Saturday, August 31, 2019

Being laid off

What do you think about the effects, both mental and physical, of being laid off even though you have â€Å"done everything right†? Being laid off from the job has strong effects, both physical and mental, on a person’s condition. Even if it is unsolicited dismissal, it does not always pass without a hitch. Breach of an employment contract is a stress for both sides. When a person is being laid off during the period of probation, the stress, affecting on a person, is less.A person gets a motivation to work harder at another job, to understand properly what he is lacking as a specialist in this particular field, to take criticism adequately. Being laid off after a long-term working is usually considered as the stamp of infamy. Affections of being laid of, uncertainty of financial field, feelings of needlessness and absence of demand can bring a person to understating of self-esteem, stress, and even depression.The worst after-effects of being laid off are: remorse, rage, indignation, apprehensiveness, alcoholism, drug addiction, divorce, physical complaints, and even thoughts of suicide. After being laid off, a person affects nothingness and shock. This condition is especially dangerous if the dismissal takes place eventually. It can bring in a risk of illness and accidents. A person being laid off changes all his life style, expectations, ambitions, values, relations. When a person is laid off, he usually does not want to see his former colleagues, even if they have been friends.He does not want to see people who are luckier than he and has not been dismissed, to share the experience with them. Hence, a person can lose not only a job, but friends either. Next point here is a family. If a person â€Å"brings bacon†, dismissal affects not only a person, but all his relatives. Material side of the problem is very important in general, but in such cases a person should find a new job quickly and it brings in another stress. It leads to a violen t behavior with children and mates; and finally to a divorce.Some persons begin to find a causer of their disasters, to accuse their bosses who haven’t sized the possibilities. It begins to seem that the world is unjust and it has turned his back on a person. Other persons consider self-guiltiness, suppose that they have shown themselves not initiative, that they have not been worth of such job. If the person can’t find a new job, he becomes more pessimistic, begins to lose hope, stops being interested in new vacancies, and finally loses heart. Some people affect a great depression and even stop leaving their homes.

Friday, August 30, 2019

The Leap

Francisco Mata Mrs. Harschlip Eng 102 â€Å"The Leap† In James Dickey’s poem â€Å"The Leap,† he tells about his memory of a â€Å"thin/and muscular, wide-mouthed, eager to prove† (21-22) girl, Jane MacNaughton. He talks about how she goes from being, â€Å"the fastest runner in the seventh grade†, (3) to a â€Å"Mother of four. † (28) Jane who spurned the earth, as a seventh grade runner, left behind the â€Å"slow-footed yokels† (44) in her cloud of dust. The playground champion is finally overcome by reality. She returns to dust as a victim of the â€Å"eternal process†. During a school dance, Jane â€Å"with a light/Grave Leap†, touches the end of a paper ring.Dickey sees this as a farewell to childhood and a new beginning into adulthood. She is well respected by others and has self-respect, at least enough to leap to touch the paper chain in front of her classmates. She is a young, strong girl and has a world of oppo rtunities at this time in her life. He describes her as the, â€Å"the fastest runner in seventh grade. † (3) This implies that she is a girl who capable of accomplishing any dreams she wishes. Dickey knew and admired Jane, he was â€Å"nailed to the ground†, unable to escape his feelings for her ever since the seventh grade.He feels a connection to her when she touches the paper ring hanging from the ceiling. He says that she â€Å"touched the end of something I began. † (47) He does not make it sound as if he had a personal relationship with her; however he says that she should hold on, â€Å"to that ring I made for you. † (51) He wants the Jane of his school age memory to hang on to the paper ring so that he will always remember her as a young, â€Å"muscular, wide-mouthed, eager to prove,† (22) girl that is capable of doing anything. He uses the ring as a symbol in his memory, as a way to keep her alive so that he does not have to cope with her eath. The ring can also be a symbol of marriage or companionship. He uses this first leap to represent Jane in all of her brilliance, as he remembers, so that he will not have to face the fact that she is not who she used to be and to honor her as the outgoing seventh grader who was willing to live life to the fullest. He does not go into detail to describe the second leap. This may be because he knows more about her in her childhood, or it may be because he does not want to know about her death at length. When she commits suicide, he knows she is not the same person that he once knew; she is now a, â€Å"mother of four. (28) She has changed, but it has not been for the better because she may have had a hard life. One day she was unable to handle the pressures of her life any longer and committed suicide. He says, as he holds the newspaper containing the article of her suicide, â€Å"that I held / without trembling a picture of her lying cradled / in the papery steel as though ly ing in the grass. † (30-32) It is not that he does not care about her death; he just cannot face her death and this is why he does not tremble. She is hardly the same person to him, and so he is able to save the image of her first leap.He will always use this one image as her identity, full and alive, to him. These two leaps are different, but are used to represent the same idea. Jane leapt in order to express her sense of freedom in the first leap. She leapt with strength; she showed to everyone around her that she was very alive, free and capable. Yet, the second leap was a cry for help, a searching for freedom. By taking this second leap she was able to become free by death. Her life was hard by, â€Å"some boy who did not depend/On the speed of foot, caught and betrayed her,† (40-41) and the heartache was too much for her to handle, so she took the leap so she can be free.The two instances are so different that he is able to separate them in his mind and supplement his memory for childhood Jane, who he saw gracefully leaping with a sense of ambition to touch the paper ring and the Jane of modern reality, who leapt to her death from a hotel window to rest in the, â€Å"papery still† (32) of a taxi cab, still graceful as â€Å"though lying in the grass. † (32) Work Cited Dickey, James. â€Å"The Leap†. Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, Robert Funk, and Linda S. Coleman. 9th ed. 2011. pg 630. Print.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Social Class College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social Class College - Essay Example In mapping the prospects of this nursing student, a future professional, one does see where the possibility strongly exists that economic and social opportunities will be readily available. Because of the socio-economic connections (because of social and market structures) these factors will have an effect on the future life chances of such a person (Savage, 74). Social class structures and demarcations have been somewhat eroded with the advent of generalised education, yet the distinctions still exist. As an educated person, one will have the ability and opportunity or chance (as propounded by Weber) to access not just different economic classes, but other groups and cliques whose defining characteristics depend on the very education that they have in common. Mike Savage has pointed out that persons (termed human capital) usually get paid an amount that reflects the amount of investment placed in the development of their skills (67). As a nurse, one will be a professional and will most likely get paid accordingly. In 1998, professionals earned an approximately 95% more wages than their clerical counterparts.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The molecular mechanisms underlying differential gene expression Essay

The molecular mechanisms underlying differential gene expression control during Animals development - Essay Example The role of proteins in cellular function is crucial because they produce the building blocks for cellular structure and form enzymes that catalyze all of the cell's chemical reactions, and regulate gene expression(Alberts, 2002).The transcription of each gene is controlled by regulatory region of DNA approximately near the site where transcription begins. Regulatory regions in animals are complex and act as tiny microprocessors, responding to different kind of signals that they translate and combine to switch the neighboring gene on or off. These switching consists of two types of fundamental components: 1) Short stretch of DNA of defining sequence and 2) Gene regulatory proteins that recognize and bind to them. Moreover, different collections of gene regulatory proteins are existing in different cell types and thereby direct the patterns of gene expression that produce each cell type its special characteristics. In this essay we will focus on some epigenetic mechanisms that are res ponsible in regulating gene expression in the development of an organism from an undifferential cell, resulting in the successive formation and development of organs and parts that did not pre–exist in the fertilized egg . Firstly, the core histone proteins and linker histones have been described genetically and biochemically as likely repressive to transcriptional initiation. These proteins collect DNA into nucleosomal arrays that in turn compressed into higher-order chromatin structures that can also provide to the repression of transcription initiation and elongation. Each nucleosome core includes more than 146bp of DNA folded in two superhelical turns around an octamer containing two molecules each of the four core histones (H2A, H2B, H3 and H4). DNA is forced to the surface of a positively charged ramp made up of the C-terminal histone-fold domains of the core histones. This wrapping of the double helix is stabilized by the N-terminals of the core histone that lie on the outside of the nucleosome DNA. Linker histones bind with the core histones and the linker DNA between nucleosome cores to stabilize the folding of the nucleosomal array into the chromatin fibers. This is an uneven and loosely packed solenoid with approximately six to seven nucleosomes per turn. Each turn includes at least 1000bpDNA. The dynamic properties of higher order structure and nucleosomes are seen in the movement of linker histones between different segments of chromatin and in the mobility of histones octamers between adjacent sequences. Linker histones are not essential for the assembly of higher-order chromatin structures. On the other hand, the elimination of linker histones and the associated increase in mobility of core histone DNA interactions ease transcription. Histones are the target for different types of post-translational modifications that change the structural properties of chromatin. These involve acetylation and phosphorylation of the basic N-terminal tail domains of the core histones and phosphorylation of the basic N-terminal domain of the linker histones. These modifications might be expected to make the interaction of these domains with DNA in the nucleosome less strong than usual. The real physical consequences of acetylating all of the core histone tails within the nucleosome in the absence of other proteins are relatively minor. There is a modest decrease in the wrapping of DNA around the histone octamer and nucleosome pack together less successful in array. Nevertheless, histone acetylation dose

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Rubric for nursing Theorist Teaching project Essay

Rubric for nursing Theorist Teaching project - Essay Example Kolcaba defines several levels of comfort that appear for patients over time. She defines three forms of comfort and four contexts where patients will find comfort. The three levels she defines are â€Å"relief, ease and transcendence† (March &McCormack, 2009, p. 76-77). The first level of comfort, relief, happens when a patient is provided with what they need when they are in pain. The patient will move to the ease level when they find out that not only are they having relief from pain, but this relief is continuing over time because of the way that they have relieved the pain. The patient will move to the transcendence phase, when they are able to move past the challenges they have and life a fulfilling life (Kolcaba, 2011). Kolcaba saw that these phases were appearing in much of the literature she was reading on the subject and she began to formulate her theory. When developing a theory, it is important to know what has come before the theory that one hopes to present (March &McCormack, 2009). Kolcaba began to write about the three levels of comfort that she had identified and realized that there was an important messages to nurses about these stages. As an example, nurses are supposed to be the ones who provide comfort for the patients in a holistic way; her theory looks at the patient in a holistic way by providing comfort on the physical, emotional and psychosocial levels. Her theory recognizes that each individual has their own need for comfort and there are many different interventions that are needed in these situations (Kolcaba and Kolcaba, 1991). According to Kolcaba (2011) there are four dimensions to the theory. The first dimension describes nursing as the process of interviewing the client about their comfort needs. In this phase, the patient is provided with interventions and then the nurses check the patient’s comfort level on a regular basis. The second dimension defines the optimal health of the

