Technology and New Technological Generation

The tremendous development in technology and the diversity in this industry have drastically changed the lifestyle of people in society. The progress in technology has good impacts as well as bad implications to people. In many ways, technology simplifies life,and it has many beneficial effects to the community and the human condition. On the other hand, the result of the technological progress has brought many complications to our lives.However, the negative and positive effects of technology depends completely on people’s exposure to it and the use that they give it. To begin, the enormous progress in technology is responsible for the great forward revolution in the fields of agriculture, manufacturing, warfare, transportation, information, medicine, communication and so on. The mass media, for instance, is one of the most representative areas. We have radio, television, telephones, Internet, and every other device that will fit in the palm of the hand.Another example is the technological advance in the area of medicine that has introduced the latest tools to improve quality patient care. Furthermore, technology plays an important role in international trade because the world market has been globalizing by it. In other words, the most important contribution of technology to society is making the lives of common people much easier and helping them achieve what was previously not possible. On the other hand, the huge development in technology has also complicated life, and it has many negative effects on people.First of all, the new technology in mass media changes cultural values and social behaviors by spreading ideas, values, behavior patterns within a society and among different groups. Some technologies also have negative effects on the environment, such as pollution, and lack of sustainability because they are designed to economic effects only. The new forms of entertainment, such as Internet, and video games have serious effects on children and ad ults causing obesity, laziness, and loss of personality.In addition, through the Internet, the pornographic and gambling industries have been introduced for the various web sites. Therfore, the consequences of the technological advance does not only affect the people it also affect the planet. As a matter in fact, technology has been part of life on the earth since the advent of the human species like language, rituals, commerce, and the arts. Technology is an intrinsic part of human culture and it shapes society as well as is shaped by society.However, the positive or negative effect of technology on society will depend on the choices that people make. These choices between increasing technology include, rising to consumer demands, products channels of distribution, and people’s ability to gain these products with ease. Other effects of technology are beliefs regarding to freedom of choice, materialism, consumerism, and the utilization of technologies just as people requests . To illustrate, technology could be used to maintain, prolong, or terminate a life depend on the patient’s desire.Therefore, the difference in a person attitude towards technology is dependent on that person’s exposure to it rather that the notion she/he has of it. In conclusion, the technologies available to people greatly influence how their lives are as well as people have influence on technology’s development and how it is used. Indeed, the industrial revolution is still underway changing patterns of work and bringing with it the economic and social consequences. The more obvious economic effect of the industrial revolution is the depletion of nonrenewable natural resources such as petroleum, coal, and ores.The social consequences of the technological modernization are the negative impact on people’s behavior and the creation of the new technological generation. However, people should take advantage of the technology advances and use it wisely in ben efit to their lives. For example, people could use technology to create shortcuts in working and making tasks easy too. On the contrary, unfortunately, people could use technology to create weapons of massive destruction. Finally, we are the new technological generation, so not only the future of this civilization but the future of the planet is in our hands. Technology and New Technological Generation The tremendous development in technology and the diversity in this industry have drastically changed the lifestyle of people in society. The progress in technology has good impacts as well as bad implications to people. In many ways, technology simplifies life,and it has many beneficial effects to the community and the human condition. On the other hand, the result of the technological progress has brought many complications to our lives.However, the negative and positive effects of technology depends completely on people’s exposure to it and the use that they give it. To begin, the enormous progress in technology is responsible for the great forward revolution in the fields of agriculture, manufacturing, warfare, transportation, information, medicine, communication and so on. The mass media, for instance, is one of the most representative areas. We have radio, television, telephones, Internet, and every other device that will fit in the palm of the hand.Another example is the technological advance in the area of medicine that has introduced the latest tools to improve quality patient care. Furthermore, technology plays an important role in international trade because the world market has been globalizing by it. In other words, the most important contribution of technology to society is making the lives of common people much easier and helping them achieve what was previously not possible. On the other hand, the huge development in technology has also complicated life, and it has many negative effects on people.First of all, the new technology in mass media changes cultural values and social behaviors by spreading ideas, values, behavior patterns within a society and among different groups. Some technologies also have negative effects on the environment, such as pollution, and lack of sustainability because they are designed to economic effects only. The new forms of entertainment, such as Internet, and video games have serious effects on children and ad ults causing obesity, laziness, and loss of personality.In addition, through the Internet, the pornographic and gambling industries have been introduced for the various web sites. Therfore, the consequences of the technological advance does not only affect the people it also affect the planet. As a matter in fact, technology has been part of life on the earth since the advent of the human species like language, rituals, commerce, and the arts. Technology is an intrinsic part of human culture and it shapes society as well as is shaped by society.However, the positive or negative effect of technology on society will depend on the choices that people make. These choices between increasing technology include, rising to consumer demands, products channels of distribution, and people’s ability to gain these products with ease. Other effects of technology are beliefs regarding to freedom of choice, materialism, consumerism, and the utilization of technologies just as people requests . To illustrate, technology could be used to maintain, prolong, or terminate a life depend on the patient’s desire.Therefore, the difference in a person attitude towards technology is dependent on that person’s exposure to it rather that the notion she/he has of it. In conclusion, the technologies available to people greatly influence how their lives are as well as people have influence on technology’s development and how it is used. Indeed, the industrial revolution is still underway changing patterns of work and bringing with it the economic and social consequences. The more obvious economic effect of the industrial revolution is the depletion of nonrenewable natural resources such as petroleum, coal, and ores.The social consequences of the technological modernization are the negative impact on people’s behavior and the creation of the new technological generation. However, people should take advantage of the technology advances and use it wisely in ben efit to their lives. For example, people could use technology to create shortcuts in working and making tasks easy too. On the contrary, unfortunately, people could use technology to create weapons of massive destruction. Finally, we are the new technological generation, so not only the future of this civilization but the future of the planet is in our hands.

Organic vs. Industrial Food Essay

Have you ever been standing in the grocery store, undecided on whether there really is a difference between the standard store brand ribeye steak and the organic, grain fed, free range ribeye that costs twice as much? Ever had little devil on one shoulder telling you one thing, and the angel on the other convincing you the devil is wrong? Is cost the only thing holding you back from shelling out a few extra sheckles for the more expensive steak? Have you heard about the health benefits of eating organic? Then maybe it is time you learned about the true benefits of organic food. In doing so, it may just change your life and blow your mind. Eating industrial foods can cause a bevy of health issues today, such as exposure to toxins, as well as leading to diabetes and heart disease, and choosing to eat organic foods instead will help to resolve those issues. While organic foods are thought to be quite a bit more expensive than the standard, this is not always the case. One article quotes â€Å"Your local food markets will often have lower prices on organic food items than traditional grocery stores. (Lotich, 2010, para 1). You have to take into consideration that in this day and age, almost any meal that you eat has an organic alternative, or can be prepared by using all organic ingredients. In knowing this, you may actually find that there are a number of other ways that you may go about saving some money, while incorporating organic foods into your daily diet. One of those things you can do is make yourself aware of the various farms that are putting out organic foods. Most folks think that organic foods are all produced by small, family owned farms. As I very recently found out, some of the most successful organic farms are very large and on a global scale. Take Earthbound Farms for example. They are a very successful and very large farm, consisting of over 30,000 acres. Their website states â€Å"We’ve been farming for more than 25 years now, and we’ve become the country’s largest grower of organic produce, committed to being a catalyst for positive change in our kitchens and our environment (Earthbound Farm, 2012, para 4). Buying from this company not only promotes eating healthier, but also supports a company that is looking out for the environment as well. Not only are some of the most successful organic farms gigantic and global, but so are some of the enormous corporations that buy organic food (Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, Safeway and Kroger’s). That being said, if you can research and recognize some of these brands, what at first glance may seem like big-box packaging may indeed turn out to be a cost efficient and healthy organic alternative to what one may typically buy in stores today. Thus it turns out, eating organic may not be as expensive as we first thought. In conjunction with steps such as planning your meals ahead of time, organic food just may actually be cheaper overall than industrial foods in many instances. Planning meals ahead of time is a smart move. I recently read that â€Å"When you have a detailed shopping list and go to the store with a plan, you’re much less likely to splurge on extras or expensive instant meals. And when you have a firm plan in place, and the food has already been purchased, you won’t end up wasting money in the drive thru spending your money on overpriced fast food (James, 2008, para 2). This is an issue that I think most of us face from time to time. Being smart can help reduce these unnecessary costs. It is important for consumers to really research organic foods and the cost benefits of choosing to go that route. You can end up eating better, as well as saving money. The healthy benefits of eating organic are yet another good reason to choose an organic diet. Recent studies have shown that â€Å"The published literature lacks strong evidence that organic foods are significantly more nutritious than conventional foods. Consumption of organic foods may reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. † (Novella, 2012) That being said, the same studies do show that eating organic foods does reduce the reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The EPA states that â€Å"consumers are looking to organically grown and produced foods as a way to reduce exposure to synthetic pesticides (U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). That certainly is a reason to make the switch. Also, if you are planning meals as aforementioned, and buying ingredients for those meals fresh, as opposed to meal mixes and processed industrial foods, then you are also in control of the amounts of fats, sugars, and such that are in your meals. This is also a healthier option. Taking control of what you eat is important. I imagine most people want to control what they put in their bodies, and eating organic foods can help you do just that. Without eating organic foods, you can run the risk of leaving yourself open to all kinds of diseases and other health issues. All in all, the evidence seems mounting in favor of converting to a healthier lifestyle. Eating organic food seems like both a smart, and strong way to making the transition. It is easier than exercising, and in most cases, would probably provide a better feeling in the long run. â€Å"The American College of Sports Medicine advises adults to do moderately intense cardio exercise for 30 minutes a day, five days a week or do vigorously intense cardio for 20 minutes a day, three days a week to stay healthy (Kunz, 2011, para 2). Exercising is important as well, but if you are eating the wrong foods, all of your hard work may be for not. So think about making the switch to organic foods. Starting off small can lead to big changes for you and your loved ones. Bibliography Earthbound Farm. (2012, December 6). The Earthbound Story. p. 2012. James, B. (2008, November 20). Five Benefits of Planning Meal Menus for Your Household. Yahoo! Voices, p. 1. Kunz, M. (2011, October 19). Does Exercise Offset Unhealthy Eating? Exercise & Eating Healthy, p. 1. Lotich, B. (2010, December 28). 10 Easy Ways To Save Money On Organic Food. US News, p. 1. Novella, S. (2012, Sept. 05). No Health Benefits from Organic Food. Science-Based Medicine, p. 1. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2012, December 6). Pesticides and Food. Pesticides: Health and Safety , p. 1.

