their everyday life, it is hard to comprehend why they are still making unwise choices. The poem, â€Å"Hash for Cash† (Gina Higgins) exceptionally portrays a young adult who is â€Å"stoned to the eyebrows† (Hash for Cash) because he or she has chosen to do drugs and irresponsible alcohol usage. These individuals may have heaps of excuses for why these individuals first got involved, but ultimately it was in their hands to refuse the urge of experimenting this new substance. The reason being that they knew about its consequences ? that would later take is in command of the person’s life. Subsequently â€Å"studies seem a waste of time†(Hash for Cash) and alas for most of these individuals, â€Å"reality [becomes] startling†(Hash for Cash) and the age where they were supposed to start living their life ? t abruptly ends due to the impractical mistake these individuals had selected to make earlier in their years. These adolescents’ lives could have taken a different route if they had thought twice about the decision they were embarking to make. If they parents had taken that moment in time to initiate the problem their child was going through these young adults may have had a brighter future. It is evident that a child is who he is from his or her s urroundings; especially his parent(s), and until that child is of ‘age’, decisions are made for him, particularly in the dietary department. The two obese children that are exposed in the illustration impeccably show the consequences that the children have to face, for the reason being that the parent(s) had not decided to consider the healthy alternative. Unfortunately the two boys in the photograph are having their childhood snatched away from them, because the food that they are consuming will cause them to comprise various health problems, such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and many others. Ronald McDonald, the trademark for the company is shown to be sitting outside and enjoying the fresh air while these children are inside consuming an unhealthy diet, and pointing for more. In addition Ronald McDonald is not an obese man, unlike the children; therefore the company McDonalds is sending a hypocritical massage to the public about the affects of consuming Mcdonalds products. Thus, with all the information that is available the parent(s) of these children should have been able to make a logical decision about the food that they are going to be providing for their children. Just because the idea of it appeared appealing and one was in such haste, one should not make such a huge decision about their life without the reconsideration of its alternatives. The notorious Romeo and Juliet had made a decision that; alas lead to their demise. â€Å"A pair of star-cross’d lovers†(Romeo and Juliet) they were madly in love with each other, because they were both in love with the idea of having a companion for life. At the mere age of thirteen Juliet had already had a perspective about marriage and it was that, â€Å"It is an honour that I dream not of. (Romeo and Juliet) Likewise for Romeo for the reason that he had just recently gotten rejected from the women he had ‘loved’ before Juliet. After their first meeting they had already planned to get married, without anyone else’s input and support, clearly showcasing that they had not thought ahead of the consequences they would have to endure. This rushed process lead to several mis communications and hurdles, between Romeo and Juliet’s families and themselves. Romeo’s decision had caused the mortality of this childhood companion, Mercutio in a battle and his mother, Lady Montague because the â€Å"Grief of [her] son’s exile hath stopp’d her breath. †(Romeo and Juliet) These two lovers had helpers, which aided the two of to come together; Juliet’s Nurse and Friar Lawrence. These helpers were both of age and wise but the only incentive they had of helping Romeo and Juliet was because it might â€Å"turn [the] households’ rancour to pure love. †(Romeo and Juliet) If Romeo, Juliet, the Nurse and Friar Lawrence had clearly thought through and looked at the possible consequences, than more than Romeo and Juliet’s lives would have been saved. In love one might make wrong choices but they can be preventable, by just assessing through and ‘reading the fine print’ of the decision one is about to make. Likewise for parents, for the reason being that they should analyze the choices they are making for their children, because in their perspective it might be wiser but in the future it can become a heavy burden. Young adults are only a couple of years away from the world of adulthood, and the choices they make now, will greatly affect them in ever aspect of their life in the future. Thus one should look ahead into the future to the consequences of the decisions they are about to make so they can ask for aid and prevent it. This is very much shown with the community centre project in New York City, which happens to be a couple of blocks away from the site of the horrific events of 9/11. They people who had embarked on creating this centre with a mosque built in had not thought of the response they were going to get and the consequences that are going to be endured by everyone who is either Muslim or someone who is against the construction of the centre. If the people who had thought of this project and had considered of the consequences that they would have to undergo then people in the United States would not have been divided by distinctive religious beliefs. P. S : Dont copy/paste this and hand it in as your assignment at school.. not worth it. just go and learn. and by the way this essay isnt as good as it looks, not going to get you good grade at all.

Role of Sexual Politics in Louise Mallards Possession of Self Assertion Essays

Role of Sexual Politics in Louise Mallards Possession of Self Assertion Essays Role of Sexual Politics in Louise Mallards Possession of Self Assertion Paper Role of Sexual Politics in Louise Mallards Possession of Self Assertion Paper Louise Mallard, Kate Chopping The Story Question: Discuss the role of sexual politics in Louise mallards possession of self assertion. Answer: Kate Chopin is a very famous American writer of the nineteenth century. She was an independent woman who did not confine to the socio-political bonds of the society. Chopping short story The Story of an Hour published in 1894 is about a woman who receives the news of the death of her husband and the sense of freedom that she experiences after his death. The protagonist of the story The Story of an Hour, Louise Mallard is suffering from heart trouble when she gets to know that her husband has died in a rail accident. She experiences turmoil of emotions as she becomes familiar with the idea that there will not be anyone who will control her life from now. Her feelings changes from the storm of grief to the monstrous JOY that she feels as she realizes she is an independent woman from now on, and she herself would be responsible for her life and the only person she would live for now would be only herself and no one else. Lawrence l. Bereave in his essay, Fatal Self- Assertion in Kate Chopping The Story of an HOLE says that Louise is an immature, egoistic and a victim of her own self assertion. He says that the reason why Louise experiences the Joy is because she would finally be able to live for herself and have her independent identity. Since she was not suffering from a bad married life, so according to him, there is no gender politics involved in the self assertion of Louses identity. He says that the story is not about marriage or society but only about Louise Mallard and her identity crisis. The argument that Bereave gives in his essay is a title incomplete, saying that Louise was suffering only from an identity crisis would be wrong to say since the whole idea that she needs self assertion tells us that she was going through self effacement in her married life, and this forces us to ask why was she going through this effacement in her life; is it only because of her own self or is there something more to it like the social and marital bonds, and was she happy in her married life, or her husband dominated her in such a way that is became practically impossible for her to live as an independent individual. Saying that it was only her own identity crisis would actually make us neglect all these possibilities of her monstrous JOY. The point that is very much evident with the close reading of the text is that, Louise Mallard is a subject to the masculine discourse of the story. She is introduced as Mrs Mallard and referred to as she for most of the narrative, only once is she called by her own name and that too by her sister, Josephine. As she sits in her room and drinks the very elixir of life, she experiences a new life coming into her, and she realizes that she has now no one who would control her. She was not ouch upset cause of her husbands death but she was actually looking forward to what lies ahead of her. All this shows that she is defined as a selfless woman who is attached or rather affiliated to Presently Mallard as his wife, someone who does not have her own social status and who surely lacks self identity. This feminist reading of the text shows to us the reasons of her facing self effacement in her married life and hence her need for self assertion. It can also be argued that Louise lack of self was just her own issue and the social norms or her marital life did not play a role in it. N only happen when she knows that her identity is at stake because she must have had experienced individuality before her marriage, this probably means that she was satisfied with herself before her marriage and she knew what it is be like an independent woman, but after her marriage this disappeared and she lost the control of herself. Also the whole idea that she starts her self-asse rtion and the possession of herself only after the death of her husband tells us that she was in a way not satisfied with her marriage life and the whole crisis of her lack of identity is because of her husband and her marred life. It very clearly shows us that Presently death gives her a glimpse of a new life that she was always looking for also gives us a reason to think that she was not being able to be herself in the discourse of her married life. We are thus getting closer to the view that the sexual politics of her husband played a dominant role Louses self assertion, but to say that she was facing self crisis only because of her household would be wrong to say. That would suggest that Louise was having a bad married life and that Mr Mallard was not a loving husband. The story in fact states the opposite, it clearly says that Mr Mallard was a gentle and kind husband who loved her truly and it also says that even she loved him. It again forces us to ask the question that if her married life is so perfect then why she feels Joy after the death of her husband. Thus the whole issue of identity crisis becomes problematic because it is not only because of her own self but it is also related with her familial bounds. Maybe Chopin is suggesting that all marriages, even the kindest ones, are inherently oppressive. Louise, who readily admits that her husband was kind and loving, nonetheless feels Joy when she lives that he has died, probably because she was oppressed by her husband. We can thus see that the sexual politics plays an important role in Louses experience of the monstrous JOY, but there lies an internal irony in the text, from her emotions to her self-assertion, the reasons are ambiguous. But it would be incorrect to say that her identity crisis is only because of herself. The self assertion and the urge to be independent is intermingled with the sexual politics that she faced in her marriage life, because had they been separate, she would not wait for her husbands death to assert herself. Had Mr Mallard been an understanding husband, he would have understood that she is an independent woman who needs not to be controlled by anyone else and hence she would be feeling Joy after his death. Thus, we can see that Louise Mallard sufferings and the need for self assertion was not only because of her identity crisis but also because of the gender politics that she was facing in her married life. Chopin makes her an independent woman who was oppressed by the social bonds and wanted to break free from them. Louise comes out to be a self searching woman who wants to find her individuality, which her married life is meow not allowing her to do. No doubt she was in search of a self, and she wanted to be independent but that doesnt completely means that she was dissatisfied with her married life. She wanted to be known Louise, an independent woman, and not as someones wife and that is probably the reason why she felt that she had a possession of herself after her husbands death, and not because of her bad marriage life. Hence, the reason why she was experiencing happiness after the death of her husband is mainly that she would be able to be herself finally, that she