Monday, August 26, 2019

Urban marginality in Los Angeles as seen through the film Boyz N The Essay

Urban marginality in Los Angeles as seen through the film Boyz N The Hood - Essay Example African Americans in the US have been an insignia of perpetual degradation historically as they have been shuttled and chained all the way through the slave economy to the capitalist economy. Charles Scruggs wrote, â€Å"The forms of the invisible city are joined at key points: The invisibility of Afro-Americans in this culture, their reduction to stereotype, is closely related to the phenomena of the mass media and the world of consumer desire, part of an economics of mass consumption† (Scruggs cited in Massood 85). The Significance of Suburbs in Movies Suburb in the movies is used as a contested idea. A vast majority of Americans think of suburb as any type of establishment around a large city’s periphery, though they may be present in small cities as the populations settled around the points of intersection of main highways are also referred to as the suburbs. A movie can be included in the category of suburban movies if it is shot in suburbs for its major part, and also it is important that its characters significantly relate to the imagined or real ethos of the suburbs. The movie Boys N the Hood fulfills these criteria of the suburban movies as hood is the central location of the movie in which all its events happen. A Brief Review of Boys N the Hood The movie Boys N the Hood portrays the life of a group of young African Americans living in South Central Los Angeles, who are struggling to escape the widespread violence in the city. Some are keeping their hopes high to get educated and excel in sports, while others become victims and part of the violent gangs. The movie i s not perfect as it makes an attempt to capture every single challenge that the African Americans living in Los Angeles are exposed to in a matter of just one and a half hours of screen time, that is practically too less to do justice with any of the issues discussed. Too many issues shoved into such a short movie make the whole movie in general and the symbolism in particular appear forced, and the audiences sometimes find the movie unbearably heavy-handed. However, the audiences tend to draw the intended meanings of the sounds and images temporarily abandoning their disbelief in the theater’s darkness, so as to gain full essence of the movie. â€Å"Of course, viewers recognize that movies do not present unfiltered reality: The characters are actors, the speech is scripted, and probably most of the artifacts are phony† (Muzzio and Halper 548). Indeed, filtered reality is in a way, the strength of the movie since the fundamental reason why audiences opt to go to the ci nemas to watch the movies is that they want to have the unfiltered reality of the real world replaced with the filtered reality shown in the movies. Reflection of Urban Marginality in Boyz N The Hood Boyz N the Hood reflects the efforts of young film-literate director of the African American descent, and gives a detailed account of the difficulties experienced by their young protagonists as they come of age. The narrative in Boyz N the Hood has been placed in the geographic boundaries of hood that has precise coordinates i.e. South Central Los Angeles in the case of this film. The selection of hood as the canvas of the story has a solid reason as the hood encompasses a variety of metaphorical meanings that apply to the characters as well as their lives as

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Attorney Obligation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Attorney Obligation - Essay Example The attorney is entitled to keep any information provided by client confidential. The attorney should ensure that they feel strongly about the client; that they portray enthusiasm about the case they are handling. The attorney is expected to wholly represent and be loyal to the client avoiding any conflict of interest in their role as the defense attorney. Goldman (2006) states that the prosecuting attorney who is usually appointed by the judicial district is charged with the responsibility of conducting legal obligations on behalf of people or the state. He or she is entitled to ethical obligations just like the defense attorney. These obligations include: To ensure the person the person being prosecuted is the individual who committed the crime; to ensure the constitutional rights of the individual being prosecuted are upheld at all times; and to ensure that all individuals are treated equally, irrespective of their power or

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Customer Commitment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Customer Commitment - Essay Example roll’s guitar, on a scale of 1 to 10 the ethical breach would be 9 since it is clearly very unethical for a company to ignore repeated consumer complaints, especially when the services provided by United Airlines includes the comfort and satisfaction of their passengers. Since Mr. Carroll has already sent complaint letters multiple times, the best course of action to pacify him and come to agreement on how the complaints will be settled without the company having to admit total fault and giving his demands is by sending him an apologetic reply immediately and inviting him for a personal dialogue concerning his complaints and the possibility of settling the issue and gaining his trust back. This step can be further guided by Maxham & Netemeyer’s ethics process model (2003) which is customer-centered by putting all customers in the shoes of their clients, so that they could empathize with them and provide appropriate responses. It is expected to provide favorable outcomes for both United Airlines and Mr. Carroll if executed properly. While this step may seem simple, it is a necessary action to prevent Mr. Carroll from feeling that his complaints have been completely ignored and making him feel that he is an unimportant customer, as well as to prevent him from taking actions that can affect United Airlines as a whole prematurely (such as posting songs or complaints through the internet). In addition to the aforementioned mitigation steps for the issues with Mr. Carroll, as Regional Manager a meeting with other concerned divisions and supervisors must be called in to fully give the details that lead to the situation, to explain the repercussions that can happen and affect the impression and trust of important clients, stakeholders, and the public due to Mr. Carroll’s dissatisfaction and ignoring his complaints, and to create the terms of settlement that will be offered to Mr. Carroll such as creating a list of possible settlements and allowing him to choose only

Friday, August 23, 2019

Colonial cities or regions in southeastasia Essay

Colonial cities or regions in southeastasia - Essay Example Colonial cities are the conquered trading ports basically by Europeans and later on Americans that are part of a country or nation which were heavily influenced with culture. In Southeast Asia, these may include Singapore, Jakarta, Manila, Hong Kong and Saigon. Historically, the Philippines is rich in culture and tradition prior to the conquest of the Spaniards in the 16th century. Negritos or Aetas came to the area via land bridges during ice age, while the vast majority of Filipinos are believed to have come from Austronesians from Taiwan. Filipinos intermarried with its neighbouring races Indonesian and Malays and these mixes traded with Hindus from India, Chinese and the Arabs (Zaide, 1993). Trade has been established in most of its earlier ports including Cebu, Davao, Manila, and Dagupan. Doeppers (1972) called these coastal villages. While there had been proofs of a very early settlement in the Philippines, its coastal villages and river courses engaged in wet rice agriculture combined with hunting and fishing. The villages were fragmented and there were frequent inter-village fighting. Each village roughly made up of thirty to a hundred families make up the barangay headed by a datu or chief, followed in rank by the warriors, free men and slaves (Zaide, 1993). Intra-island trade were present and exte... Philippine settlements in pre-Hispanic period were not at all cities such as Cebu which was a minor port call, and Manila or Maynilad which was a point of importation for the Tagalog living around Laguna de Bay (3) and it was also said that of the 2,000 Manila inhabitants, forty were Chinese and twenty were Japanese (Doeppers, 1972). In fact, due to its location at an outer extremity of the Southeast Asian insular, Philippines also remained more detached with its Southeast Asian neighbours so that Buddhism and Hinduism did not take roots, except for Islam in the south. Mindanao, nevertheless showed an integrated group of Muslims that were able to "defend themselves effectively" (Doeppers, 1972, p 771) and it remained culturally rich with Jolo as the seat of the Sultan of Sulu. Ming naval vessels also visited the area. Colonial Period The Colonial Era In 1564, an expedition set out from Nueva Espana or Mexico which was the fourth to exploit Magellan's discovery of the Pacific Indies. Ferdinand Legaspi, the expedition commander was commanded by the Royal Audiencia to spread the Roman Catholic faith and send back to Spain spices and wealth. Cebu, specifically the island of Panay, became Legaspi's choice of settlement. But unlike the South Americas, Manila had no gold or "easily exploitable wealth" (Doeppers, 1972, p 772). Instead, it was an established trade port that made Legaspi propose a trade with China. So, a move of the seat of operations became inevitable in 1571. Urbanisation started to occur only during the Spanish period where coastal villages were turned into coastal clusters or settlements with at least 10,000 engaged beyond agricultural activities. These are called ciudades for cities and villas for towns. Their purpose had

Unit 10 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Unit 10 - Essay Example It is also possible for women to make it to the professional level of the game thus breaking the stereotype that being a woman you can only be a spectator. Through a broader focus as well as access to quality education, these stereotypes are being broken. Thus through focusing on higher education, significant stereotypes can be done away with. Stereotypes are not mutable and therefore stereotypes applied to particular groups do not alter over time. This therefore means that we rarely change our stereotypes frequently. This is so even in the wake of disconfirming information; people often tend to cling to their obviously-wrong convictions If at all people can change their stereotypes, then they do so in 3 ways; Bookkeeping model-as people learn more contradictory information, they incrementally change the stereotype to align with the new information. Thus individuals usually need a lot of information for every incremental change. Secondly is the conversion model whereby individuals throw away old stereotypes and start all over again, frequently used when there is important disconfirming evidence. Thirdly is sub typing model which creates a stereotype that is new, mostly a sub-classification of the current stereotype (Rupert, 2010). Yes I have had an experience where someone applied a stereotype due to their interpretation of my skin color. I was on a tour in Africa and someone thought I am a Mexican and therefore asked much about Mexico. I had to kindly explain myself before they finally understood me and apologized profusely. Some of the authors discuss areas of misconception such as being mistaken for a waitress or a whore, for instance, in The Myth of the Latin Woman/Just Met a Girl Named Maria by Judith Ortiz Cofer gives several instances where she has been taken to be a waitress simply because she is Puerto Rican. She recounts another incident where a man blocked their way

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Developed in Rome Essay Example for Free

