Assigment 1 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Assigment 1 - Research Paper Example In such a way, it is the hope of this author that through a careful explanation of what the original understanding for how Congress was to operate, the reader can come to an informed understanding with respect to whether or not the current exhibition of duties and governance, as reflected by the current Congress, continues to affects the ideal and definition that the founding fathers originally specified. Naturally, the broader question that this seeks to answer is whether or not the current Congress is abiding by the rules and principles that it was intended to operate within; even more broadly, a discussion and analysis of whether or not this is taking place has a profound level of tangential understanding with relation to whether or not democracy within the American system of governance continues to be relevant or has like so many other forms of governance become corrupted over time. Rubric of Analysis -Discussion of Terms and Analysis of Key Issues and Measurements to be Applied However, before delving directly into a unit of analysis with regards to whether or not the current Congress continues to abide by the norms and precepts that the founding fathers put forward, it is necessary to define the rubric and key terms, as well as measurements, that this particular analysis will engage as a means of answering the question at hand. The first means whereby the potential differential between the Congress that the founding fathers defined and the Congress of today will be with respect to the historical growth and/or constriction of duties that the Congress was responsible for effecting. Secondly, although it may be tempting, the Congress itself is not a singular entity and must be analyzed via an approach that takes into account both unique and distinct roles and responsibilities of the Senate and the unique roles and responsibilities of the House of Representatives (Zharan 2). Within such a way, the analysis will also seek to determine whether or not a blurring of the lines between these two entities has occurred as a result of the similar nature of the business and governance styles that they must engage. Lastly, the analysis will seek to engage the reader with an understanding and interpretation of whether or not deviation from any of these roles and responsibilities that might be noted as a result of the analysis has effectively created a situation by which governance has been reduced or rendered ineffective. It is the final determinant, as measured on aggregate with the other two determinants that will yield the greatest level of inference with respect to whether or not the governmental structure, as it exists today, has so far deviated from the beliefs and precepts of the founding fathers that it is in fact no longer capable of achieving the goals for which it was intended or whether it continues to function, how be it by different manners, much to the same level and degree that it functions over 200 years ago. Congressional Analysis : It does not take much time at all to realize that one of the key claims that individuals oftentimes reference with regards to the diminished role and corrupted bowing use that Congress exhibits is with respect to the means by which the executive branch has effectively emasculated the Congress since the declaration of war for the Second World War

Indwelling Catheters and their Relation To Urinary Tract Infections Essay

Indwelling Catheters and their Relation To Urinary Tract Infections - Essay Example Catheter- associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are caused by bacterial infections (e.g. Escherichia Coli), which is the common bacteria (Lindsay, E. 2001). In our place of practice, which is a nursing home facility, there have been significant increase in the amount of catheter and non-catheter related urinary tract infections in the patients undergoing treatment in the hospital. Research has shown that5% of patients that come to the hospital per day has urinary tract infection. Common endemic infection outbreaks as well as colonization and infection with antimicrobial drug resistant microorganisms have become a common feature within long term care facilities (Lindsay, E. 2001, pg. 205). Catheter associated urinary tract infections entail increased morbidity, mortality and financial costs. The nursing home facility has a protocol in place to reduce the number of UTIs, but it is rarely being utilized, and, therefore the system needs to be modified. CAUTIs can be reduced by rem oving the catheters upon arrival to the facility. Health care professional must assess the patients for the prevalence of UTIs, since this is a very common infection within nursing home facilities. ... Working in a nursing home and rehabilitation (NH/R) sub-acute environment has many challenges deriving from staffing problems, such as shortfall in nurse to patient ratio of 14 to 20 besides the chances of endemic infections. My main concern is the increased rate of urinary tract infections in patients with urinary catheters whether it is from the hospital or in-house (NH/R). In my facility, newly admitted patients from hospitals have or had indwelling catheters. Within 48 hours of admission, a few of the patients have showed signs and symptoms of urinary tract infection such as fever, abdominal tenderness and frequent need for urination with complaints of burning sensation. In such cases, the normal practice is to commence the administration of antibiotics prophylactically after collecting their urine specimens. The elderly are prone to a decrease in fluid intake due to a decline in the thirst mechanism and enhancing the chances of UTI. Urinary Tract Infections are caused by poor as eptic techniques and, therefore, catheters should not be used for convenience but for exclusive medical purposes only. According to the Center of Disease Control (CDC), the appropriate measures for indwelling urinary catheterization are: acute urinary retention, accurate measurement of urine output in critical patients and patients requiring prolonged immobilization, such as unstable spine or pelvic fractures. (Dumont, C. &Wakeman,J. 2010.Pg. 29). I, therefore, encourage charge nurses to discontinue the use of catheters. Studies have shown that infections in long-term care facilities are highly prevalent in the United States. The most frequent infections within nursing homes

Bad Character Evidence Case Study

Bad Character Evidence Case Study The objective of this paper is to demonstrate what a bad character evidence(BCE) is and whether Liam Parrishs(LP) BCE of previous convictions should be admitted at trial. The definition and admissibility of BC is governed by the Criminal Justice Act 2003(CJA).[1] BC is determined as evidence of, or of a disposition towards misconduct or evidence of a tendency towards misconduct.[2] Misconduct is defined as the commission of the offence or other reprehensible behaviour.[3] LP is a non-defendant, this is vital as the admissibility of the BCE of non-defendants is governed by s.100.[4] When considering what is admissible the Court need to be aware of the danger of breaching the right to a fair trial.[5] Also, the Court is required to consider a non-exhaustive list of factors in assessing whether the character is of substantial importance.[6] Drug Possession The first issue is whether the offence of drug possession will be regarded as BCE and whether it should be admitted at trial. It is a vital element to the case as a whole since Adam Harris(AH) stated that LP was a drug dealer. This assertion was reinforced by Rose Matthewss who confirmed it in her statement as well. On the one hand, it can be argued that his conviction can be regarded as old since it was committed in 2008. As set out in s.100(3)(c)(ii) his drug conviction showed that LP was a drug dealer and this confirmed his alleged misconduct. Per Yaxley-Lennon[7] drug possession can be regarded as having substantial probative value in relation to his credibility, which is an important issue in the case. Also, the Court when assessing the probative value of evidence should take into consideration some relevant factors.[8] The older the incident, the less likely it is to show a propensity and therefore it will be inadmissible. On the contrary, the age of the conviction can illustrate how long LP has been dealing with drugs. Therefore, his conviction can be regarded of substantial importance to the context of the case as a whole. As drug dealers often find themselves surrounded by dangerous people. LP alleged that did not see who his attacker was, so its a possibility that he may be attacked by someone else rather than AH. Therefore, LP previous conviction of drug possession is more likely to be admissible as it has a substantial probative value in relation to something which is both a matter in issue in the proceedings and is of substantial importance in the context of the case as a whole.[9] Assault The second issue is whether LPs previous conviction for assault could be admitted. This is potentially formed part of the chain of past misconduct which might establish a propensity to commit similar offences. Therefore, propensity to commit this type of offence may be a matter in issue between prosecution and defence.[10] It could be admitted under s.100(1)(b) as it is a matter in issue and his propensity to be violent has a probative value. In Braithwaite[11] the Court held that BCE in relation to the witnesses was relevant both to their propensity to act aggressively and to their credibility.[12] So, in this case, LPs assault conviction may show a propensity to act aggressively as well. Thus, it would be a matter in issue to establish whether AHs statements were true. There are similarities between AHs statements (when he stated in the police interview that LP tried to hurt Rose) and the conviction itself. This could be regarded as very important as to a matter in issue with substantial probative value that LP has a propensity to be violent. Moreover, the fact that the conviction is recent makes it more likely to be admissible.[13] Credibility The propensity to untruthfulness may be a matter in issue between the prosecution and the defendant.[14] Credibility will always be an issue to some extent in any prosecution.[15] In the case ofGoddard[16] was established that only convictions of probative value and of substantial importance could be admitted. As shown by the facts, LP had pleaded not guilty unsuccessfully to be acting in self-defence to an unprovoked attack. However, his argument was dismissed by the Court and it was found that LP had started the fight. Furthermore, he lied under oath for an alibi in his third conviction. Therefore, LP previous convictions can be admitted as evidence to show his propensity for untruthfulness and thus his credibility.[17] Credibility is an issue of substantial importance and what sort of convictions are capable of affecting credibility can be found under s.100. In Andrew[18] the Court held that under s.100(1)(b)(i) creditworthiness of a witness is an important matter in issue.[19] The test of creditworthiness being a matter in issue with substantial importance to the case illustrated in the leading case of Brewster.[20] Pitchford LJ set out a two-stage test. Firstly, if it is shown that creditworthiness is an issue of substantial importance. The second question is whether the BC relied upon is of substantial probative value in relation to that issue.[21] The test for whether previous convictions have probative value on the issue of creditworthiness will depend on the number, nature and age of the convictions.[22] Applying this principle to LPs creditworthiness, the conviction of preventing the course of justice and the fact that he pleaded not guilty should be admitted since is an issue of substantial importance. The convictions were relevant to credibility in the wider sense that they would affect a fair-minded jurys assessment of the standing of the witness.[23] Conclusion Since LP is deceased, to examine his character the jury should be entitled to looked LPs convictions as cumulatively to get a more complete picture of LPs character.[24] The strongest argument is the intervening of justice conviction for two reasons. It is a recent conviction and it has direct effect on LP creditworthiness. The weakest point is LPs drug conviction as it is from 2008. However, it was illustrated that it can be argued to show how long LP has been dealing with drugs. Bibliography Primary Sources Table of cases R v Andrew S [2006] EWCA Crim 1303 R v Anthony Weir Others [2005] EWCA Crim 2886 R v Brewster Cromwell [2010] 2 Cr App R 20 R v Campbell[2007] 1 WLR 2798 Regina v Leigh Goddard [2007] EWCA Crim 3134 Table of Legislation: UK Criminal Justice Act 2003 Table of Legislation: EU European Convention on Human Rights 1950 Secondary Sources Books Durston G., Evidence (2nd edn, Oxford University Press 2011) Glover R and Murphy P., Murphy On Evidence (14th edn, Oxford University Press 2015) Munday R., Evidence (8th edn, Oxford University Press 2015) Journal Articles Blair S., Criminal Procedure [2016] SHRJ 72 [1] Criminal Justice Act 2003. [2] Ibid, s.98. [3] Ibid, s.112 (1). [4] Ibid, s.100. [5] European Convention on Human Rights 1950, Article 6. [6] Ibid, s.100 (3). [7] R v Anthony Weir Others [2005] EWCA Crim 2886. [8] Criminal Justice Act 2003, s.100 (3) (b). [9] Criminal Justice Act 2003, s.100 (1) (b). [10] Criminal Justice Act 2003, s.103 (1) (a). [11] R v Braithwaite [2010] EWCA Crim 1082. [12] Ibid, [13] (Lord Justice Hughes). [13] Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.100(3). [14] Ibid, s.101 (1) (d). [15] R v Campbell [2007] 1 WLR 2798. [16] Regina v Leigh Goddard [2007] EWCA Crim 3134, [13] (Lord Justice Gage). [17] Gregory Durston, Evidence (2nd edn, Oxford University Press 2011) 179. [18] R v Andrew S [2006] EWCA Crim 1303. [19] Ibid, [7] (Lord Justice Laws). [20] R v Brewster Cromwell [2010] 2 Cr App R 20. [21] Ibid, [23] (Lord Justice Pitchford). [22] Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.100 (3). [23] R v Brewster Cromwell [2010] 2 Cr App R 20, [24]. [24] Scott Blair, Criminal Procedure [2016] SHRJ 72, 6.