How to Write the Columbia University Essays 2017-2018

Columbia University is one of the world’s leading research institutions and one of the best universities in the country. Originally founded as King’s College in 1754, today Columbia attracts top-performing students from all around the globe with its combination of a world-class academic program and its location in the social and cultural hub of New York City. With such a great academic experience comes high interest, limited space, and an increasingly difficult path to an acceptance letter. For its class of 2021, Columbia admitted a mere 5.8% of its applicants. As a result, competitive applicants will need to write extremely compelling essays in order to stand out in the admissions process. When applying to Columbia, you will submit either the Common App or the Coalition Application, each of which includes a general 650-word essay. For more advice on how to craft a stellar response to the 2017-2018 Common App and Coalition essay prompts, see ’s guides on the   Common App Essays and the Coalition Essays . In addition to the general essays from the Common App and Coalition Applications, Columbia has four â€Å"essay† questions that they want you to answer for their school in particular. These essays can be broken into two groups: Luckily for you, is here to help. In order to give you the best shot possible for the class of 2022, we’ll be offering you plenty of practical suggestions for how to navigate this year’s supplemental essays. We’ll also be adding a few suggestions on how you might try something a little bit more adventurous in your writing to stand out from the crowd. This prompt is asking you for a list — no snappy introductions or grandiose concluding statements. But keep in mind that even when you are writing a list, you are still telling a story. The items you put at the beginning and the end of the list matter, and there is room for humor and dramatic effect. Let’s handle the formatting first. You can organize your list by using periods to separate different words and phrases. A bare-bones response to this question might start out something like this: Exciting. Something unexpected. Being in awe of my peers and constantly learning from them. Studying with the top researchers in the field of biology. Doing interdisciplinary work that addresses real-world issues. Always being exposed to new ideas. Inspiring and uplifting. You get the idea. But, as you read this sample response, you may get the sense that it is extremely broad (sort of like Columbia’s mission statement ). Large institutions have to use vague statements of general purpose because they need to represent a huge body of interests without stirring up controversy. But you are just one person, peculiar in your own interests and passions. And Columbia wants to see that person. Once you get past the mission statements written by committees of administrators and into the classes, the books, the late-night poetry readings, the frantic scribbling at the end of a linear algebra midterm†¦ then Columbia becomes an interesting and lively place.    The key to writing a compelling answer to this question is to recognize that you are not just describing your ideal college community but also yourself and how you hope to interact with that community. Maybe you want a community that â€Å"welcomes a small-town entomologist into the big city,† or maybe you want a community â€Å"full of hands with paper cuts from thumbing through The Critique of Pure Reason. † Your answer to this question can be part personal essay and part aspirational statement about what you want your college to look like. First, it helps to have an expansive sense of what the word â€Å"community† might mean. It can refer to your friends, your professors, your classmates, but also your TAs, the people who clean and serve food on the campus, the musicians who play on New York Subway. Maybe you want a college campus that is â€Å"loud with the sound of the city,† but where the libraries â€Å"are quiet with the frantic intensity of thought.† As you write, try to avoid vague buzzwords like â€Å" innovation ,† and hackneyed phrases like â€Å"cultivates leadership ,† and â€Å"values sustainability .† These words may sound fancy, but if they already appear in the promotional materials for every college and university that you are applying to, then chances are your admissions officers are already tired of hearing them. Instead of a college community that â€Å"values sustainability,† maybe you want a college community that is â€Å"doing everything it can to fight global warming.† Instead of a college community that â€Å"cultivates leadership,† maybe you want a college community that â€Å"asks me to listen, intently and respectfully to those with which I disagree, even if they don’t believe in climate change.† Don’t be afraid to offer a list that speaks to your own values, where each item contributes to a narrative about you that is bigger than the sum of its parts. Finally, if you really want to go out on a limb, you might recognize that a list can also be a poem. Maybe you want a community â€Å"that reaches beyond the ivory tower, that turns around to speak truth to power.† That rhyme is a little clammy. You can probably do better, and we encourage you to try. You might suspect that this part of the application has some kind of hidden trap. If you do not list a certain work or publication, does that rule you out? Is there anything they are looking for specifically? The answer to both of these questions is no. For this segment, honesty is key. The admissions committees are looking to understand who you are through your interests. It is true that Columbia is looking for some degree of sophistication. But don’t let this discourage you: Not everyone reads Aristotle for fun! Moreover, even if you spend some time reading Archie Comics , you can have an intricate reading of those too! The sophistication of your chosen reading material does not necessarily reflect the sophistication of your reading practice. As a general rule, you should make sure that your reading list reflects a high school reading level, even if it has a few more eclectic, â€Å"fun† titles thrown into the mix.    Across these lists, you also have the opportunity to show you are intellectually curious and interested in subjects beyond your chosen area of study. Because Columbia offers its students a liberal arts education, neuroscience majors may find themselves in a discussion about Gertrude Stein (they might even learn that the poet of â€Å"A rose is a rose is a rose† was herself quite dedicated to the modern study of physiology and cognition). If you are applying as a STEM major, you might include some of your favorite novels, whether it be the early nineteenth-century study of manners in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice or the eco-utopian science fiction of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy . On the other hand, if you are applying as an English major, you might demonstrate your interests in the narratives that live outside of literary texts by including some of your favorite works on science, politics, and economics. After all, Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century begins with an analysis of â€Å"property† in Jane Austen, and Naomi Klein’s analysis of the politics of climate change in This Changes Everything quotes Robinson’s novels. In all of these lists, the most important thing is to remain true to yourself; don’t make things up for the purposes of sounding fancy. A world where everyone has read the same few â€Å"important† books would be a very boring world indeed. No special tricks here. These works should be directly from your literature class’s syllabus: just list the titles of your favorite required works from the year. Unless they are relatively unknown, there is no need to include the author’s name. If you are an international student, use this opportunity to showcase titles that might not normally appear in an American high school curriculum. Make sure to use the translated titles into English. We recommend a minimum of three or four works and a maximum of about ten works. Remember that these can be both fiction and non-fiction; ideally, your list will offer a mixture of both. The fiction works should not be from your school courses, even if you did not list them on the first part of this supplement. As with the previous question, you should give a minimum of four texts and a maximum of ten. The point here is not to give an exhaustive list of your reading, but rather to give the admissions officers a sense of your interests. In terms of works that would be inappropriate to list, remember that these are books you’ve read within the last year. Maybe you feel like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was an important novel to your childhood and shaped you as an individual, but unfortunately, Columbia is only looking for more recent reads. But, if you reread an important text every year, feel free to include it. After all, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts reportedly rereads Samuel Johnson’s â€Å"The Vanity of Human Wishes† every year . Feel free to include texts from any genre, even comic books. Some graphic novels, like Emil Ferris’ My Favorite Thing is Monsters are modern classics that tackle tough issues, like racial tensions in Chicago, the beauty of Fuseli’s The Nightmare , and the long history of Nazi Germany. The most important thing to remember is that these are books you have discovered, read, and enjoyed within at most the past year. They should reflect who you are at the moment! As a formatting note: If you read these titles in a language other than English, feel free to make a small note in parenthesis after each title noting this, for example, Les Misà ©rables (read in French). Submit your essay and we’ll get back to you with helpful edits. There is no need to make a distinction between â€Å"print† and â€Å"electronic,† as most publications are currently available online. Unlike other sections where it is useful to have a mix of answers, hunting down different publications that are solely online or solely print is completely unnecessary. Examples of appropriate publications can include but should not be limited to: The New York Times , The Economist , Astronomy Magazine , International Journal of Psychology , American Anthropologist , etc. Don’t forget that scientific, economic, and social sciences journals count as publications! At the same time, it’s perfectly fine some on your list are not that â€Å"sophisticated.† Even sites like Buzzfeed, which by some are not considered extremely serious news sources, can add value to your application if you feel their content is representative of your interests. One final note: These days, there are a lot of â€Å"news† outlets that do not conform to the traditional standards of journalistic integrity . Alex Jones’s InfoWars comes to mind as a prominent example. If you visit and read from sites like this, it is, of course, up to your discretion whether or not you include them on your list. One argument for including a site like InfoWars might be that you read it, not for â€Å"information,† but rather to study the media that millions of Americans read and watch every day, for better or worse. If you are interested in journalism or media criticism, you might write a very compelling response to the fourth essay prompt below that asks you to talk about your intended field of study. You might start that essay by saying: â€Å"You might have been surprised to see The Daily Stormer listed alongside the New York Times in the list of publications that I regularly read above. I included that site because I have long followed the work of the Southern Poverty Law Center , and I am interested in studying how white supremacist ideas spread in our modern media ecology.† (Indeed, the Columbia Journalism school just so happens to be doing a lot of work on exactly this issue.) This category is the most general, meant as an opportunity to showcase what you do when you are not reading. This can include anything from big music concerts to theatre performances to museum exhibits. You can even list video games (there is a rapidly growing world of philosophically and emotionally sophisticated games, like That Dragon, Cancer , that are worthy of study alongside any other work of literature). You can also use this category to display your interest in international issues. Maybe you attended an exhibition on the art of climate change in Beijing or were captivated by Gianfranco Rosi’s Fire at Sea . Maybe you are a regular reader of the trendsetting African literary blog Brittlepaper . But what if you haven’t done lots of fancy travel? What if you don’t live in a big city with lots of fancy museums? Even small local events are worth listing here if you got something out of them. There is no reason why you should be shy about including a local theater production, a community dance competition, or an exhibit from a local artist. Showing that you are aware of the various forms of art and life that flourish outside the circuit of Guggenheim Fellowships and Booker Prizes can add an important dimension to your application. In this essay, the admissions officers want to know why you want to attend Columbia in particular. Not just because it is a big fancy school with brand recognition, but because you are attracted to the specific courses Columbia offers, the ways it trains its students, and social and cultural institutions that surround it in New York City. Columbia wants to know that you have taken some time to research what they have to offer. Before you can write a compelling answer to this question, you will need to dig deep on their website. For this essay, generic kiss-up praise for Columbia’s â€Å"high-quality academic curriculum, outstanding professors, and talented students† is not going to cut it. Anyone can write that. You should also try to reach beyond patinas to the things that Columbia touts in its promotional materials. Everyone who is applying to this school knows that Columbia is â€Å"famous† for being located in New York city, for having all of its students take a â€Å" Core † curriculum, and for emphasizing academics over athletics. The admissions officers’ eyes probably glaze over a little bit every time they hear a student parroting back to them a line like this: â€Å" I am excited to take Contemporary Civilization and join into the tradition of students who have, since 1919, assembled to discuss important works of moral and political thought from Plato to the present .† A good response to this prompt starts with the recognition that it is not just asking you to tell what is â€Å"valuable† about Columbia itself. They are asking you to talk about how the values and commitments that make you a distinctive and interesting person are related to the dazzling array of opportunities that Columbia has to offer. You want to share something that is specific about yourself and pair it with something equally distinctive about the university. Maybe members of your community have recently been deported, and you are especially interested in the work that Columbia’s School of Journalism has done reporting on that issue. Maybe your interest in mathematics and computer science led you to start reading up on automata theory , and you are excited to attend the Math department’s Samuel Eilenberg Lectures — a series named for a former Columbia professor who made great contributions to that field. As you do your web search to try and find out how your interests intersect with Columbia, the more specific you get, the better. Columbia is a massive institution, and there is a lot happening there — much of which your admissions officers might not even know about! If you can teach them something about their own institution, then you are more likely to capture their attention. Another thing that makes Columbia distinctive is not just the work that happens within its walls, but also its location in New York City. Maybe you are excited to take an Art History class where you can go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and see â€Å" The Death of Socrates † in person while reading The Phaedo . Maybe you are interested in the socioeconomic issues associated with gentrification , and want to study first hand the classic case of Brooklyn. As you write this essay you should not be afraid to talk about how your interest in Columbia lies in how that institution is related to the urban environment that surrounds it. Note: This final question differs slightly between applicants to Columbia College or to the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. For applicants to SEAS, there is no option to apply as undecided, so the second sentence is omitted from this prompt. The admissions committee is interested in knowing what you find fascinating about your field and what you have done to broaden that interest. They are trying to weed out people who are applying for a given major just because it sounds fancy. But, more than that, they also want to see what makes you tick, how your passion for learning carries you beyond your high school classes, and what keeps you up at night in a fever pitch of wonder and excitement. You want to find the best, and most concise, way to showcase your passion. 300 words are a lot fewer than you would think! At , we have broken down the â€Å"Why Major?† essay into two main questions: Your essay should seek to address both of these questions with as high a degree of specificity as possible. Because this essay is so short, it is difficult to address a general field. You cannot fully explain your love of a subject with a mere 300 words. â€Å"I love astronomy† is not sufficient. Instead, you could write more specifically about your interest in exoplanets and astrobiology. Include a personal story about stargazing as a child that sparked your love of the field and mention scientific research completed in high school that further cultivated your interest in the stars. It’s also possible that you are still figuring out what you want to study. No intellectually curious seventeen-year-old is ever certain about the topics and disciplines that will drive their future studies. One way to communicate your interest and your desire to continue exploring a given topic is to talk about a recent conversation you had with someone who is already immersed in a field that you are curious about. An essay might begin: â€Å"Ever since my high school teacher combined potassium permanganate and glycerol and set his lab coat on fire, I’ve been fascinated with the chemical property of flammability. In order to learn more, I reached out to John McJohnson, a graduate student studying autoignition temperatures at the University of California, Davis. What most excited me about our conversation was†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Of course, in order to write this essay, you need to actually have a conversation with someone who is working in that field. If you live in a town that has a research university, and if you are considering majoring in chemistry, you can actually go to the chemistry department’s university website, find a professor or graduate student whose work looks interesting to you, and send them an email asking to meet for coffee. This may seem intimidating, but we can assure you that there are lots of researchers who might be willing to take 30 minutes out of their day to talk with a young person about their work. You might not get a response (most of these people are very busy), but the sooner you get used to reaching out to potential future colleagues and making connections, the better off you’ll be. No matter what approach you take to this question, you’ll want to be sure to avoid cramming in too much jargon in an effort to communicate your technical mastery. You only have 300 words, and the point of this essay is not to dazzle your reader but rather to show what practical steps you’ve taken to explore and develop your intellectual interests.   However, you choose to write your essays, dare to be a little creative. Don’t just describe the university that the Columbia admissions officers already know. Ideally, they will see their campus a little bit differently after having read what you imagine it might be to you. As Columbia’s website says, they are looking for students who â€Å"will take greatest advantage of the unique Columbia experience and will offer something meaningful in return to the community.† The advice we’ve offered in this article is only a sampling of what we try to do with our clients at . If you want help on your Columbia application and essays, check out our College Apps Program and our Essay Editing Program .