Developed in Rome Essay In the time of the Renaissance, the arts became the primary preoccupation of the people. This is because of the pervading atmosphere of humanism, which promotes the accomplishments of the individual in a gamut of areas. The Renaissance as an era is divided into two parts: the early Renaissance which occurred in Florence and the high Renaissance that developed in Rome. How are these two phases different in terms of artistic styles? How are they alike? In the spirit of humanism that it advances, the art pieces reminiscent of the early Renaissance tried to put into canvass a very realistic depiction of the human form. Everything from proportion to color was considered to achieve the desired effect of realism. According to Noble, â€Å"artists developed new techniques to give paintings a more three-dimensional, life-like quality, and commonly studied human and animal anatomy in efforts to better understand their subjects (6). † These artists enjoyed the patronage of the wealthy, but they were not granted complete artistic freedom. Even though humanism was at its peak, the theme of the arts still leaned towards religion (Noble 6). The artists could only manifest freedom in terms of style and technique. The artistic pioneers of that time included Giotto di Bondone, Massacio, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Donatello. Giotto was the first important artist; it was his study of nature that rendered realistic facial expressions in his paintings (Noble 6), which served as the benchmark for the periods realistic techniques. Massacio is known for his Bible-inspired work, The Tribute Money. Ghiberti was the leading name in architecture; he designed and sculpted bronze doors, which was embellished with scenes from the Bible, for the Baptistry (Noble 6). In terms of sculpture, Donatello was the most important artist. He was responsible for David, â€Å"the first freestanding nude figure sculpted since the Roman era (Noble 6). † â€Å"If the early Renaissance artists paved the way for new techniques and styles in creating arts, it was the High Renaissance artists who mastered these said techniques (Noble 7),† bringing the creation of art to new heights. There might have been an improvement in method, but the subject matter remains the same. The arts of the High Renaissance was still controlled by the Church. However, the works of Leonardo began to manifest a strong leaning toward extreme humanism, which marked the beginning of change (Noble 7). In the High Renaissance, there were three dominant artists: Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo Buonarroti and Raphael. Da Vincis works include the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper and Lady with an Ermine (â€Å"Artcyclopedia† 1). Michaelangelo, on the other hand, is famous for the artwork in the Sistine Chapel (â€Å"Artcyclopedia† 2). Raphael were responsible for such paintings as Saint George and the Dragon, and The Small Cowper Madonna (â€Å"Artcyclopedia† 3). In conclusion, the early Renaissance and High Renaissance only differed in two points: first, they occurred in different locations; second, while the early Renaissance artists created the techniques, the High Renaissance artists perfected them. Moreover, the two phases shared a similarity: the theme of religion despite the humanistic atmosphere. Works Cited Artcyclopedia. 2007. 17 Dec. 2007 http://www. artcyclopedia. com/history/high-renaissance. html. Noble, Matt. Sparknote on Italian Renaissance (1330-1550). 2006. SparkNotes LLC. 17 Dec. 2007 http://www. sparknotes. com/history/european/renaissance1/.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The Co-operative Group: Financial Auditing Analysis

The Co-operative Group: Financial Auditing Analysis Pak Liu Background knowledge, evolution from origin and ethical issues Ever since the establishment of the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in 1844 together with the subsequent major merger incurred within its expansion period during 2000 to 2012. The Co-operative Group, colloquially known as the Co-op, has been burgeoning for the last 17 decades, contingent upon the Rochdale principle which espouses dividend returns to members. Pending between its 172-years life up till now, it had metamorphosed the core business from a solely wholesale operation to an 85%-engrossing food retail within the conglomerate; affiliating no longer with just the struggling lower income groups, but the more prosperous middle class. The sagacious quality possessed by previous chief directors to overlook the impact initiated by multiple-grocers buy to the retail market in the 1940s, in corporation with numerous business disposals and replacements, set cornerstones for the introduction of the Co-op brand in 2007. It has effortlessly entitled itself as the largest consumer co-operative in the UK. The businesss long-term economic scale, involving over 70,000 employees across the wide geographical spread of 4,500 locations within the UK, is sustained by the 8 million members who are democratically engaged in determining the co-operatives operational strategies via voting. Quoted from Co-ops annual report in 2007, Voting for corporate members is in proportion to trade with the society. Each individual member has one vote in the appropriate region of the society and each region has voting rights calculated on the same basis as a corporate member. Historically, the merger with UKs second largest co-operative, the United Co-operatives on 16th February 2007 was concurred by the majority. The degree of influence members that is delegated can sometimes protract the implementation of proposals such as the Policy and Programme for Post War Development, published by the Co-operative Wholesale Society in 1944. In the meantime, members loyalty is bolstered through the incentivised dividend scheme; in the last quarter of 2016, approximately 15 million pounds were returned to members. However, potential member outflow is expected during the year of 2017, since the Group is unable to pay dividend until 2018. Even though the food retailing business is presently the largest division of the group, nevertheless its profitability and market share dwindled between the 1970s and 1980s, partially but prominently because of inflation leading to more affordable importations. Conjointly due to the inefficient national distribution network in the early 20th century, the Coventry National Contribution Centre is now served as the solution to which; resulting a huge preconceived transportation cost which discouraged purchases. It was further exacerbated by the paucity of preparations to accustom its shifted association with the middle-class customers. Inferior to externality, redevelopment projects during the 1970s devastated 18,000 stores to be closed since employees were moved from terraces to purpose-built estates, so a redundant provision of co-op stores was observed in certain areas. Until 2015, the Group had converted their focus on the 2,500 convenience stores; an extraneous 200 convenience stores were added to the fixed asset account utilising the fund from liquidating 100 supermarkets. The remaining 25% of the business is encompassed with sectors concerning funeral-care, banking, legal service, electrical products sale and joint-ventures such as insurance service and travel agency. An excessive 900 funeral homes, whilst some continue to use their own brands, had contributed a revenue of  £399 million in 2015 and positioned the funeral-care sector as the largest funeral director in the UK. During Co-ops expansion period, the funeral-care sector was appraised to have optimistic performance abreast with the Co-operative Pharmacy, which was soaring to become the third largest pharmacy group in the UK. Unfortunately, the investigation stretching back to 2008 exposing the  £1.5 billion capital blackhole in the Co-operative Banks account had arose a financial crisis in years of 2013 and 2014 for the Group. In purpose to reduce its debt level, the entire 800 Co-operative Pharmacy branches were sold to the Bestway Group for a substantial  £620 million. Other former businesses underwent disposal, serving to either minimise debt level or simply eliminate non-profitable divisions include the milk processing and distribution division Associated Co-operative Creameries (ACC) and the Co-operative Motor Group. Until recently, the Co-operative Travel also announced the intention to sell its 30% stake in the joint venture with Thomas Cook, putting the 100-years trade to an end. Barry Tootells scandal, resigned Banks executive, of failing to exercise due skill, care and diligence in managing the firm was calamitous to Co-ops reputation, which was once sabotaged because 38 Co-op stores in Sussex disappointed the fire safety requirements in 2007. From attempting to restore its long-established ethical image to becoming a Fairtrade champion, many initiatives have been commencing including providing nutritional information on Co-ops branded food, environmentally friendly household products productions, raising awareness of animal welfare standards and investment into generating renewable energy. Whereas the partnership between Miles Smith and the Co-operative Insurance will be continued. On the other hand, the national legal service provider founded in Bristol in 2006, furnishes a broad coverage of services straddling domestic and matrimonial law, testamentary constitution and related probate and conveyancing, as well as employment law and personal injury. Meanwhile, the Co-op Electrical is the pioneer in selling extended warranty insurance products at cost price. It also offers delivery service with a guaranteed timeslot of 60 minutes, confirmed on the day of delivery via SMS. KPMG had been the Co-operative Groups auditor for the previous 40 years until 2015. A profuse amount of audit fee of  £700,000 was paid, excluding the extraneous  £1.2 million consulting fee which involves a particular  £500,000 for tax planning.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Data Communication Networking Computer Science Essay