Compare and Contrast the Historical Significance Essay

Compare and Contrast the historical significance between the two world WARS. http://www. diffen. com/difference/World_War_I_vs_World_War_II Similarities Topical sentence: A) Both war led to heavy casualties. 1) WW1: Estimated to be 10 million dead, 21 million wounded, and 7. 7 million missing or imprisoned. 2) WW2: More than 40 million men and women were serving in the armed forces by 1944 and civilian and military deaths exceeded 55 million. Topical sentence: B) same both created a new international co-operation hoping to prevent further conflicts in the future. ) WW1: The League of Nations was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict. 2) WW2: The United Nations was established to foster international cooperation and prevent conflicts. Topical Sentence: C) Similarly, Both brought out the creation of new and dangerous weapons. 1) WW1: Supported by artillery and machine guns, infantry assault, early airplanes and poisonous gas. 2) WW2: a) Nuclear power and missiles were used, modern concepts of covert and special operations. Submarines and tanks were also more heavily used. ) Encryption codes for secret communication became more complex. Topical Sentence: D) Similarly, Genocide was used to torture people from weaker countries. 1) WW1: The Ottoman Empire (Turkey) carried out genocide of Armenians. 2) WW2: German Nazis committed genocide against Jews. Topical Sentence : E)Both sowed the seeds of future wars. 1) WW1: Several alliances formed over the past decades were invoked, so within weeks the major powers were at war; as all had colonies, the conflict soon spread around the world. 1)Rise of Nazism in Germany (regain national glory and prestige) a) Treaty violations and acts of aggression on various fronts. b) Political and economic inst ability in Germany including with humiliation over its defeat in World War 1 and the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles. c) Rise of power of Adolf Hitler of the Nazi Party. 1) In the mid-1930s Hitler began secretly to rearm Germany, in violation of the treaty. 2) Adolf Hitler signed alliances with Italy and Japan to oppose the Soviet Union. 2) Rise of Fascism in Italy (regain national glory and prestige) a) Joined the allies in 1915 in hope in getting Dalmatia and Fiume however was only given Istria and Tyrol at the Paris and Peace Conference. b) Italian nationalists occupied Fiume in September 1919 WW2: The wartime conferences and wartime conferences revealed the mutual distrust and disagreements between the USSR and USA cause Cold War. (1)Launching opposing plans and forming opposing organizations a) US- Marshall Plan and formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. ) USSR- Molotov Plan formed the Warsaw Pact within the communist bloc. (2) Organizing spy activities out of deep suspicion and a great sense of insecurity. a) US- Central Intelligence Agency b) USSR – Committee of State Security (3) Using political propaganda to promote each other ideas and attack the other side. a) US- Voice of America to attack communism b)USSR-Radio Moscow to attack capitalism (4) Stopping all kinds of communication to prevent people of its bloc from going over to the other side. ) US- stops communication and stop all cultural exchange b) USSR- tightened all controls and no contact to the west was allowed. Differences Topical Sentence: A) Politically, WW1 had just brought the first recognition & partial actualization of the principle of national self-determination. BUT, after WW2 no people even for colonies could accept their national right being deprived.

Summary paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Summary paper - Essay Example The article further explains the way of life in the Akan society beginning with the process of creating a village, which then grows into a town. An Akan village has a head while a town in Akan has a stool of power and a chief as the center of the power. The article entitled The Akan people by Adu-Amankwah provides basic information about the Akan people. The article explains that the live in central Ghana and speak the Akan language which is a collection of various dialects. The dialects they speak influence their identity since the people are often categorized in such groups. Among the existing groups based on the variety of dialects, include Wassa, Asante, Fante, Bono, Akyem, Kwahu and Akuapem. The author of the article cites several historians as he provides a detailed of the Akan people. He explains that the lived in independent kingdoms founded by refugees from Kumbu, a kingdom that consisted of twenty-seven states and was destroyed by Songhay in 1470. The economic activities of the Akan people include hunting, farming and fishing. The article, Akan kinship terms, provides a detailed analysis of kinship in the Akan society. In doing this, the article explains that the Akan people believe in extended family system. The system is material in nature. With such an exciting yet informative introduction, the article proceeds to provide translations of some basic kinship names to English despite admitting that most of such names have no direct equivalent in English. Such terms include papa for father but the term Agya may refer to father too. Maame is for mother while Eno /Awo is an equivalent for affection though not directly transplanted as such. Nua is for sibling, kunu refers to a husband and yere for wife. A child is a significant individual in a society and the Akan refer to a child as ba. Greetings on the other hand is an article that discuses the type of greetings in the Akan society. The article begins by acknowledging that greeting is a personal

Interview with Dr. Michael Winters Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Interview with Dr. Michael Winters - Essay Example As a licensed practitioner of and a firm believer in the merits of logotherapy, the search for and discovery of meaning plays a significant role in Dr. Winters' professional, clinical, teaching, and research activities.The search for meaning has had a strong basis in Dr. Winters' background, as reflected by his two choices for a college major: Theater or Psychology. Broadway's loss was psychology's gain, as he found the search for meaning more lucrative and challenging than, in a sense, its interpretation. After undergraduate and Masteral studies at Purdue, he went to Tennessee for his doctorate at the University of Memphis in 1991.However, it was not until two years ago (in 2005) that he embraced logotherapy, which is based on Frankl's insights on the beneficial psychological effects of the search for and discovery of meaning in human experience (Frankl, 1984/19871998). Frankl has had a substantial impact on Dr. Winters' life and profession, and logotherapy research has become a hug e part of his academic and clinical practice. As a counseling strategy, he uses logotherapy, which fits with the question that he asks every time he faces any of his clients: "how do I help this person to help him/herself move forward" (Winters, 2007)Dr. Winters' extensive experience, however, does not limit his counseling strategy to logotherapy. ... Among college students, though, Dr. Winters addresses more faith-based issues in search of solutions. Dr. Winters is also an expert on clinical depression, and a considerable amount of time was spent during the interview discussing this topic. We started by discussing the symptoms, which are primarily anxiety, pessimism, and lethargy. When asked what the causes of depression are, he paused for several seconds before answering: "anything". Depression is a chemical reaction that affects the mind, and this can be triggered by anxieties over relationships (romantic or otherwise), emotional or physical or psychological trauma. Among young people, common triggers of depression are issues with parents, relationships, or friends, or the search for and development of individual identity. If there is what he could call a master variable that helps one to avoid depression, it is the value of social networking. He noted from his clinical and professional experience that people who know how to get the most out of their social relationships with family, friends, and a special other are farthest away from depression. I guess that an important consideration here is the sense of security that a person feels, allowing him/her to maintain their identity in social relationships, free of false expectations and desires to be what they are not. As Dr. Winters shares with his clients, if they are not happy and truly getting their needs in their relationships, then they should either end it or fix it, working on the issues unless there is violence. He encourages his clients in a depression to move beyond a definition of love that is based on what they could get out of a relationship to one