Satire and Fantasy in Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle Essay -- Kurt Vonne

Satire and Fantasy in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle For this essay, I decided to pick two terms that describe Cat's Cradle. I felt that satire and fantasy were two terms that suited the novel quite well. The book qualifies as a satire because it makes a mockery of things that were of concern in the sixties. For example, the Cuban missile crisis was a big issue in the early sixties. Religion was taken much more seriously, and the family unit was more tightly wound. In the novel, the threat comes not from a large warhead, but from a small crystal of Ice-nine. Religion is satired in Bokononism, which is a religion that is based on lies. The family unit is satired by the Hoenikkers. The father is detached from reality, the sister is a giant, and the brother is a midget. The Cuban threat is also satirized by San Lorenzo and it's dictator Papa Monzano. Cat's Cradle also has many elements of fantasy woven throughout. A small crystal that can freeze water and can destroy the world and can only be stopped by a temperature of 114 degrees is a good example of the fantasy element in the novel. It gives the story an almost futuristic feel, even though by modern standards the book is dated. Jonah's whole adventure is reminiscent of mythological tales. He journeys to a far away land, San Lorenzo. He is called to adventure by Newt's letter. He finds a mystical talisman, Ice-nine. He falls in love with the beautiful maiden, Mona. The religion of Bokononism has a fantasy element to it. Johnson changes his name to Bokonon much like in Buddhism. There are all the writings in the Books of Bokonon, and the Boko-maru which are both fantastic ideas in themselves. Cat's Cradle contains many elements of many types of genres. It could be consider... ...t has no real motivation, and why should he when he is going to be taken care of by Angela for the rest of his life. I like Newt because he does not feel sorry for himself, and treats everything matter-of-factly and as if it is obvious, "Isn't everybody [self-taught]?" Newt appears to be a person who does not care what everyone else thinks and always strives to be an individual. I think that the satire alone in Cat's Cradle is enough to encourage humanity to make a better world. Vonnegut makes things seem funny in the book that really are not funny in real life, such as an atom bomb, a father who ignores his child and everyone else, and an island where people are hung for practicing a certain religion. The book is amusing, but it made me think about what the world would be like if it really was that way. It would be horrible, and definitely nothing to laugh at.

Creation of the World

The creation of the world has many different theories but according to Christian beliefs ‘’In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. † (Genesis 1) The Bible states that God created the world is a 7 day time frame in which he started when God created first created light and separated the light from the darkness, calling light â€Å"day† and darkness â€Å"night†. On his second day of work God created an huge area to separate the waters and called it â€Å"sky. On his third God created the dry ground and gathered the waters, calling the dry ground â€Å"land,† and the gathered waters â€Å"seas. † , God also created plants and trees. Then on the fourth day God created the sun, moon, and the stars to give light to the earth to separate the day and the night. On the fifth day God created every living creature of the seas and every winged bird. On the sixth day God created the animals to fill the earth. On day six, God also cre ated man and women bringing humans to the world for the first time.Adam and Eve were the first humans that God created, man out of dust and woman out of man. God gave them one rule and that was not to eat of the fruit on one particular tree in the Garden of Eden. Eve was talked into eating the fruit by the serpent, and then she convinced Adam to eat of it as well. When they had disobeyed God, they felt ashamed and naked; so they hid from him. After talking with them, he punished them by banishing them from the Garden. This was the day sin entered the world and man’s nature is now sadly a sinful nature.This is why God sent his son to die on the cross for our sins so that we have the chance to live with him one day for eternity. This is how humans first had to encounter a real live situation and choose between good and evil. Finally on day 7 God had finished his work of creation and so he rested on the seventh day, blessing it and making it holy, and that is why Christians cele brate church and mass on Sundays that being the seventh and final day of the week.

Eco Plastic Solution Essay

This case focuses on determination of the cost of capital for a firm. The student determines the cost of individual sources of financing, including long-term debt, preferred stock, and common stock. The cost of debt is adjusted for Eco Plastics’ 40% tax bracket. The company is considering a new financial structure, with the replacement of preferred stock financing with debt financing. Additional use of debt increases the common stockholders’ required rate of return. The student is asked to compare the two weighted average costs of capital and identify the better financial structure for Eco Plastics Company. a. Cost of debt: Proceeds from sale of $1,000 par value bond: $1,000 − (average discount & floatation costs) $1,000 − ($45 + $32) = $923 Subsequent payments: Interest payments ($1,000 Ãâ€" 0.105) + Par value Before-tax cost of debt N = 20, PV = $923, PMT = −105, FV = −1,000 Solve for I = 11.50% After-tax cost of debt: ri = rd (1-T) = 11.5% (1−0.4) = 6.9% b. Cost of preferred stock: rp = Dp à · Np = (0.095 Ãâ€" $95) à · ($95 – $7) = $9.02 à · $88 = 10.25% c. Cost of common stock: rj = RF + [bj Ãâ€" (rm − RF)] = 0.04 + [1.3 Ãâ€" (0.13 − 0.04)] = 0.04 + [1.3 Ãâ€" 0.09] = 0.04 + 0.1170 = 15.7% d. Weighted average cost of capital: ra = (wi Ãâ€" ri) + (wp Ãâ€" rp) + (ws Ãâ€" rn) = (0.30 Ãâ€" 0.069) + (0.20 Ãâ€" 0.1025) + (0.50 Ãâ€" 0.157) = 0.0207 + 0.0205 + 0.785 = 0.1197, or about 12% e. 1. Change in risk Premium: Change in beta Ãâ€" market risk premium = (1.5 − 1.3) Ãâ€" (0.13 − 0.04) = 0.2 Ãâ€" 0.09 = 0.018 Shareholders require 1.8% more per year New cost of common equity: rj = RF + [bj Ãâ€" (rm − RF)] = 0.04 + [1.5 Ãâ€" (0.13 − 0.04)] = 0.04 + [1.5 Ãâ€" 0.09] = 0.04 + 0.1350 = 17.5% Note: 17.5% − 15.7% = 1.8% 2. Revised weighted average cost of capital: ra= (wi x ri) + (ws x rn) = (0.50 Ãâ€" 0.069) + (0.50 Ãâ€" 0.175) = 0.0345 + 0.0875 = 0.1220 3. Eco Plastics’ CFO should retain the cheaper current financial structure. Replacing preferred stock financing with debt financing results in more risk to the stockholders. The increase in stockholders’ required rate of return is more than offsets the advantage of using the low cost debt. If Eco Plastics’ CFO were to revise the capital structure, share price would fall and shareholder wealth would not be maximized.

Free Essays on Frankenstien Research

There are obvious similarities between Victor and his creation; each is abandoned, isolated, and both start out with good intentions. However, Victor’s ego in his search for god-like capabilities overpowers his humanity. The creature is nothing but benevolent until society shuns him as an outcast on account of his deformities. The creature is more humane than his own creator because his wicked deeds are committed in response to society’s corruption; while Frankenstein’s evil work stems only from his own greed. Victor Frankenstein and his creation are very much alike. Both are abandoned by their creators at a young age; Frankenstein is left without his mother after her death, the creature is rejected by Frankenstein's abandonment. Frankenstein and the monster are also similar in that they are isolated and outcasts of society. Frankenstein is hypothetically an outcast when he consumes himself in work and is isolated when the creature kills those he loves, and the creature is obviously isolated as a hideous outcast of society. Victor Frankenstein starts out with good intentions; he is merely seeking to gain knowledge of natural philosophy. Soon, his greed for god-like power overcomes him and he becomes consumed with the idea of creating life. â€Å"Summer months passed while I was thus engaged, heart and soul, in one pursuit† (32). The creature also starts out with kindness, he tells his creator, â€Å"Believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity: but am I not alone, miserably alone?† (66). However, after society refuses to accept him based on personal appearance, the creature becomes angry. The creature has an overwhelming capacity to love as can be seen in his admiration for the peasants, â€Å"The creature’s thoughts now became more active, and Frankenstein longed to discover the motives and feelings of these lovely creatures, Frankenstein thought (foolish wretch!) That it might be in... Free Essays on Frankenstien Research Free Essays on Frankenstien Research There are obvious similarities between Victor and his creation; each is abandoned, isolated, and both start out with good intentions. However, Victor’s ego in his search for god-like capabilities overpowers his humanity. The creature is nothing but benevolent until society shuns him as an outcast on account of his deformities. The creature is more humane than his own creator because his wicked deeds are committed in response to society’s corruption; while Frankenstein’s evil work stems only from his own greed. Victor Frankenstein and his creation are very much alike. Both are abandoned by their creators at a young age; Frankenstein is left without his mother after her death, the creature is rejected by Frankenstein's abandonment. Frankenstein and the monster are also similar in that they are isolated and outcasts of society. Frankenstein is hypothetically an outcast when he consumes himself in work and is isolated when the creature kills those he loves, and the creature is obviously isolated as a hideous outcast of society. Victor Frankenstein starts out with good intentions; he is merely seeking to gain knowledge of natural philosophy. Soon, his greed for god-like power overcomes him and he becomes consumed with the idea of creating life. â€Å"Summer months passed while I was thus engaged, heart and soul, in one pursuit† (32). The creature also starts out with kindness, he tells his creator, â€Å"Believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity: but am I not alone, miserably alone?† (66). However, after society refuses to accept him based on personal appearance, the creature becomes angry. The creature has an overwhelming capacity to love as can be seen in his admiration for the peasants, â€Å"The creature’s thoughts now became more active, and Frankenstein longed to discover the motives and feelings of these lovely creatures, Frankenstein thought (foolish wretch!) That it might be in...