The Data Communication Networking Computer Science Essay Data Communication can mean many things to different people, but when industry with computers and their communication with them. So, people are usually discussing equipment that wan designed to provide or provide or gather information needs to communicate. Data Communication provides the tools, product and equipment to make it. The distance over which data moves within a computer may vary from a few thousandths of an inch. The amount of Data Communications builds from this point on, because there are many factors such as distance, topology, protocol, signaling, and security. Data Communications will continue to develop and change considerably for the probable future.  In the companies unlike manufacturers are not biased toward solution and the applications. Question 1 A group of business employees would like to set up a small networking office. Explain the meaning of topology. Discuss and draw the different types of network topology that are available. Answer of Question 1 Nowadays, networkings are very popular. So, a network consists of multiple computers connected with some type of interface, each have one or more interface devices such as a Network Interface Card (NIC). Each computer is support by network software that provides the server or client functionality. Network can be of any of the following three types such as Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN). Hence, the local area networks (LANs) interconnect data processing devices that serve communities of users. In the first industrial in the context of the minicomputer world, than the LAN come into its to a personal computers (PCs) develop into the norm in the most networking environments. Seen the LAN networks were as the solution to the research problem. Then the computer could be fixed with a new I/O device and directly linked to one another. In the beginning, LAN is organizing to support shared printer access and to assist the movement of files between systems. The system would be taken long to harness the platform to support other application, such as email. The components of LAN are requiring the incorporation of many different components that determine how the devices are connected. Second is what the format of the data will be transm itted in. Third is how to ensure that multiple stations can transmit at the same time. By the way, this is the major elements of the LAN and some options commonly available to network designers. Metropolitan Area Network is the connection of devices that covers a geographical area of region that is larger than Local Area Network (LAN) but smaller than Wide Area Network. It implies the interconnection of network in the city into a larger network. Then the Wide Area Network (WAN) is the interconnection if devices across a geographical are. The connection spans from country to country. What is a topology? In a LAN, the organization can be described by the physical topology and the logical topology. The physical topology of network refers to the arrangement of cable, computers and other peripherals. Therefore, physical topology should not exist confused with logical topology which is the method how data actually transfers in a network as different to its design. So, the logical topology of a LAN is attaching devices and the flow of signals between attaches devices. Topology can be measured as a virtual shape or arrangement of a network. However, the shape actually does not match to the actual physical design of the devices on the computer network. The different topologies available to LAN, while discuss in the following. There are five types of topology network including star, bus, ring, tree, and mesh. Bus Topology Figure 1: Bus topology (Florida Center for Instructional Technology College of Education) (University of South Florida, 2009) Bus topology is the simplest ways a network can be organize. In bus topology, all computers are connecting to the same transmission line by using a cable. It is coaxial. Bus topology is easy to handle and put into action and is best suit for small networks. So, the advantages of bus topology are easy to use and understand. Second is requires least quantity of cable to connect the computers together. Therefore, it is less expensive than extra cabling arrangements. Ring Topology Figure 2: Ring Topology (  Network topology, kioskeas Creative Commons License Deed V2.0, 2007 ) (http://en.kioskea.net/contents/initiation/topologi.php3) In this type of ring topology, each computer is connect to the next computer with the last one connect to first. Consequently, each retransmits what it receives from the previous computer. Then the message flows around the ring in one direction. Ring topology does not subject to signal loss problem as a bus network experiences. By the way, there is no execution because there is no end to the ring. Ring topology advantages are each node has equal access and capable of high speed data transfer. Mesh Topology Figure 3: Mesh topology Mesh topology is a unique network design in each computer on the network connects to other. It is creating a point-to-point connection between each device on the network. The function of mesh design is to provide a high level of redundancy. If one network cable fails, the data always have an alternative path to get its destination. The advantages of mesh topology are provides redundant paths between devices and the network can expand without interruption to current users. Star Topology Figure 1: Star topology (Florida Center for Instructional Technology College of Education) (University of South Florida, 2009) A star topology is design with each file server, workstation, and peripherals. All of them are connect to a central network hub, switch, or concentrator. So, data on a star network passes through hub, switch or concentrator before ongoing to its destination. The common arrangement is use twisted pair cable. It also is use coaxial cable or fiber optic cable. The advantages of star topology including easy to add a new computer system to the network, crash of one workstation does not affect the entire network, uses a single access protocols and very fast Tree Topology Figure 5: Tree Topology (Florida Center for Instructional Technology College of Education) (University of South Florida, 2009) At the last tree topology is also known as a hierarchical topology and a central root node that is connecting to one or more nodes of a lower hierarchy. In each node the network has a exact fix number of nodes connect to a lower level. A tree topology combines individuality of linear bus and star topology. Hence, it consists of groups of star-configure workstations connect to a linear bus backbone cable in figure 5. Tree topology allow for the increase of an existing network, and enables schools to configure a network to meet their needs. Finally of advantages of a tree topology is point-to-point cabling for individual segments and support by numerous hardware and software venders. A group of business employees would like to set up a small networking office. Before set up the topology, office must consider when selecting a topology such as cost, flexibility and reliability. Cost of selecting that is selected for a Local Area Network has be install and perhaps a lengthy process including the installation cables and raceways. Another way for a network to be cost effective one would attempt to minimize installation cast. This may be achieved by using the suitable hardware linking cables, good modems, cost effective computers to reduce cost. Second is flexibility is one of the main advantage of a Local Area Network. It is ability to have the data processing and peripheral nodes distributes around a given area. Next be consistency is select for the network can help through allowing the location of the responsibility to be detect and to present come means of isolating the responsibility. The best of topology for small networking office is bus topology. It is the easy method of networking computers. So, this consists of a single cable as a trunk, backbone or segment that connects all the computers in the network. However, each system is directly attached to be common communication channel. Then signal is transmitter over the channel makes up the messages. While each message is passes along the guide each system receives it. After receiving the message each system scan the destination address contain in the message. On a bus topology signals are sending to all the computers in the network to keep the signal from active back and forth along the cable a terminator is place at the end of the cable. A bus topology only can one computer send data at a time, therefore the more computers in the bus slower data transmission in the network. Usually, bus topology is easy for small office use (example in figure 1). Question 2 The purpose of data link control is to provide functions like flow control, error detection and error control. Explain each function in detail. Answer of Question 2 The data communications have much more needed to control and manage to substitute. So, the list some of the requirements and objectives for effective of data communication between two directly connected transmitting receiving station such as frame synchronization, flow control, error control, addressing, error detection and recovery, control and data on same link and link management. So, line access controls determine which station can pass on next. This is easy for two stations on a full-duplex link. When more than two stations are in use on a full-duplex link such as multipoint or any number of stations is in use on a half-duplex line. However, transmission needs to be not acceptable suspiciously. The service of frame synchronization is the data link layer is responsible for providing synchronization at the frame level. This is determines the beginning and end of each frame. Therefore, the physical layer is usually responsible for maintaining bit synchronization. Flow control is so metimes of the receiving station must be able to cut off the transmitter, so the receiver may be too busy to accept of new frame. By the way, at the data link layer, flow control enables the receiver to tell the transmitter it is not ready, and to later identify its motivation to accept more frames. Another is error control is bits errors introduce by the transmission system should be correct. In the addressing on two station connections, addresses can be use to separate commands from responses. Then, addresses are necessary on multipoint links with more than two stations to denote the future receiver and sometimes to classify the sender as well. Error detection and recovery is using a grouping of order numbers and an error detecting or correcting code, so the Data Link layer protocol ensure that frame with error are accepted and not deliver to higher layers. Then, the recovery is by means of retransmission for error-detecting codes. Timers are use to ensure with the purpose of all transmit frames are receive. Maintain of control and data on same link. It is usually not attractive to have a physically divide communications pathway for control information. As a result, the receiver must be able to distinguish control information from the data being transmitted. The link management of initiation, maintenance, and termination of a sustained data exchange requires a fair amount of coordination and assistance among station. It actions for the management of this exchange are involve. This requirement is content by the physical interfacing techniques. A data link protocol that satisfies these requirements is a rather complex of issue. Begin to looking at three key of mechanisms that are part of data link control such as flow control, error detection, and error control. 2.1 Flow Control First part of data control link is flow control. Flow control is mechanisms are necessary in order to stop the transmitter form overwhelming a receiving entity with data. So, this can be achieved by letting the receiver control all data flow from the sender. Accordingly, the popular of flow control mechanisms allow the receiver to dens credit to the sender in terms of how much data can be transmitted. That function credit exist at the receiver call the window size. Flow control might be needed due to many reasons. At first is link the capacity. However, if the link is share to many transmitter-receiver pairs, the total amount of data on the link may exceed its capacity at some time. By the way, in second reason can be unavailability of sufficient memory resources at the receiver station. The link is possible is not busy and enough memory available to process or store the usual the data and still can congestion. So, congestion means a condition in which packets queue to be process inc rease a line above a certain threshold. The queue can simply be because of the receiving station having to forward in each packet on a slower link. At the same time, flow control also can be necessary and implement at all layers. When implement on DLC layers, the results in rule of data flow across a single link. Thus, of implementation scheme is when the widow size is in one packet. Finally, flow controls have two examples to processes. There are stop-and-wait (SnW) flow control and sliding window flow control. 2.1.1 Stop-and-Wait (SnW) Flow Control In this system, stop-and-wait is an entity transmits a packet. After, the destination entity receives the packet, and then it indicates its motivation to accept another packet by sending back an acknowledgement to the packet just receive. So, this small packet is call as Acknowledgement Packet (ACK). At figure 6 illustrates a timing diagram. Figure 6: Stop-and-Wait Flow Control (Data Communication Principles for Fixed and Wireless Networks, 2002) The transmission time is due to a limited capacity of a link. So, propagation time is due to a limited velocity of signal propagation. Then, the processing time is due to limited processing capacity of the receiving station. It depends on a number of factors, including but not limited to, processor type, queue size and protocol type use after receiving a data packet. 2.1.2 Sliding-window (SW) Flow Control Figure 7: Sliding-window (SW) Flow Control  ¼Ã‹â€ Data Communication Principles for Fixed and Wireless Networks. ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° Sliding window is generality of Stop and Wait to more than one packet. This for system to receiving allows the sender to send up a sure maximum number of packets without getting further of ACK. Therefore allow to be transmitter without receiving an ACK is to be maximum window size. Usually each ACK allows to expanding the number of packets to the maximum window size. In the example, the receiver specifies a maximum window size of 4. The packets can be sequence number from 0 through 7 a maximum of four packets are allows to be transmit without getting further credit. Thus, suppose that packets numbers 0,1,2 and 3 have been transmit and then the receiver has not accept them. After the processing of receive packets is success then the receiver an ACK for the entire four packets. Finally, on receiving the ACK packet, the transmitter is acceptable to send packet numbers 4,5,6 and 7. 2.2 Error Detection Error detection is about communication impairments and the effect of data rate and signal to noise ratio on bit error rate. This system will be error, resulting in the change of one or more bits in transmitted packet. At example, there have two copies of data. The receiver compares copies equal then no error. So, the probability of same bits corrupted low. The parity is value bit. That character has even or odd number ones. The even number bit error goes understand. 2.2.1 Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) CRC is an extension of the parity block concept. It is nothing degree polynomial. The value of each bit is a coefficient. It is given a k bit block of bits, or message, the transmitter generates an n bit sequence. So, the resulting packet consisting transmit k+n bits which is exactly divisible by some number. The receivers then divide the incoming packet by that number and if no remainder, assume was no error. 2.3 Error Control Error controls are transmission impairments random and affect bits at random locations. So, describe a link with respect to its impairment effect is by probability of error. That call variously link error probability, bit error probability, bit error rate, or frame error rate. In addition, there have two type of errors are lost frame and damaged frame. Lost frame is a frame fails to arrive at the other side and damaged frame is a recognizable frame does arrive, but some of the bits are in error. In the most common technique for error control are bases on some or the entire following element. There are error detection, positive acknowledgment, retransmission after timeout, and negative acknowledgement and retransmission. 2.3.1 Stop and Wait ARQ This is sending station keeps a copy of every packet transmitted. Once transmission it waits for an ACK for each packet before sending the next packet. If an ACK received before the timeout, the stored copy of transmitted packet is discarded. So, an expiring the timer then the transmitter sends the copy of the packet again. If ACK damaged, transmitter will not recognize it. The transmitter will retransmit the same packet on timer expiry. There will start from sequence number; the receiver will know that this was duplicated packet. Example in figure 8. Figure 8: Stop and Wait ARQ 2.3.2 Go back N ARQ Go and back ARQ are the transmitter sends packets as allowed by current window size. If there are no errors in the packets, then the normal flow control operation continues as discussed above. In the way of error, the receiver discards the packet and does not increment its receiver window pointer. When it receives the packet with next sequence number, it may send a negative acknowledge (NAK). Usually, NAK implemented by sending the ACK packet asking for the discarded packet. If transmitter is already expecting an ACK for this packet, it will know that the packet in question was never received. Then go back by resetting its window passion at the discarded packet number and restart transmission of this packet. 2.3.3 Selective reject ARQ The only packets retransmitted are those that receive a negative acknowledge. It calls as SREJ, means time out. Protocols provide for a selective reject mechanism in which retransmission is sought for only the packet that was in error instead of a while black of packets. This can be accomplished by sending a NAK as soon as a packet is received in error. After the packet in error is successfully receive, all the packets can be marked as received and processes by the receiver. This performance measure of the ARQ schemes, then the selective reject tops. Finally, the performance of go back N ARQ is much better than stop and wait ARQ. Conclusion Finally I have to finish this assignment. What I have know about networking and Data link control. In first question is easy for me to do. Networkings have three types such as Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN). The main for question asking is local area networking. Local Area Networking for personal computers and back end network and storage area network. Then, spare out five type topology. There are bus, star, ring, mesh and tree. All of them have advantages and disadvantages. Because, it can give users to choose which want is better for their home or company. In question two, I have explained all of them like flow control, error detection and error control. Three type of them are discussing transmit or retransmit. In conclusion, I have learned about networking how to set up their system and the mechanism how to process the packets.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Harassment :: essays research papers