Maksim Litvinov And Soviet Foreign Policy During The 1930s Essay

Maksim Litvinov And Soviet Foreign Policy During The 1930s - Essay Example When the party separated into two factions, he joined the Bolsheviks faction and formed a strong bond with several party members; one of these was Joseph Stalin (Roberts, 1953). Subsequently, Litvinov spent the next fifteen years journeyed west Europe on varying tasks to instill and strengthen the Bolshevik ideology. He adopted many guises and aliases to help him steer clear of the police. Among his errands were smuggling guns to aid revolutionaries in Russia. He was arrested in Paris in 1907 after a bank heist masterminded by Stalin. Though many of his attempts to help the cause were unsuccessful, hid unwavering and constant labors made him a hero in the eyes of his comrades (Roberts, 1953). After the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution concluded, Litvinov campaigned the cause in Britain but was expulsed because of the British discontent over the treatment of compatriot Bruce Lockhart in Moscow. In addition, he was also evicted from Britain because of his pacifist beliefs. After returning to Moscow, he was given the position of Commissariat of Foreign Affairs. He handled many significant and high-profile assignments for his government, notably bringing the Soviet-Estonian clashes to a standstill and initiating talks with the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson (Roberts, 1953). Four years after his assignation, he was promoted to deputy commissar of foreign affairs in 1921, under the eye of Georgi ChicherinLitvinov's relationship with Chicherin were turbulent, as they both held opposing views on policies, as well as having contrasting and strong personalities. In spite of this, Litvinov's career as a diplomat flourished under Chicherin, whom he served for almost a decade. In 1928, he initiated proposals focusing on total disarmament, instead of following standard formulas or ratios favored by the USSR. He later became the commissar when his superior, Chicherin, was forced to retire due to ill health (Roberts, 1953). CAREER HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS In many standards and principles, Litvinov deserved his place in Soviet history because of the degree of successes he garnered in the name of his country which also played and have a huge impact on other nations. When Hitler ascended to power through the powerhouse generated by his Nazi Party, Litvinov immediately recognized the significance of this event (Dunn, 1988). In 1933, he spoke of a need to change the direction of Soviet foreign policy to counteract the influence of Nazi Germany under Hitler. He managed these changes through the establishment of diplomatic contact with the United States and other Western powers. He was also instrumental in the institutionalization of the League of Nations, the predecessor of the United Nations. His conviction in resisting and containing fascism was well-known. In addition, his name was etched in the global spheres when he became the proponent of collective security (Dunn, 1988). TRADE AGREEMENTS FOR SOVIET FOREIGN POLICY AND GOVERNMENT RECOGNITION When Stalin came into power, he restructured USSR's policies towards foreign trade in order to abolish and curtail free and private trade practices. In anticipation of the irregular and what he deemed disruptive market forces that come with foreign trade, Stalin placed all activity and policies on foreign trade under state control. In addition, Stalin created monopolies on particular goods, with

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) - The Assignment

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) - The International Corporate Reporting Issues - Assignment Example Wood and Sangster (2008) highlights that the IASC was initially founded by an Accountant’s International Study Group particularly in 1973. The IASB is an international but independent accounting setting body. Soon after becoming the international accounting standards setting body, the members of IASB finalized and decided to discuss, develop, in the global public interest, a single set of high quality international accounting standards. (About Us, n.d.). However, as IASB is UK-based and its standards are mostly applied to the UK based corporations, the U.S. corporations follow the accounting standards by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The globalization and increase in cross border transactions necessited both boards to work closely and issue collective international accounting standards. This process begins the convergence between the IASB and the FASB particularly in 2002 Norfolk agreement, where both regulatory bodies developed a consensus to develop and is sues a set of high quality compatible standards (Carmona and Trombetta, 2010). However, there exist various challenges that make it substantially difficult for the both bodies to ensure the global but uniform application of the international accounting standards. ... Since the IASB possesses no legal backing to implement its own developed international accounting standards, it would be substantially difficult for the IASB to ensure and monitor the global recognition and uniform application of the IFRS. Ironically, soon after the establishment of the IASC in the United Kingdom, the foundation of the FASB took place in the U.S. it would not be incorrect to say that the creation of the FASB was a counter measure to the existence and function of the IASC. Moreover, in the same year 1973, the FASB developed and drafted its own accounting standards and issued within the United States. Consistently, the FASB has been developing the Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) as a counter measures for the IASs being produced by the IASB till the year of 2002. Furthermore, the FASB works as a competitor to the IASB. Both have agreed to the IFRS would be implemented in the United States of America by the end of 2015. This is an endeavour to introduce th e global uniform application and practice of the IFRS and this would bring a forward step toward the attainment of the global application and practice of the international accounting frameworks and standards. However, this global and uniform application received a severe blow when the FASB independently and separately outlined, developed and published its own vision on how to carry out the process of reforms in the accounting of financial instruments (Veron, 2010). Also, the IASC Foundation has been widely criticized on its approach towards entertaining its mission. In this regard, the European banking sector highlights its reservations over the certain announcements of the IASC. Consequently, it has heightened hostitlity between the two; the hostility becomes

Article - Marketing Campaigns Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

- Marketing Campaigns - Article Example For instance, in my opinion the marketing strategy that is referred to as newbie love Freebies is unethical (Inc.com, 2010). This is because; the act of dating novices may not appeal to all individuals in the community. Thus, such a strategy will not be truly effective in marketing even if it worked for Sunday River Skiway. In addition, some of the words used in some of the marketing strategies can only be understood by persons who are experienced with the marketing field. However, for a leman, some words like killer instinct, Bienvenidos, and reading the market may not make any sense in relation to marketing (Inc.com, 2010). Moreover, they may also be literally interpreted and, thus leading to miscommunications. Some of the ideas presented in the article have also even been described as wacky and incompetent. Besides, some of them like my new favorite and got it may also trigger unethical behaviors in the society. However, some of the marketing strategies used in the article like know your audience and engaging the consumer may have a decent implication on the business and, thus they will be useful in giving it a competitive advantage over other businesses (Inc.com,

International Country study of Germany Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Country study of Germany - Essay Example There are certain exceptions, like the specific sectors of agriculture and coal mining, which are regulated and specially subsidized. The gross domestic product of Germany (purchasing power parity) in 2008 was $2.863 trillion (CIA, World Factbook, 2009), with the official currency being the euro. In order to seriously comprehend the economic framework within which Germany functions, it is imperative to be cognizant of the basic features and structural facets of the banking and the financial system of Germany. The banking network in the country of Germany comprises of different private and public credit institutions (Banks and Banking, n.d.). Though the types of activities that are allowed to each variety of the credit institutions are not bounded, yet specific distinctions in the characteristic range of bank customers or transactions do prominently exist (Baums and Gruson, 1993, p.4). The variegated credit institutions in Germany are – (1) commercial banks that come under the private sector (private Geschaftsbanken); (2) banks that exclusively deal in savings (Sparkssen) and related credit operations with their central institutions (Landesbanken und Girozentralen); and, (3) the agricultural and the industrial credit co-operatives (Raiffeiseibanken and Volksbanken), th e regional institutions of these banks (Genossenschaftliche Zentralbanken), and their strong central institution (Deustche Genossenschaftsbank ) (Baums and Gruson, 1993, p.4). The savings banks which had previously solely focused on the amount of savings deposits and the long term loans, have diversified their activities a more prolific manner, and with their central institutions which is the regional Landesbank, are functional in spheres of lending in large scale, financing in the industrial sector, and mobilizing capital in the securities business. With a parallel context, the club of commercial banks has penetrated the field of

Hotel Human Resource Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hotel Human Resource - Essay Example ty industry has enhanced the overall productivity of the industry as more innovative and competent workers are being engaged in tour companies and hotels. This paper discusses current issues regarding human resources in the hotel sector. Human resource development in the tourism sector is the foundation for successful business. Hotels offer a package of services in contrast to many other businesses that offer a single product. A customer may require accommodation and catering services, transport as well as links to experienced tour guides. Each of the departments must be equipped with competent employees that contribute to the overall quality of customer experience. Failure in the provisions of any of the departments may negatively affect the entire package offered by the hotel and hence the recent efforts by hotels to engage in strategic human resource management practices. According to (Busquets, 2010), tourism is expected to employ more than 290 million people by 2020 and is currently contributing 30% of global export services. The hotel sector needs to enhance human resource development to cope with the rising demand for quality services. Competition is constantly increasing as more business people continue investing in the sector thereby offering customers a wide range of choices. Hotel managers have to ensure that they attract as many customers as possible through offering quality services and maintaining innovativeness to preserve market leadership. However, Clark and Chen (2007) observe that competitiveness in the sector significantly depends on the ability to satisfy customers, which in turn is associated with staff competence, especially at the customer contact zone. The managers need to maintain a supportive role to ensure that front line employees maintain the expected standards to attract and retain customers. Employee satisfaction is critical to the accomplishment of the goals of the hotel sector. Human resource managers may be wrong to expect

Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet and the city of Sarajevo Essay Example for Free

Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet and the city of Sarajevo Essay Who would have thought? A classic tale of two lovers swept away in a fight that they didnt want any part of brought to life. Its happened; maybe even different times other than with Bosko and Admira. The similarities between Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet and Sarajevos Romeo and Juliet are eerie. Fights between two families, sides, religions, whoever or whatever can tear apart even the strongest bonds. In Romeo and Juliet, the two lovers are kept apart by a family feud that they want no part of, yet have to be. With Admira and Bosko, they are not exactly kept apart but forced to leave their town and in turn die together because of someone elses battle. The acceptance of your boyfriend or girlfriend by family members and loved ones can mean a great deal to the two lovers. If Romeo and Juliet knew they would have had the approval of their families, I highly doubt they would have done all the sneaking around and lying they did. However, in Bosko and Admiras story, the two knew they were accepted in each others families. Their parents didnt make a big deal over the fact that they belonged to different religions or were of different nationalities. This gave them strength. Again, like Juliet and her Romeo, Admira and Bosko would have done anything for each other. Each meant the world to the other. After the war broke out, Boskos mother left Sarajevo, but Bosko stayed behind; everyone knew it was love that held him in Sarajevo. It was vise-versa for Romeo. He was banished, but love and the urge to see his Juliet one last time, drove him back. The tragedy falls into place with the death of the two lovers in both tales. The stories have an affect on you when you read about them, it shows you what people would do for love, and what love can do to people. It also shows you what a foolish fight can do to those in love. You could say it tears them apart, but others would disagree and say it brings them together