Louis Pojman Theory

Louis Pojman Theory Louis Pojman suggests of a world where â€Å"the virtuous are rewarded and the vicious punished in proportion to their relative deserts†. Merit and desert are the two different fundamental ethical principles that are focused on in his statement. Merit is the reward or punishment due to a person while desert means deserving.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Louis Pojman Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This theory therefore implies that people should be rewarded or punished based on not only their natural traits, but also the extent of goodness or badness of their actions. I would agree with Pojman that we deserve what we earn; however looking at the reality on the ground it is undeniable that this is not the case. Furthermore, due to the different laws and cultures in our world, it would be seemingly impossible to uphold such a rule (Waller 2008) According to Pojman, â€Å"the idea of rewarding the good and punishing the bad is the normal of evolving of culture†. To dictate what constitutes good or bad is quite subjective, but the question is how one should determine the degree of goodness or badness. The impact or repercussions of an individual’s deeds could be one measure that could be used in this instance. Pojman observes that a good deed done half-heartedly should be rewarded differently from an action done whole heartedly. An individual should therefore be compensated on the basis of his efforts or how well he has performed his tasks, but empirically there’s no way of determining his or her input into the task. A person could be good at something, based on a natural attribute, which would make him give the same value of output as another person who works harder in the same task since the second person doesn’t share the same attribute. Following the theory, the two individuals should be compensated based on their input, which would be unfair because they both produced the same output. A person could perform good deeds because they have an obligation to do so. A police officer has a duty to stop and prevent a crime, a fire fighter has a duty to put out fires but these classes of people should not be rewarded extraordinarily for performing their duties. The law does not allow a police officer to sue for a reward for finding a missing person even though there was a clause or offer from the missing person’s family, so in this case the theory fails. Another instance could be found in our work places.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Many CEOs work half day and enjoy the rest of the day playing a round of golf as their employees slave all day, yet the CEOs take the bigger pay simply because of their positions. Despite the fallbacks of this theory on the concept of good, it has a more positive impact in the case of evi l. Individuals are and should be punished based on the level of the bad they do. As is the case with our modern society, criminals serve different punishments depending on their crime. A murderer should be withdrawn from society, possibly for the rest of his or her life. A petty thief will serve shorter sentence than an individual on a robbery with violence charge, even though the two criminals may have stolen the same value of items. This theory therefore discourages evil, since individuals will avoid doing serious crimes for fear of retribution. Without this fear of getting punished, criminals and terrorists would roam free while world gets stuck in chaos. However, the theory upholds law and order, a major victory for justice (Waller, 2008). Due to our different backgrounds, cultures and religions, each and every individual is unique from each other. These differences influence our judgments thus explaining our differences in opinion regarding certain topics. Most western countrie s permit abortion, while other countries especially in the developing world consider it a crime. Differences in opinion mean that there’s no agreeable value of the deeds we perform. There’s no way of measuring a person’s goodness or badness. There’s also no stated best way of rewarding or punishing a person. Both rewards and punishments could take various forms, and their impact or influence could be dissimilar for two different people. A monetary reward could have little significance for an individual with a wealthy background while the same figure could greatly influence a person from a humble background. A person who has never been in jail before will think twice before repeating an offence while a seasoned criminal who did the same offence will have little in his way in case they get similar punishments. In this case, rewards and punishments may not have the desired outcomes if applied to different people. In conclusion if such a world existed, a plac e where which â€Å"the virtuous are rewarded and the vicious punished in proportion to their relative deserts,† people would strive to perform good deeds which would never go by unnoticed. Its common nature to love oneself, and if a reward is the only way to influence a good act, then so be it.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Louis Pojman Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More An employee cannot be expected to work harder if he knows that there is nothing that will commend him for his efforts. Despite the problems discussed earlier, the theory would still have significant impact on behavior. Pojman was right to assume that we should anticipate rewards for doing good deeds and expect punishment for bad deeds. References Waller, B. N. (2008). Consider ethics: Theory, readings, and contemporary issues (2nd ed.) New York, NY: Pearson/Longman.

Afghan-war prisoners Essay Example for Free

Afghan-war prisoners Essay American Civil War (234) , Prisoner (26) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints ? Some insurgents’ failed attempt on an US military convoy was provocation enough for them to gun down 16 civilians, leaving another 25 severely wounded. The groups – dead and alive, contained woman and children. It is an event of March 4, 2007, took place in Iraq, on the Jalalabad highway in eastern Nangarhar province. The day next US army again responded the terrorist attack by 2000-pound aerial bombing in the civilian area, killing five women and three children. This happened at the Kapisa outpost. These are regular features in Iraq; between January 2006 till date, more than thousands of civilians were killed by US attack. Back home, US authorities are no less active under the ‘anti-terrorism’ movement. Ahmed Alenany, an Egyptian physician, was picked up from the road of New York City and was detained for five months, charged with overstaying, in spite of his valid ground of filing for its extension well before the expiry. His fault was that the police found two pictures of WTO in his car and he held a roadmap when arrested. That was one bubble on the sea. The United States securely took away 650 Afghan-war prisoners to their military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they are reportedly passing their days in small single-person cells. India: On July 2005, four Kashmiri youths went to attend a wedding in Vilgam, Kupwara, and while out in the open at night for smoking away from the disapproving adults, three of them were gunned down by the Indian army all on a sudden. Later army admitted its mistake and wanted to compensate, though there was enough effort to suppress this news. India is also experiencing zero tolerance in counter-terrorism, especially after the militant attack on its parliament on December, 2001. They have even created a special law, â€Å"POTA† , which is capable of detaining anyone under the slightest suspicion on any ground of terrorism, that would later arrest 131 Muslims for the Godhra carnage of Hindus in 2002, who later retaliated with the killings of 2000 Muslims throughout the Gujrat state, were mostly able to slip past this law. China: Charged for â€Å"crimes of terror† and â€Å"incitement to separatism†, the popular religious leader Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was arrested in Sichuan on a night in December 2002 and sentenced to death. He was linked to the series of bombings. Same fate met his co-defendant Lobsang Dhondup, even quicker as he was executed. Now the open secret was that the authorities were up against his activities all the time, as he was a known supporter of the Dalai Lama. Egypt: This country has a track record of arresting hundreds of people either for their proximity to the Muslims, or for possessing â€Å"suspicious† literature. In a known case, 94 such victims, allegedly belonging to an â€Å"Islamic Group† though none heard about its name), were arrested in May, 2001. It was before the September 11 attack and after the attack, they were charged additionally for plotting to kill the government officials! The hapless victims belong to almost all rank and file – Doctors, engineers, professors, to name a few. They were dragged into the military courts whose norms, understandably conform to the trial standards set internationally. Accordingly, 51 were convicted! Georgia: Armed by the US support Georgian authorities have targeted the Chechens at Pankisi Gorge, a place which Russia also labelled as a â€Å"haven for the terrorists†. Here the governmental approach to the human rights violations is indicative of non-caring, as it is echoed by the words of its President Eduard Shevarnadze, who, right after extraditing five Chechens to Russia (October 5, 2002) without holding any court, said, â€Å"International human rights commitments might become pale in comparison with the importance of the anti-terrorist campaign† Afghan-war prisoners. (2017, Apr 25).

Response paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Response paper - Essay Example In fact, there are more women pursuing degrees in science and technology in Norway than men. I think the Norwegian government should be credited for enforcing the law that stipulate, every company should at least have forty percent of their corporate board seats occupied by women. In my opinion, this is vital and effective since there are thousands of women who are capable and wiling of becoming the top brass. (Chris p20) The gain of workplace assortment is huge, thus investors and share holders should be swayed to give women these opportunities in the panel positions. The trend should be passed across every country in the world, since it will benefit both the investors and the economy in the long run. I believe that women have what it takes to escort key companies at the positions of managers and chairwomen. In a few years we shall be able to see the full prospective of women who shall rise to the occasion and be successive. According to the Norwegians women executives, legislation is the only way forward. I think that the quota structure will facilitate bring the intellectual women to the forefront. (Chris p20) In my closing opinion, I think that managers are the key players in ensuring that women are encouraged day to day, to pursue for the managerial position, and also facilitate opportunities for the upcoming talents, regardless of sex. I think that women should work to ensure that they are visible in their place of work. They should also be patient if they wand to climb up the ladder. Through the quota system, a new dawn of corporate world led by women will emerge in a few years, thus we should all appreciate and welcome the

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Administrative Perspective Matrix (Evolution of Management Class) - Essay Example 2. According to Sridhar (2010), the administration of an organization under the consideration of administrative perspective does not restrict management of the organization within the organization but on a large-scale stage. Therefore, the second characteristic of administrative perspective is to consider the development of the organization not on a micro level but on a macro level. 3. Administrative perspective and scientific management are quite contrasting from one another because of their location in the hierarchy. Administrative perspective is the approach that is set upside down due to which, it is categorized as top-down while scientific management develops from downside up due to which, it is considered bottom-up approach. Henry Fayol and Chester Bernard can be considered as major theorists who contributed in determining administrative perspective. They can be regarded as authoritative figures because of their most important involvement in structuring theories for administrative perspective. 1. Henry Fayol showed interest in running the organization as one unit due to which, he structured miscellaneous groups with partitioned organizational functionalities. According to the theorist, the handling of organization as one unit with dissimilar groups is manageable and convenient. The theory by Henry Fayol is based on division of organizational functions. 2. Chester Bernard emphasized on development of organizational objectives because it is only because of the organizational objectives due to which, the organization prospers. The administration of an organization should be able to make certain that all the set goals of the organization must be accomplished. The theory of Chester Bernard is based on accomplishment of organizational goals. The relevance of administrative perspective to today’s managers cannot be negated as it enables today’s managers to give