An issue that is particularly pertinent to students in the middle phase of schooling is that of harassment. Harassment has been ‘conceived narrowly as involving physical threatening behavior only. It is now generally seen as including verbal forms of aggression, as in the case of ridicule and name calling’.1 This essay will concentrate on the harassment as an issue within the middle phase of schools, years 5 to 10, and investigate what actions or responses are being taken by schools to address the needs of the learners. ‘The full extent of harassment is very hard to detect. It usually happens out of sight, away form teachers and other adults. The people most likely to know what is going on are other children. Children who are being bullied often do not tell anyone because they feel weak or ashamed.’1 This is the issue that needs to be addressed, students will not communicate with teachers/parents or seek help from teachers/parents if they are being bullied. This essay will address this need through how other schools have dealt with this problem. A school of approximately 450 students from middle to low income families reduced their harassment problem by introducing peer mediation. Firstly, changes were introduced within the student council, where a representative from each grade level was elected. Secondly, teachers were to demonstrate a positive role towards the new behaviour management system, and this in turn helped towards their ‘Working It Out’ process, with students getting involved in dealing with the harassment issue. Thirdly, a peer mediation team was setup that dealt with harassment that is more interpersonal. Mediation is now occurring on a regular basis and most issues brought to the mediators are resolved easily. The school intends to continue to expand on the mediation team-training students as others leave school.2 Another school of 750 students in a secondary, coeducational setup included a variety of cultural backgrounds throughout the school. This school recognized that a harassment problem was occurring in the school and a zero tolerance outcome was adapted for the school. There was a survey carried out for students from years 8 – 10 to gain a students perspective on the harassment situation in the school. The result of the survey helped teachers gain an understanding of what areas the harassment problems were prominent. A register was then setup to monitor those harassment and being bullied and workshops were setup for these students.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Odysseus :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Bond of Love There are many essential emotions that form the building blocks of our lives. These emotions help to shape the people that we are. These feelings are ones that are ultimately necessary to keep us happy. Nothing makes these feelings more evident than the Odyssey by Homer. Through out the course of this book there is one major emotional theme, which is love. Love is shown within a family, which chose to fight to keep their togetherness no matter how much that had to endure. One main strife in life is to be in search of a companion who makes us happy and for whom we would do anything. Odysseus and Penelope's lasting loyalty is an obvious representation of love in the Odyssey. Although Odysseus is gone for twenty years he never forgets his faithful wife in Ithaca. This love seems to help him persevere through the many hardships that he encounters on his journey home. On the other hand, Penelope too remains loyal to her beloved Odysseus no matter what happens. At home in Ithaca, she stays loyal to Odysseus by unraveling his shroud and delaying the possible marriage to one of the many suitors. She always keeps the hope that her love, Odysseus, will return. Odysseus and Penelope's marriage clearly illustrates the theme of love in the epic. The bond formed between father and son is another one of life's ways of showing love. This relationship is shown throughout the Odyssey. Telemachos's desperate search for his father, and Odysseus longing for his homeland and the warmth of his wife and son are prime examples. Although Telemachos knows not weather Odysseus is really his father, he still cares for him and the well being of what could be his father. When Odysseus hears of all the suitors devouring Telemachos's future fortune and mistreating him, he wants to return and do away with them. Odysseus, like any parent, also misses his only child while he is at war. Telemachos leaving Ithaca in search of knowledge of his father, not knowing anything about life on sea, shows his love for the father figure that he really needs. Odysseus :: essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Bond of Love There are many essential emotions that form the building blocks of our lives. These emotions help to shape the people that we are. These feelings are ones that are ultimately necessary to keep us happy. Nothing makes these feelings more evident than the Odyssey by Homer. Through out the course of this book there is one major emotional theme, which is love. Love is shown within a family, which chose to fight to keep their togetherness no matter how much that had to endure. One main strife in life is to be in search of a companion who makes us happy and for whom we would do anything. Odysseus and Penelope's lasting loyalty is an obvious representation of love in the Odyssey. Although Odysseus is gone for twenty years he never forgets his faithful wife in Ithaca. This love seems to help him persevere through the many hardships that he encounters on his journey home. On the other hand, Penelope too remains loyal to her beloved Odysseus no matter what happens. At home in Ithaca, she stays loyal to Odysseus by unraveling his shroud and delaying the possible marriage to one of the many suitors. She always keeps the hope that her love, Odysseus, will return. Odysseus and Penelope's marriage clearly illustrates the theme of love in the epic. The bond formed between father and son is another one of life's ways of showing love. This relationship is shown throughout the Odyssey. Telemachos's desperate search for his father, and Odysseus longing for his homeland and the warmth of his wife and son are prime examples. Although Telemachos knows not weather Odysseus is really his father, he still cares for him and the well being of what could be his father. When Odysseus hears of all the suitors devouring Telemachos's future fortune and mistreating him, he wants to return and do away with them. Odysseus, like any parent, also misses his only child while he is at war. Telemachos leaving Ithaca in search of knowledge of his father, not knowing anything about life on sea, shows his love for the father figure that he really needs.

Humanity versus Virtual Reality Essay -- William Wordsworth Technology

Humanity versus Virtual Reality . . . Aiding this process was a definition of information, formalized by Claude Shannon and Norbert Wiener, that conceptualized information as an entity distinct from the substrates carrying it. From this formulation, it was a small step to think of information as a kind of bodiless fluid that could flow between different substrates without loss of meaning or form. Writing nearly four decades after Turing, Hans Moravec proposed that human identity is essentially an informational pattern rather than an embodied enaction. —N. Katherine Hayles, "How We Became Posthuman" William Wordsworth was well aware of the effect of technology upon human beings. Of course he would have been speculating had he tried to predict what life would be like in the 21st century; he could not have predicted the internet, for example. As one reads contemporary literature, particularly that which deals with virtual reality or the cyber-punk genre, one begins to see the ways in which Wordsworth's romantic thinking has infiltrated writers' and artists' perception of reality and the human mind. In Wordsworth's The Prelude (1805), Book Twelfth, the poem of primary interest in this essay, Wordsworth questions and contemplates the relationship of the external world with the human mind and perception, which becomes a question about the human soul. Virtual reality and Wordsworth's romanticism have this in common: they are interested in the relationship of the human being with his environment. Virtual reality involves the sensory stimuli of a person in an artificial environment. For Wordsworth, that which gives meaning to the human experience is the environment that is as real and as genuine as the person interacting within the... ...tities. That which gives us the energy to live and continue creating a society in which we want to live comes from something much larger than science. Reason and logic fail in giving humanity's quest for meaning an answer that is satisfactory and complete. The truth is not compiled or realized with an ordered inquiry; scientists will never find an equation for love. People must look beyond logic in order to realize the extent and the meaning of life. Works Cited Hayles, Katherine N. Prologue. How We Became Posthuman. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999. Stephenson, Neal. The Diamond Age. Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. New York: Bantam Spectra, 1995. Wordsworth, William. "Book Twelfth." The Prelude. 1805. The Prelude: 1799, 1805, 1850. Eds. Jonathan Wordsworth, M.H. Abrams, and Stephen Gill. New York: WW Norton & Company, 1979. 436-456.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Incremental and Radical Innovation

In recent years, the importance of innovation in business cannot be emphasized too much. Along with rapid economic development, the cooperation having innovative ability enables them to own a place in this competitive society. In order to achieve the goal of survival, the firms need to understand the different types of innovation from incremental innovation and radical innovation for those firms who guarantee with the product quality, the lower cost and increasing profits.Following this essay, the difference between incremental and radical innovation are the distinctness of change level of technology and the difference of effectiveness. Following this essay, the effectiveness of two different types of innovation and an example of each types would be explanatory. Innovation can be used in invention or improvement of products, production process, organization and staff creativity. According to the change level of technology , there are different types of innovation, one is incremental innovation and the other is radical innovation.Utilizing which types of innovation depends on what kind of conditions does a cooperation faces. Different consequence would be reached while adopting these two types on innovative system. To begin with, the definition of incremental innovation is ‘doing what we do but better' (Tidd, Bessant, 2009, p. 27). It usually bases on improvement or boost the existing technology, products or process for maintaining the competitiveness of specific market. Adopting incremental innovation could results in enormous cost saving through upgrading or improving old products or service. Stamm,2003,p260) . In terms of reduction of inefficiencies and waste, which could benefit company from saving money, resources or time. Also this effectiveness from incremental innovation could benefit not only cooperation, but also customers. For example, a famous US airplane company – American Airlines Incorporated (AA). In 1986, when AA had faced a downtur n trend with profits, they cut a significant cost on their on board meal. (Maynard 2005). Their crew found out that 72% of passengers do not use olive in their salad catering from airplane.The price of salad was included five items, if they change their ingredients of food without olive, it can save $500,000 cost annual year. Since this incremental innovation had reduced the operating cost significantly, increasingly amenities had been cut for less spending such as playing cards, postcards and some toys for children. Although this type of innovation cannot bring new income directly, it does not mean it cannot save a enormous money. Compared with incremental innovation which means doing what we do better, the radical innovation refers to do something different. (Tidd, Bessant, 2009, p. 7) Radical innovation is the revolutionary change in technology or market. To make a breakthrough on the limitation of current technology and production capability , which could strengthen and sustain a firm's leadership in the market. Moreover, a radical innovation could change current competitive condition, creating a new market and making more opportunities for much benefits and profitability . For example a light emitting diode-LED which is a major device in current life. (It would be finished next time) These two different types of innovation are used in different conditions.Incremental innovation is generally a short-term innovation. On the other hand, radical innovation would continue more longer, usually over 10 years, referring to an high risk investment. Furthermore, radical innovation requires ability of high level of technology innovation, which means it need a relative large expense of investment rather than that of incremental innovation. (Ten3 Business e-Coach 2004) To sum up, in this changing commercial environment, each company should keep learning and carrying out knowledge of innovation to achieve their commitments with profits growth.

