Should People Be Allowed to Use Mobile Phone While Driving?

Should People be allowed to Use Mobile Phone while Driving? These days, mobile phone has become almost a basic necessity. We need a mobile phone everywhere for a faster and swifter communication with rest of the world. Unfortunately sometimes, because of the misuse of mobile phone especially while driving, even the lives of people are at risk. Using cell phones while driving distracts drivers from the road, and drivers need to use all their senses, including hearing, to drive. Since we can't use our sense of hearing for the purpose of driving when we are on our cell phones, many accidents can be caused.Although mobile phone makes our communication easy and fast, it should not be used while driving on the road. In my opinion, talking on a cell phone while driving is an extremely dangerous practice. The idea of allowing the use of mobile phones while driving is relevant because the use of cellular phones has become a necessary part of our modern life. On the contrary, driving requires full attention on road. †Studies show that driving while talking on a cell phone is extremely dangerous and puts drivers at a four times greater risk of a crash† said  president and CEO The National Safety Council Janet Froetscher.Compare and Contrast Driving in the Winter and Driving in the SummerIt causes miscommunication between driver and traffic control. Using mobile phone while driving can cause loss of concentration and as a result a single mistake while driving can lead to injury or death. However, most of all texting and driving should be banned because it can hurt themselves and other too. As technology has become more advanced, more distractions are available for drivers and became more dangerous. Now it's not just a simple conversation or a text message that can distract drivers: it's YouTube, Face book and the New York Times, all competing with the road for the driver’s attention.It can also be said that, while the usage of mobile phone during drivi ng is considered as dangerous, conversing with passengers during driving can be called as equally dangerous. Taking â€Å"hands free† on a cell phone can be considered the same as talking to a passenger while driving. On the other hand, it can be said that while, multitasking during driving seems to be normal, but in reality, multitasking can actually reduce the field of vision while driving.On top of that, another study demonstrates that talking to passengers, as opposed to talking on a cell phone, actually makes adult drivers safer, because passengers help alert drivers to potential driving risks. In addition, recent studies have shown that the use of communication devices can actually impair ones driving, as during communication we are required to give attention to the speaker. In the process of listening to the speaker, many people unconsciously, lose focus on their driving and hence their driving is worse than before.Since all cell phone conversation still required focus ed attention, hands free devices are no less distracting than hand held devices. Another point in favor of the use of cell phones while driving could be that, responsible people who understand the risks involved in using mobile phones while driving and can actually handle this should be allowed to use mobile phones during driving. Even though people might argue about responsible people being allowed to use mobile phones while driving, studies have shown that drivers who are allowed to talk while driving tend to respond less quickly and are much more likely to cause car accidents.Furthermore, driving while using cell phones can be considered equivalent, to a certain extent, as drunk driving because people when drunk become unresponsive and while talking on their cell phones while driving they also become unresponsive, although not as much as drunk people but still enough to be called risky. During driving when people talk on their mobile phones, risk the lives of other people as well as they are distracted from the task at hand. After considering all the above arguments I still strongly believe that, people should not be allowed to use mobile phones while driving.Driving while talking on a cell phone is distracting as it causes many accidents each year. It is a dangerous practice and needs to be outlawed because a lot of people who have gotten into car accidents were found to be on their cell phones when the accident happened. So in conclusion, I would like to state that, laws on preventing drivers to use cell phones while driving should be implemented where there is none and laws should be made stricter where there are such laws. (751 WORDS)