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How has automobiles made changes to our society and what do people think about automobiles - Research Paper Example wever many firsts that were seen on the road to building a functional automobile that the modern world depends so much on, from one part of the present automobile to the next. Each part of the automobile has a rich history of invention from steam engines that pioneered, to electrical and gasoline driven engines that are seen today. Great men, from Karl Benz, the man to have come up with the first practical automobile to the pioneer of assembly line production in the industry, Henry Ford. Thanks to years of innovation, steam engines that first powered automobile prototypes were improved to the machines we use today to transport both ourselves and goods to different locations. All citizens of planet are affected by the automobile even in the most remote parts of the world where roads as we know them as non-existent. We are able to cover distances that would in the past take humanity months, in a matter of days thanks to the automobile. Help is able to reach the needy in remote locations because of the automobile. Every individual on the face of our planet is positively affected by the automobile to the last person alive. Like Henry Ford said: â€Å"I invented nothing new. I simply assembled the discoveries of other men behind whom were centuries of work. Had I worked fifty or ten or even five years before, I would have failed. So it is with every new thing. Progress happens when all the factors that make for it are ready, and then it is inevitable. To teach that a comparatively few men are responsible for the greatest forward steps of mankind is the worst sort of nonsense.† The history of automobile is one of the most divisive subjects because it can be traced to the fifteenth century and was improved over centuries, which makes it very difficult to specifically spot its point of origin. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot is within this entire division, credited with the first steam powered automobile in 1768. It was not until 1807 when Francois de Rivas came up with an

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Port Strategy and Development - Essay Example In determining the pricing in ports, the ports management should consider cargo handling, the time in port, port dues and charges. Indeed, the main objectives of port pricing include profit maximization, economic efficiency, macro-economic policy, and income distribution. However, there are many challenges that relate to port pricing like transparency, competition, cost recovery, discrimination, price review vs. yardstick benchmarking simplicity, and cross-subsidy. As such, ports should set their prices by analyzing the complex, network-like structure of principal and intermediary parties in the port, flow of services and related charges, differentiation and price discrimination in the market for port services, demand and supply in the ports, and competition. However, setting and comparison of port prices is becoming a challenge subject to the wide variability in the population of ships and cargoes that each port handles. However, this paper will address the methods and strategies fo r port pricing in the Port of Melbourne in Australia. In doing this, I will review port pricing, port capacity, investment, competition and regulation. The essay will compare port pricing in the Port of Melbourne with port pricing theory and different port prices models. In conclusion, the paper will draw my opinion.

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Business project management - Essay Example Includes uniqueness, multiple objectives, specific provisions, flexibility, time bound, interlinked process and well planned. They are unique as Ait uses both international and local bench markers. It also has multiple objectives to be achieved by only trained individuals responsible for managing the project thus making it have specific provision. It is also an interlinked process that follows specific steps thus making it well planned. The process is also flexible as it can be changed with time if the project objectives are not met. Has many advantages including increased concentration on specific objectives of the project, more efficient and good use of the company resources as well as making a company have a healthy competition. In addition, it increases product development, production speed and also improve team cohesion spirit Project management is an expensive venture that consumes a lot of time. Many resources both human and materials are usually needed to run the complete cycle of project management. It can also cause wrangles between the project manager and the members of the project management committee thus making the manager feel

How has automobiles made changes to our society and what do people Research Paper - 1

How has automobiles made changes to our society and what do people think about automobiles - Research Paper Example wever many firsts that were seen on the road to building a functional automobile that the modern world depends so much on, from one part of the present automobile to the next. Each part of the automobile has a rich history of invention from steam engines that pioneered, to electrical and gasoline driven engines that are seen today. Great men, from Karl Benz, the man to have come up with the first practical automobile to the pioneer of assembly line production in the industry, Henry Ford. Thanks to years of innovation, steam engines that first powered automobile prototypes were improved to the machines we use today to transport both ourselves and goods to different locations. All citizens of planet are affected by the automobile even in the most remote parts of the world where roads as we know them as non-existent. We are able to cover distances that would in the past take humanity months, in a matter of days thanks to the automobile. Help is able to reach the needy in remote locations because of the automobile. Every individual on the face of our planet is positively affected by the automobile to the last person alive. Like Henry Ford said: â€Å"I invented nothing new. I simply assembled the discoveries of other men behind whom were centuries of work. Had I worked fifty or ten or even five years before, I would have failed. So it is with every new thing. Progress happens when all the factors that make for it are ready, and then it is inevitable. To teach that a comparatively few men are responsible for the greatest forward steps of mankind is the worst sort of nonsense.† The history of automobile is one of the most divisive subjects because it can be traced to the fifteenth century and was improved over centuries, which makes it very difficult to specifically spot its point of origin. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot is within this entire division, credited with the first steam powered automobile in 1768. It was not until 1807 when Francois de Rivas came up with an

Business project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business project management - Essay Example Includes uniqueness, multiple objectives, specific provisions, flexibility, time bound, interlinked process and well planned. They are unique as Ait uses both international and local bench markers. It also has multiple objectives to be achieved by only trained individuals responsible for managing the project thus making it have specific provision. It is also an interlinked process that follows specific steps thus making it well planned. The process is also flexible as it can be changed with time if the project objectives are not met. Has many advantages including increased concentration on specific objectives of the project, more efficient and good use of the company resources as well as making a company have a healthy competition. In addition, it increases product development, production speed and also improve team cohesion spirit Project management is an expensive venture that consumes a lot of time. Many resources both human and materials are usually needed to run the complete cycle of project management. It can also cause wrangles between the project manager and the members of the project management committee thus making the manager feel