Friday, August 16, 2019

History, The Bourgeoisie, The Proletariat, and Communism Essay

Karl Marx begins the first chapter of his The Communist Manifesto with the opening line: â€Å"The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles† (ch. 1). Underlying all of history is this fundamental economic theme, that each society has its own economic structure which breeds different classes—â€Å"a manifold gradation of social rank,† he calls it (ch. 1). These classes inevitably becomes in conflict with each other—that because of their economic structure, some class becomes the oppressors while others become the oppressed. He argued that the oppressors and oppressed â€Å"stood in constant opposition to one another†¦ on an uninterrupted†¦ fight†¦ that each time ended, either in a revolutionary re-constitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes† (ch. 1). He described his time as a struggle between two classes: the Bourgeoisie and the Ploretariat. Marx claims that the modern bourgeois society of his time has not helped to remove, although have simplified, clash antagonisms, but had, instead, â€Å"established new classes, new conditions of oppression, [and] new forms of struggle in place of the old ones† (ch. 1). He saw the bourgeoisie as a â€Å"product of a long course of development, of a series of revolutions in the modes of production and of exchange,† and that each step of its development â€Å"was accompanied by a corresponding political advance† (ch. 1). He claims that the â€Å"executive of the modern State is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie,† that it â€Å"cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society† (ch. 1). He said that it has torn the â€Å"feudal ties that bound men to his ‘natural superiors,’ and has left no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest† (ch. 1). He goes on to explain that the bourgeoisie draws all nation into civilization with all the rapid improvements of production and by the immensely facilitated means of communication. However, he claims that they create â€Å"a world after its own image,† that is, for all nations to adopt the bourgeois mode of production. The bougeiosie, according to Marx, has â€Å"created enormous cities, has greatly increased the urban population as compared with the rural, and has thus rescued a considerable part of the population from the idiocy of rural life† but that it has also â€Å"concentrated property in a few hands† (ch. 1). He argued that â€Å"for many a decade past the history of industry and commerce is but the history of the revolt of modern productive forces against modern conditions of production, against the property relations that are the conditions for the existence of the bourgeoisie and of its rule† (ch. 1). At the end, he states that â€Å"its existence is no longer compatible with society† and is unfit to be the ruling class of society since â€Å"it is incompetent to assure an existence to its slave within his slavery† (ch. 1). The proletarians, on the other hand, are, during Marx’s time, the modern working class—â€Å"a class of labourers, who live only so long as they find work, and who find work only so long as their labour increases capital† (Marx ch. 1). Marx claims that the proletarians lost its individual character and charm because of the extensive use of machinery and of the division of labour. They have become an â€Å"appendage of the machines. † He said that lobourers are commodities which are â€Å"expensive to use† but are exploited by the bougeoisie. Marx explains that the proletariat began its struggle as soon as this class was created, at first as an induvidual struggle of the laborer, and later groups of workers. Workers before were still disorganized, divided by goegraphy and by competition with one another. Marx claims that when workers first formed unions, they did so under the influence of the bourgeois and served to further the objectives of the bourgeoisie. The distinction between workers was obliterated due to the wages being reduced to low level. As the proletariat increased in numbers and concentrated in greater mass by forming Trade Unions, they also increased in strenght and local struggles were centralized into one national struggle between classes. Marx further explains that â€Å"the proletariat alone is a really revolutionary class,† that other classes are conservatives or reactionary that fight against the bourgeoisie in order to â€Å"save from extinction their existence as fractions of the middle class† (ch. 1). Because proletarians have nothing of their own to secure, Marx claims that their mission is â€Å"to destroy all previous securities for, and insurances of, individual property† (ch. 1). The proletarian movement, Marx further explains, â€Å"is the self-concious, independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority† (ch. 1). Marx explains that the Communist Party points out and addresses the common interests of the entire proletariat, in their national struggles in different countries, independent of nationality, and represents the interests of the working class in the various stages of development it has to pass through from the struggle against the bourgeoisie. The Communist Party, therefore, still according to Marx, is the most advanced, resolute section â€Å"of the working-class of every country, that section which pushes forward all others† (ch. 2). It has the same aim as that of all the other proletarian parties, which is to overthrow the bourgeois supremacy and to seek its own political power. Marx goes on to explain that the abolition of existing property relations is not a distinctive feature of Communism, that the feature of Communism is not the abolition of property in general, but the abolition of the bourgeois property, which is, according to him, â€Å"the final and most complete expression of the system of producing and appropriating products† (Marx ch. 2). Simply put, Marx states that Communism is a struggle that aims for the â€Å"abolition of private property. † Communism would like to abolish the conception that the labourer merely lives to increase capital, and is allowed only to live insofar as the interest of the ruling class requires it; that labour is meant to widen, enrich and promote the existence of the labourer is what the Communism is fighting for. Communism is, in a way, a struggle of the lower strata of the society against the upper strata. However, it is not a personal struggle of the poor against the rich, it is a societal and political struggle for equality of appropriation of property. Marx explains that â€Å"Communism deprives no man of the power to appropriate the products of society; all that it does is to deprive him of the power to subjugate the labour of others by means of such appropriation† (ch. 2). With its teachings and goals, labour groups and lower working class would have found The Communist Manifesto appealing. The Capitalists, of course, would not have found it appealing, as the manifesto seeks to destroy their current stature and their self-interest would be compromized. On the other hand, Communism would seek to empower labour groups and they would find it all to their advantage to support its cause. The Industrial Revolution has created a majority lower class workers, many of whom lived in poverty under terrible working conditions. The Communist Manifesto calls on all labourers to unite, promising them a better life sprouting from a better world.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Food for Education Improves Girls’ Education the Pakistan Essay