Prospects of Democracy

Unfortunately, these moronic, ungrateful, stone-age Jerk-offs either refuse that generous gift out of arrogance or are too stupid to put it together correctly (It's not like It's an Kea dresser, folks). Is the developing world hopeless, or are the efforts of developed countries? Has democracy simply run its course among those who are capable of handling It? What developed countries could democracy work or not work In? Regardless of the answer to those questions, which I will address, the people of any given nation have to want democracy. The U.S has been a leader in trying to sit on the chest of developing countries trying to spoon-feed this lattice medication to them, but even when it goes in their mouth, the spit it back out the moment they stand back up. For the sake of humor though, I'll juxtapose the U. S as a successful democracy against that of other countries in its history for the first part of my essay. The second of potential and current democracies in the modern world, an d last, whether and how much democracy I believe there will be in the next 20 to 25 years and solutions to achieve it.Get ready to hop on the Magic School Bus not to the Prehistoric era or inside a human body, but†¦ To the land of democracy? Sorry, Ms. Frizzle got sent to rehab by some marc who found LSI under the driver's seat. Suffice to say this ride won't be as fun as past â€Å"adventures†, but I'm going to give It a damned good try. Now let's take a trip back to 1783 in the great land we've just come to know as the united States of America. For the first time, it appears as though democracy truly has a shot.The British actually surrendered to the American revolutionaries and those who remained in opposition exiled themselves! Talk about a clean break! As most now in modern times, this is not the usual case in revolutions. Even the supposedly peace-loving and wimpy French were chopping off heads in the name of democracy. There's always the Greeks right? Sadly, the e steemed Athenian democracy met its ends through the violence and civil war it had allowed to fester throughout it's reign.However, America Is deferent – not simply due to apple pale and barbecue – but like most great achievements, due to impeccable timing. Had what's now known as the united States been colonized centuries prior when Europe was still trudging through the Feudal Ages, democracy would almost certainly falter, especially In an emerging nation. And regardless of the ascribed poverty of our country's childhood, most of the influence, and at worst, they were of a middle-merchant class.In addition, they were also working with an Eden of resources and real estate. As the Proof. Said and I paraphrase, â€Å"they would have to be pretty stupid to mess this up. † Furthermore, this was post-renaissance and ideas like democracy and morally-rich thought had been being nurtured for a good portion of time. And one of the more important aspect was that while the colonists were poor, they had an entire ocean to separate their ‘oppressors'!. Back to the point of comparing the U. S with other countries past and present, the U.S has not yet proven either its ability to wield democracy successfully nor whether democracy is even a successful form of government. â€Å"Hell to the no, wiener-brain†, I can already hear you shouting, but I implore your to consider this quote from Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, â€Å"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dict atorship. † This was said in 1787 and while is hasn't come to fruition in the United States, it has certainly done so in many other upstart democracies. Hearkening upon my early statement about the U. S. ‘s success, I pose two questions to gauge the democracy's success. What is the best kind of democracy? The U.S has a representative democracy hat is actually more akin to a republic (the latter being an especially deft blow to its potential claim of success). How can a government's ability to conquer an entire form of policy be Judged on one particular? How much time must pass before a democracy is to be deemed a success or not? The U. S is going on 250 years, not much greater than Greece (in more strict democratic terms), well beneath the Roman Republic which peaked around 500 years, and vastly short of the longest-living globally successful civilizations in history.For the sake of argument however, let us assume that the U. S is indeed all that ND a bag of Chests (why would you choose plain chips when there are so many better options? ) and that it will survive until Jesus flies down and raptures all of its citizens up to heaven for being so loyal (except the gays and Democrats). Despite all of its political prowess and embodiment of benevolence, America cannot be a role model to most countries because its situation differs far too much from other countries.Two countries may have the same recipe for chocolate chip cookies, but if the U. S has butter and Ghana only has butter-substitute spread, guess what – you're not goanna end up with chocolate chip cookies. To start, as I said in the previous paragraph, America had what few countries have had or will ever have: a blank canvass and the brushes to paint onto it. When the pilgrims escaped the despotic rule of the English, despite their difference, they shared far more in common.As the American Revolution was waged and goals were made in the aftermath, common interest on the macro level was still abundant. In contrast, â€Å"The countries of the bottom billion are, for the most part, the opposite of America. Rapidly put together in nation†¦. The now-successful states were built through a painfully slow and circuitous recess of formation that turned them into nations with which their citizens identified. This enabled them to undertake the collective action that is vital for the provision of public goods.Most modern states were once ethnically diverse. The boundaries of a modern state generally emerged not out of deepening bonds forged out of a primordial ethnic solidarity but as the solution to the central security issue of what size of territory was best suited to the creation of a monopoly over the means of violence† (Collier, 2009). This lends a crucial similarity to the U. S and developing countries: violence. Not even a century into its lifespan, the United States was already destroying itself – not quite the idyllic picture modern citizens paint for it.Even the political process that had brought the U. S to that point relied on conflict: â€Å"The evolution of the modern state was, on this analysis, violence driven. Step by step, the predatory ruler of the mint-state had evolved into the desperate-to-please, service-promising, modern vote- seeking politician. † (Collier, 2009). Throughout the 19th century the U. S political system potentially gave a voice and ammunition to any self-centered megalomaniac ho may have planned to use the system to satisfy his and his friends' appetite for profit.The electoral process of the early U. S was rife with corruption with politicians bribing for vote and boxing out undesirables from the polling booths (e. G. Blacks, anyone who disagrees). This is hardly the system most would want to see implemented in developing countries even if the eventual outcome is a