Software Reuse Essay Example for Free

Software Reuse Essay Abstract Effective reuse of software products is reportedly increasing productivity, saving time, and reducing cost of software development. Historically, software reuse focused on repackaging and reapplying of code modules, data structures or entire applications in the new software projects (Prieto-Diaz 1994). Recently, however, it has been acknowledgedas beneficial to redeploy software components across the entire development life-cycle, starting with domain modelling and requirements specification, through software design, coding and testing, to maintenance and operation. There were also attempts to reuse aspects of project organisation and methodology, development processes, and communication structures. However, as the concept of reusing software components is very clear at the code level (whether in source or binary form), the very same concept becomes more fuzzy and difficult to grasp when discussed in the context of reusing specifications and designs (whether in textual or diagrammatical form), or quite incomprehensible when applied to software informal requirements, domain knowledge or human skills and expertise (expressed in natural language, knowledge representation formalism, or existing only in humans). This problem of dealing with reusable software artefacts resulting from the earliest stages of software development, in particular requirements specifications, attracted our particular interest in the reusability technology. Our work is motivated primarily by the possibility of improving the process of requirements elicitation by methodical reuse of software specifications and their components with the aid of information extracted from user informal requirements documents. The problems and issues that we aim to investigate in this research are best illustrated by the following statement outlining current needs and the goals for the future research in requirements reuse: †¢ More research is needed on the advantages and the necessary methods for requirements reuse. For example, what are requirements components’, what makes them reusable, how can we store and retrieve them, and how do we write a requirements specification that gives us the highest probability of creating or reusing existing requirements components? (Hsia, Davis et al. 1993). Definitions To address the issues advanced by Hsia, Davis and Kung, and to avoid any confusion farther in this paper, we need to clearly define some major concepts of software reuse, reusability, reusable artefacts, their possible forms, reusability methods, their major motivators and inhibitors, etc. Hence, we adopt our definitions from Prieto-Diaz (Prieto-Diaz 1989) as follows :-†¢ reuse is the use of previously acquired concepts or objects in a new situation, it involves encoding development information at different levels of abstraction, storing this representation for future reference, matching of new and old situations, duplication of already developed objects and actions, and their adaptation to suit new requirements; †¢ reuse is the use of previously acquired concepts or objects in a new situation, it involves encoding development information at different levels of abstraction, storing his representation for future reference, matching of new and old situations, duplication of already developed objects and actions, and their adaptation to suit new requirements; †¢ reusability is a measure of the ease with which one can use those previous concepts or objects in the new situations. Reuse Artefacts The object of reusability, reusable artefact , can be any information which a developer may need in the process of creating software (Freeman 1983), this includes any of the following software components :- †¢ code fragments, which come in a form of source code, PDL, or various charts; †¢ logical program structures , such as modules, interfaces, or data structures; †¢ functional structures , e.g. specifications of functions and their collections; †¢ domain knowledge , i.e. scientific laws, models of knowledge domains; †¢ knowledge of development process , in a form of life-cycle models; †¢ environment-level information, e.g. experiential data or users feedback; †¢ artefact transformation during development process (Basili 1990); etc. A controlled collection of reuse artefacts constitutes a reuse library. Such libraries must contain not only reusable components but are also expected to provide certain types of services to their users (Wegner 1989), e.g. storage, searching, inspecting and retrieval of artefacts from different application domains, and of varying granularity and abstraction, loading, linking and invoking of stored artefacts, specifying artefact relationships, etc. The major problems in the utilisation of such reuse libraries are in determining appropriate artefact classification schemes and in the selection of methods to effectively and efficiently search the library. To bypass the problems with reuse libraries, the use of specialised domain-specific languages was proposed as an alternative. Such languages use strict syntax and semantics defined in terms of an application domain and its reusable artefacts. While enforcing notational conformance with a predetermined syntax and semantics, the domain-specific languages restrict the number of possible classification and search mechanisms used in the process of composing a problem solution, e.g. as in DRACO (Neighbors 1989) or GIST (Feather 1989). Artefact Characteristics Certain classes of software artefacts have been identified as eminently suitable to become part of a reuse library and be, subsequently, utilised as reusable software resources. Such artefacts usually share a number of characteristics, deemed to actively promote reusability (Biggerstaff and Richter 1989; Matsumoto 1989; McClure 1989), those artefact are perceived to be :-†¢ expressive, i.e. they are of general utility and of adequate level of abstraction, so that they could be used in many different contexts, and be applicable to variety of problem areas; †¢ definite, i.e. they are constructed and documented with a clarity of purpose, their capabilities and limitations are easily identifiable, interfaces, required resources, external dependencies and operational environments are specified, and all other requirements are explicit and well defined; †¢ transferable , i.e. it is possible to easily transfer an artefact to a different environment or problem domain, this usually means that it is self-contained, with few dependencies on implementation-related concepts, it is abstract and well parametrised; †¢ additive, i.e. it should be possible to seamlessly compose existing artefacts into new products or other reusable components, without the need for massive software modifications or causing adverse side effects; †¢ formal , reusable artefacts should, at least at some level of abstraction, be described using a formal or semi-formal notation, such an approach provides means to formally verify an artefact correctness, it enables to predict violation of integrity constraints during artefact composition, or to assess the level of completeness for a product constructed of reusable parts; †¢ machine representable, those of the artefacts which can be described in terms of computationally determined attribute values, which can easily be decomposed into machine representable parts, which can be accessed, analysed, manipulated and possibly modified by computer-based processes, have a clear potential for becoming part of a flexible reuse library; those artefacts can be easily searched for, retrieved, interpreted, altered and finally integrated into larger system; †¢ self-contained , reusable artefacts which embody a single idea are easier to understand, they have less dependencies on external factors, whether environmental or implementational, they have interfaces which are simple to use, they are easier to extend, adapt and maintain; †¢ language independent, no implementation language details should be embedded in reusable artefacts, this also means that most useable artefacts are those which are described in terms of a specification or design formalism, or those low level solutions which could be used from variety of programming languages on a given implementation platform, either by appropriate macro processors or link editors; †¢ able to represent data and procedures , i.e. reusable artefacts should be able to encapsulate both their data structures and logic, down to a fine grain of detail, such an approach increases artefact cohesion and reduces the possibility of artefact coupling by common data passed via arguments or global variables; †¢ verifiable , as any other software components, reusable artefacts should be easy to test by their maintainers, and, what is even of a greater importance, by their users who embed reusable components into their own systems, and who must have the capability to monitor the components computational context and their interfaces; †¢ simple , minimum and explicit artefact interfaces will encourage developers to use artefacts, simple and easy to understand artefacts can also be easily modified by developers to suit new applications; and †¢ easily changeable, certain type of problems will require artefacts to be adopted to the new specifications, such changes should be localised to the artefact and require minimum of side effects. Reuse in Software Life-Cycle Computer software can be systematically reused across the entire development life-cycle, i.e. domain analysis, requirements specification, design and implementation, it has its place even in the post-delivery stages of development, e.g. its continuing quality assessment or software maintenance. Implementation. Early experience with software reuse was limited to reuse of program code in source and binary form. A great emphasis was put on development of programming languages which could support various methods of clustering, packaging, modularisation, parametrisation and sharing of data and code via data types and code blocks (ALGOL), named common blocks (FORTRAN), parametric functions and macros (FORTRAN and LISP), copy libraries (COBOL), information hiding (PASCAL), modules (SIMULA and MODULA), generic packages (ADA), objects and classes (SMALLTALK and C++), etc. The idea of code sharing was further supported by various operating system utilities which allowed independent program compilation, creation of relocatable libraries or link editing (Reed 1983). In those early days, no serious effort on a commercial scale was undertaken to reuse the early life-cycle artefacts, i.e. designs, specifications, requirements or enterprise models. This situation was caused by :- †¢ the lack of awareness of potential benefits that could be gained from reusing more abstract software artefacts; †¢ unavailability of commercial methodologies embracing software reuse at their centre-point; †¢ informal nature of early specification and design documents; and †¢ shortage of tools capable to represent specifications and designs in a computer-processable form. At the same time, †¢ the construction of libraries was known to improve software development productivity, and was practiced in nearly every commercial organisation; †¢ program code was written according to a formal grammar and it adhered to established semantic rules; and †¢ the construction of code libraries was supported by editors, compilers, loaders and linkers, which could be freely customised to accommodate various reuse tasks. Design. Today’s development approaches, such as object-oriented methods (Graham 1994) or rapid application development (Martin 1991), vigorously advocate reusing software artefacts at the earliest possible stage of the software life-cycle. Program design methods are now capable of utilising well-defined diagrammatic notations, which allow production of documents which are simpler and more legible than code, which clearly exhibit their conceptual contents, which are well structured and modular, and which allow dealing with problem complexity at various levels of abstraction and granularity. With the advent of CASE tools (McClure 1989) the contemporary design techniques are also supported by specialised software environments capable of capturing design ideas in a form leaning towards further processing by computer-based reuse tools. Today, it is also commonly perceived that reuse of software designs, as opposed to code reuse, is more economic, and cognitively a much more intuiti ve process. Requirements Specification. While application of reuse techniques to software design has visible advantages over code reuse, some researchers (Matsumoto 1989) claim further increases in the scope of software reusability when given opportunity to reuse modules at higher levels of abstraction, i.e. software specifications and requirements. Others support this claim, voicing the need to reuse large-scale artefacts going beyond design components and including entire design frameworks and domain resources (Li 1993). Bubenko et. al. (Bubenko, Rolland et al. 1994) further propose to combine design and reuse libraries to accommodate development processes capable of reusing conceptual schemas to support the process of requirements engineering. Such an approach provides users with the library of reusable components that could match their requirements, improves the quality of requirements specifications by making available well-defined conceptual components as early as requirements specification, and improves the productivity of the requirements engineering process by shortening the requirements formalisation effort (Castano and De Antonellis 1994). In the REBOOT system, Morel and Faget (Morel and Faget 1993) aim at extending this approach to the entire software life-cycle. Such advances in requirements and specification reuse were in part facilitated by :- †¢ Development of the new types of programming languages, such as PROLOG or EIFFEL, which combine elements of program specification and design (via logic and class specification) at the level of code, such an approach promotes interpretation and reuse of abstract program descriptions throughout the life-cycle; †¢ dissemination of prototyping tools and visual programming environments capable of graphic representation of user requirements and the subsequent generation of code or code skeletons (Vonk 1989; Ambler and Burnett 1990), facilitating effective composition of programs of domain-specific, visual, reuse components; †¢ introduction of formal requirements and specification languages, such as RML (Greenspan, Mylopoulos et al. 1994), Z (Spivey 1989), VDM (Woodman and Heal 1993) or LARCH (Guttag and Horning 1993), permitting representation, structuring, verification, and reuse of specification components; †¢ object-oriented technologies integrating various diagrammatic techniques into a single methodology, e.g. Information Engineering (Martin 1993), or unifying elements of conceptual modelling, program specification and design into one consistent notation, e.g. Object-Oriented Conceptual Modelling (Dillon and Tan 1993), such object-oriented development methods allow creation of abstract conceptual schemata which can be readily adapted by instantiation and inheritance to new problem solutions; †¢ development of full-text databases utilising efficient information retrieval methods (Salton 1989), being introduced as a repository for storing, classification and subsequent retrieval of design and specification texts (Frakes and Nejmeh 1988; Maarek, Berry et al. 1991; Fugini and Faustle 1993); and finally †¢ application of knowledge-based techniques and intelligent software development assistants in requirements acquisition and specification (Lowry and Duran 1989); Domain Analysis. The final frontier for software reuse in the development life-cycle is a thorough analysis of a given problem domain. This approach is grounded on the belief that in a real-life situation reusability is not a universal property of program code or processed information but it rather depends on a context of the problem and its solution, which themselves are relatively cohesive and stable (Arango and Prieto-Diaz 1991). The main aim of domain analysis is the construction of a domain model of which components could be reused in solving variety of problems. Such a model will customarily include definition of concepts used in the specification of problems and software systems, definition of typical design decisions, alternatives, trade-offs and justifications, and software implementation plans. Such a model may take variety of different forms, to include (cf. Figure 1) :- †¢ definitional model, which provides knowledge taxonomies and actonomies describing domain concepts, their structure, semantics, and relationships between them; †¢ knowledge representation model, giving domain semantics and explanation facilities; †¢ domain-specific languages , which when expressed as formal grammars and supported by parsers may provide direct translation of specifications into executable code; †¢ instructional models , indicating the methods of constructing working systems in a given domain, such methods may be described by standards, guidelines, templates, or interface definitions; †¢ functional models, describing how systems work, using representations such as data flow diagrams or program description languages; †¢ structural models, provide means to define architecture of domain systems; etc. In the