In the last decade, access to primary education has improved significantly in many parts of the world (World Bank, 2006). Yet, 77 million children of primary school-age, are not in school and 57 percent of them are girls. Despite overall advances in primary enrolment, significant gender disparities remain particularly in certain regions, notably the Arab States, South and West Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Beyond the primary level, the gender inequalities in education are even more significant. In secondary education, only one-third of countries have reached gender parity and women account for 64 percent of the world’s illiterate adults – a figure, which has not progressed during the last decade (UNESCO, 2007). Girls’ education is affected by a variety of factors relating both to the demand and supply side of schooling: gender-stereotyped curricula and teaching practices, school infrastructure not adapted to the needs of girls (lack of separate toilets, school fencing, girls boarding facilities, etc. ) risks for girls’ safety on the way to and at school (girls being abducted, at risk of rape at school) or negative socio-cultural practices (early marriage, low value given to education of girls). One of the most significant obstacles to girls’ education is the direct and opportunity cost of schooling, which affects girls disproportionately. Girls from poor households register very low levels of school completion in many countries (Bruns, Mingat, and Rakotomalala 2003). In India, for example, a study found that, amongst poor girls, less than 10 percent had completed elementary education (grade 8), compared to 85 percent of rich boys (15-19 years age group). Educational attainment of girls was consistently lower than for boys across all income groups (Filmer 1999). Research from Guinea concluded that â€Å"Family income or wealth is a key variable that explains differences in educational opportunities and attainment between families. †¦ Poverty in a family will have a more detrimental effect upon the decision to enrol a girl in school than boys (Tembon and Al-Samarrai 1997). This is linked to the fact that girls spend a significant amount of their time on work, particularly domestic chores and agricultural labour. Their ‘child work benefit’ for parents, and thus the opportunity costs of their schooling, are thus greater than for boys. A survey in northern India found that girls’ responsibility for domestic labour and for sibling care was by far the most important reason for not sending them to school or for their dropping out (The PROBE team 1999). A study from Bangladesh came to the following conclusion: â€Å"Normally, a rural Bangladeshi woman works 10-14 hours a day, though most of this work is not visible or reflected in national statistics. †¦ The need to perform domestic chores to help their mothers impedes girls’ participation in formal education, forcing them into irregular attendance and/or to leave school† (UNESCO 1998). In addition, there is evidence that direct educational costs are higher for girls than for boys, for example because girls need safe transport to school or better school clothing to â€Å"look decent† (Herz and Sperling 2004). Where women and girls have low societal status, poor parents are often more reluctant to invest their meagre resources into the education of girls rather than that of their sons. Food for Education (FFE) programmes – school feeding (school meals or snacks) and, particularly, the provision of take-home food rations (THRs) – have proven to be an effective means of addressing these obstacles, enrolling more girls in school, keeping them enrolled, and enhancing their adulthood wellbeing and productivity as a result. In this paper we review the rationale behind FFE, particularly of THRs in supporting access to education  for girls and summarise the findings on the effectiveness of THR programmes available in the published literature. We then complement the evidence with a case study on a FFE programme in Pakistan designed to support girls’ education. Cost-effectiveness is central to policy-making on achieving gender equality in education; to date, however, there are very few studies that assess the costs and cost-effectiveness of FFE programmes. The Pakistan case study attempts to fill this gap by analysing the costs and benefits of the girls’ education programme. 2 Programme Description FFE programmes are widespread in developing and higher income countries. In 2005 the UN World Food Programme supported FFE programmes in 74 countries, benefiting almost 22 million students of whom 48 percent girls. Some 3 million girls received dry, take-home food rations in support of their education. Take-home food rations typically consist of food commodities that are of high value to families and part of their standard food basket, such as cereals or vegetable oil. They are distributed monthly or quarterly; sometimes, the distribution time is also targeted to the agricultural lean season, when family food supplies are lowest and little food available on the local markets. Receipt of the food ration is conditional upon the student’s regular attendance; in the case of WFP-supported FFE programmes, for example, a minimum of 80 percent monthly attendance rate is required. This helps to ensure that students don’t just enrol but actually attend school regularly. FFE interventions are generally designed to improve school participation amongst poor, vulnerable, food insecure populations and target areas where access to school and school completion are weak, particularly for girls. The risk of not accessing and/or completing primary school, a form of â€Å"educational vulnerability† anchored within a context of poverty and food insecurity, may be used to describe the common characteristic shared by the children targeted by FFE. This idea reflects the reality that household choices regarding education are often a result of complex decision processes, where poverty and hunger play an important role in determining the schooling outcomes (Dreze and Kingdon, 2001). As we have seen above, these factors are particularly significant in the case of girls’ education.. In a general model of FFE (WFP, 2007), the initial outcome that drives increased school participation is the incentive to the household to send children to school. Generally, the incentive is achieved by way of an income transfer to the family of the student and also through an enhancement of the services provided at school (Bergeron & Del Rosso, 2001). FFE also has an incentive effect on pupils actually wanting to go to school to receive some food, rather than staying at home and missing out. Both of these effects will contribute to shift, in the short-term, a households’ decision towards increased schooling. The effects are most significant amongst poorest populations and where education, including girls’ education, is not well established. Figure 1 summarises the main impact theory for THRs and traces the causal links between inputs and the desired educational outcome of increased access, promotion and completion for primary school children, particularly girls. Food for Education (FFE) programmes providing take-home rations are more suitable to target individual students such as girls and less complex to implement than conventional school meal programmes that require substantial investments both in terms of infrastructure and community inputs. For instance, THRs in the form of 4 litre vegetable oil cans are fairly easy to store and distribute, and THR distributions take place only once per month or less. More important, however, take-home food rations provide a more direct, higher value income transfer to families than school meals, which in turn provide the incentive for increased school participation. From this perspective, THRs provide an immediate, income based benefit, and another long-term benefit stemming from the returns to increased education, serving as both protective and promotive social protection (Devereux and Sabates-Wheeler, 2004). On the other hand, THR are not suitable to address nutritional and health issues affecting school children and their education, particularly cognitive capacity, which is a well established outcome of school meals (Kristjansson et al. , 2007). 3 MDG 2&3 Improved attendance Food Take-home rations distributed on condition of pupils’ regular attendance Targeted HHs received THRs on condition of their children’s regular attendance Incentive for HHs reduced drop-out Increased enrolment Better academic performance Changing parents’ attitude regarding schooling. Figure 1: Food for Education impact theory for take-home rations Impact of FFE programmes on girls’ education Evaluations of FFE programmes (see Adelman et al. , 2006) have shown that FFE programmes lead to increased enrolment and attendance, of girls in particular, reduced dropout particularly in the lower primary school grades, and for on-site meals or snacks programmes improved student learning capacity. Literature databases were searched to identify relevant studies on the physical and social benefits of FFE programmes to girls. The educational outcomes considered included school participation (including enrolment, attendance and drop-out). Primary school age children were the primary subjects of all the studies considered. Only one study was found on the impact of THR programmes highlighting the gap in evidence on this topic. Another paper was found on the comparative effects of the different modalities of FFE including THRs. One field-oriented evaluation of a WFP FFE programme was also identified in Pakistan and this is included in the main body of this paper as a case study. In Bangladesh, IFPRI and the World Bank evaluated the impact of a Government FFE programme (Ahmed and Del Ninno, 2002) that covered over 2 million children in 2000. The enrolment in FFE programme schools was found to have increased by 35 percent over the two year period between the programme start and after its first year. This increase was driven by a remarkable 44 percent increase in girl’s enrolment and by a 28 percent increase for boys. In non-programme schools enrolment increased by 2. 5 percent (5. 4 for girls and 0. 1 for boys) during the same period. Attendance in FFE assisted schools was found to be 12 points higher than in non-assisted schools (70 percent compared to 58 percent respectively). Drop-out rates were also found to be 9 points lower in FFE assisted schools than in non-assisted schools (6 percent compared to 15 percent respectively). The overall programme costs were reported to be US$0. 10 per child per day, though no analysis of the costs was provided. Another study analysed the comparative effects of the different modalities of FFE, including onsite meals combined with THRs (Gelli, Meir and Espejo, 2007). The results of this study of WFP monitoring and evaluation data showed that the provision of the FFE programme contributed to increasing absolute enrollment in WFP-assisted schools by 28 percent for girls and 22 percent for boys in the first year. Enrollment patterns after the first year varied according to the type of FFE program. Where provision of take-home rations for girls was combined with on-site feeding for all pupils, the increase in girls’ absolute enrollment was Increased access, promotion & completion, particularly for girls 4 sustained at 30 percent after the first year. However, in schools providing on-site feeding alone, the rate of increase in absolute enrollment after the first year reverted to the rates of increase found in the year prior to FFE implementation. The provision of take-home rations also appeared to reduce the dropout rate of female students, particularly in the higher grades. In addition, an analysis of WFP project expenditures in 2005 (Gelli, Al-Shaiba and Espejo, 2007) showed that the average cost of WFP THR programmes was US$29. 94 per child per year, the most expensive of FFE modalities. However, the cost driver for THR was mostly the large volume of food provided (72 percent of total programme costs, compared to 58 percent for school meal programmes). A study by Dreze and Kingdon from 2001 examined the effects of a wide range of determinants of school participation in rural northern India, focusing on school participation as a household decision. Amongst the school quality determinants, it was found that female school participation was about 15 percentage points higher when the local school provided a mid-day meal (MDM). Mid-day meals also were found to have a major positive effect on girls’ grade attainment; chances of completing primary education were 30 percentage points higher for girls living in a village with MDM. However, the MDM did not affect the enrolment of boys. The study confirmed that female schooling is far more influenced by household economic status than boys’ schooling: â€Å"parents are not generally opposed to female education but they are reluctant to pay for it. School meals could make a big difference here by reducing the private costs of schooling. † An earlier study found that the noon meal programme in Tamil Nadu in India attracted more girls to attend school and improved the attendance of those already in school (Devadas, 1983). The Pakistan Girls’ Education Programme Data on women’s participation in education in Pakistan shows low girls’ primary school net enrolment (59 percent) and female adult literacy rates (35 percent). Although female enrolment is increasing rapidly in all regions, girls’ participation rates at all levels are lower than that of boys and gender gaps persist, particularly in rural areas (WFP Pakistan, 2005). Since 1995, WFP has been providing food assistance to support the efforts of the Government of Pakistan (GoP) to improve access, retention and completion of girls’ primary education in 28 selected food-insecure districts of Pakistan, including seven districts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The seven districts within the NWFP of Pakistan were identified by a WFP vulnerability analysis and mapping (VAM) study as being amongst the most food insecure areas in the country. Women and girls in these areas face huge barriers in terms of access to education. At the time when the project started, female literacy in rural areas was only around 10 percent and the primary participation rate of girls less than 30 percent. As a result, a take-home rations programme was introduced within these seven districts with the objective of increasing enrolment, retention and completion at girls’ primary schools. In 2005, THRs were provided monthly to 326,784 girls in 2,697 schools in vulnerable areas within 28 districts in the 5 provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and NWFP. Ration distribution was condition to regular school attendance. The monthly THRs consisted of a 4 litre tin of vegetable oil fortified with vitamin-A, and had an estimated value on the local market of US$5. Implementation Process Under the Country Programme agreement signed by the GoP and WFP, WFP is responsible for providing the commodities for the FFE programme to the port of Karachi. The GoP is responsible for the food distribution to the 28 districts, as well as the management of the timely delivery of the food in good condition from all the district warehouses to the assisted schools. Project Implementation Units (PIUs) were set up by the GoP in each assisted province to run the FFE programme. WFP provided a small truck for each district at the beginning of the project to facilitate the logistics and implementation. However, because of the very difficult terrain in the targeted low profile districts of NWFP, ensuring a timely 5 supply of the THRS to the schools has been challenging. As a result, many schools received the oil supply every second month or even later. Only two oil tins at the most, are distributed to a student to cover the back-log of non-supply