Concert Attendance Reports MUSIC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Concert Attendance Reports MUSIC - Essay Example Old people flocked around the stage of the Performance Pavilion, particularly at the front seat. Old men and women appeared to enjoy the classical pieces played in Dogwood Park. To my mind, the reason why old people are the central audience for the orchestral concert is because such instrumental music is psychologically and mentally good for the old folks. Nonetheless, culture plays an important role why much of the orchestra’s listeners are old men and women rather than young people. From classical music to popular theme-songs were the kinds of orchestral pieces lively performed in Dogwood Park. Masterpieces from Baroque composers were intricately played such as George Frideric Handel’s 1749 â€Å"Music for the Royal Fireworks.† A contemporary of Handel, one of German-born Johann Sebastian Bach’s masterpieces was performed by the members of the BSO. Maestro Allcott shared a funny story about the strong rivalry between the two Baroque orchestra masters, namely, Bach and Handel. The nineteenth-century masterpiece entitled â€Å"The Bartered Bride† composed and arranged by nationalist Bedrich Smetana was also lively performed on stage. And from Germany to the United States, Charles Ives’s twentieth-century â€Å"The Circus Band† was patriotically played by the Bryan Symphony Orchestra. Quite striking in the Free Concert in Dogwood Park are the orchestral performances of the symphonic suites for the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Indiana Jones movies. The musical style for the piece entitled â€Å"Music for the Royal Fireworks† was patterned to a musical form called the French overture. The BSO under maestro Allcott performed the piece from slow rhythm to fast rhythm, and returned to slow rhythm at the end. On the other hand, the style employed for the piece of â€Å"The Bartered Bride† was somewhat child-like, if not childish. Maestro Allcott added a touch of humor apparent in the dramatic shift of rhythm and tone.

Commercial Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Commercial Project Management - Essay Example Introduction of the Biometric Data Capture Facility in the renewal of driving licenses is a big move. The process need to be taken carefully and systematically in order to archive it. Because of this, there is the need to use the Gateway5 review process. From the Gateway5 review process, it is evident that the project has been successful. Review of operating phase Following an alert and committed attempt by all the employees involved the accomplishment of the project is looming completion (Cameron, Duff & Hare 2008). A few areas are yet to use the Biometric Data Capture Facility but are considered to be on time with the budget. The change has seen the Post office as one of the best performing organizations in the United Kingdom. This is because of the use of this new facility. Safety measures are taken when using the facility unlike the manual methods that were used to get the signatures, fingerprints and international civil aviation organization compliant photographs (Shoniregun & C rosier 2008). It was hectic, tiring and time consuming. This facility has eased all that. This has made the facility efficient. Despite some branches taking long to start using the facility and some employee shortage issues, the modifications have been successfully realized (LI & Jain 2009). The high level of support and devotion of all the employees involved has been broadly pointed out by those interviewed. Almost all the objectives set out in the project have now been accomplished and the project is successful even though some issues need to be adjusted in order to ensure full success of the project. A few of the issue that are yet to be handled include: Advertising the use of the new facility; so that the public does not hesitate to renew their driving license when they see the new facility being used (Gibson 2008). Ensuring all the 750 branches are using the facility; the remote areas are not excluded from the development. They too ought to upgrade their systems. Business case and benefits management The Application, Enrolment and Identification program (AEI) did not have a consolidated Business case. The service change anticipations were documented through the session and options process, whilst financial targets were made as measurement of the corporate performance and financial management command of the system (Marks 2012). However, throughout the AEI program, advancement reports to the Trust Board have been made regularly as a component of the approved governance structure. Thorough performance examination has been supported with a presentation scorecard across a number of regions that were the objectives of the programme (Marks 2012). These included, time used to renew a driving license and Flow of people; in that people just come for a few minutes and therefore no overcrowding. Extensive reports of presentation on these and other regions have been taken place. The majorities are now part of the corporate management process in the system and as such are treated very seriously. There is also a client satisfaction survey and amenable process that helps to track client’s experience (Ramakrishna 2010). The financial savings anticipated at this point have not been achieved. This has been observed with

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Technology Assessment - Research Paper Example To align IT or IM with the organizational strategy in a health care is would call for determining the objectives of the management and to set the objectives of the technological system to move ahead in that direction. In any health care unit, generally the task for organizing the required technology of the unit is kept under the Chief Information Officer (CIO). This person is given the responsibility to develop a complete understanding of the different clinical information systems, its regulatory and the reporting requirements as well as the usage of this information in the strategic planning process and decision support. The CIO must attend all meetings and must have close associations with the fellow clinicians, the accountants, and complete staff unit and most importantly with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the concerned health care organization. The CIO needs to understand the management structure in the organization in a proper way which has to be better than any other emp loyee as because he would be held responsible for the concerned designs, its implementation and the sustainability of IM/IT systems. As has been found in many reports both the clinicians and the end users usually want more as well as faster information. This has clearly become the most challenging and pressing need for the modern health care technology. A few years back the average life span of an individual used to be around 45 years of age. As time passed by and greater improvements were made in technology, especially in IT, there has been many improvements in improving the quality of health care. As said by Mr. Thomas Goetz, the executive editor of Wired and the author of the new book, â€Å"The Decision Tree: Taking Control of Your Health in the New Era of Personalized Medicine† (Lohr, 2010) the potential revolution witnessed in public health would be because of improvements in digital