process of constructing a domain model, the common knowledge from related systems is generalised, objects and operations common to all systems in a given domain are identified, and a model is defined to describe their inter-relationships. The main problem with this process is that knowledge sources for domain modelling (as found in technical literature, existing implementations, customer surveys, expert advice or current and future requirements) are frequently verbose and informal. Thus, special techniques and tools are needed to deal with it, e.g. knowledge acquisition tools, entity-relationship modelling tools, object-oriented methods, semantic clustering tools, CASE and parsing tools (Agresti and McGarry 1988). Reuse Process. In this work, we will view the process of software reuse as comprising three stages of artefact processing (cf. Figure 2), i.e. their analysis, organisation and synthesis. †¢ Artefact analysis starts with identification of artefacts in existing software products (Ning, Engberts et al. 1994) or in a currently analysed domain (Arango and Prieto-Diaz 1991), this is followed by their understanding and representation in a suitable formalism to reflect their function and semantics, with possible generalisation to widen the scope of their future applications. †¢ Artefact organisation includes classification and storage of artefacts in an appropriate software repository, the subsequent repository search and artefacts retrieval whenever they are needed in the reuse process. †¢ Artefact synthesis consists of artefact selection from a number of retrieved candidate artefacts, their adaptation to suit the new application, and their integration into a completely new software product. The tasks undertaken in the three stages of artefact processing are also frequently discussed from the perspective of development-for-reuse and development-by-reuse (Bubenko, Rolland et al. 1994). †¢ Development-for-reuse is emphasising the construction of the reuse library, involving the identification, understanding , generalisation , and the subsequent classification and storage of artefacts for later reuse. †¢ Development-by-reuse is concerned with the effective utilisation of the reuse library to support new software development, it involves searching, retrieval , selection , adaptation, and integration of artefacts into the software system under construction. As reuse is quite independent of any particular development process model, it, thus, could be embedded into a variety of methodologies, to include waterfall model (Hall and Boldyreff 1991), rapid prototyping (Martin 1991), object-oriented design (Meyer 1987),etc. While the inclusion of reuse into a development cycle is of a significant benefit to the entire process, at the same time it may complicate the development process (e.g. see Figure 3). Also, reuse tasks may significantly overlap with those performed in other development phases, e.g. software integration or maintenance. The separation of concerns lead some researchers (Hall and Boldyreff 1991) into pointing out that reuse must occur across different projects or problem areas, as opposed to those tasks which aim at the change, improvement or refinement of software undertaken within a single project which should not be regarded as reuse, e.g. †¢ software porting , which only aims at adopting existing software product to different hardware or operating system environments; †¢ software maintenance , which strives to correct software erroneous behaviour or to alter the existing program to suit changing requirements; and †¢ software reconfiguration, which provides a method of customising software to be used with different hardware components or making only a subset of its facilities available to the user. Assessing the Reuse Process and its Goals The value of software reuse cannot be gauged in simple, unambiguous, congruous and canonical fashion. One of the reasons for this difficulty lies in the fact that there is a variety of reusable artefact types and the methods and techniques for their creation, manipulation and maintenance. Another reason can be set in inadequacy of measuring tools to assess the reuse benefit or its hindrance, as it can be measured using variety of incompatible metrics, some of which are based on economic, some on technical, then again others on social or cognitive principles. Finally, it is the numerous software stakeholders who are not likely to agree on the common goals of the reuse process itself, as they will all have distinct and opposing development goals. The contention on thee success or failure of reuse approaches is best reflected in the myths, biases and preconceptions of software developers and management, this section will, thus, summarise such opinions as they are reported in the software engineering literature. Reuse benefits. Adopting reuse-based software development process attracts a number of well recognised economic and psychological benefits to both the end-users and developers (Tracz 1988b; Hemmann 1992). These include the following. †¢ Savings in costs and time. As a developer uses already pre-defined components, hence, the activities associated with components specification, design and implementation are now replaced with finding components, their adaptation to suit new requirements, and their integration. Experience shows (also from other fields, like electronic engineering) that the latter set of activities takes less times and therefore costs less. It should be noted, though, that development of components for reuse will certainly attract additional effort, time and cost. This costs, however, can be offset by savings in a number of different software projects. †¢ Increase in productivity. A set of reusable artefacts can frequently be viewed as a high-level language of concepts drawn from a given problem domain. Hence, a developer is given an opportunity to work with more abstract notions related directly to the problem at hand and to ignore low-level, implementation details. It has been shown that working at a higher level of abstraction leads to an increase in development productivity. †¢ Increase in reliability. Reuse library can be viewed as a software product itself, therefore, its development follows a normal cycle of requirements specification, design, implementation, testing, documentation and maintenance. By the very assumption, the user base and a life-span of reuse artefacts is much greater than that of any individual product, thus, the reliability of such artefact is also increased. This also leads to an improved reliability of systems built of reusable components rather than of those built entirely from scratch. †¢ Increase in ease of maintenance. Systems constructed of reusable parts are usually simpler, smaller, and more abstract. Their design is closer to the problem domain and their reliability is greater. This of course has an very positive impact on the quality of such systems maintenance. †¢ Improvement in documentation and testing. Reusable components are normally accompanied by high quality documentation and by previously developed tests plans and cases. Whenever a new system is created by simple selection and altering of such components, then, their documentation and tests will have to be much easier to develop as well. †¢ High speed and low cost replacement of aging systems. As the reuse-based systems share a very large collection of program logic via the reuse library, thus, they are significantly less complex and much smaller in size than those developed from scratch. Such systems will therefore need less effort during porting or adaptation to new hardware and software environments. It should also be noted that it would normally be the reusable components of the system that is technology intensive, and thus, very expensive to develop, e.g. graphical user interfaces, databases, communications, device control, etc. Sharing that cost across several systems would certainly reduce it when a global replacement of computing resources is called for. Reuse drawbacks. At the same time, in practice, radical gains in productivity and quality cannot be achieved due to some preconceptions held by developers and their management (Tracz 1988b; Hemmann 1992). The claims commonly put forward by programmers include :- †¢ reusing code, as compared with development of entirely new systems, is boring; †¢ locally developed code is better than that developed elsewhere (NIH factor); †¢ it is easier to rewrite complex programs from scratch rather than to maintain it; †¢ there are no tools to assist programmers in finding reusable artefacts; †¢ in majority of cases, developed programs are too specialised for reuse; †¢ adopted software development methodology does not support software reuse; †¢ reuse is often ad-hoc and is unplanned; †¢ there is no formal training in reusing code and designs effectively; †¢ useful reusable artefacts are not supported on the preferred development platform; †¢ the reuse process is too slow; †¢ interfaces of reusable artefacts are too awkward to use; †¢ code with reusable components is often too big or too inefficient; †¢ programs built of reusable components are not readily transportable; †¢ reusable components do not conform to adopted standards; †¢ reuse techniques do not scale up to large software projects; †¢ there are no incentives to reuse software. Meanwhile, management also raises objections based on the following arguments :- †¢ it takes too much effort and time to introduce reuse in workplace; †¢ perceived productivity gains will result in cuts to the project man-power; †¢ customers may expect reusable artefacts to be delivered with their product; †¢ it may be difficult to prevent plagiarism of reusable artefacts; †¢ reuse of code may lead to legal responsibility in case of software failure; †¢ the cost of maintaining reusable libraries is prohibitive; †¢ management is not trained in software development methods with reuse; †¢ there is no coordination between software project partners to introduce reuse. Such problems of perception often result from irrational, nevertheless, deeply rooted myths about reusability and the reuse process. A selection of such myths (cf. Table 1) were reported and subsequently demistified by Tracz (1988a). Reuse motivators. While the common prejudice, miconceptions and outright myths among developers and management prevent companies to effectively introduce reuse into their mainstream development, Frakes and Fox (1995) show in their survey that only few factors listed above have any real impact on the success or failure of software reuse, i.e. †¢ the type of application domain althought the reasons for this phenomenon are not known, it seems that certain types of industries show significantly higher levels of reuse (e.g. telecommunication companies) in certain areas of the life-cycle than others (e.g. aerospace industries); †¢ perceived economic feasibility in those organisations where management convinced its software developers that reuse is desirable and economically viable had a much higher success in the introduction of reuse into those organisations; †¢ high quality and functional relevance of reuse assets increases the likelihood of the assets to be reused; †¢ common software process although developers themselves do not regard a common software process as promoting reuse, there is a strong correlation between the gains in the process maturity and the gains in the level of software reuse; and finally, †¢ reuse education education about reuse, both in school and at work, improves reuse and is a necessary part of a reuse program, however, since the issues of software reuse are rarely discussed in the academic curriculum, it is necessary for management to bear the responsibility to provide reuse-specific training to its employees. The same study also showed that other factors, widely perceived as reuse motivators or inhibitors, have only a minimal effect on the reuse process, e.g. †¢ use of specific programming languages and paradigms it is often perceived that structured, modular, object-oriented, or high-level languages improve the prospects of successful software reuse, the collected statistics, however, show no such correlation; †¢ utilisation of software support environments and CASE although development tools are frequently marketted as greatly enhancing software reusability, some studies show that the current employed CASE tools are not particularly effective in promoting reuse of life-cycle objects across projects in an organisation; †¢ employment of staff experienced in software engineering it seems to be evident that experienced software development practitioners are potentially better reusers than those who have no formal training in software engineering, however contrary to this belief, it can be shown that experience and knowledge of software development principles is not a substitute for training in methods and techniques specific to reuse activities; †¢ provision of recognition rewards as an incentive to promote reuse practices in the organisation it is likely that only monetary rewards are a more effective motivator for implementing reuse practices; †¢ existence of perceived legal impediments to the utilisation of reusable software as majority of reuse efforts concentrates on the in-house development of reusable artefacts, thus, the legal issues are of less concern; †¢ existence of reuse repositories many organisations consider such repositories as central to their reuse efforts, practice, however, shows that those organisations which do not use sophisticated computer-aided tools assisting the classification and retrieval of software artefacts achieve similar levels of reuse as those who are active proponents and users of such automated repositories; †¢ the size of an organisation conducting a software development project the project or development team size is often used as an argument against the introduction of a formal reuse process, small companies believe the narrow scope of their application domain will limit the potential benefit of reuse, while the big companies fear the necessary investment of resources and money to properly implement systematic reuse, the apprehension in both of these cases in unwarranted and the likelyhood of a success or failure of reuse efforts is independent of the company or project size; †¢ considerations of software and process quality majority of surveyed developers had generally positive experience in reusing various software assets developed outside their home companies, overall, the quality concerns had little impact on the level of software reuse, the situation would probably be very different if the quality of reused assets were to deteriorate; †¢ reuse measurements in majority of companies measurement of reuse levels, software quality, and software productivity are not done, however, those organisation which measure software reusability are not getting any significant higher reuse levels than those which fail to monitor their successes or failures in reusing software artefacts, thus in practice, measuring software reuse has very little effect on the whole of the reuse process. Finally, Krueger (1989) provides four tenets of the successful software reuse, the tenets based on the technical and cognitive factors which he believes will ultimately translate into variety of development goals to achieve an effective policy on software reusability, i.e. †¢ reuse must reduce the cognitive effort of software development; †¢ constructing systems of reusable components must be easier than to building them from scratch; †¢ finding reusable artefacts must be more efficient than building them; †¢ understanding artefacts is fundamental to their effective selection. Summary This paper defined the concepts of software reuse, reusability, reuse artefact and reuse library. It listed those attributes of software artefacts which increase a chance of them being reused, e.g. they have to be expressive, definite, transferable, additive, formal, machine representable, self-contained, language independent, able to represent data and procedures, verifiable, simple, and easily changeable. Then the paper gave an overview of major reuse efforts in the life-cycle, starting with coding and design, and then going through specification and requirements capture, and finally covering domain analysis and modelling. Two forms of reuse-based development were discussed, i.e. development-for-reuse, aiming at the construction of reuse library, and consisting of artefact identification, generalisation, classification and storage; and the second, development-by-reuse, aiming at the construction of a new software product with the use of reuse library, and including the tasks of searching for reusable artefacts, their understanding, adaptation to new requirements, and their integration into a new system. The stages of artefacts processing include their analysis, organisation and synthesis. Finally the paper analyses the benefits and the perceived disadvantages of software reusability, focusing in particular on the myths and misconceptions held by developers and their managers. Four preconditions for reusability success were given as reduction in cognitive complexity, ease of implementation, ability to understanding of artefact structure and function, and finally, economy of reuse. 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Overcome Barriers That Prevent Parents Involvement In Childrens Education