Globalization Problem Essay Example for Free

Globalization Problem Essay Introduction Globalization has practically changed societies all over the world. It has paved the way for the so called â€Å"borderless economy†. With the advent of the Internet, the role of information has dramatically changed the way people live and do business. As Naval points out in her paper, an immense reduction of time and space barriers among great nations is made possible through interconnectivity. She illustrated that such interconnections result to global transactions being done in the comfort zones of one’s home. This characteristic of the Information Age provides for accessibility to vast reservoirs of knowledge, which is power. 1 It is for this reason that all nations all over the world are adopting ICT-based solutions to address their information needs in this modern era of knowledge explosion. In the Philippines, the government anticipated the importance of Information Technology (IT) as early as the Ramos administration. Ramos in his speech at the First Information Technology and Telecommunications Education Congress outlined the National Information Technology Plan (NITP) of the government. He stressed that IT must be applied to the education sector as a means for national strengthening.2 In 1997, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) reported that the General Appropriations Act of the previous year provided some funds for the CHED-SUCs computerization program. Chairman Angel C. Alcala stated that majority of the fund was used to upgrade the computer capabilities of state-funded institutions. The biggest threat pointed out in the CHED computerization program was the readiness of the people in the educational institutions in the form of computer literacy to cope with the said technological changes. 3 Similarly, the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) engaged in its own computerization program. Undersecretary Alejandro W.D. Clemente described the computerization project as two main thrusts, which are (1) improvement of learning/teaching environment and (2) management of education. While improvement of learning/teaching environment mainly involves direct use of IT tools in the classroom such as multimedia, computer-based training, etc., Clemente stressed that management of education through IT centers on three groups. These groups consist of support staff using application programs such as wordprocessors, spreadsheets and the like for processing. The second group is for the number crunching processing such as accounting, budgeting and others. Finally, the third group affected by IT in educational management is in the area of databanking. Storing of voluminous records such as student scholastic records may be kept and retrieved using computer technology. 4 In addition to government efforts, Malacaà ±ang has issued on July 12, 2000, under the Estrada administration, Executive Order No. 265, â€Å"An act approving and adopting the government information systems plan (GISP) as framework and guide for all computerization efforts in the government.† The order aims to provide a wide-ranging set of reforms to enhance government efficiency and effectiveness in its operations and delivery of basic services to the public. Furthermore, the executive order requires all government units to align their respective computerization projects to the thrusts of E.O. 265, also known as the Philippine Government Online. 5 In the light of these ICT undertakings at the national level, most specially in the education sector, former PUP President, Dr. Ofelia M. Carague was inspired to embark on a university-wide computerization project to address the information needs of the university, as embodied in the PUP Information Systems Strategic Plan (ISSP). The ISSP, in general, aims to address the mission-critical areas of the five sectors of the university, namely: Administration, Finance, Student Services, Academic Affairs and Research and Development. Different systems were lined-up for the different sectors of the university, such as, Admission System (AS), Enrolment System (ES), Student Grades Monitoring Systems (SGMS), etc. under the Student Services sector.6 Despite the massive computerization program of PUP during the early part of the Carague administration, the PUP Laboratory High School department was not included in the initial list of offices to be computerized, mainly due to the limited student population. This view was somehow overturned by a fire incident which threatened to destroy the archived student records in the possession of the high school registrar. This was cited by PUP LHS in its appeal to be included in the computerization project. The Polytechnic University of the Philippines Laboratory High School has been in existence for more than half a century since its inception in 1954. Throughout its existence it has adopted several information systems, both manual and automated, to facilitate in its day-to-day operations. Recently, the high school department engaged in an upgrading of its Student Information Systems (SIS). The semi-automated operations were replaced with a fully automated system known as Laboratory High School Student Information System (LabHiSIS). LabHiSIS is composed to two subsystems, namely: (1) Enrolment System (ES) and (2) Student Grades Monitoring System (SGMS). This transition from a semi-automated to a fully automated system entails a lot of adjustments on the part of LHS students, faculty members and non-teaching personnel. Thus, the researcher aims to assess the implementation of the said subsystems of LabHiSIS in order to understand the efficacy of the said system implementation, using as basis common good qualities of information, which an efficient or effective information system must provide. The study shall likewise identify the pr oblems encountered during the system implementations. Background of the Study The Polytechnic University of the Philippines Laboratory High School (PUPLHS) located in the main campus at Sta. Mesa, Manila is the only surviving high school unit of PUP. Previously, there were high school department in other PUP branches like PUP Bataan and Lopez branches. There were some motions in the past to close the department, but it was vigorously opposed to by certain sectors of the university citing that PUP LHS is an integral department of the College of Office Administration and Business Teacher Education (COABTE). The latter was founded in 1904 formerly starting as the College of Business Teacher Education while the former was established in 1954 to pioneer a unique commercial curriculum. The curriculum’s defining attributes are the subjects on distributive arts, which consist of Stenography, Bookkeeping and Salesmanship, viewed as a tool to make the students more equipped for early employment. The students are required to take one of these as a major in junior and senior year. The curriculum has remained very much intact for the past fifty years with very minimal modifications, like the inclusion of computer subjects. Though COABTE acts as the mother unit of the high school department, certain autonomy in the management of PUP LHS is given to its administrators. For instance, the LHS Registrar is not bound to adhere to procedures implemented by the university registrar to the colleges. In addition, since it is under the university system, the high school department also enjoys a similar type of independence from DepEd control. The PUPLHS enrolment process employs a typical manual enrolment process. Despite of this nature, the LHS administration is able to manage the enrolment due to the small student population. The enrolment starts with the filling up of registration forms at designated enrolment centers. Prior to this initial step, old students must be cleared of any accountability during the previous school year. Next, the student pays Student Council fees along with other organizational fees. The third step is the assessment of fees which is manually computed by the teachers themselves. After which, the students must pay the amount at the Cashier’s Office located at the main building. Finally, the student has to proceed to the LHS Registrar’s Office for the validation of registration certificate.7 This concludes the manual high school enrolment process, which is less complicated as compared to the college enrolment. Common problems under this situation arise from long queues of students waiting to be processed up to incorrect assessment of matriculation and other fees. The grades of the students like most secondary level institutions are likewise computed manually. The process starts with the posting of grades in the summary sheet which is done on a quarterly basis by the teachers. Each section has one summary sheet to which all subject teachers input the grades of students bel onging to the section. The posting of non-academic marks like attendance, conduct and homeroom are also posted on the summary sheet by the section advisers every quarter. Another type of quarterly report being prepared by the teachers is the report cards of the students. On the fourth quarter of the school calendar, the teachers must compute the subject averages and post it on the summary sheet to determine those who passed and failed from among the students. This is very crucial in the deliberation process of PUP LHS faculty members so that they are guided as to whom are the candidates for kick out or transfer. In addition, the advisers are responsible for the computation of the general weighted average and the posting of academic and non-academic marks on the report card of all the students under his advisory. Next, the teacher encodes the grades of the students to the Student Permanent Record form of the LHS Registrar’s office, which serves as the official scholastic record of the student. Finally, the teachers must prepare their grade sheets to be submitted to the LHS principal. The registrar, on one hand, is responsible of producing the Transcript of Records (TOR) of both graduates and students for college application purposes. At this stage, the student grades are encoded to the computer for the very first time. This summarizes the complex and tedious manual process of grades processing in PUP LHS.8 The manual systems in PUP LHS suffer from a lot redundancies. In their manual processing of student grades the only instance where the grades of the students are made in digital form is when the Registrar encodes the grades for the Transcript of Records (TOR) preparation. The rest of the processing stages consist of manual posting of grades unto different reports. When the appeal of PUP LHS to be included in the computerization project was approved by the Office of the Vice President for Finance, the PUP Information Linkage Systems (PUPILS) was tasked to assist the high school department in its request. The initial agreement was to customize the Integrated Student Information System (iSIS) of the college for the high school unit, but due to some differences in business logic the developers decided to create a system from scratch instead. Development started in April 2002 and the developers employed a Rapid Application Development (RAD) strategy in developing its first component – the Enrolment System (LabHiSIS-ES). The LabHiSIS package is composed of the following subsystems, namely: âž ¢ Enrolment System (LabHiSIS-ES) – a system which handles the registration needs of the students during enrolment periods. âž ¢ Student Grades Monitoring System (LabHiSIS-GMS) – a system which monitors the accumulating grades of student s. In a short period of barely two months, the PUPILS LabHiSIS development team prepared a fully functional stand-alone enrolment system. It was implemented in May 27-30, 2002 to all year levels of PUP LHS. LabHiSIS used a pre-printed implementation strategy. In this strategy, the registration certificates of the high school students were printed in advance. This facilitated the simple distribution of registration certificates to the enrollees during the enrolment proper, which were done by the enrolling advisers. After two years of implementing the Enrolment System in the department, the development team started with the development of the second subsystem. The first implementation of the Student Grades Monitoring System was implemented in SY 2003-2004. Throughout the entire development phase of the LabHiSIS systems, the system developers were guided by the following system objectives which they envision to be accomplished by the systems once operational. The LabHiSIS-Enrolment System’s objective is to automate the enrolment processing by generating a pre-assessed and a filled-up registration certificate. It shall also assist with some pre and post admission processing like the generation of unique student number. With the system, the faculty members of PUP LHS would no longer have to manually assess the matriculation and fees of the students. Though it is still not connected online to the university’s Cashiering system, the developers believe that this automation would provide a significant improvement to the LHS enrolment processes and, at the same time, introduce computerization to the PUP LHS community thereby preparing them for the second LabHiSIS module – Student Grades Monitoring System. The development of the more complicated Student Grades Monitoring System followed a multifaceted set of objectives. The objectives are as follows: 1. The Student Grades Monitoring System must automate the entire grades processing of PUP LHS from the time of its initial posting up to the generation of student Transcript of Records (TOR) for the department’s graduates. 2. SGMS shall produce highly accurate reports, namely: Temporary Quarterly Report Cards, Final Report Cards, Quarterly Summary Sheets, Student Permanent Records, Grade Sheets and Transcript of Records. 3. The system shall uphold confidentiality of student grades, thus, preventing unauthorized access to certain subject matters. The teachers will be limited to the subject assigned to them. 4. The system shall promote a high standard of grade integrity and eliminate the repetitive manual posting/inputting of grades into different kinds of reports. It shall centralize the printing of reports which is the sole responsibility of the system administrators. The administrators, though with access rights to view the grades, have no access rights to modify any of the grade entries. The faculty members are, thus, assured that the grades they have entered are the same grades to appear regardless of the report type. With this scheme, discrepancies will be avoided and the faculty would only have to input the grades once. Theoretical Framework In this study, the theory of Prof. Karl Weick, from the University of Michigan, known as Information Systems Theory was used as one of the basis for the study. The theory primarily states that â€Å"An organization should connect with information processing. Information is the key item that all organizations must possess.† 9 According to Sweeney, the theory of Karl Weick can be tested for practical utility. This means that, â€Å"The more effective communication is, the more effective the organization will be, and as a result it [organization] will be more successful.†10 The theory when properly applied to an organization can increase business control which is one of the fundamental functions of management. Efforts, however, to improve organizational performance do not instantaneously arrive as a result of having computer-based information systems. Prof. N. Kano, in his Theory on Customer Satisfaction, identified several categories of quality attributes which influence customer satisfaction. He discussed the importance of Basic, Excitement and Performance Factors as the three attributes directly involved with client satisfaction. He stated that basic factors present the minimum requirements in any product which will cause dissatisfaction if not fulfilled but do not cause customer satisfaction when fulfilled. Excitement factors tend to cause customer satisfaction whenever fulfilled but do not promote dissatisfaction if absent. Performance factors causes satisfaction if the performance is high†¦they cause dissatisfaction if the performance is low. 11 Though this theory mentions of characteristics applicable to a product, it must be noted that software is considered a product. 12 In order to guarantee customer satisfaction the product must be carefully evaluated thoroughly. The Evaluation Theory according to Prof. Mel Mark, from the Pennyslvania State University, as one of its many application provides the important key whether or not to implement a new program. In his article Evaluation Theory and What are Evaluation Methods For?, he mentioned that evaluation theory acts as a performance measurement system that can identify problem areas and provide a feedback mechanism regarding the apparent consequences of a certain decision. 13 Conceptual Framework The conceptual framework employs the Systems Approach technique. It begins with the Input Box, which represents factors that must exist before the study can take place or a phenomenon can be investigated. In this study, the inputs are the respondents of the study and the LabHiSIS-Enrolment System and LabHiSIS-Student Grades Monitoring System. The second box is the Process box. It contains all the procedures taken in the study. In the study, the process begins with data gathering through a survey questionnaire. Other information was also derived from informal interview. After data tabulation the next step was the application of a correct statistical tool. Finally, analysis and interpretation was made on the basis of the statistical results. The third box is the Output box. It shows the findings of the study regarding the efficacy of the systems. Likewise, it also aims to identify the problems encountered in the systems implementation. A return or feedback arrow signifies the repetitive and continuous nature of the process. After the findings have been concluded a new set of problems may arise which requires another inquiry or investigation. Statement of the Problem The study assessed the effectiveness of the Laboratory High School Student Information Systems, particularly its two subsystems; Enrolment System and Student Grades Monitoring System. Similarly, it aims to answer the following specific questions: To what extent do the respondents rate the effectiveness of the LabHiSIS-Enrolment System in terms of the following software quality attributes: 1. Accuracy; 2. Completeness; 3. Timeliness; 4. Reliability; 5. Security 6. User-Friendliness? To what extent do the respondents’ rate the effectiveness of the LabHiSIS-Student Grade Monitoring System in terms of the given software quality attributes: 1. What are the problems encountered in the implementation of LabHiSIS, specifically its two subsystems – Enrolment System and Student Grades Monitoring System? Significance of the Study Change is not an easy thing to embrace. It is the very nature of man to resist change. This resistance is commonly due to the fear of the unknown. Information Technology, as a catalyst of change, is a major fear factor for many institutions and individuals. Thus, this study aims to assess the LabHiSIS implementations made to PUPLHS. The main goal of the study is to identify the efficacy rating of the LabHiSIS system implementations. Findings of the study are expected to contribute to the further refinement of the system and its future implementations. The study, upon its completion, will benefit the following stakeholders of the university, namely: The University Officials/Administrators. Implementation problems identified in this study can help top management arrive at sound decisions regarding budget allocations, policy formulation, etc. The Academic and Administrative Employees of PUP LHS. Through this research the employees would be able to express their comments regarding the system so that positive changes can be taken into consideration by the developers as a result of the system assessment. The Systems Developers. The developers of the system would greatly benefit from this research mainly because the users response to the questionnaire would serve as a gauge in measuring the system performance. The weak points identified in the study can become the focus of their corrective maintenance of the system. The Future Researchers. This research can serve as a model for other studies on system implementations that other researchers might want to investigate. It is important to note that through research the precious feedback coming from the beneficiaries or system users could be obtained. In this case, the beneficiaries of the LabHiSIS systems are the students while the users are the academic and the non-teaching personnel. The Students. The last beneficiary of the system study is the students of PUP LHS. They would benefit from the improved service brought about by refinements in the system which is in turn a result of the problem identification and performance appraisal found in this study. Scope and Limitation of the Study This study is concerned with the system implementation of the LabHiSIS computerized Enrolment System and Student Grades Monitoring System to PUP Laboratory High School in school year 2004-2005. It includes all the following enrolment and grades processing activities: (1) Academic Subject Enrolment and Assessment of Matriculation and Fees; (2) Posting of Academic Grades and Non-Academic Marks and (3) Generation of Periodic and Demand Reports. In addition, the study includes the system stakeholders, namely, faculty members, non-teaching personnel and students of PUP LHS. The study is however limited to 2nd year up to 4th year students only as the first year students, in June 2005, still have no knowledge and complete experience with the two LabHiSIS subsystems. Definition of Terms The following terminologies were used as operationally defined in this study: Accuracy of information simply means that the information system is error free. Administrator is in-charge of the system security for both subsystems. As such he has access to all utilities menu commands. Completeness of the information means that all needed details are incorporated in a report or output produced by an information system. Effectiveness refers to the satisfactory performance or rating of the system based on software quality factors such as Accuracy, Completeness, Timeliness, Reliability, Security and User-Friendliness. End-users are members of the faculty and non-teaching staff of the PUP Laboratory High School who directly interact or use the computer-based information system. LabHiSIS refers to the Laboratory High School Student Information System, a computer-based information system designed to automate the enrolment and grades preparation process of PUP Laboratory High School. The system is composed of two subsystems, namely the Enrolment System and the Student Grades Monitoring System. Reliability is an information characteristic which means that the output or report produced by an information system can be depended upon by its users despite changes in the environment which may affect the system. Security refers to the ability of the system to limit accessibility of the users thus safeguarding confidential or restricted records from any form of unlawful access. Source documents, as used in this paper, pertain to the Summary Sheets from which all academic and non-academic marks of the students are initially posted by the subject teachers from their respective class records. The summary sheet is used for reference by the faculty members during the encoding of grades to SGMS. Timeliness of information is about the prompt release or issuance of a needed detail or report whenever it is needed. User Friendliness pertains to the characteristic of the information system to be easily understood by the users. Figure 1 Paradigm of the Study FEEDBACK OUTPUT PROCESS INPUT Assessed Laboratory High School Student Information Systems (LabHiSIS): Enrolment System (ES) Student Grades Monitoring System (SGMS) Solutions to the Problems Encountered in the implementation of the systems. Assessment of the Laboratory High School Student Information System (LabHiSIS) Subsystems: – Enrolment System (ES), and – Student Grades Monitoring System (SGMS). Identification of the problems encountered during the systems implementation 1Naval, Victoria C., â€Å"Rethinking Prospects and Challenges of Globalization in Education†, The Mabini Review, Vol. 1. 2001 11Kano, N., â€Å"Customer Satisfaction Model†, http://www.12manage.com/methods_ kano_customer_satisfaction_model.html, 1984. 12Sommerville, Ian A., Software Engineering, 4th Edition, Addison – Wesley Longman Inc., 1995) pp. 5. 13Mark, Mel, â€Å"Evaluation Theory or What are Evaluation Methods For?†, http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/eval/issue30/theory.html 9Dudas, Marion, â€Å"Applying the Information Systems Theory to a True Situation†, http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~md413097/is.htm, 2000. 10Sweeney, Matt C., â€Å"Information Systems Critique† http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/ ~ms101996/is.htm 8Gonzales, Jaime Y., interview held during system development start-up, Registrar’s Office, April 2002 7Gonzales, Jaime Y., PUP Laboratory High School Enrolment Procedures, 2004 6Escober, Rosicar E., PUP Information Systems Strategic Plan, College of Computer Studies, Graduate School, Dela Salle University, Manila, 1999. 2. 4Clemente, Alejandro W.D., â€Å"Use of Multi-media in DECS†, IT Education in the Philippines: Preparing for the 21st Century, pp.29-34, February 1997. 5Estrada, Joseph Ejercito, Executive Order 256, Malacaà ±ang Palace, Manila, http://www.neda.gov.ph/ads/gisp/default.htm, 2000. Laboratory High School Student Information Systems (LabHiSIS): Enrolment System (ES), and Student Grades Monitoring System (SGMS). Problems encountered in the systems implementation 2Ramos, Fidel V., â€Å"Taking the Future in our Hands†, speech delivered in the First Information Technology and Telecommunications Education Congress, Dusit Hotel Nikko Manila, February 1997. 3Alcala, Angel C., â€Å"The CHED Computerization Program: Goals, Policies and Projects†, IT Education in the Philippines: Preparing for the 21st Century, pp.25-28, February 1997.