Summary Report - Triumph of the Nerds, Parts 2 Essay

Summary Report - Triumph of the Nerds, Parts 2 - Essay Example IBM is one player that made entry into the industry through Tom Watson and Tom Watson Jr. The idea was forthright, and IBM saw an opportunity to use in venturing into the PC market. In 1979, IBM selected Bill Lowe the head of the team. The presenter goes ahead to state that despite IBM having all the necessary components in building the architecture of the PC, they had one crucial problem as they lacked the appropriate OS to run the PC as well as the language. Bill Gates having been in the programing language sector, was approached by IBM, but instead directed them to Gary Kildall who had developed CPM. Kildall’s wife refused to accent to the request for CPM and IBM went back to Bill Gates who acquired QDOS from Tim Patterson at a cost of $50,000, only to later license it to IBM at a cost of $50 per PC. On the release of IBM PCs in 1981, 2 million PCs were sold. The presenter goes ahead to state that IBM woes never ended. Since Tim Patterson and Bill Gates never sold licenses to IBM, they were able to sell them to other PC manufactures and this ideally reduced IBM’s market share. Intel, who had made IBM’s CPU like Microsoft were able to sell their products to other PCs manufacturers, which reduced IBM’s market more. Other players such as Compaq then made entry into the market by selling IBM clone PCs, making significant profits, and capturing great market share. Considering that Microsoft had all the necessary requirements after the development of their Windows OS, they ventured into the billion-dollar market, becoming a key player in the industry. IBM, however, with the lack of strategies to prevent Microsoft and Intel from selling their products to other manufactures lost their share in the market into the dust. The presenter has made it clear how various players emerged into the PC industry, some making substantive progress while others getting toppled along the way. The presentation

Leading innovation and change Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Leading innovation and change - Assignment Example Meanwhile, it will be admitted that they ways in which organisations are designed and managed that unwittingly discourage the prioritisation and promotion of innovation (Afuah, 2003). With such behaviours, the organisations are forced to acquire behaviours and practices that they wish they had less of. This paper is therefore dedicated to exploring some unhelpful behaviours and practices that militate against innovation, whiles identifying others that promote innovation. More to this, the paper will explore the role of innovation to competitive advantage as this will encourage organisations to pursue innovation. A number of models will also be considered that help in making the implementation of innovation easier. With all these areas of leading innovation and change considered, it will be possible to conclude on the overall relevance of innovation to modern companies. Howells (2005) observed that before the late 20th century, competitive advantage to companies was all about ways in which pricing models will be used by companies to attract customers over their competitors. This has however been said to change since the late 20th century where innovation has become a key word in fostering the goals of competitive advantage for organisations of all kinds, especially profit making ones (Batra et al., 2000). Tidd and Bessant (2009) stated that the real role of innovation in creating competitive advantage is that it gives different organisations the opportunity of dealing with the same context in different ways. For example, Starbuck, McDonalds and Dunkin’ will all be presented with the same context of having to sell coffee products to consumers but through the power of innovation, each of these companies may do different things that make it possible for them to gain reasonable market share. In the absence of innovation therefore,

Summary Report - Triumph of the Nerds, Parts 2 Essay

Summary Report - Triumph of the Nerds, Parts 2 - Essay Example IBM is one player that made entry into the industry through Tom Watson and Tom Watson Jr. The idea was forthright, and IBM saw an opportunity to use in venturing into the PC market. In 1979, IBM selected Bill Lowe the head of the team. The presenter goes ahead to state that despite IBM having all the necessary components in building the architecture of the PC, they had one crucial problem as they lacked the appropriate OS to run the PC as well as the language. Bill Gates having been in the programing language sector, was approached by IBM, but instead directed them to Gary Kildall who had developed CPM. Kildall’s wife refused to accent to the request for CPM and IBM went back to Bill Gates who acquired QDOS from Tim Patterson at a cost of $50,000, only to later license it to IBM at a cost of $50 per PC. On the release of IBM PCs in 1981, 2 million PCs were sold. The presenter goes ahead to state that IBM woes never ended. Since Tim Patterson and Bill Gates never sold licenses to IBM, they were able to sell them to other PC manufactures and this ideally reduced IBM’s market share. Intel, who had made IBM’s CPU like Microsoft were able to sell their products to other PCs manufacturers, which reduced IBM’s market more. Other players such as Compaq then made entry into the market by selling IBM clone PCs, making significant profits, and capturing great market share. Considering that Microsoft had all the necessary requirements after the development of their Windows OS, they ventured into the billion-dollar market, becoming a key player in the industry. IBM, however, with the lack of strategies to prevent Microsoft and Intel from selling their products to other manufactures lost their share in the market into the dust. The presenter has made it clear how various players emerged into the PC industry, some making substantive progress while others getting toppled along the way. The presentation

Adult social care settings Essay Example for Free

Adult social care settings Essay Outcome 1 1.1 People communicate to understand their needs, to have a conversation, to express feelings, needs, to build relationships and trust. They communicate to share information and opinions, to ask questions and get answers. 1.2 Communication between staff effects service provision, understanding each other, team work and dignity in care. If communication is not effective, it can affect again residents-we can do harm to them, it can affect their health and well-being. Communication with staff is essential for passing information from one person to another. Information can be passed from carer worker to carer worker via verbal communication or written documents from care plans and daily reports, to fire books. Written communication has to be effective as it provides an on-going picture of a certain person, situation. Effective communication between staff is essential for care to be professional. Without effective communication care needs of the clients may go unnoticed leading to medical problems, abuse, depression etc. Communication with residents is most important in care job. That’s the way how you can easier understand they needs, requirements. It can affect service that carer provide to residents-more effective communication, better service to residents; with effective communication carer is building trust between residents and staff that helps in future work with them. 1.3 The care worker should always observe an individual’s reactions to see whether person fully understands what you have said to them. If the resident for example looks confused then the carer must then adapt their communication and ask again the question or other. In this way communication will be effective. It is also important to observe an individual’s reactions so as to spot anything that may be worrying them or upsetting them; the carer must to change their approach – this may be noticed through the resident change in facial expression or body language. If resident cannot verbalise what they want or prefer, then observing their reactions staff can make a decision about resident needs. Outcome 2 2.1 It makes more effective communication, more understand what other person trying to say. More understand they culture, religious believes. To be involved in their daily life. To avoid the individual feeling excluded, becoming distressed, frustrated or frightened. 2.2 Is verbal and non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication is all without making noises, sounds. It can be writing, showing pictures with food choice, walk in park, toilette need. Can be even facial expressions, eye contact, body language, gestures or touch to get attention, physical gestures, behaviour. Verbal communication is vocabulary and tone in what person like to talk, involved in conversation. Outcome 3 3.1 Communication barriers can be place where person is, people around, noisy environment, values, culture, beliefs, his wishes and needs. Reason can be even lighting, how close you stand to that person or language barrier. 3.2 Communication barriers can reduce if you take the person to another room. Can try to turn lower music volume on television or radio. Try to talk with person in more private place, ask about his needs. Another way how we can reduce the impact of this barrier is by using a translator when you or resident do not understand what you both are saying because of a language barrier. Finally this would work because by using a translator you will not be offending people who speak a different language. Communication barrier can be because of different cultures and they include different cultures using different words or signs which may not be accepted in other cultures. One example of a mechanism which can be used to reduce the impact of this barrier to communication is by respecting other peoples beliefs and social habits. 3.3 To be sure that person understand me I can see it by his facial expressions, body language or his action on what I said. Ask if the person understand me, rephrasing. Some person need more time for get right answer or you should repeat a question, sentence. 3.4 It can be more enable: Colleague staff member who knows resident issues, needs, wishes, more  about his culture, values, beliefs. Speech therapist – can tell who has had a stroke. GP is person who know more about resident general health problems, how staff can make that person more relax and comfortable. Family can tell more about carrier person daily life, person food choice, needs. Psychotherapist – can advise on exercise for people at all stages of dementia. They can also give advice carers on safe ways of helping someone to move. Dentist – can be used if the individual has dentures which are to loose and move when speaking. Outcome 4 4.1 Confidentiality means keeping residents information private and safe and passing information to only those who have rights to it. Confidentiality means also not passing information outside care house, keeping information safe and private. 4.2 Confidentiality you can maintain with not passing information outside of work or to other resident visitors. Be professional and don’t talk about residents in public places when you have a meal with work colleagues or in public transport on a way home. Don’t leave a written personal records lying around. You need to put them in safe place, where access is just for staff members. Health records are confidential. They should be shared only on a need-to-know basis. Carrier can give access to resident relevant information to those who have rights to know it. 4.3 Can share confidential information when the person is being placed in danger, harmed or abused. You can share information with other staff members in situation if for example resident is telling you he feels in danger of other resident or staff member and ask you not to tell anyone. It is situation where you need to explain person that you can’t keep information, because you want him to be in safety and need to help him by acting straight away. Can share when a criminal act has taken place. However, even, where it is clearly beneficial to share information for direct care, rules about confidentiality and privacy still apply. That means that only those who have a clear need to know should have access to the relevant confidential information. 4.4 Can seek advice about confidentiality if speaking with manager or with the organisation’s confidentiality policy. If someone is calling by phone and asking some information about any of residents and you are not sure who it is you can always ask him to speak with manager or just  take persons phone number and tell him that manager will call him back. The Data Protection Act is a law that applies to all social services and health records. It means that any information about resident should be kept accurately and securely, and there should be measures restricting who can see it. There are circumstances when an authority may have the right to break the rules about confidentiality. This is normally in extreme situations.