successful system like the U. S enjoys now. Kenya is currently considered by many to be the most successful democracy about developing nations. Sadly, this is like saying it is the prettiest turn in the toilet.Lash out if you will, but I say this to emphatically point out that Kenya is a part of a larger failing system and its successes are simply not great enough to warrant any sort of complacency. And when the U. S is considered hypothetically as a marker one needs to consider its current ten percent unemployment level and major election corruption as recent as 2000 in the Bush/Gore presidential race (or perhaps 2008 if one feels the need to consider the black panther incident to be on the same scale), it is quickly realized that the bar needs to be raised for all, not simply developing worlds.In order for democracy to truly take root in developing nations first-world intervention cannot be reduced to the parental platitude of â€Å"do as I say, not as I do†. Nations such as Kenya or Zambia are not stupid or naive children and don't want to be ordered to follow democratic dictations when their a dministrators renege on their promises and police themselves as they see fit (lending yet more credence to the 01†² Spider-man adage, â€Å"with great power comes great responsibility'). However, a nation such as Kenya is in role of leadership itself amidst the other African developing democracies and is thus expected to up its ante as well.Unfortunately the lack of democracy almost always brings with it the lack of accountability in the public and media arena too. Kenya was no exception given that â€Å"The structure of the Kenya media system appears to result in many media outlets turning in to direct political instruments in election campaigns, during which politicians use ethnicity to win votes. † (Hollander, 2010). How can the public make sound political choices when one, information from the television or literature?The situation doesn't look to be improving for developing countries elsewhere on the globe either. Further north – but not too distant in Afric a – another prime democratic hopeful Morocco shares its breather's woes. â€Å"Morocco has the longest record of multi-party elections – 1963 on. Yet whenever the king risked losing, the king dissolved the assembly and changed the rules. † and â€Å"Most of these countries have held elections at least occasionally, but all too often these have been fake elections orchestrated by the government in favor of one party. † (Étagà ¨re, 2003).This paints a rather bleak picture for democracy in developing countries given that Kenya is supposed to be a hallmark of hope: if they cannot achieve it, who can? It appears that a trend, rather a disease, has a Dearth Evader death-grip on the societies' political ambitions. Democracy is often spoken of the most ideal and viable alternative to warfare as the combatants can fight within the arena of politics rather than the battlefield, however most hopeful leaders have taken that maxim to the extreme. Rather than shou lder the burden of leadership for the greater good of Justice and their people's welfare, â€Å"†¦ N actual practice , in many developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the process of democracy is marked by bitter animosity and quarrel between the efferent political parties , giving an impression as if these countries are in constant turmoil all the time with one group trying to defeat another group to seize power. † (Sir Lankan Guardian, 2010). In turn, these elections become mere contests where politicians become intoxicated in the thrill of the fight and seek only to serve their or their family's needs in a twisted marriage of their own ego. Each political group in its anxiety to defeat the other often even go to the extent of maintaining thugs and rowdies in their groups to indulge in violence, settle scores with the opponents, indulge in malpractices in election including bribing the voters etc. Due to this approach, the law and order machinery virtual ly collapses. † (Sir Lankan Guardian, 2010) While this is true for many politicians in any country, it's especially devastating to a country like Sir Lankan, who don't even have a sound enough political system or successful economical infrastructure to absorb the shock of those mistakes.This kind of arrogance leads to a destitution where the populace is virtually selling itself into slavery to the government. The governments of developing countries or hat Paul Collier calls pejoratively â€Å"the bottom billion† are blind to the tremendous cost of their foolish attempt to shield themselves from cooperation with their neighbors. â€Å"The paradox is that despite having the most to gain from pooling their sovereignty, the societies of the bottom billion have pooled it the least. † (Collier, 2009).Many of these countries operate under a facade of democracy and subject their citizens to authoritarian rule such as despotism that â€Å"†¦ May take the form of a à ¢â‚¬Å"beggars' democracy,† where people talk at will, in groups even, but can never expect to change anything. † (Kaplan, 1996). In Latin America, one author tells how the authoritarian regimes had become so severe they should actually be viewed as a benchmark for necessary studies on democracy that scholars often ignore: â€Å"These lessons†¦ Were learned through the bitter experiences of democratic breakdown and repressive, bureaucratic-authoritarian rule (p. 2), a claim that echoes throughout the ramifications of the violence that birthed almost every major nation in the world that I spoke of earlier, and the cause of the violence itself: ethnic identity. The idea that ethnicity is both the cause of nationalistic violence and the obstacle tanning in the way of a successful democracy is something certainly doesn't sit well with most and may end up actually inciting violence! As I stated before, America had the advantage of being forced to deal with diversity wher eas most nations have a firmly rooted cultural society, complete with enemies and collective taboos.America's economy was also firmly tied to its cultural identity which is important because â€Å"When the pace of expansion gets sufficiently far ahead of the process of building a common identity, the resulting superstars face overwhelming problems in trying to establish a common identity. Instead of becoming nations, by default they become empires. † (Collier, 2009). A common identity was forged through the â€Å"state† part of the United States where the states could pursue their own interest to some degree, but were ultimately held up the to law and standard of a central government.Even China – commonly viewed as purely an authoritarian government – has only been successful politically and economically when they unified under the emperor Kin Shih Hunting and more recently under the communist party. This illustrates a very basic and click principle of â €Å"two are stronger than one†, but is one many developing entries refuse to accept due largely to self-serving interests. This conundrum is likely most prevalent in the Middle-East and Africa where basically the same cultural wars have been waged since ancient times.Given the relatively most economically severe nature of the latter coupled with the proportionally greatest amount of aid sent