Teaching Phonics in Elementary Schools

Teaching Phonics in Elementary Schools Phonics can be defined as an instruction in sound-letter relationship used in reading and writing (Strickland, 1998). In earlier times an alphabet spelling system dominated the teaching of reading, however, a phonetic method was introduced in which children were taught individual sound letter relation and how to blend to decipher words. Teachers were dissatisfied with the method at the time because much attention was placed on word analysis and little interest was given to comprehension. Children were expected to learn every word as a sight word, making progress slow and laborious. This approach was temporarily abandoned and the basal reading program was introduced. The basal reading programs held predominance over other methods and then teachers became discontented with them as the only form of reading instruction and again returned to phonics. Various changes methodology was initiated in an attempt to solve the reading problem in the elementary schools. The literature based approaches to reading instruction in which phonics is taught in conjunction with other word identification strategies was among the practical application. These newly approaches though widely varied in application teaching phonics continue to be heard today. The support of phonics is combined with demands for a greater emphasis on spelling and grammar. Phonics instruction reveals deep philosophical differences about teaching, learning and leads to power struggles over educational policy. Despite the potential for the phonics debate to polarize educational communities, most educators and parents try to avoid instructional pendulum swings that confuse than clarify issues. They choose to concentrate their efforts on providing effective literacy programs. Types of Phonics There are different types of phonics instruction approaches that vary according to the explicitness by which the phonic elements are taught and practiced in the reading of text, it is important to understand the five specific types of phonics instruction and what they entail. Systematic phonics approach is a sequential that set on phonics elements are taught along a dimension of explicitness depending on the type of phonics method employed (national reading panel2000). Analogy phonics is teaching students unfamiliar words by analogy and to know words (e.g., we distinguish that the rhyme segment of an unfamiliar word is identical to that of the a familiar word, and then blending the known rhyme with the new word onset, such as reading sick by recognizing that -ick is contained in the known word kick, or reading hump by analogy to mumps). Analytic phonics is using phonics to teaching students to analyze letter sound relations and learning words to avoid pronouncing sound in isolation. Embedded phonics is using phonics to teaching students phonics skills by embedding phonics instruction in text reading and a more implicit approach that relies to some extent on incidental learning. Phonics through spelling is when teaching students to segment words into phonemes and also to select letters for those phonemes. Synthetic phonics is teaching students explicitly to convert letters into sounds and then blend the sounds to form recognizable words. According to national institution of child and human development report the national reading panel (2000), that phonics instruction teaches student to use the relationship between letters and sounds to translate printed text into pronunciation of words. But it is surprising that many students and teachers do not understand the basic rules in learning or teaching phonics instruction in the content area. Students knowing the basic phonetic instruction rules will help them sound out words and memorize sight words. Phonics advocates focus their efforts on the primary grades and emphasize the importance of students being able to sound out (read) words based on the phonetic instruction (Reyhner, 2000). Inadequacy of Teaching Phonics The phonological instruction is a remarkably, powerful technique and away to teach every child to reading and spelling. The different strategies of phonics instruction a child must go through before they can acquire phonics lessons, from infancy to beginning of school and at each stage the kind of help the child needs from qualified teachers with the knowledge. There are many elementary teachers who have no idea of teaching phonics instruction to students. Primary teachers education students themselves frequently express concern over their lack of confidence in their phonics knowledge and their frustration having to teach and rely on abstract chapters in textbooks those are quite difficult to understand. Today the education programs are burdened with an overcrowded curriculum, in which phonics has successively reduced in lined with pedagogical trends based on literacy acquisition. Teachers complained that phonics instruction is a difficult subject because they are not receiving sufficient explicit and systematic knowledge especially in relation to phonological knowledge in helping the child to read. Jalongo (1998) has commented that is a virtual conspiracy afoot among educators to keep this superior knowledge to ourselves and deny children access to the keys to the kingdom of reading. Teachers are either too lazy to teach phonics or too obstinate to consider it. Teachers and their trainee teachers do not understand how to teach phonics instruction and they rely on computer exercise and games to supply the phonics activities. Buckland and Fraser (2008) has stated these teachers accepted literary knowledge but they did not have knowledge of building blocks language necessary for the big picture of effective literacy teaching. It is the professional responsibility of teachers to develop extensive knowledge of phonics instruction a repertoire of teaching strategies to adapt to the needs of individual children in order to ensure success. Using Phonics instruction to Improve Reading Many researchers and educators still wondering about the use of phonics instruction help student to improve their reading. According to research has shown that systematic phonics instruction significantly enhances students in kindergarten through to sixth grade and children having difficulty in learning how to read. Children that receive systematic beginning instruction were better able to read text and also the improvement in their ability to comprehend text (NICHD, 2000). Systematic synthetic phonics has a positive effective on student with poor reading abilities and low grade achievement with students in school. A child who has been introduced to systematic phonics instruction in elementary school at early levels is able to read properly. Teaching reading using phonics instruction helps kindergarten better understanding the use of alphabetic principles and better able to give students a faster start in learning to read than direct instruction; these children alphabetic knowledge and reading skills have improved. Teachers need to improve students skills in reading by teaching phonics instruction in a meaningful way with a text and emphasize the role of systematic synthetic phonics in the classroom. There are many students who are moving out of the education system that cannot read because they cannot distinguish between sounds of words while some were not exposed to a book or even phonics instruction. Educators need to be focused on a early interventi on literacy program and mandate a strong phonics instruction which emphasize on reading program across the curriculum that fulfil the reading difficulties in the classrooms. Findings cited in the National Reading Panel Report (NICHD, 2000) on the of systematic phonics instruction including the following: Systematic phonics instruction was shown to produce substantial improvement in reading and spelling in kindergarten through sixth grade, especially for younger children who risk of future reading failure and disable readers. The contribution of systematic phonics instruction to reading provide achievement was greater than that of programs that provided unsystematic phonics instruction and programs that included no phonics instruction. Positive results were greater with younger students (kindergarten students and first graders), indicating that beginning systematic phonics instruction early is helpful. Systematic phonics instruction produced gains when used in a variety of grouping patterns such as one-on-one tutoring, small groups, and whole-class instruction. Gains in reading were demonstrated by children from all socioeconomic levels. Systematic phonics instruction improved comprehension and showed an even greater impact on word recognition (pp.26). This finding encourages the government and educators should be using phonics instruction to improve the quality of their reading program in elementary schools. There are many students moving from grade to grade who cannot read and comprehend the text. The best support for children with significant literacy difficulties to enable them to catch up with their peers, and relationship between such targeted intervention programmes with phonics teaching. The teaching of early reading and phonics in primary schools and early years setting, will improve literacy in school today and including both the content area (Europe Intelligence Wire, 2005). Comprehension using Phonics According to NICHHD (2000), reading comprehension is the act of understanding and interpreting the information within a text. Children exposed to phonics at an early age and understanding methods of decoding words can begin to engage in regular reading by translating letters into sounds of oral language and then using their cognitive processes to facilitate listening comprehension to understand what they have read. Teachers can present relevant scaffolding to help student understand textual meaning, and acquire the cipher for mapping sound onto letter to develop their comprehension skill. The high quality phonics instruction should be taught as the primary approach to student in learning to decode (to read) and encode (to write/spell) that will help in analysis comprehension. Phonics instruction should be emphasized within a broad and rich language curriculum that develop students in the area of comprehension skills and expand childrens abilities of words. Teaching comprehension usin g phonics to elementary children should be multisensory in order to arouse their interest by motivating in an exciting way Gambrell, Marrow and Pressley (2007) explained that students often need concentrated instructional support in phonics approaches in order to learn important skills and strategies that they might have difficulty discovering and principles of comprehension skills. Comprehension is an important development of childrens reading skills in academic learning in all subjects areas and in lifelong journey. Learning comprehension using phonics is a dynamic aspect for readers in the understanding of a text that provides the context within which to comprehend individual words and sentences. In teaching comprehension passages, students need to understand basic phonetic instruction to read words and spell. Cain( 2003) stated that word reading is essential for reading comprehension but does not ensure good comprehension of written text if children do not understand basic phonetics. Children who develop age appropriate word reading lack teaching phonics instruction in the classroom; therefore their reading comprehension is poor. They also have poor listening comprehension, indicating that subtle word reading difficulties can be the source of their reading comprehension problems. The theoretical approaches in the teaching phonics instruction has found to improve childrens success in learning to read and was extensively more effective than little or no phonics instruction in the elementary schools. Phonics instruction has positive effective on reading and comprehension skills on children in literacy and also in the traditional and contemporary methods are lacking, emphasis must be placed on the development of new methods that provide teachers with much needed guidance and explication in these years of reformulation in the classrooms (Wilson and Colmar, 2008). CONCLUSION Teaching students to read is a responsible of every teacher in education system. Teachers have to implement creative and effective instructional practices to in the curriculum. Teaching students to read is a responsibility of every teacher in the education system. Teachers have to implement creative and effective instructional practices in the curriculum. The education system needs to place more emphasis on phonics by using to help combat illiteracy in children. Children who were taught phonics at an early age