Theories of Consciousness: History, AI and Animals

Theories of Consciousness: History, AI and Animals Consciousness Andrew P Allen History and Philosophy People can mean various things when they talk about â€Å"consciousness†. At a simple level, one can mean awareness of one’s world or one’s internal drives (e.g. thirst). A more complex form of consciousness is awareness of one’s own awareness, the consciousness that allows people to psychologise about themselves. Approaching the concept from a different angle, â€Å"consciousness† sometimes means the sense of what it is like to be someone or have a particular experience. Although we may have a sense of what an experience is like, it is very difficult to describe exactly what the experience is like (c.f. Ned Block, 1990, for an interesting discussion). A key issue within philosophy of mind is the â€Å"mind-body problem†: can a physical body produce a subjective, apparently non-physical mind, and if so, how? Materialists take the position that the mind is the product of the brain, while dualists hold that body and mind are not the same thing. The position of dualism is typically associated with Rà ©nà © Descartes, who suggested that mind and body are two different types of matter (see http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dualism/#HisDua for a discussion). In attempting to explain how the brain produces awareness, neuroscientists would tend towards materialism. Regarding brain and consciousness, Place (1956/1990) has drawn an analogy with clouds and the droplets of water that form them. Although a cloud observed at a distance and droplets of water observed close-up seem very different, the many droplets of water nonetheless make up the cloud. So it (perhaps) is with the brain and consciousness; the firing of a neuron may seem very different from a mental image of a new car, but there is no reason to say that this mental image cannot consist of nothing more than the action of many neurons. Daniel Dennett has criticized what he calls the â€Å"Cartesian theatre†; a given place in the brain where sensations, memory traces etc. are combined to form consciousness. There is a danger of positing a neural â€Å"homunculus† (a â€Å"little man† in the head) which observes the various non-conscious parts of the brain and turns them into conscious experience. It does at least seem evasive to propose a single part of the brain is responsible for turning sensations from unconscious information processing to conscious experience without specifying the process whereby such a change occurs. Dennett is setting a high bar for the neural correlate of consciousness (see below); you have to give a full explanation of how the process of consciousness is brought about by the brain without suggesting that some brain area just acts in a conscious way. If we accept that the brain (and the rest of the body?) produces consciousness, then we have to reject dualism (Edelman, 2003), or at least a strong version thereof. Edelman points out that consciousness has a wide range of interesting properties (e.g. it feels unitary, so it seems it requires the binding of multiple sources of sensory information). He suggests that evolutionary pressure would favour cognitive structures which could integrate information from multiple sources. Consciousness in the brain Given that consciousness is stopped when the activity of some regions is stopped, it seems fair to assume that the brain may be responsible for consciousness. However, the question remains: how do these brain regions lead to the conscious experience (Churchland, 2012)? Crick and Koch (1998) highlight some of the key issues. At any time, the brain is doing a lot of things, but only some of these things appear in our consciousness. Is there anything special about the neurons involved in consciousness and their type of firing? What about the connections between them? There has been some interest in finding a so-called neural correlate of consciousness. Edelman (2003) takes the approach of looking at connections. He posits â€Å"re-entry† as a process which could account for how functionally distinct parts of the brain co-ordinate their activities to produce a combined output. It involves recursive signalling over multiple pathways which are used simultaneously. He suggests that this process allows for the binding of outputs from different brain areas to form an integrated sense of experience. Edelman suggests the thalamocortical system as â€Å"a dynamic core† for consciousness. The thalamic intralaminar nuclei (ILN) may play a particularly important role in consciousness; it projects axons widely to all cortical areas, and small lesions to the ILN are associated with significant loss of awareness (Bogen, 1997). Note that the ILN may be necessary but not sufficient for consciousness; it is through its interaction with corticol regions that it could produce something like consciousness. The thalamocortical system conta ins functionally distinct sub-parts which may act semi-independently, while also being able to integrate information between themselves. By suggesting that consciousness could be brought about by brain processes and their interaction, Edelman’s idea may avoid falling into the trap of the Cartesian theatre. Attention and consciousness At first, it might seem like attention and consciousness might be the same thing; when we attend to something, we are conscious of it, and when we are conscious of something, we are attending to it, right? However, it has been argued that you can have either consciousness or attention without having the other (Koch and Tsuchiya, 2007). They cite work which uses interocular suppression (i.e. presenting different images to each eye in order to reduce perception of some/all of these images) to present both a nude image and a meaningless scramble of its pixels, while simultaneously rendering the nude image invisible to consciousness. Nonetheless, heterosexual participants attend to nude images of the opposite sex more than scrambled control images (Jiang et al., 2006). Hence, attention without consciousness! Another example of attention without consciousness is blindsight, where patients with damage to the primary visual cortex can report properties of visual stimuli above chance level, but without awareness of having seen anything (Weiskrantz, 1997). Subliminal presentation of stimuli can be processed by brain areas associated with emotional processing, such as the amygdala (Naccache et al., 2005). I’m less convinced by Koch and Tsuchiya’s argument that one can have consciousness without attention. Their argument seems to be based on limiting their point to top-down attention processes. For example, they suggest that one can make out the gist of an image after a very brief presentation. Of course, there may be little top-down processing going on here, and 30 ms may be too short a time to talk about â€Å"sustained attention†, but after all, one has to orient to the image in order to perceive it. Perhaps you may see it otherwise Are non-humans conscious? Trying to define consciousness at a brain level may be even more difficult when it comes to non-human animals. This question is also important for the ethical consideration of neuroscientists who work with animals. If one is to work with a particular species, one should at least try to be aware of its capacity for suffering. Panksepp (2005) argues that affect is largely produced by processes concentrated in subcortical, limbic regions in the mammalian brain. He defines consciousness as brain states which are associated with feeling or experience. He distinguishes raw, primary-process consciousness from secondary consciousness, which can relate to how external events relate to internal states, and tertiary consciousness, which is basically meta-cognition. Panksepp attacks what he seems to perceive as a wilful ignorance of the affective experience by neuroscientists working with animals, and criticises those who suppose that all consciousness is dependent upon the advanced linguistic and reasoning skills possessed by humans. However, the fact is acknowledged that outward behaviour may give a misleading impression of internal affective states. Nonetheless, he defends an internal affective life in animals, citing evidence of differing vocalisations of rats in response to environments associated with pleasurable/unpleasant drugs (Burgdorf, Knutson, Panksepp, Ikemoto, 2001a, 2001b), as well as neural mechanisms underlying desire for certain drugs which are similar to those in humans. Given similar subcortical machinery in other mammalian life, such research may give insight into the affective life of humans. However, studying consciousness in animals can be tricky; although anaesthesia is often used in certain techniques, if one wishes to study consciousness then any form of anaesthesia or sedation may bias results (Crick Koch, 1998). The work of Gallup (1970) used a simple behavioural test to examine self-awareness in chimpanzees. A mirror was inserted in their environment. Although the animals initially responded socially to it, they began to groom in response to it. When they were marked with a red dot in their sleep they used the mirror to try to clean the dot off. However, this level of performance was not evident in other primates. However, the so-called â€Å"hard problem of consciousness† (what is it really like?) may be insoluble. Thomas Nagel (1974) famously used animal life as an illustration of how difficult it is to grasp qualia (i.e. the subjective feeling of what something is like) by asking the question â€Å"what is like to be a bat?† Aside from bringing up again the issue of knowing others’ minds, the comparison here is stronger because it shifts from trying to second-guess the thoughts of fellow humans to trying to imagine the thoughts and feelings of a strange species. The implication is that, even if we were to understand all the neural processes tied up with the bat’s nervous system which bring about consciousness, we would still not be able to fully imagine what it is like to be a bat. Artificial intelligence and models of altered consciousness Although a large proportion of neuroscience involves backwards engineering of the brain (i.e. taking something which has already been engineered by evolution and trying to tease apart its structure and function), artificial intelligence, by engineering intelligent systems, can also be used to observe if a particular account of how the brain works actually produces a comparable output when you run it through a computer program (if the program doesn’t produce the same output as the â€Å"natural† brain, this may pose a problem for your theory, or vice versa). (Note this process of back-propagation is somewhat reminiscent of Edelman’s idea of re-entry). Takeno has found that the robot can distinguish between its own image in a mirror from either a second robot or another robot which follows the test robot’s instructions. The robot is equipped with LED lights allowing it to demonstrate distinct responses to its own mirrored behavior compared to that of another robot, including another robot engaging in the same behaviour (Takiguchi, Mizunaga, Takeno, 2013). See the following brief video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK0M02aKXLE A neural network was used to model how the excessive loss of synapses during adolescence could lead to auditory hallucinations reported in schizophrenia (Hoffman McGlashen, 1997). Pruning was carried out in a â€Å"Darwinian† fashion by removing neural units which were less well-connected to other units, in addition to modelling cell death which could be associated with excessive loss of neurons. Excessive loss of neural units produced a model of hallucination whereby words were coming up as perceived at the output layer of the network even when words were not being entered at the input layer. Although the authors admit that such models are vastly simplified models of the real thing, by reproducing (modeled) phenomena visible in the world (in this case, auditory hallucinations), they allow one to study such phenomena by testing if the mechanisms one hypothesizes explain such phenomena (in this case, excessive loss of neurons involved in working memory) actually produce the ph enomenon under investigation. Interestingly, the neurons pruned were modeled on corticocortical connections rather than thalamocortical connections (the type suggested by Edelman to play a key role in producing conscious experience itself). Consciousness: a clinical case A vegetative state is where a patient shows no overt signs of awareness, even though they are visibly awake. However, the idea that people in a persistent vegetative state lack consciousness has been challenged by recent research. Patients in a minimally conscious state or persistent vegetative state have been instructed to perform mental imagery tasks while