there, the stakes are the highest. â€Å"The evidence from recent surveys of attitudes across nine African countries by Aftermarket is not encouraging. It is found that if people are educated they are more likely to identify themselves through their ethnicity. â€Å"So development, with the attendant education, Jobs, and electoral competition, is increasing the salience of ethnic diversity rather than erasing it. † (Collier, 2009).So despite overall improvement of these developing countries, democracy still faces a disturbingly poor outlook. Despite any inclination so far to the c ontrary, capitalism is still necessary for a country to facilitate democracy regardless of any ethnic ties that will remain. It will lift the economic tide of the given country, and more importantly give collective identity through the society's pursuit of better financial welfare. As it stands, African evolving countries are far from self-sufficient let alone ripe for producing democracy. The resulting reduced need to tax has been reinforced by aid: in the typical country of the bottom billion the government gets around a third of its expenditure needs met by aid†¦ The current Uganda president Missives has deviated from his previous tyrannical leaders in that he realizes that in order to have a strong army one must must have a strong economy. † (Collier, 2009). Coupled with American's instant society, capitalism raised the income of the average citizen throughout the country's history and prevented any one entity from ruling the entry or forcing its hand political (with a few exceptions of course).When the economy is healthy enough to support a widespread computer access in developing countries,†The use of Sits (Information and Communication Technologies) can lead to accountability' in democratic elections. (Modern Democracy, 2010). However, neoclassical capitalism will not suit the country seeking democracy, especially given their ethnic circumstances; regulation is necessary to ensure that the market doesn't become corrupt or unstable as is the case with so many African countries (and notably the United States in the recent financial crisis).As for the argument that regulation stifles innovation, Stilling cited former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Blocker, who said: ‘it's hard to find any evidence from anybody who's not in the industry that can show any clear link between the so-called financial innovations and increased productivity in our economy. ‘†(CNN, 2010). Here the relationship between ethnic identity and capitalis m becomes even more important: the population of a developing country must not think simply for themselves, but for what they believe is the betterment of their country as a whole given that â€Å"†¦ Racket is not one individual; Robinson Crusoe does not make for much of an economy. † (Smith, 2010). So given capitalism and ethnic identity, we now have two strong ingredients for the recipe of democracy, but how do we make developing countries go by the recipe? Any tactful parent knows the best kind of method to get your kid to do what you want is through incentives or misleading rather than direct positive punishment. In this line of thinking I propose two solutions – one that I've up with myself and one I am borrowing from one of my sources.The first is a leader of a leader or group of adders coming together using the old adage of â€Å"an enemy of my enemy is my friend† in that larger groups paint each other as the devil and consolidate their political sov ereignty in Africa into two to three larger states. The leader(s) hopefully will understand this strategy is merely for political purposes and in turn practice enough restraint to prevent the whole from barring all contact with each other. The would eliminate much of the ethnic conflict by saying â€Å"look how much we have in common given that these people don't truly understand our collective struggles. This is no bout at least a mite idealistic as managing ethnic conflicts that have lasted for centuries through a one of the biggest escapades of charm the world has ever known would be a task not suited for the current political leaders of developing countries. The second strategy is one the author Paul Collier suggests is positive reinforcement in the form of international military intervention – not the kind that's most thought of though. In developing countries governments, especially newly formed ones, the first thing they fear is military upheaval or coups De teat so w hat is it that they'd want most – the prevention of them.Basically what he proposes is that the international community lay out a list of rules for democracy that a given country has to follow and in return they will protect them from any sort of military coup. To support his theory, Collier goes through a test â€Å"game tree† where all the possible scenarios that could occur in response to this proposal would all end up in at least one or some the countries agreeing to this proposal. The latter would take place because nobody wants to be the only ones on the chopping block by themselves.Furthermore, Collier suggests that â€Å"coups need to be harnessed, not eliminated† (Collier, 2009). The international community can then guide countries into democracies through protection and support of viable leaders who want to see the process through. Requires meticulous manipulation and time, while the latter basically is forcing democracy through non-democratic means. U nfortunately, response to this criticism comes down to saying, Mimi got a better idea? † Within a time frame of 20-25 years, I believe democracy is certainly achievable – through means such as the ones I suggest or variations of it otherwise.Following the end of the Cold War, the developed worlds made almost all the mistakes possible in the handling of evolving countries: they either intervened too much militarily or not enough (Rwanda). Another strategy, bridled with or instead of the former, would be centered around ramping up the amount of aid that developing countries are so heavily reliant on in exchange for a structured system on how it is spent. Further-along democracies such as Thailand or India could benefit from these programs as well.Plus, as these maturing democracies develop, they will be given more say and weight when dealing with international matters – a kind of recognition they likely feel is long overdue. Much of the Western world needs to stop treating these countries like they are simply children (or at least don't let them think that you are). The Democracy that Americans enjoy is an exception, not the standard. Many of the protections economic standards that Westerners employ need to be disbanded to support global financial growth and in turn, a more healthy domestic economy.Compassion and self-interest need not be enemies, however, helping developing countries make the feasible transition to democracy requires a genuine altruism that's not often seen in political endeavors. Being that I'm no economic or political expert, I almost feel that writing this paper is pointless outside of a grade because managing this subject successfully is something that requires an entire career, but in a message that needs to be transmitted to the entire developed world: we need to start somewhere.