Abortion: Do We Need It Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Papers

Abortion: Do We Need It 1.Abortion is a hot topic these days. We hear about it on television and on the radio. Should we, even take a stance on this issue when we have no idea what is involved in each person's case? Abortion is a very sensitive issue because there are many reasons for having an abortion. And a lot of the time it is not just because a lady [Â ¶17f] does not want to have her baby, it could be due to the lady having been raped, or sometimes a lady can't [Â ¶17e] support a baby. Sometimes it is because the condoms or birth control did not fully protect them, either way I do not think it should be used unless the women is in an exceptional position to be in. [Narrow topic. Choose one issue on the abortion debate. E.g. abortion is only permissible in situations of rape or incest] 2.[Use transition to connect these ideas to your thesis. Write from an outline. Think through the arguments both for and against your position. Articulate a defense to these ideas. This paragraph seems to focus on the moral argument. Document your claims.] The position I am referring to is if a woman is endangered of dying if she has the baby. There are no other reasons women should be able to have abortion! I think [Â ¶17e] that the lady should have the baby and then put it up for adoption, but then there are also a lot of other people that think that the child will suffer psychologically, because in a lot of cases the child will never get to meet their biological parents. Even if the baby doesn't meet their parents they will not suffer as badly as it would if it were brutally slaughtered in the womb, [this brings up a biological issue: abortion is killing a human life. You must address this somewhere in you essay.... ...ight; so could paragraph 5. In all cases you can do much more to defend the claims you make. Discuss defense of claims made in the paper. Is the author using sources to defend claims? What sources? How convincing are they? What other information might the author use? Has the author remembered to acknowledge the opposition? To repeat myself: the sources are insufficient. Look for: magazines, journal articles, and scholarly books. Run subject searches on InfoTrac. Works Cited "Consider This." Other Ways to Get Rid of the Kid 1 of 2 (2000): 11 Nov. 2000 http://www.abortiontv.com/OtherWays.html Rape Victims. "After Abortion" Other Ways to Get Rid of the Kid (2000): 11 Nov. 2000 http://www.afterabortion.org/News/Victims.html "New Strategy" Other Ways to Get Rid of the Kid (2000): 12 Nov. 2000 http://www.afterabortion.org/News/Victims.html

Theme of Fate and Choice in Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Essays

The Theme of Fate and Choice, in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet In William Shakespeare's tragic play Romeo and Juliet, there are four quotes about fate and choice. The characters in the play choose their own fate, it happens because of their choices or actions. First, in the beginning of the play Romeo and Juliet are referred to as 'a pair of star-crossed lovers' (Romeo and Juliet, Prologue). Second, Romeo explains to Mercutio how he has a dream that if he goes to the Montague party he will die, but Romeo chooses to go to the party anyway. Third, Romeo kills Tybalt right after his marriage to Juliet. Fourth, Romeo decides to commit suicide because he hears of Juliet's death. The first quote on fate and choice is 'a pair of star crossed lovers' (Romeo and Juliet, Prologue). The above quote shows the theme of fate because the quote establishes to the audience that Romeo and Juliet are fated to die in the play. The second quote is I fear, too early, for my mind misgives Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars, Shall bitterly begin his fateful date With th...

About Schmidt

a . One of the major losses seen in the film is Warren ‘s loss of his wife Helen . There also came a point where Warren learned that his wife had an affair with his best friend . This added up to the grief that he was already bearing . This caused him to think that he was a very inadequate husband and had thought over his shortcomings as a husband . During the time that he was pondering over the matter , it is very evident that lingered on memories and at the same time experiences distress over his daughter ‘s impending marriage.He exhibited Rando ‘s Six R Processes -there is the recognition of the loss , experiencing different emotions ,reviewing his life when his wife was still alive , seeking for forgiveness , and adjusting to the situation . In the long run , he forgives his wife for engaging in the affair and at the same time asks for forgiveness for letting her down . b . As a means of coping , he preoccupied himself with urging his daughter not to marry.He al so released tension and distress through his letters for the Tanzanian boy . This together with continuous realization of his life became his coping mechanism . It should be noted that there was a point wherein he think that when he dies and everyone he knows dies it will appear as if he didn ‘t exist . But in the end , he is overwhelmed by what he learned that the Tanzanian boy actually benefited from him and that†¦

Describing of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

1. In two to three paragraphs, describe the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and why it is important to the accounting profession. (15 points) Sarbanes-Oxley Act was created in order to ensure that controls were implemented and monitored by the regulating authority. Congress wanted to make sure that there was a specific standard and guideline for companies to follow in order to prevent fraud at such a large scale. When followed correctly there are controls set in place that are internal which are governed by the managers and checked upon by the Federal regulatory authorities.This act was passed in 2002, prior to then the rules were more relaxed and when the crisis occurred with Enron that was a breaking point for the American people, especially those who lost a lot of money. Needless to say this just made it harder for fraud to occur. There were and still are several grey areas that the players involved exploit.2. Name and briefly describe the five components of COSO’s internal control fram ework. (10 points) The five components of COSO are as follows: a. Control Environment: Basically means that the leaders of the organization set the tone for ethics and enforce them with a code of conduct followed by consequences when not abided by. b. Risk assessment: this just means they check there controls for weaknesses regularly and fix any discrepancies with stronger controls. c. Control activities: These are segregation of duties, account reconciliations, and info processing controls. They are considered internal controls as well that protect the processes in place. d. Information and communication: The internal and external reporting process. The text book stated that it includes technology assessments as well.3. Describe the relationship between the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and COSO. (10 points) COSO is used to check in on the organizations and offer guidelines for them to follow when setting upo their controls. If all five elements are followed then they will not have much to wo rry about when auditing occurs and fraud would be less likely.4. Tom Jackson is a CPA who really likes to go to Las Vegas, play poker, and bet on football games. Tom knows that the accounting profession disapproves of gambling, but because he spends a lot of time studying sports facts and how to win at poker, he feels that he is simply making educated decisions based on facts. He says that this is no different from using accounting information to buy stocks. Use the fraud triangle as a basis to comment on Tom’s gambling activities. (15 points) In this case Tom has all of the elements in place to commit fraud. He has the opportunity because of the nature of his business.He has already decided that gambling excessively is ok because it is a calculated risk. Not realizing he is putting himself in a position where the pressure will come into place when he does lose. Debt is always looked at when being evaluated for sensitive positions that deal with national security or money inv olvement. Even if it is just a public trust clearance that the person is seeking on order to get the position they still will review your credit history at a minimum.