Overcome Barriers That Prevent Parents Involvement In Childrens Education Parental Involvement is critically important in a childs education. Research has shown that parents positive involvement with their childrens schooling is associated with many encouraging outcomes. There are many parents who want to be involved in their childs day to day activities, but many circumstances enable this opportunity. Despite their best intentions to support their children, there are many barriers that prohibit the support. John Wherry (2009) discusses ways to overcome barriers that effectively prevent so many parents from getting involved. In addition, Gregory Flynn (2007) explains in order for schools to increase parental involvement, they need to promote critical behaviors and provide teacher training. Whereas, Cecily Mitchell (2008) believes by figuring out what parent involvement actually entails and how to effectively achieve it, remain challenges for schools and districts across the nation even as they work to build strong partnerships between schools and families. This paper identifies barriers that are prohibiting parents from becoming more involved in their childs education and strategies to overcome these barriers that are preventing parental involvement. Literature Review There is an abundance of literature which introduces many to the importance of parent involvement and a vast variety of reasons are present to support the view of how parents and teachers can make the involvement work. Parental involvement involves a partnership between the teachers and parents. This partnership bridges a gap between parents and teachers to enhance a childs education. In this partnership between parents and teachers, they encounter barriers that prevent the partnership from working together; which lead them to find strategies that will help them overcome the barriers. Parental involvement is an issue that has been around for centuries and is one of the key components of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act (Mitchell, 2008). This literature review explains that parental involvement plays an important part in a childs education and in order for parental involvement to be a success; teachers and parents have to overcome barriers that prevent this partnership from being s uccessful. Wherry (2009) provided a candid description on ways schools can prevent barriers of parental involvement. He developed strategies that will make the up and coming school year be the best ever for parental involvement for some teachers and parents. He goes on to state, there is a way for parent support to boost student learning available to any school, that makes the modest effort to overcome barriers that distinctively prevent parents from being involved in their childs education. Parental involvement has generally been defined as diverse activities in the home or at the school that permit parents to share in the education process (Wright). It is reasonable to assume with such attention given to the importance of parental involvement both in the literature and by the government, that there has been a significant increase in parent participation in our schools (Flynn, 2007); however, according to the National PTA, there are 50 million children enrolled in schools and one i n four parents is actively involved in their childs education (Griffiths-Prince, 2008). Parental involvement is when parents and teachers participate in a regular, two-way conversation involving student educational learning. This includes parents being involved in their childrens education in various ways, both at home and at school. When parents feel good about their school involvement and the schools instructional efforts, they tend to hold high expectations for their childrens interests, aspirations, and learningà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Risko, Dalhouse, 2009); consequently, parents who are in touch with the childrens education can better observe classroom activities and improve their communication with the teacher. Many parents seek out the opportunity to share in their childrens experiences, as well as communicate with their children. Although parent involvement is revealed to have a big impact on the student achievement and success, it could be led to be seen as a vital ingredient to education form, for example, findings from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 suggest that parental involvement does not independently improve childrens learning, but some involvement activities do prevent behavioral problems (Domina, 2005). Because of unfortunate circumstances, there are some parents who are not able to be involved with their child education. While parental involvement is important to public education, there are barriers that prevent parents from being involved with their childs education. Identifying Barriers of Parental Involvement Education is the key to many children having a good future. In order for a child to reach this milestone in their lives, they need not only their parents, but also the teachers. Even though parents know their children better than anyone else and can be virtually important school partners if allowed to be (Wherry, 2009); however, there are some parents who tend to be less involved in their childs education (LaBahn, 1995). Could this be on purpose or do they have legitimate reasons? When educators learn what barriers exist in their schools, it could be an important step to increasing parent involvement (PSEA, 2007) because; schools play a strong role in determining the level and nature of parent involvement (B W, 2008). Parents may be doing the best they can (LaBahn, 1995) and it is still not enough, because parental involvement is a challenge to some parents. Many of them have to deal with various barriers, such as lack of communication, lack of time, and language differences. Lack of Communication Lack of communication is one barrier that prevents parental involvement. Differences in expectations and misunderstandings about each other goals can lead to uncertain and tenuous, and contentious relationships (Risko Walker-Dalhouse, 2009). Parents who receive negative communication or no communication from schools tend to have trust issues. The trust issue leads parents to believe the school has an unfriendly climate. Also, if a parent had a bad experience as a young child with teachers, that experience could leave a parent fearful of speaking to their own children teachers. These negative perceptions of schools held by many parents should be replaced with some positive perceptions of the school. Many parents are not aware that help is needed because the school has not advertised the opportunities. Although some schools send out information pertaining to parental involvement with different types of activities, this does not happen at every school. Many parents would feel eager to come to the school to volunteer their services, if they were invited into the schools. Parents are most likely to agree to partake in a classroom activity if they are asked directly by the teacher to do a specific task. Schools should work to build and maintain a welcoming and responsive school atmosphere (Wherry, 2009). Lack of Time Lack of time is also a barrier that prevents parental involvement. Parents often cite time as the single greatest barrier to volunteering, attending meetings, and joining decision making committees at their childrens school (PTA, 2009). Parents, who work in low-paying jobs that do not offer time off for illness or family emergencies, do not have a lot of time for parental involvement and they cannot risk their jobs to take time out to visit their childs school. There just simply are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything (LaBahn, 1995).In todays society there are more single family households that require the parent to work long hours. With the increase in single-parent households and the dramatic change in the work force, with mothers of school-aged children entering in great numbers, time has become a valuable commodity for parents who struggle to make ends meet (Patrikakou, 2008). For example, many mothers do not have equipment or the skill to plan science fair experiments or construct woodworking projects, and fathers may not be able to help design and sew costumes for the school play (LaBahn, 1995). Parents also feel that when the children are not in school, time should be spent with the family and not attending meetings at the school. Some parents feel that too much involvement in their childs education could have a harmful effect, either by making their child uncomfortable or making the child dependent upon them. Teachers and parents know that time is often one of the greatest challenges and that is why it should be spent on building up the child education. Principals of K-8 Title I schools report that time is a barrier to parent involvement more often than any other factor. 87% of Title I principals report that lack of time on the part of parents is a significant barrier to parent involvement, and 56% report that lack of time on the part of school staff is a barrier (find reference). Since many parents think there is not enough time for work, cleaning, cooking, and parent meetings, they do not bother attending school meetings. Language Differences Another barrier that prevents parental involvement is language differences. Approximately 20% of U.S. students are learning English as a second or other language, of these students over 40% are immigrants (Wright). Non-English speaking parents may find that it is difficult communicating with their childs teachers. Nancy Hyslop (2000) stated many Non-English parents experience low self-esteem, culture shock, and misconceptions. Many of these parents are confused about their roles in education and how to help their children. They lack knowledge on how local systems operate and very often they do not know where to go for information pertaining to their childs education. In recent years with the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity of families, the home and school environments may hold different and sometimes diverging beliefs about the appropriate degree and nature of parent involvement (Patrikakaou, 2008). Hispanics sometimes encounter discrimination by the larger society which discourages them from getting involved in events at their childs school. Parents who do not speak English may not understand newsletters, fliers, or speakers at meetings (PTA, 2009). Even if one has not experienced discrimination, there is a fear that discrimination could happen. Non-English speaking parents want the same end result as many English speaking parents, which is for their child to receive an education that will allow them have a better future. Even when language differences occur, a teachers willingness or attempt to speak the home language can convey care about the students and parents, and this willingness can encourage parents to feel comfortable enough to speak in English and can enhance possibilities for communication and rapport. (Risko Walker-Dalhouse, 2009). In order for the schools to reach beyond these barriers, there needs to be parental involvement implemented into the education program . Strategies to Overcome Barriers If barriers are preventing parents and teachers from sharing ideas or exchanging information pertaining to the child, then everyone involved needs to find strategies to overcome these barriers. They can reach the partnership needed if they figure out strategies to deal with barriers such as, lack of communication, lack of time, and language differences. Mitchell (2008) examines parent involvement in public education. She explains in her article that parent involvement has to happen on all levels. Even though the parents and teachers tend to have barriers that prevent parent involvement, Mitchell state everyone involved in the childs education, including teachers, parents, principals, communities and even the school district have to find strategies to overcome these barriers. There are many ways that a school can improve communication (LaBahn, 2007) such as, informing families about routines and providing them with specific ways they can help at home provides parents with structured opportunities to participate in their childs education (Patrikakou, 2008). The most important thing a parent can do for their child education is stay in contact with the teacher. The teacher can keep parents regularly informed about student progress, school requirements, and school events (Wherry, 2009). The teacher is the bridge between the parent and the child education; therefore, parents look to the school for answers about learning issues (Wherry, 2009). That bridge will help parents stay connected with the childs teacher, enable them access to monitor classroom activities, and correspond with the efforts of the teachers. A study conducted by Berthelsen Walker (2008) explained that five items were used to assess parents contact with their childs school program. A number of activities in which parents may have participated at their childs school were identified to which parents could give a yes/no response: During this school term, have you à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦-contacted childs teacher; visited childs class; talked to parents of other children at the school; attended a school event in which your child participated; and volunteered in the classroom or helped with a class excursion. Engagement in three or more activities was indicated by 76% of parents. Parents were most likely to have talked with other parents at the school (92%) or visited the childs classroom (87%), and least likely to have volunteered in the classroom or helped with a class excursion (48%). A parent-teacher conference is one way for parents to keep in contact with the teachers. The parent is able to sit and have a two-way conversation with the teacher and tell the teacher what they expect from the child and the teacher. The teacher can also speak to the parent and find out what are their expectations of them as educators. When parents and teachers learn how to communicate with each other, they can become stronger and knowledgeable by working together. Unfortunately many parents are not able to attend parent-teacher conference, because they do not have the time: however, many schools are working around parents schedule for that one on one. Teachers are encouraging parents to drop by the schools when classes are dismissed or call their homes after work hours. Schools can set aside time during the school day for teachers to meet with parents at school or at home or free teachers from routine chores, such as lunchroom supervision, so that they can work with parents (Moles). Students need more than their parents, they also need the people who want to see all children make it in this world. Parents who are have language barriers need strategies to help them feel better about being a part of their childs education. By creating culturally aware school-family partnerships, school systems can reduce cultural, discontinues, create diverse learning opportunities, improve racial perceptions and attitudes, and foster interethnic friendships (Patrikakou, 2008). For example, when parents enroll their children in the Early Head Start program, the program managers makes sure a translator is there to help ease the Hispanic family discomfort and make their first experience with the program a rewarding experience. There are comprehensive program that can provide a model for empowering immigrant parents and changing teacher perceptions of immigrant parents school interest and involvement. The program titled the Immigrant Parent Partnership Program supported parent engagement through leadership classes, multiple-language programs, teacher action research to increase teacher understandin g of immigrant parents, and the creation of a parent resource center (Risko Walker-Dalhouse, 2009). The often heard statement, It takes a village to raise a child, is very true. Parental involvement plays a key role in the Early Head Start work setting. Our program is based solely on parent involvement. We have to find ways to encourage parents to become better involved in their childs education. Something as simple as coming in and helping the child take their shoes off and placing them in the correct cubby, helps the teachers in achieving some of the goals for the students. We also include parents in the decision making at the center. Parents are asked to complete an application to be a member of the policy council; in which, the parents names are placed on a ballot to be voted on. The policy council consists of community leaders and parents. The community leaders assist the parents in making vital decisions regarding the children at the centers. Politically we are a non-profit program financed by the government with certain stipulation. We are expected to work with the community by building up the parents with children who attend the centers. In order for the program to qualify for federal and state grants, we have to incorporate In-kind that involves the parents and community members. Arkansas Better Chance and Arkansas Better Chance for school success require the program to receive a 40% in-kind match of the grant amount. We achieve this goal by encouraging parents and community workers donating goods, providing services, and performing jobs at the centers. Parent involvement also plays a key role in the education process. It has been shown that children whose parents are involved in early childhood programs, such as, Head Start, have higher cognitive and language skills than do children whose families are not involved or part of such programs (Patrikakou, 2008). Children at a young age, needs that extra help and encouragement. We are expected to allow the children to play and socialize with each other, but they still need to learn what is expected of them when they enter into the public school system. We encourage our parents by providing them people to speak to with concerns regarding their children developmental skills. We share educational information to the parents that will provide their children learning environments which will help them grow into well adjusted students. As an Early Head Start teacher, the job involves working closely with the parents concerning their childrens education and needs. When a parent comes into the ce nter and volunteers to wash clothes, dishes, or help feed the children, this take a big load off the teachers. We encourage parents to come in and rock, not only their children, but the other children in the center. When we work with the parents, we develop a bond that helps make all transitions easier. Working with the parents allow us to learn more about the children and about the parent, in return, they learn who we are as people and not teachers. Parental involvement is a necessity in the school systems. When parents are involved, children are more acceptable to learn and behave, because they learn, their parents are only a phone call away. Conclusion After viewing the literature on parent involvement, brings the research to the conclusion that parental involvement matters in the school systems. Bringing teachers and parents together as one, sometimes means going around, over, and under barriers for solutions to a parent involvement program that works for everyone. To get to this point in a childs life, many parents and teachers have to discover strategies that will work for them. Although factors such as lack of communication, lack of time, and language barriers can prevent parent involvement, there are many ways to triumph over the barriers. Encouraging and involving parents in decisions pertaining to their child can make a big difference. Children will have better attendance, higher grades, test scores and graduation rates. Parents will have a better understanding of how the school operates. Teachers can increase community support with parents and students. Parents are the key to their children future. When parents and teachers come together as one, a child is able to leap over bounds and conquer the world. Barriers are just stepping stones to great outcomes.