An Industry View of the Organic Baby Food Market Essay

â€Å"The organic niche for baby-food processors and retailers may continue to be a window of opportunity for increasing sales in an otherwise stagnant industry. † There are limited studies done on the organic baby food niche, but it is proven by many studies that its popularity and market share continue to grow at a double digit rate when compared to conventional baby food products. * Organic baby products averaged around 7. 7% total market share in 2010, and expected to be 10. 9% by 2014. * Growth is partially contributed to the expanding sector of consumers buying only organic products. * It is important to note that Individual manufactures and retailers are never again expected to achieve growth rate like that in recent years (since 2000) due to the saturation and leveling of the market. A growing number of baby food consumers are realizing the benefits of organics over conventional counterparts, and are in most cases willing to pay a premium for organic products. However; being organic or not organic has yet to become a major determinate in making baby food purchasing decisions. * The most important factor influencing the decision to purchase organic vs. conventional remains nutrition. Organic or not organic comes in a very distant 4th according to a study done by Bond, Thilmany, and Bond. * The same study concluded that although most people are willing to pay a premium for organic baby food, it is not considered to be a dominate purchasing factor. * On the other hand, when looking specifically at consumers who purchase only organic food, organic baby food is among the most popular items purchased. Illustrations below produced by Agriculture and Agri-Food of Canada show that per capita dollars spent on organic baby food and the compound annual growth rate for organic baby food is second only to organic ice cream. With the increasing number reputable companies starting to produce organic baby food, reliance on â€Å"trendy† advertising, product innovation & development, SEO, a constant effort to educate consumer awareness, and acquiring shelf space everywhere possible is recommended to stay competitive. * Eating at home and eating healthy are important trends that are likely to increase demand for organic foods in general. * The misconception that organic food is only accessible and purchased by wealthier consumers is fading. Organic products are still considered to be a niche market, but organic packaged food has increasingly penetrated mass market grocery retailers such as Wal-Mart and Whole Foods. * On-line sales will continue to increase as people become more connected and comfortable with technology. Especially true for the next generation of mothers who are already experts in convenience and on-line shopping. Continue to focus on developing your e-commerce capabilities. * The organic food retail industry is highly fragmented and comprised of many small local and regional chains. Focusing on expanding into these stores will allow you access to additional locations; therefore increasing brand recognition and influence on consumer decisions. * Develop relations with suppliers. Major competitors manufacturing organic baby food include: * Earth’s Best- Gerber. * Hain Celestial Group – Happy Family * Happy Baby- Kamut International More at http://www. theorganicpages. com Bottom line; with the national influx of local health food stores and the expanding selection available at grocery stores and boutiques, organic baby food should provide for a steady market increase in the years to come. People are increasingly requesting organic products, and like most adopted trends, these parents will pass on their buying habits to their children who will also become devoted patrons. The key to long term success will be to stay on top of your industry. This includes aggressive marketing strategies, developing good business relations with you suppliers and retailers, and actually understanding what your consumers want rather than telling them what they want.   [ 1 ]. Demand for Organic and Conventional Baby Food – Victoria S. LeBeaux, James E. Epperson, Chnng L. Hnang (March 1, 2009) [ 2 ]. Agriculture and Agri-Food of Canada [ 3 ]. Demand for Organic and Conventional Baby Food – Batte et al. (2007) [ 4 ]. Datamonitor, Whole Foods Market, Inc Market Profile.