Active and Passive Indexing

From 1986 to 1996, the amount of money invested in index funds grew from $556 million to $65 Billion. And if anything, individual investors have been slow to embrace passive management. Institutional investors invest a far larger percentage of their assets passively. Many individual investors are simply uneducated and unaware of the arguments and experimental evidence supporting passive management. Institutional investors and academics have known for years (many for decades) that passive investing is extremely difficult to beat and that the majority of active investors will fail in their attempt to outperform the market. Active indexers assert they can outperform the marketplace. Passive (index) portfolios state they can mirror the performance of the indices. Both have their good times and their bad times. Active indexers raise cash in times of increased risk and instability while passive indexers remain fully invested. This can be quite painful during times of large declines in the market. Passive portfolios mirror the gains of the indices during roaring bull markets and eventually outperform the majority of active money managers who must remain diversified and who sometimes take on additional risks in an attempt to produce the performance and safety that they have promised their clients. The evidence has piled up during today’s bull market that the average dollar managed by active managers does not keep up with the market index. Finally, indexing is a way to avoid being blind-sided in certain areas of the marketplace. Active management themes can easily find themselves on the wrong side of an investment. There is a perception among investors that a strategy designed to match stock market returns is less risky than a comparable actively managed portfolio. Since the index approach invests in a manner that is most friendly with the market’s natural liquidity, it produces the least disturbance. The passive investor also has diversified his risk. Specific negative things can happen to individual companies or groups. As a passive investor, one is not exposed to any of these things. However, it does not mean you have a risk-free investment. The downside to passive index investors is that they â€Å"fuel the fire† of a market that appreciates well beyond its true value. Index mutual funds must put new money to work†¦ they can not hold cash†¦ and their investors all buy the exact same stocks. When stocks go down, index funds, being fully invested, will receive the ultimate effect of the decline. Combined with this loss is the fact that they will also have to sell shares to cover shareholder redemptions. These funds will get hit harder than many active portfolios with a cash cushion. Most active managers of investment portfolios raise cash as they perceive higher valuations, excessive instability, and extreme risks, therefore; reducing the display to loss during declining markets. Another downside to passive indexing is the impact they have on market instability. This gives the patient active money manager a welcome opportunity to take advantage of stock selection at very attractive prices and, to some extent, time the market in making their decisions of when to buy and when to sell. Index investing is a tricky business that can roil markets. Actively indexed funds have gone upward over the last decade. This has occurred despite the fact that investors have poured huge amounts of money into active funds over this period. The costs of investing in index funds have trended downward as they have become more popular with investors. The costs of active index funds just might decrease in the future, thereby narrowing the cost gap with passive index funds. But all evidence to date has shown just the opposite trend – the costs of active funds continue to go up and the costs of index funds continue to go down. Actively indexed funds typically generate relatively large amounts of taxes while passive index funds generate relatively small amounts. Some of the resulting gap in performance caused by taxes would seemingly be narrowed if the federal government were to lower tax rates. Congress did this at the end of July 1997 when it reduced the maximum long term capital gains tax rate from 28% on investments held more than one year to 20% on investments held 18 months or longer. The tax bill provides that in the year 2001 this rate will be reduced to 18% for investments held five years or longer. Finally, active money managers serve the specific needs of their clients. They manage portfolios based exactly on the investor’s objectives and tolerance for risk. They make decisions based on a stated time frame and they are capable of changing the goals and direction of a portfolio on a moment’s notice. They are the investor’s personal link to the market and the protector of their capital. The value of these services is immeasurable to most investors. One thing that really does not influence the investor as much as it should is the lack of appreciation with respect to the tax consequences of passive index management. The capital gains, created during the year by a fully active index manager, is reported to the IRS, and the investor ends up being taxed. For a taxed investor, the buy-and-hold is a winning strategy. Turnover is the enemy of the investor who pays taxes. Conversely, most investors would be more than happy to pay taxes on the returns produced by active money managers during periods of declining markets. Not many investors prefer losses to earning some gains and interest, even with the tax man waiting. The effect of so many investors buying index funds is that they tend to guard the money market. An investor could actually, in a cost-effective manner, buy and sell the market. The asset funding of active managers, combined with the efficiency of the passive manager, allows one to implement strategies that provide an optimal mix of securities to match a particular scenario, objective, or risk aversion. From time to time, it is possible that the major assets can get out of balance. Investors can run up prices where the lawfulness market is overvalued. When this reaches a untrustworthy level, more self-corrective measures are needed. This is where the expertise of the active manager becomes useful. As an investor, you are always trading off what Jeremy Bentham, the British economist, referred to as the â€Å"pain-pleasure calculus. † Good returns produce pleasure. Bad returns produce pain. An active money manager is always balancing off the pleasure vs. e potential pain. The active manager tends to determine what that balance is and if it finds that the market is deployed otherwise, it works in balancing the portfolio. Tactical asset funding combined with a passively managed portfolio has been called the â€Å"holy grail† of investing by Jonathan Burton, of Dow Jones’ Asset Management magazine. During declining markets, index funds take the full force of the market’s loss. Managers of these funds are forced to sell stocks in order to meet the demand for redemptions as their investors got out of the market. During markets of very little movement, investors quickly drain of insufficient or no returns on their investment. Finally, a philosophy of capital preservation causes the active manager to raise cash, providing a cushion for portfolios during times of extreme risk. Active or passive? Both have their advantages and their risks, but the two are found to be the best long-term plans for both performance and safety. Index (passive) funds are likely to beat active funds, yet the Morningstar data show that 92% of all the money is U. S. stock funds is in active funds. Active and Passive Indexing From 1986 to 1996, the amount of money invested in index funds grew from $556 million to $65 Billion. And if anything, individual investors have been slow to embrace passive management. Institutional investors invest a far larger percentage of their assets passively. Many individual investors are simply uneducated and unaware of the arguments and experimental evidence supporting passive management. Institutional investors and academics have known for years (many for decades) that passive investing is extremely difficult to beat and that the majority of active investors will fail in their attempt to outperform the market. Active indexers assert they can outperform the marketplace. Passive (index) portfolios state they can mirror the performance of the indices. Both have their good times and their bad times. Active indexers raise cash in times of increased risk and instability while passive indexers remain fully invested. This can be quite painful during times of large declines in the market. Passive portfolios mirror the gains of the indices during roaring bull markets and eventually outperform the majority of active money managers who must remain diversified and who sometimes take on additional risks in an attempt to produce the performance and safety that they have promised their clients. The evidence has piled up during today’s bull market that the average dollar managed by active managers does not keep up with the market index. Finally, indexing is a way to avoid being blind-sided in certain areas of the marketplace. Active management themes can easily find themselves on the wrong side of an investment. There is a perception among investors that a strategy designed to match stock market returns is less risky than a comparable actively managed portfolio. Since the index approach invests in a manner that is most friendly with the market’s natural liquidity, it produces the least disturbance. The passive investor also has diversified his risk. Specific negative things can happen to individual companies or groups. As a passive investor, one is not exposed to any of these things. However, it does not mean you have a risk-free investment. The downside to passive index investors is that they â€Å"fuel the fire† of a market that appreciates well beyond its true value. Index mutual funds must put new money to work†¦ they can not hold cash†¦ and their investors all buy the exact same stocks. When stocks go down, index funds, being fully invested, will receive the ultimate effect of the decline. Combined with this loss is the fact that they will also have to sell shares to cover shareholder redemptions. These funds will get hit harder than many active portfolios with a cash cushion. Most active managers of investment portfolios raise cash as they perceive higher valuations, excessive instability, and extreme risks, therefore; reducing the display to loss during declining markets. Another downside to passive indexing is the impact they have on market instability. This gives the patient active money manager a welcome opportunity to take advantage of stock selection at very attractive prices and, to some extent, time the market in making their decisions of when to buy and when to sell. Index investing is a tricky business that can roil markets. Actively indexed funds have gone upward over the last decade. This has occurred despite the fact that investors have poured huge amounts of money into active funds over this period. The costs of investing in index funds have trended downward as they have become more popular with investors. The costs of active index funds just might decrease in the future, thereby narrowing the cost gap with passive index funds. But all evidence to date has shown just the opposite trend – the costs of active funds continue to go up and the costs of index funds continue to go down. Actively indexed funds typically generate relatively large amounts of taxes while passive index funds generate relatively small amounts. Some of the resulting gap in performance caused by taxes would seemingly be narrowed if the federal government were to lower tax rates. Congress did this at the end of July 1997 when it reduced the maximum long term capital gains tax rate from 28% on investments held more than one year to 20% on investments held 18 months or longer. The tax bill provides that in the year 2001 this rate will be reduced to 18% for investments held five years or longer. Finally, active money managers serve the specific needs of their clients. They manage portfolios based exactly on the investor’s objectives and tolerance for risk. They make decisions based on a stated time frame and they are capable of changing the goals and direction of a portfolio on a moment’s notice. They are the investor’s personal link to the market and the protector of their capital. The value of these services is immeasurable to most investors. One thing that really does not influence the investor as much as it should is the lack of appreciation with respect to the tax consequences of passive index management. The capital gains, created during the year by a fully active index manager, is reported to the IRS, and the investor ends up being taxed. For a taxed investor, the buy-and-hold is a winning strategy. Turnover is the enemy of the investor who pays taxes. Conversely, most investors would be more than happy to pay taxes on the returns produced by active money managers during periods of declining markets. Not many investors prefer losses to earning some gains and interest, even with the tax man waiting. The effect of so many investors buying index funds is that they tend to guard the money market. An investor could actually, in a cost-effective manner, buy and sell the market. The asset funding of active managers, combined with the efficiency of the passive manager, allows one to implement strategies that provide an optimal mix of securities to match a particular scenario, objective, or risk aversion. From time to time, it is possible that the major assets can get out of balance. Investors can run up prices where the lawfulness market is overvalued. When this reaches a untrustworthy level, more self-corrective measures are needed. This is where the expertise of the active manager becomes useful. As an investor, you are always trading off what Jeremy Bentham, the British economist, referred to as the â€Å"pain-pleasure calculus. † Good returns produce pleasure. Bad returns produce pain. An active money manager is always balancing off the pleasure vs. e potential pain. The active manager tends to determine what that balance is and if it finds that the market is deployed otherwise, it works in balancing the portfolio. Tactical asset funding combined with a passively managed portfolio has been called the â€Å"holy grail† of investing by Jonathan Burton, of Dow Jones’ Asset Management magazine. During declining markets, index funds take the full force of the market’s loss. Managers of these funds are forced to sell stocks in order to meet the demand for redemptions as their investors got out of the market. During markets of very little movement, investors quickly drain of insufficient or no returns on their investment. Finally, a philosophy of capital preservation causes the active manager to raise cash, providing a cushion for portfolios during times of extreme risk. Active or passive? Both have their advantages and their risks, but the two are found to be the best long-term plans for both performance and safety. Index (passive) funds are likely to beat active funds, yet the Morningstar data show that 92% of all the money is U. S. stock funds is in active funds.