undergoing fMRI (Monti et al., 2010). The tasks used are associated with activity in the parahippocampal gyrus and the supplementary motor area; areas which are associated with actually carrying out the activity. A minority of the participants showed activity in response to the tasks similar to healthy controls. However, bearing in mind that information can be processed without conscious awareness (as alluded to in the discussion of attention and consciousness), is it possible that this brain activity may have emerged automatically, without the patients having any conscious awareness of the scene described to them by the research ers? Such an interpretation is challenged by the following finding: a number of healthy controls and 1 patient were asked questions, and instructed to think of one mental image if the answer was â€Å"yes† and a different mental image if the answer was â€Å"no†. The patient showed signs of being able to complete this task. The fact that the participants could control what was imagined suggests that they may have been aware of their own awareness. Adrian Owen talks about these issues at the following link: http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxUWO-Adrian-Owen-The-Quest-f Embodiment The idea that the brain is, or at least is very much like, a computer is quite popular. Indeed, computers themselves have increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence. Of course, a lot of the information we process is not purely symbolic for us; it is viscerally linked to our bodily states and physiological drives, and thus embodied. Returning to the question of what it is like to be a bat, we can consider the brain of this animal and how it works, but even if we could understand all brain functions of the bat, there would still be other differences between our species. For example, bats have wings which they can use to fly. What is it really like at a subjective level to do this? If we were to both given the chance to experience this kind of flight, your answer to this question could be completely different from mine, and yet perhaps we would both be right about our own experience. References Block, N. (1990). Inverted Earth. Philosophical Perspectives, 4, 53-79. Bogen, J.E. (1997). Some neurophysiologic aspects of consciousness. Seminars in Neurology, 17(2), 95-103. Burgdorf, J., Knutson, B., Panksepp, J., Ikemoto, S. (2001a). Nucleus accumbens amphetamine microinjections unconditionally elicit 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in rats. Behavioral Neuroscience, 115, 940–944. Burgdorf, J., Knutson, B., Panksepp, J., Shippenberg, T. (2001b). Evaluation of rat ultrasonic vocalizations as predictors of the conditioned aversive eà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ects of drugs. Psychopharmacology, 155, 35–42. Churchland, P.M., (2012). Consciousness, in: Gregory, R.L. (Ed.), The Oxford companion to the mind. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Crich, F., Koch, C. (1998). Consciousness and neuroscience. Cerebral Cortex, 8, 97-107. Edelman, G. (2003). Naturalizing consciousness: A theoretical framework. PNAS, 100(9), 5520-5524. Gallup, G. 91970). Chimpanzees: Self-recognition. Science, 167(3914), 85-87. Hoffman, R.E., McGlashen, T.H. (1997). Synaptic elimination, neurodevelopment, and the mechanism of hallucinated â€Å"voices† in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 1683-1689. Jiang, Y., Costello, P., Fang, F., Huang, M., He, S., (2006). A gender- and sexual orientation-dependent spatial attentional effect of invisible images. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103, 17048-17052. Koch, C., Tsuchiya, N., (2007). Attention and consciousness: two distinct brain processes. Trends in cognitive sciences 11, 16-22. Monti, M.M., Vanhaudenhuyse, A., Coleman, M.R., Boly, M., Pickard, J.D., Tshibanda, L., Owen, A.M., Laureys, S., (2010). Willful modulation of brain activity in disorders of consciousness. New England Journal of Medicine 362, 579-589. Naccache, L., Gaillard, R., Adam, C., Hasboun, D., Clà ©menceau, S., Baulac, M., Dehaene, S., Cohen, L., (2005). A direct intracranial record of emotions evoked by subliminal words. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102, 7713-7717. Nagel, T. (1974). What is it like to be a bat? Philosophical Review, 83, 435-450. Panksepp, J. (2005). Affective consciousness: core emotional feelings in animals and humans. Consciousness and cognition. Place, U.T., (1956/1990). Is consciousness a brain process?, in: Lycan, W.G. (Ed.), Mind and cognition: An anthology. Blackwell, Malden, Massachusetts, pp. 14-19. Takiguchi, T., Mizunaga, A., Takeno, J. (2013). A study of self-awareness in robots. International Journal of Machine Consciousness, 5, 142. Weiskrantz, L. (1997). Consciousness lost and found. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Database Migration and Architecture: Bee Colony Optimization Database Migration and Architecture: Bee Colony Optimization Abstract: It is compulsory for two servers to be compatible if you have to either import or export the data. All the servers have unique protocol service through which they communicate. It is not possible for a server to directly transmit or receive the data from any other server. A live example is the developed codes at different platforms like JAVA, Visual Studio and others. This task becomes more sophisticated when it comes to communication of data along with its architecture. This paper focused their work in migrating the data from one server to another with the use of XAML protocol in which three servers have been included to migrate the data. The first server is the server from where the data has to be migrated, the second server is the server where data is fetched to be migrated and the third server is the server where data has to be migrated. The entire work has been performed using Development tool visual studio 2010 with data base connectivity with SQL SERVER 05. In this pa per we are proposing a technique for migration of the platform architecture along with the data with perfect accuracy to another cloud platform using Simple Bee Colony Optimization (BCO) concept will take a lot of effort due to the sophisticated architecture of a system protocol. This may lead to a new era in the cloud computing. Keywords: BCO, Data Migration, XAML, SQL SERVER 05. INTRODUCTION: Cloud computing is an Internet based computing technology, where the word ‘cloud’ means Internet and ‘computing’ refers to services that can accessed directly over the internet. Cloud provider maintains the cloud data server or cluster that is collection of computer to provide computing services on a large scale. For providing both software services as well as management services this scale can be used. Any device like PCs’, tablets, smartphones, etc. personal can provide access to cloud computing services, as these devices can connect to the internet. This is because the technology infrastructure of cloud computing is not based on consumer premises. Cloud computing comes in various forms, shapes, and sizes as there is variety of cloud formations [1]. Cloud Computing can be also described as type of application and platform. Platform means to supply the servers or machines; machine can be virtual or physical. Machines can be configure and reconfigure. Type of application depends on the demand of its user, various resources are available over the internet through cloud computing. Resources come in forms – hardware and software resources can be used in scalable and flexible manner. Also the costs can be reduced. There are mainly three aspects of cloud computing: Iaas (Infrastructure as a Service) – number crunching, data storage and management services (computer servers). SaaS (Software as a Service) – ‘web based’ applications (like Gmail). PaaS (Platform as a Service) – essentially an operating system in the cloud like Google AppEngine [2]. Data migration the term ‘migration’ is the process of moving from one location to another. In the process of Data migration, the data is transferred between various computer systems, storage types, or formats. To achieve an automated migration, data migration is usually performed programmatically. To give an efficient data migration method, data is mapped to the new system from the previous old system providing a design by data loading and data extraction. Programmatic data migration consists of many steps but it mostly includes data extraction in which the data from the old system writes to the current system [3]. In migration, to improve the quality of data, eliminate the redundancy or invalid information, manual and automated data cleaning is mostly done. Before deploying to the new system, various migration steps like designing, extraction, loading, cleaning and verification are mostly repeated for many applications whether of high or moderate complexity. Four major types of data migration: Application migration Database migration Storage migration Business process migration BEE COLONY OPTIMIZATION (BCO): The bee colony optimization (BCO) has been recently introduced as new approach in the field of Swarm Intelligence. There is a colony of honey bees that can extend their selves over the long distances. To exploit large number of food bees extend itself in multiple directions at the same time. The artificial bees represent the agents, which collectively solves complex problems. The algorithm BCO is inspired by the original behavior of the bees’ in nature. By creating colony of artificial bees, BCO can successfully used to solve complex problems. The behavior of the artificial bees is partially similar to the behavior of bees’ in nature and partially dissimilar to the behavior of bees’ in nature. The BCO algorithm is basically, based on population. The population of the artificial bees searches for the valid solution in the population. An artificial bee solves complex problems and described as agents. One solution is generated to the every problem by the artificial bees [4]. Bee colony optimization consists of two phases: A) Forward pass: In forward pass, search space is explored by every artificial bee, also obtains a new solution and improves the solution and then bees’ again go back to the nest. B) Backward pass: After bees’ go back to the nest they shared the solutions of various information. RELATED WORK Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche et.al (2012) explain the working over the cloud platforms for the last few decades. According to him the general migration issue raises when your data is not secure at the one platform. Now the issue comes that whether we can transfer the data with the architecture from one end to another. He proposed that if we can use the TCP/IP technique to find out at which server the data is going to be migrated and if we can configure it to the server from where the data has to be migrated can make a difference into the migration but he did not talk about how an existing architecture allows the second server to be configured into itself [5]. Diva Agawam talks about the server compatibility, according to them as a basic network the PC equipments had been over, with the popularization of technology of embedded system and the internet. Traditional Ethernet fields are infiltrated from embedded equipments . Besides PC, there are several embedded equipments as nodes present. User can easily refer the correlative information if he has the web server accessing permission. The administrator can easily manage and validate the equipments but accessing it over IP, is a great challenge [6]. R.SUCHITRA said that in cloud environment, there is necessity of Server consolidation of virtual machines for cost cutting and energy conservation. With live migration server consolidation can be achieved of virtual machines. For Server Consolidation, we propose a been packing algorithm which is modified to reduce the instantiation of new servers and to avoid the migrations that are not necessary. The algorithm is simulated using multiple test cases and using java. For live migration of virtual machines, ideas are taken from the decreasing strategy of First Fit algorithm [7]. Jayson Tom Hilter talks about the SOAP proto calling in his words. SOAP is a messaging framework, based on XML. Over the internet for exchanging formatted data, SOAP is specially designed. It can be understand with the example of sending the complete documents and using reply and request messages or. It is not affected with the different operating system, programming languages, or platform of distributed computing. A more efficient way was needed to explain the messages and how these messages are communicated. The WSDL (Web Services Description Language) is a specific form of an XML Schema, implemented by Microsoft and IBM for defining the XML message, its operation, and its protocol mapping of a web service used during SOAP or