What are the implications for social policy in an age of austerity Essay

What are the implications for social policy in an age of austerity - Essay Example All these measures, eventually, have an impact on the socio-economic environment. Social policy has been identified as the need to alter the social order by trying to modify the market forces in place, and redistributing some of the resources an economy possesses (Krugman 2012). This paper will examine some of the implications, and how governments are handling the situations in their countries. Governments around the world are looking out for the interests of their nations by implementing some of these measures. However, many economists believe that these strategies and policies might damage the social environment, in the long run. The future of economies, around the world, is at the mercy of these policies and strategies (Kilkey, Ramia & Farnsworth 2012). The austerity policies might be reducing the deficit budgets that these economies have suffered. However, many folks believe that, the scarring effects in the many regions where these cuts occur will be much worse (Pierson 2001). This is the problem with looking at the situation for the short term period the economies are facing (Exadaktylos & Zahariadis 2012). Britain is a perfect example of a nation that is experiencing these policies. Greece is known to owe Germany a tremendous debt, and is also implementing these strategies. These strategies come with a number of implications in the manner and way of life of individuals in these regions (Pierson 2001). One of the ways folks may be affected is through the medical care they receive. The governments in many regions, especially first world countries, offer their citizens universal medical cover. The quality of this insurance cover may reduce, thus; prove a daunting task to acquire the most basic medical attention (Kilkey, Ramia & Farnsworth 2012). In many areas, this may not be a problem. However, in countries where a majority of individuals are living below the poverty line, medical attention

Strategic Partnering within the UK Construction Industry Dissertation

Strategic Partnering within the UK Construction Industry - Dissertation Example i Acknowledgements Firstly I would like to thank my mother, Madonna Barr, who through everything has always provided me with encouragement, love and support. Secondly I would like to thank my family. Firstly my partner Michael Mc Grotty, whose continuous support has made me realize my potential and with that the person I am. Secondly my two darling kids, Dylan and Caitlin, for putting up with me being tired after many late nights working on this. Thirdly I would like to thank, Chris Ajala and Simon Weir for taking the time to answer my questionnaires and meet up with me, on many occasions, to discuss partnering. Last but certainly not least, i would like to thank The School Of The Built Environmant, at Leeds Metropolitan University for their never ending encouragement and support, namely Dr Dave Roberts, Ellen Glover, Chris Gorse and Dave Pearse. ii Declaration I, Aisling Barr, declare that this work is my own and has been adequately referenced in accordance with the Harvard Referencing System. Signed. .......................................................... iii Contents Page Abstract i Acknowledgement ii Declaration iii List of Figures iv SECTION 1 Chapter 1 Introduction 9-13 Chapter II Executive summary 14-15 SECTION II INSIGHT INTO THE CONTRUCTION INDUSTRY PARNERSHIPS Chapter I The Partnerships The partnerships: the concept 18 Disadvantages 20 High performance production systems 20 Partnering and the production in the construction industry 21 The concept of partnering 22 Defining partnerships in construction 22 Management 22 Behavioral patterns 23 Factors for the... The concept of partnering, according to Broome (2002) was first generalized as being developed in the construction industry in Japan in the 1980's, and with that the application of total quality management and lean manufacturing concepts, where taken from manufacturing industries there. Furthermore Broome (2002) states, â€Å"The motivation for partnering and its popularization came from the USA†. Winch (2002) says that partnering in the UK came about due to the failure of traditional procurement methods ability to meet with client demands and with that the achievement of project objectives. Sir Michael Latham's report, (Constructing the Team, 1994) commissioned by the government and industry, recognized the need for a solution to the on-going problems within the construction industry. It explained the aspects of partnering and suggested that it would bring significant benefits to all parties. As partnering is not specific to the construction industry, there are many definitions. According to Telford (2002), partnering has been explained as: â€Å"A relationship between purchasers and providers of goods and services throughout the supply chain. The relationship is designed to achieve specific business objectives by maximizing the effectiveness of each participant’s resource. The relationship is based on mutual objectives, an agreed method of problem resolution and an active search for continuous measurable improvements.† A Partnering definition from the Construction Industry Institute, 1989 states:

Communication Process Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Communication Process Model - Essay Example In this scenario, nurse is the receiver of the message. The receiver obtains the message and understands the message according to his or her perception. The process of understanding the message is decoding, decoding of the message has taken place in this scenario but the receiver has not been able to understand the actual meaning of the message. The desired meaning of the message was that the patient has to take prescribed pills for three times a day, with an interval of four to six hours; the patient has to consume pills with food. The nurse interpreted the message in a different manner; the nurse perceived that the patient had to take one of the pills, each time he consumed food. Message is data dispatched by an individual (sender) and received by another individual (receiver). In this case, message was the directions of medicine consumption. Communication process fails if the message is misunderstood. Channel is the route selected by the sender to send the message. In this case, channel was patient record. Feedback is the response given to the sender by the receiver. Feedback helps the sender analyze whether the recipient has deduced the desired meaning of the message. Feedback can be vocal or non-vocal responses; in this case, feedback is the direction that patient follows to take his medication. This feedback will inform the sender (physician), that the message was not properly decoded. Obstacles are barriers of effective communication. In this case, obstacle was the perception of the receiver. The receiver could not perceive the actual meaning of the message, and the communication process failed. The patient has clearly misinterpreted the message because the nurse failed to interpret the original meaning of the message. The consequence of this misinterpretation is over dosage of medication. The patient might end up consuming the medication more than prescribed by the physicians; he might

Health and Safety Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Health and Safety - Assignment Example Management is an authoritative field that is meant to cater for the needs of the workers in an organization. Health and safety policy Health and safety management system is made of several elements. Among them are the health and safety policies. Health and safety policies are structured to monitor the operations of the organization regarding the welfare of workers. Some of the major specifications of the health policy specify the role of individuals while others outline the roles of an organization. Health policy gives specific individuals the mandate to assign responsibility for the identification of applicable regulations and acts. The document elaborates on the use of health procedures. Under this section, the organization is subjected to monitor health and safety legislations, building codes as well as health and safety legislations. The document also deals with the recording of data and keeping of health and safety information. It provides the employee with the rights to view he alth document as it gives employees the accessibility to legal health documents. Health policies specify on the updating of legal health records. The document outlines the procedures that have been put in place to track legislation as well as other health and safety requirements. It provides a clause that employees have a right to training after a legal procedure of recruitment in their area of specialization. Legislation Health and safety management system standard program has a legislative system whose function is to access and identify new proposed as well as existing health and safety legislations. Management responsibilities are outlined and allocated responsibilities are outlined and allocated. The applicable legal acts include: health and safety legislations, environmental legislation and building codes. A procedure shall also be put in place to track developments and key alterations to the health and safety requirements. The system implies that employees affected by the heal th and safety management alterations shall receive training concerning the legislations which are applicable to their jobs. Internal responsibility system The program advocates for an establishment of an internal responsibility system which will monitor the health and safety policies and enforce their implementations. Responsibilities of all levels of management are specified to ensure systematic performance and efficiency of the system. All responsibilities in the program are designed to make room for the institution of a Joint Health and safety committee. The system also provides a format for the selection of the Joint Health and Safety committee. Worker rights Another element is the worker’s rights. The health and safety act states that procedure for ensuring that workers rights are guaranteed by the occupational health and safety act. The occupation health and safety act provides the employees with the right to information and awareness. The main objective of the occupati onal health and safety act is to ensure that the working environment is suitable for the performance of work. This includes the elimination of all form of risks around the working environment. The right to information at work is the basic human right according to the occupational

What Is The Nature Of Happiness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

What Is The Nature Of Happiness - Essay Example One might ask if happiness is a state of mind or an illusion that the emotion of a person would entice the mind of being happy. Different branches of philosophy and religions have their own definition and beliefs towards the nature of happiness. Also, there has not been a definite formula for each and every person to achieve a state in which both mind and body would be in a state of happiness. One should also face the fact that no matter how powerful the mind of a person is it is not enough and would never ever is enough to change the events that are happening around him that might stimulate the happy emotion he would feel at a certain point. Most of the renowned Greek teachers and philosophers were the students of Socrates. As a teacher, there have been countless of ideas that Socrates might have given his students that gave the present generation a very colorful Greek philosophy. One of these ideas might be the nature of happiness. But Socrates did not tackle much about this. In some of the published works of Socrates, he barely touched on this thought. When analyzed, Socrates just laid out the principles of what is right and what is wrong and the possible consequences of such actions. These consequences would mean that when the right thing is done, it will constitute to the person and to other person’s happiness. While doing something wrong might result to the self and to other’s sorrow. This thought however brought his students something to ponder on and expound. Then one can seek into the works of Plato towards the nature of happiness. (GÃ ³mez-Lobo, 1994; Haybron, 2011) As a student of Socrates, Plato seemed to have based his thought’s foundation with the works of his teacher. This gave the birth to happiness being based on justice. Here is the beginning of a society that most countries still pattern their form of government, the