during the previous period. At the school level, the head teacher generally receives the oil rations and supervises the distribution to the pupils, conditional to monthly attendance rates of at least 80 percent. The entitlement of each student is checked against the school monthly attendance registers before the THR is distributed. The District Officers Education & Deputy or Assistant District Officers also pay monitoring visits to the schools and verify this aspect. Programme costs Project expenditure data was reviewed in order to estimate the costs of the FFE programme. WFP reports annually on project expenditures, alongside other project statistics, in its standard project reports (SPRs). Expenditures are broken down into commodity, transport, landside transport shipping and handling (LTSH), other direct operational costs (ODOC), direct support costs (DSC) – which added together form the direct project costs (DPC). A percentage of the DPC is then factored in as indirect support costs (ISC) to support WFP Headquarters. Table 1 presents a breakdown of total WFP expenditures in the country in 2005 alongside an estimate of the expenditure on the FFE programme, broken down by WFP cost category. Table 1: 2005 WFP total and estimated FFE expenditures in Pakistan Country Programme Total WFP Country Programme expenditures (USD) 11,667,043 970,358 0 90,856 621,934 874,879 14,225,070 Estimated school feeding expenditure (USD) 6,133,819 510,155 0 47,767 326,975 459,958 7,478,673 % FFE over total expenditures 82% 7% 0% 1% 4% 6% 100%. Commodities Transport LTSH ODOC DSC ISC Total Regarding the government contributions to the programme, the 2005 expenditures for each of the PIUs, divided into direct and indirect expenditures, are shown in Table 2Table 1. Direct expenditures have been divided into two parts i. e. (i) PIUs expenses which include staff salaries, renting of stores/warehouses, and other running expenses and (ii) the Transportation Cost incurred on the transportation of oil from Karachi to respective districts/tehsils/schools. Indirect expenditures include the expenditures (adjusted by proportion of time spent on programme activities) of other staff members of government who manage the FFE programme i. e. distribute oil, monitor its distribution and send reports to PIUs from Districts / tehsils / schools level whose salaries are not charged to PIUs. These staff members include the Executive District Officers, District Education Officers (Female), Deputy District Education Officers, Assistant Education Officers, Store keepers, School Teachers and Peons etc. These expenditures have been calculated by WFP Pakistan based on estimates following discussions with each respective PIU. As the entire FFE programme is managed by the provincial governments, PIU expenditures include all cost items required to deliver and manage the FFE programme. In 2005, school feeding activities accounted for 53 percent of food distributed in the whole WFP Country Programme. There were no further expenses incurred by the community in the running of the FFE programme. 6. Table 2: A breakdown of GoP budgeted expenses in 2004/2005 for FFE (THR) activities PIU Provinces Punjab Sindh Balochistan AJK* NWFP Total PKR 328,568 6,444,556 7,612,000 1,162,000 3,306,300 18,853,424 Direct Expenditures Transportation US$ PKR US$ 5,569 109,230 129,017 19,695 56,039 319,550 9,004,158 2,490,927 1,778,225 6,678,000 3,495,000 23,446,310 152,613 42,219 30,139 113,186 59,237 397,395 Indirect Expenditures PKR 22,984,227 23,795,400 20,183,829 25,194,939 92,158,395 US$ 389,563 403,312 342,099 427,033 1,562,007 PKR 32,316,953 32,730,883 29,574,054 7,840,000 31,996,239 134,458,129 Total US$ 547,745 554,761 501,255 132,881 542,309 2,278,951. Having collected estimates for the different costs that are associated with the FFE programme, from the procurement of food down to the distribution of the THRs to the school girls, we estimated the total cost of FFE in Pakistan for 2005. WFP and GoP contributions for 2005 total $9,757,624 USD, and dividing this by the number of beneficiaries resulted in $29. 85 USD per school-girl per year. In 2005 in Pakistan, food costs accounted for approximately 63 percent of the total cost. The share of WFP expenses over the total cost was 77 percent, with the remaining share covered by the GoP. The cost per beneficiary increases to $63 USD per child per year if we adjust for full food distribution to all the planned beneficiaries, and assume perfect attendance. Key outcomes and Impact. In 2004-2005, a set of surveys were carried out to assess educational and other socioeconomic programme outcomes (WFP Pakistan, 2005). The evaluation included the collection and analysis of detailed school-level records from all the 826 WFP-assisted schools and a set of 79 randomly selected non-assisted schools (control) in the region. A secondary study of the available literature (GoP, WFP, and other partners) and data was also undertaken, including an analysis of data from the Education Management Information System (EMIS) and in-depth interviews with various partners involved such as government, WFP officials, community members, parents, teachers and students. The evaluation showed that the programme had multiple benefits for girls’ education: †¢ The overall enrolment at sampled schools increased by 135 percent between 1998/99 and 2003/04, whereas during the same period enrolment at control school increased by only 29 percent. There was a particularly strong increase in enrolment in the first grade of primary school (Kachi class): 211 percent at programme schools, compared to 5 percent in control school. This indicates that the programme was particularly successful in stimulating enrolment of girls who, until then, had never entered a school. On average, 88 percent of students attended school for twenty or more days per month (and were thus eligible for the take-home ration). Despite the positive effects on enrolment and attendance, completion of primary school remains a problem. Out of every 100 female students enrolling in 1998/99, only 44 percent reached grade 5. Although the primary school completion rate improved to 47 percent for the cohort starting school in 1999/2000, this only reflected a national trend, and programme schools actually showed worse results than control schools. This shows that the effect of the food incentive is not sufficiently strong to ensure that girls stay in school as they get older, and older girls of the family might be replaced by their younger siblings. †¢ †¢ †¢ 7 †¢ †¢ The programme also broke new ground and increased awareness of girls’ education. Before the programme started, 48 percent of households did not send any of their daughters to school; now all parents educate at least one daughter. While 38 percent of respondents said that the food incentive was the only reason for sending their daughter to school, 29 percent they would continue educating their daughters even if the programme stopped. 27 percent said that general hostility to girls’ education in the community was no longer an issue. The food incentive was much appreciated by the families and provided them with tangible benefits. 32 percent of community members interviewed said that their income had increased, generating savings in the family budget and that they had more free time for agricultural activities or business. Costs and benefits of the FFE programme A basic framework was developed by WFP in order to evaluate the cost and benefits of the FFE intervention designed to support girls’ education (Espejo et al. , 2006). In this model, the benefits from FFE are assumed to consist of two components; the first is the monetary value of expected lifetime additional earnings after successful completion of primary school, whilst the second is the market value of a monthly take-home ration, provided on condition to a girls’ school attendance throughout the programme duration. If we apply this cost-benefit framework to the FFE programme in Pakistan the results show that every USD spent on the FFE yields approximately 1. 68 USD in benefits. An alternative to estimating the benefits of education through the monetary value of expected lifetime additional earnings after successful completion of primary school is to estimate the extra school days gained through the effect of a particular intervention aimed at increasing school participation. Comparisons of actual pupil attendance days to the perfect attendance day total can provide a single measure of school participation that encompasses enrolment, drop-out and absenteeism, the three main educational outcomes linked to FFE. A simple model developed to estimate the gain in pupil attendance days in FFE schools using averages for attendance, drop-out and enrolment resulted in an estimated 25 extra school days per child per year (WFP, 2007). This translates into approximately $240 USD per additional year of schooling for girls in Pakistan. The cost and effects of the THR programme are summarised in Table 3. Table 3: Estimated measures of cost-effectiveness of THRs in Pakistan (Source WFP Pakistan 2005, WFP SSFS 2003). Enrolment Effect (per year) Cost 22% increase Education Attendance 10% increase Drop-out 5% decrease 25 extra school days per year per pupil 30-60 USD per child per year Lessons learnt â€Å"Of all the programmes initiated in NWFP, this one has made the most visible impact. It has contributed a lot in this province† Fazle Manan, Director of Schools and Literacy from the Ministry of Education, when asked of WFP’s assistance to girls’ primary education. The FFE programme triggered a marked increase in enrolment of girls in assisted schools in Pakistan. The enrolment more than doubled during the first three years of intervention. These types of incentives and awareness campaigns are imperative to boost girls’ education, to improve female literacy and reduce the gender gap, especially in remote rural areas. However, the retention of girl students in the school system and further improvement of the participation rate is essential to achieve universal primary education. 8 As a result of the increased enrolment, the nearly empty school buildings have become more used, providing a better return of investment to the community and the government. However, the quality of education, itself a major incentive for sending children to school, has been constrained by the lack of teachers. Moreover, many of the assisted schools suffer from a want of adequate facilities, including furniture, water, sanitation, and boundary walls. This issue highlights the need to ensure that once children are in school, efforts are made to enhance the learning environment, as well as to support pupil attendance and retention. The involvement of the community and the local government has been essential to mobilise the resources necessary for improving the school infrastructure. The FFE project has raised the awareness among the assisted communities about the importance of educating girls. Even the most reluctant parents are now sending their daughters to school. This change in attitude is a remarkable achievement against the backdrop of the social and cultural taboos that had prohibited the education of girls in the past. The mothers of the girl students now get out of their homes and visit schools to enquire about the progress of their daughters. Most of the females in far-flung rural areas were previously not allowed to step outside their homes; now girls are going to schools and their elderly female relatives visit schools to enquire about the attendance, progress in studies and probable dates of supply of oil. This change in social attitude and behaviour is an important achievement of the programme. Future plans The impact of the THR programme in supporting access to education for girls in rural, food insecure areas of Pakistan has been remarkable. Though WFP was involved in the design, management and implementation the FFE intervention, the ownership of the overall programme was, through the course of the programme, handed over to the Government of Pakistan. As of 2005, project implementation units staffed with senior level Government officials took-over the full responsibility of the programme in terms of food delivery to schools, programme monitoring and reporting. Financial contributions from the Government of Pakistan have also been essential to the success of the programme to date. The successful hand-over of the programme management will be critical to ensure the sustainability of the FFE programme in the future. 9 References Adelman S, Gilligan DO, Lehrer K. (2006). A review of the economics of Food for Education programs. International Food Policy Research Institute. Ahmed AU, Del Ninno C. (2002) Food for Education program in Bangladesh: an evaluation of its impact on educational attainment and food security. Food Consumption and Nutrition Division, Discussion Paper 138. International Food Policy Research Institute Bruns B, Mingat A, Rakotomalala R. (2003) Achieving Universal Primary Education by 2015: A Chance for Every Child. Washington, D. C, World Bank. Del Rosso J. (1999) School Feeding Programmes: Improving Effectiveness and Increasing the Benefit to Education. A Guide for Programme Managers. Devadas RP. (1983). The Honorable Chief Minister’s Nutritious Meal Programme for Children of Tamil Nadu. Coimbatore, India: Sri Arinashilingam Home Service College Devereux S, Sabates-Wheeler R. (2004) Transformative Social Protection’, Working Paper 232, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies. Dreze J, Kingdon G. (2001) School Participation in Rural India. Review of Development Economics. 2001; 5 (1), 1-24. Espejo F, Gabriele A, Gelli A. and Knips V. (2006) Submitted. Evaluating Food for Education Programmes: A Pragmatic Approach. International Journal of Educational Development. Gelli A, Al-Shaiba N, Espejo F. Estimating the cost of Food for Education Interventions. 2007. Filmer D. (1999) Educational attainment and enrolment profiles: A resource book based on analysis of demographic and health survey data; Development Research Group; Washington DC, World Bank Herz B, Sperling G. (2004) What works in girls’ education: Evidence and policies from the developing world. New York, Council on Foreign Relations Kristjansson EA, Robinson M, Petticrew B, MacDonald J, Krasevec L, Janzen T, Greenhalgh G, Wells J, MacGowan A, Farmer A, Shea BJ, Mayhew A and Tugwell P (2007) School feeding for improving the physical and psychosocial health of disadvantaged elementary school children. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Issue 1. Tembon M, Al-Samarrai S. (1997) Who gets primary schooling and why? Evidence of gender inequalities within families in Guinea; IDS Working Paper 85; Brighton, Institute of Development Studies The PROBE Team (1999) Public Report on Basic Education in India; New Delhi, Oxford University Press United Nations Children’s Fund, World Food Programme. The Essential Package. Twelve interventions to improve the health and nutrition of school-age children. WFP, 2005. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation. Education For All Global Monitoring Report. Strong Foundations. UNESCO, 2007. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation. Education for All Global Monitoring Report. The Leap to Equality. UNESCO, 2004. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation Bridging the gap between intention and action: Girls’ and women’s education in South-Asia. Bangkok, UNESCO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 1998. World Bank. From Schooling Access to Learning Outcomes: An Unfinished Agenda: World Bank, 2006 World Food Programme Pakistan. Situation Analysis: WFP’s Assistance to Girl’s Primary Education in selected districts of NWFP. WFP Pakistan, 2005. World Food Programme. Food for Education works: a review of WFP FFE monitoring and evaluation 2002-2006. WFP 2007. 10.