other XML protocol [8]. Qura-Tul-Ain Khan, Said Nasser â€Å"talks that cloud computing is a computing platform which is present in large data center. To deliver cloud computing resources various problems occurs like privacy issues, security, and access, regulations, reliability, electricity and other issues. In every field cloud computing is able to address the servers to fulfill their wide range of needs [9]. RESULTS The proposed architecture migration system has been implemented using VSUAL STUDIO 2010. The performance of various database migration and architecture migration system is analyzed and discussed. Two servers minimum are involved in the data migration. To migrate the architecture system by using XAML language pattern avoiding the time delay of the data migration and ensuring the security analysis of the data getting migrated. The purpose of this work is justified when the data along with the architecture is migrated to another platform. To attain the goal, a mid level XAML architecture would be drawn which would show the compatibility with both the server. In the process, the middle server would first analyze the architecture of the first server from where the data has to be migrated and would generate the XAML for it. As XAML is one of the most light weight language and it is supported by all other platforms also, it would be easier for the second server to adapt the language. The mi ddle server would do amendments in the local XAML according to the architecture which has to be migrated to the next sever. Once the second XAML is generated, it would use the TCP IP protocol service along with the SQL Query injector to transfer the XAML from one end to another and would migrate the architecture completely. The successful migration of the architecture is examined by various parameters. Three parameters are used: Accuracy Reliability Error rate Accuracy: Accuracy is the proximity of measurement results. Here we describe the accuracy in terms of percentage. Percentage ranges from 0-100. Here we attain the highest accuracy that means data is migrated successfully [10]. (1) where, TN is the number of true negative cases FP is the number of false positive cases FN is the number of false negative cases TP is the number of true positive cases Fig.(a) Accuracy graph As shown in the above graph, maximum accuracy is attained i.e, 95% and more than this. In this proposed model for migration accuracy achieves best results. Reliability: Reliability is the ability of a component or a system to perform the tasks successfully for a given time under provided conditions. It is the Consistency and validity of test results determined through statistical methods after repeated trials without degradation or failure [11]. (2) Where, R(t) = reliability e = exponential (2.178) ÊÅ ½ = failure time m = mtbf (mean time between failures) t = time Fig. (b) Reliability graph As shown in above graph, maximum accuracy is attained i.e, 93% and more than this. In this proposed model for migration reliability achieves best results. Error Rate: An Error rate is a deviation from accuracy or correctness. A mistake is an error caused by a fault: the fault being misjudgment, carelessness, or forgetfulness [12]. (3) where, , (energy per bit to noise power spectral density ratio) or, Es/ (energy per modulation symbol to noise density). Fig.(c) Error Rate graph As shown in above graph, minimum error rate is attained i.e, 5%. In this proposed model for migration error rate is very less. As mentioned above the three parameters are evaluated from the proposed work. Accuracy, Reliability and Error rate, all three parameters achieves best results. Table I: Accuracy, Reliability and error rate values (in %) calculated from different data’s schemas that are migrated. Fig. (d) Graph represents above table values per number of time execution The above figure has two axis x-axis represents the number of time the execution takes place and y-axis represents the percentage of all three parameters. CONCLUSION This research has a great scope in reducing the load over the server to provide the optimized result. In this work done till now, it successfully migrates the generated architecture and its data to another server. Here proposed a new approach based on Bee Colony Optimization (BCO) technique and Go Daddy server. The transfer accuracy is almost 90-95 percent. For successful migration XAML is used, as XAML is one of the most light weight language and it is supported by all other platforms also, it would be easier for the second server to adapt the language. Error rate is very less, so the proposed approach works well in migration. In future, this approach can be applied to the system with more than two servers in the migration. The current system does not evaluate any computation time for the evaluation that how much time has been elapsed in the transfer. So in future time elapsed in transferring the data taken into consideration. Also, the transfer of the data is limited i.e. in the generation of the architecture system; you cannot generate more than a fixed number of columns. Reactive Arthritis: Causes, Features and Treatments Reactive Arthritis: Causes, Features and Treatments Reactive arthritis Minor changes. References reduced. 64.58 Reactive Arthritis Ramesh M Bhat M and Rochelle C Monteiro Introduction Reactive arthritis (ReA) is defined as an episode of peripheral arthritis of more than one 1-month duration occurring in association with conjunctivitis and urethritis and/or cervicitis. It is triggered by an infection, most often in the gastrointestinal or urogenital tract. It is also known as Reiter’s syndrome, Feissinger– Leroy’s disease, Brodie’s syndrome and conjunctivo-urethro-synovial syndrome. The term ReA Reactive arthritis was originally introduced to define a sterile joint inflammation during and after an infection elsewhere in the body. The definition was later modified since nucleic acids and bacterial antigens were found in the inflamed joints. ² Etiology  Aetiology Reactive arthritis (ReA) follows an infection in the urogenital tract (venereal form) or gastrointestinal tract (dysenteric form). The venereal form follows recent sexual contact, whereas the dysentricdysenteric form is associated with a wide variety of intestinal pathogens and non-specific diarrhoeal illnesses. The most common organisms implicated are as follows: Post Post-dysenteric form: Salmonella (different serotypes), Yersinia tuberculosis, Shigella flexneri, Shigella S. sonnei, and Campylobacter jejuni. These organisms are found to be HLA HLAB27– dependent. Hence, Individuals individuals with HLA-B27 positivity are strongly predisposed to develop the disease. Post Post-venereal form: Chlamydia trachomatis. Some newer organisms have been implicated recently in causation of reactive arthritisReA, namely Chlamydia C. pneumonia, Mycoplasma hominis, Mycoplasma M. fermentans, Neisseria Gonorrhoeagonorrhoeae, Borrelia burgdorferi, Clostridium difficile, ÃŽ ²-haemolytic streptococci, Propionibacterium acnes, EscherischiaEscherichia coli, Helicobacter pylori, Calmette CalmetteGuerin bacillus, Brucella abortus, Leptospira , Bartonella, Tropheyreyma whippeli, Gardnerella vaginalis, Giardia lamblia. ³ Drugs are generally not implicated in the aetiology of reactive arthritisReA;, however, a single case of Lithium lithium precipitating pre-existing ReA1: Kindly check for clarity>aOKctive arthritis has been described.à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ ´ Pathobiology The prevalence of ReAactive arthritis is estimated to be 0.1% worldwide. The disease mainly affects people in the 2nd 4thsecond to fourth decade of life. The Infection infection occurs 1–4 weeks following genitourinary infection, with a male–female ratio of 9:1. The Enteric enteric type has an equal incidence in both males and females.à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ ¶ Systemic Featuresfeatures The disease primarily affects the joints, eyesà ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ ·, the skin and genitalia. Rarely, patients present with cardiac, renal, and neural abnormalities. Arthritis Articular manifestations are most commonly of an acute, non-destructive oligoarthritis usually affecting the large joints of the lower limbs which persists for 4–5 months. ‘Sausage digit’ or diffuse swelling of an entire toe/finger occurs in 16% of patients. Enthesitis is another characteristic feature of patients with ReA. It is defined as an inflammation of the ligaments and tendons at their site of insertion into the bone. Patients may also develop heel pain and achilles Achilles tendonitis. Sacroiliitis is another distinctive feature of the disease which results in a low back pain.8-10 Urethritis ReAactive arthritis usually follows 1–3 weeks after an episode of urethritis. Urethritis may occur even in post postdysenteric cases. The non nonspecific urethritis presents with mild non-purulent urethral discharge. Haemorrhagic cystitis and prostatitis may develop in a few patients. In females, it manifests as cervicitis associated with cervical discharge. Rarely, bleeding and abdominal pain may occur.à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ µ Mucocutaneous lesions Keratoderma blennorrhagica or Pustulosis pustulosis palmoplantaris is a specific cutaneous lesion in ReA. Patients present with pustules over the palms and soles which are gradually covered with thick horny crusts. Lesions may coalesce. Psoriasiform lesions are also common (Fig. 58.1). The biopsy of of skin lesions with acanthosis and epidermal neutrophilia (Fig. 58.2) Circinate balanitis is a painless geographic dermatitis occurring over the glans penis (Fig. 58.31). In addition, small, shallow ulcers are seen over the glans and urethral meatus and also over the oral cavity. Nail changes are a common finding and include subungual hyperkeratosis, onycholysis, ridging and nail shedding.10,11 Visceral lesions Visceral involvements mainly include the cardiac, renal and neural systems. Cardiovascular manifestations present as conduction delays and aortic disease. Proteinuria, microhaematuria, aseptic pyuria, and rarely, glomerulonephritis occur when the renal system is involved. Transient neurologic dysfunction such as cranial or peripheral nerve palsies have been described in some patients.10 The disease is usually self selflimiting. The joint manifestations regress completely within a few months (3–5 months). Enthesopathy, balanitis and psoriatic lesions may persist even after joint inflammation has subsided. Recurrences are common. Some patients develop chronic polyarthritis, usually HLA HLAB27– positive individuals.12 Ocular Featuresfeatures Bilateral mucopurulent conjunctivitis is the most common ocular manifestation of ReA that occurs in more than 50% of patients. It is one of the important components of the triad of the disease. Occasionally, the conjunctivitis may be purulent but remains transient, mild and associated with a sterile discharge. It subsides within 1–4 weeks. Acute anterior uveititsuveitis may be found in about one-fifth of cases, especially in those who are positive for HLA-B27.7 Other ocular complications of ReA include keratitis, corneal ulcer with or without hypopyon, episcleritis, scleritis, papilloedema, retinal oedema, retinal vasculitis and retrobulbar neuritis. ¹Ã‚ ³ Vision is usually impaired from corneal scar or recurrent chronic uveitis causing secondary glaucoma, complicated cataract or cystoids macular oedema. ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ ´ Diagnosis Laboratory findings in ReA are non-specific and do not usually provide a conclusive diagnosis regarding the aetiology. Prognosis Individuals who are HLA HLAB27– positive have a more severe disease form. Male gender and a positive family history for spondyloarthropathies, ankylosing spondylitis and recurrent episodes of arthritis are indicators of a bad prognosis.9 Treatment Patient education has plays a major role in patients with ReAactive arthritis. The chronic relapsing nature of the disease should be explained to the patients for better compliance with therapeutic modalities. Conjunctivitis is usually self-limiting. A slit slitlamp examination is necessary to rule out uveitis, which if present has to be managed with topical corticosteroids, cycloplaegics and mydriatics. Keratoderma blenorrhagicablennorrhagica is treated using topical steroids and keratolytics. Low potency topical steroids are used in circinate balanitis.10 Non Nonsteroidal anti antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID’s) are highly effective in pain management in patients with ReAactive arthritis. Intra Intraarticular steroids are advocated in oligo/monoarticular disease. The use of systemic steroids has been discouraged except in severe cases where short courses may be given.15 Antibiotics are useful in the post postvenereal form of ReAactive arthritis. Their role in the post postdysenteric form remains controversial. Commonly used antibiotics include erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline and doxycycline.11 In patients who fail to respond to the above mentioned conventional therapy, a more aggressive therapeutic approach is needed. This includes Disease disease modifying anti antirheumatic drugs (DMARD’s). References 1. Fisk PK. Reiter’s disease. British Med J 1982; 284:3. 