A Brief History of Lawrence Ferlinghetti :: Writers Poetry Poets Essays

A Brief History of Lawrence Ferlinghetti A prominent voice of the wide-open poetry movement that began in the 1950s, Lawrence Ferlinghetti has written poetry, translation, fiction, theater, art criticism, film narration, and essays. Often concerned with politics and social issues, Ferlinghetti’s poetry countered the literary elite's definition of art and the artist's role in the world. Though imbued with the commonplace, his poetry cannot be simply described as polemic or personal protest, for it stands on his craftsmanship, thematics, and grounding in tradition. Ferlinghetti was born in Yonkers in 1919, son of Carlo Ferlinghetti who was from the province of Brescia and Clemence Albertine Mendes-Monsanto. Following his undergraduate years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he served in the U.S. Navy in World War II as a ship's commander. He received a Master’s degree from Columbia University in 1947 and a Doctorate de l’Università © de Paris (Sorbonne) in 1950. From 1951 to 1953, when he settled in San Francisco, he taught French in an adult education program, painted, and wrote art criticism. In 1953, with Peter D. Martin, he founded City Lights Bookstore, the first all-paperbound bookshop in the country, and by 1955 he had launched the City Lights publishing house. The bookstore has served for half a century as a meeting place for writers, artists, and intellectuals. City Lights Publishers began with the Pocket Poets Series, through which Ferlinghetti aimed to create an international, dissident ferment. His publication of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl in 1956 led to his arrest on obscenity charges, and the trial that followed drew national attention to the San Francisco Renaissance and Beat movement writers. (He was overwhelmingly supported by prestigious literary and academic figures, and was acquitted.) This landmark First Amendment case established a legal precedent for the publication of controversial work with redeeming social importance. Ferlinghetti’s paintings have been shown at various galleries around the world, from the Butler Museum of American Painting to Il Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. He has been associated with the international Fluxus movement through the Archivio Francesco Conz in Verona. He has toured Italy, giving poetry readings in Roma, Napoli, Bologna, Firenze, Milano, Verona, Brescia, Cagliari, Torino, Venezia, and Sicilia. He won the Premio Taormino in 1973, and since then has been awarded the Premio Camaiore, the Premio Flaiano, the Premio Cavour. among others. He is published in Italy by Oscar Mondadori, City Lights Italia, and Minimum Fax. He was instrumental in arranging extensive poetry tours in Italy produced by City Lights Italia in Firenze. He has translated from the Italian Pier Paolo Pasolin’s Poemi Romani, which is published by City Lights Books. In San Francisco, his work can regularly be seen at the George Krevsky Gallery at 77 Geary