132. Kingsley G, Sieper J. Third international International workshop Workshop on Reactive arthritis Arthritis, 23–-26 September, 1995, Berlin : An overview. Ann Rheum Dis 55:564–570. 143. Kiss S, LetkoE, Qamruddin S, et al, Long-term progression, prognosis and treatment of patients with recurrent ocular manifestations of Reiter’s syndrome. Ophthalmology 2003;110::1764–1769. 154. Schumacher HR Jr., Reactive arthritis. Rheum Dis Clin North Am 1998; 24:261–-273. Early Years Care and Education: History and Policies Early Years Care and Education: History and Policies This essay explores the range of early year settings that are involved in the care and education of young children, and discuss the roles and responsibilities of the professionals who work at these settings. Two critical incidents will be focused upon with the use of a Personal Reflection Diary, which has been taken throughout Practical Placements. The diary will emphasize the roles and responsibilities of the professionals that are key within the setting. The essay will also evaluate the curricula appropriate to the setting that were visited during placement and compare it to another practice setting. The essay will finish with a personal statement defining what has been learnt from the experiences. First, the history of care and education of young children will be reflected upon. Next, there will be a discussion on social care and health care legislation which is affiliated to the support of childrens health and safety (historical to present day). A Reflective Account will follow, which will consider two incidents which identifies the roles of the professionals who work in various settings. Subsequently, the author will define the importance of reflective practice. Finally, conclusions will be drawn as to whether the objectives have been met. History of care and education- Education sector first started and when did children become important? Pre 1870 there was no organised system of education. Instead children were sent out to work to earn money for their families. Some children attended schools run by charities and churches or Dame schools run by women for young children. There were fee paying schools for those rich enough to afford them or the wealthier children were taught at home by governesses. In the social legislation of this period education did not become a real priority until the year of the first Education Act, 1870. The 1870 Education Act also known as the Forster Act, that we have the real birth of the modern system of education in England. This not only gave rise to a national system of state education but also assured the existence of a dual system voluntary denominational schools and nondenominational state schools. The act required the establishment of elementary schools nationwide. These were not to replace or duplicate what already existed but supplement those already run by the churches, private individuals and guilds. Elementary education became effectively free with the passing of the 1891 Education Act. The1870 Forster Education Act set up mass primary education (education for everyone). It was introduced because the government was worried that the working class was becoming revolutionary and also because it was thought that Britains economy was falling behind the rest of the world. The education received therefore a strong emphasis on obedience to authority. The Victorians soon realised the importance to read and write. Passage of the Education Act of 1870 was an important event because the act established compulsory elementary schools for all children from the age of 5. All children had to attend school until they were 10 years old. Education Legislation (historical to present day). By 1880 many new schools had been set up by the boards. This made it possible for the 1880 Education Act to make school attendance compulsory for all children up to the age of ten. The school boards were abolished under the 1902 Education Act. In their place Local Educational Authorities (LEAs) were created to organize funding, employ teachers and allocate school places. Under the 1918 Education Act school became obligatory for all children up to the age of 14. The Act was conceived by the liberal MP Herbert Fisher (1865-1940). Other features of the Act included the provision of additional services in schools, such as medical inspections, nurseries and provision for pupils with special needs. During the 1920s and 1930s Sir Henry Hadow (1859-1937) chaired a consultative committee that was responsible for several important reports on education in England. In 1926, a report entitled The Education of the Adolescent looked at primary education in detail for the first time. It prioritized activity and experience, rather than rote learning and discussed, for the first time, the specific needs of children with learning difficulties. The report also made the important recommendation of limiting class sizes to a maximum of thirty children. In 1931, another report was published: The Primary School was influenced by the educational ideas of Swiss psychologist, Jean Piaget and advocated a style of teaching based on childrens interests. The 1944 Education Act saw the introduction of the tripartite system. Devised by Conservative MP Rab Butler (1902-1982), the Act introduced three different types of school: Grammar schools for the more academic pupil, Secondary Modern schools for a more practical, non-academic style of education and Technical schools for specialist practical education. Pupils were allocated to a particular type of school by taking an examination called the 11- Plus, which was also introduced under the Act. Secondary education now became free for all and the school-leaving age rose to 15. Comprehensive schooling was recommended in a document issued by the Labor Government in 1965 called the Circular 10/65. The system was developed in contrast to the tripartite system and was instead intended to suit pupils of all abilities. The Plowden Report is the unofficial name for the 1967 report of the Central Advisory Council for Education (England) into Primary Education. The report was called Children and their Primary Schools and was named after the chair of the Council, Lady Bridget Plowden (1910-2000). It observed that new skills were needed in society, stating that, the qualities needed in a modern economy extend far beyond skills such as accurate spelling and arithmetic. They include greater curiosity and adaptability, a high level of aspiration, and others which are difficult to measure. (The Plowden Report: Children and their Primary Schools, London: Her Majestys Stationery Office, 1967.) The Education Act 1973 stated that schools leaving age was raised to 16. The National Curriculum was introduced in the 1988 Education Act. It made all education the same for state-funded schools, ensuring that all pupils had access to a basic level of education. A selection of subjects was made compulsory including maths, English, science and some form of religious education. It also introduced sex education for the first time. Pupils were divided into Key Stages, depending on their age, Key Stage 1 for pupils aged 5-7, Key Stage 2 for pupils aged 7-11, Key Stage 3 for pupils aged 11-14 and Key Stage 4 for pupils aged 14-16. The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) was introduced to replace O-levels and the Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE). In 1996, the Conservative government introduced the first stage of a Nursery Voucher scheme. The Voucher scheme allowed parents to use vouchers worth up to  £1,100 per child for up to three terms of part-time education for their 4-year-old children, in any form of preschool provision. However, in 1997, the incoming Labour Government abolished the voucher scheme and made its own plans for the development of early years services. The government provided direct funding to preschool institutions for part-time places for 4-year-old children and an increasing number of part-time places for 3-year-old children. Around 1999, the government introduced a Foundation Stage of early learning, which is a new stage of education for children age 3 to the end of their reception year when they will be 5. The Labour government revealed plans to introduce City Academies in 2002 as part of a five-year plan to improve education. City Academies are designed to improve inner city education by building new schools, introducing new technology and changing the ethos of schools. The scheme is controversial since schools will only get academy status if they raise  £2 million from private funds. Various types of early years education provisions There are a number of various types of early years education settings that can offer the free entitlement: day nurseries, private nursery schools, maintained nursery schools and nursery classes attached to primary schools, preschools and playgroups, primary school reception classes, where schools operate an early admission policy to admit four year olds, accredited child minders who are part of networks approved to deliver early education and Sure Start Childrens Centers. Theorists who may have impacted upon early years provision. The first infant school was opened by Robert Owen (1771-1858), utopian radical socialist reformer-mill owner who had set up crà ¨ches for the children of his workers as well as housing and health facilities. Pestalozzi (1745-1827) attracted the attention of some education reformers. Pestalozzian schools attempted to recognise the specific requirements of young children. Also very influential was the kindergarten movement, Froebel (1782-1852). First opened in England in 1851 Froebels vision was to educate the whole child. Outdoor activities played a signiFIcant part, but his vision was of the children as plants in the garden of the school flowering and blossoming under the correct care and attention as you would care for a plant. Gradually though the more precise nature of Froebels pedagogy and philosophies got taken over by a wider emphasis on play combined with domestic tasks as defined by the theories of psychologists. Stanley Hall (1884-1924) and John Dewey (1859-1952) Also these kindergartens were also rescuers of the children of the urban poor so the teachers became more like social workers. Another significant figure was Maria Montessori (1870-1952). Her work came to be seen as more a preserve of middle class private nurseries but originally she worked with deprived children of Naples and aimed to develop cognitive physical linguistic social and self care skills through carefully structured play activities and equipment. Advocate of natural materials wooden blocks sandpaper letters. She thought that too many brightly coloured toys and pictures could over stimulate. Children were taught to concentrate on one activity the put it away and move on to the next one. Margaret McMillan (1860-1931), was a Christian socialist and was regarded as the originator of Nursery School concept. Opened an open air nursery school in London in 1913 focus on sense training and health of the young child. Sand water clay and paint free cooked meals fresh air covered area so the children could be outside as much as possible. Roles of professionals that work in early years Then Early Years Practitioners (EYP) will be trained to often work as part of the team of skilled and committed people working with children in early years settings or wider childrens services. Take responsibility for leading and managing play, care and learning. Have a secure and up-to-date knowledge and understanding of early years practice with children from birth to five; and be skilled and effective practitioners. In addition to this, EYP will have an important role in leading and supporting other staff by helping them to develop and improve their practice, establish and maintain positive relationships with Children and communicate and work in partnership with families, carers and other professionals. Social care and health care legislation which is affiliated to the support of childrens health and safety (historical to present day) Range of health care settings in early years. There are many types of social and health care in early years for example Health clinics, residential care, home visiting scheme, children centres, paediatric services. Health and social care professionals, for example: Health visitors, GPs, midwives, childrens centre staff, social workers and mental health services.