Phase 3 Behavioral Economics IP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Phase 3 Behavioral Economics IP - Essay Example A good example of a technological change is computers. Computers were invented early in the 19th century but they are still being improved. This improvement is what is referred as innovation. Computers are now used that ever before in all aspects of life from communication, production, security operations, management and education. This is now the diffusion of the use of computers. In the case of a bread factory, technological change is important to ensure that profits are maximized while costs are kept at minimum. In the bakery, I would use modern bread making technology that reliably increases the output of quality bread. This ensures that costs of substandard breads are reduced. To cut labor costs I would use computer controls and automation in the production processes. 2 (a) Develop a table that you believe shows the explicit fixed costs of the bread factory and the total amount of the costs. Explicit fixed costs Costs ($) Office equipment 1000 Heat & light 120 Programmer’ s salary 540 rent 400 insurance 250 Cleaning supplies 100 Total 2410 2 (b). Describe your variable costs Variable costs are costs that change with change in volume of production (Tucker, 2011). In the bread factory, variable costs include the costs of yeast, flour, packaging material and costs of hiring casual laborers. 3. Because you are not an expert yet on analyzing costs and optimal production levels, you decide to do a very simple analysis of your short-run fixed and variable costs if you expand. You decide that your only fixed cost will be the ovens and the variable costs will be the workers.   Quantity of Workers Quantity of Ovens Quantity of Loaves of Bread Produced Cost of Ovens Cost of Workers Per Week Total cost Average total cost = total cost/no. of breads Marginal product of labor = change in output/ unit change of labor Average product of labor = quantity/labor 0 2 0 500 0 500 0 0 0 1 2 50 500 450 950 19 50 50 2 2 125 500 900 1400 11.2 75 62.5 3 2 210 500 1350 1850 8 .8 85 70 4 2 300 500 1800 2300 7.7 90 75 5 2 410 500 2250 2750 6.7 90 82 6 2 550 500 2700 3200 5.82 140 91.7 7 2 625 500 3150 3650 5.84 75 89.3 8 2 660 500 3600 4100 6.2 35 82.5 9 2 700 500 4050 4550 6.5 40 77.8 10 2 730 500 4500 5000 6.85 30 73 a. Calculate the total cost and the average total cost, and add it to the table. b. Calculate the marginal product of labor, and add it to the table. c. Calculate the average product of labor, and add it to the table. 4. Although there seems to be a great demand for your bread, why would productivity decline when you hire more labor in the short run? Short run is a relatively short period of time in which a company makes temporary changes in the operations. In the bread factory, it requires more time and effort to bake one loaf of bread than it would take on average to bake more loaves of bread. The more laborers you hire the more the number of loaves produced. However, as you hire more and more workers, the benefit-derived from each additio nal employee will eventually decline. The reason behind this is that the marginal product of labor of each additional employee declines in the short run leading to diminishing marginal return (Taylor & Weerapana, 2012).

Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Analysis - Essay Example Most Americans agree that fast food is unhealthy and has bad consequences but they still eat it daily because their lifestyle demands such practices. they do not recognize how much it affects them. The article starts with a good introduction that expresses its clear objectives and points of view way to reach the point and grasp grape the American Americans reader’s attention, which is â€Å"sport†, because Because most Americans love sports. The author’s technique is effective because of the inclusion of the subject on sport which and it could be the first thing to be noticed in the an article. After mentioning sport, the authors introduces the problem and explains it and separates it out in details, supporting and support each part of the problem with scientific researches. It is shown that researches can effectively perfectly warn the reader from the ill effects of cheap fast food. Moreover, Then it gives some examples to support the researches. Finally, the ar ticle provides solutions and encourages readers asking to take an action to solve the that issue wherein efforts are exerted either by form the government or from the people. Appealing to Logos, the article has a very convincing way to make the reader be easily drawn to agree with on the author side. It mentions how the problem of cheap fast food could make bad consequences. For example, water pollution is unacceptable an acceptable to people because it affects their health and could make them ill or at risk. It also mentions that food industries cause water pollution because of the practices in garbage disposals and cleaning. Therefore, the author argues that fast food industry is synonymous to water pollution and this makes the two conditions simply unacceptable. , and then it mentions food industry and how it turns to cause water pollution and that makes food industry has the same consequences of water pollution, what logically makes food industry an acceptable as much as water p ollution is. Furthermore, it mentions cancer which is probably one of the most dangerous dangerousness complaints of customers because as it is commonly known, cancer could cause deaths if not very expensive and long process of treatments. in the and for sure most people know the deadly effects of it, and then the The article also mentions hormones that are be injected to cattle and seeds in order to make them grow fast and meet the demands of fast food chains. However, the hormones have diverse effects on humans who partake of the treated animals and other food products. This practice is unacceptable as well because it is already a parallel to cancer. bulking up faster to make easy fast food, that Hormones have dicey consequences which transfer to fast food and that cause breast and prostate cancer, which make that fast food an acceptable and dangerous as cancer is. In addition, the article mentions how air pollution is caused during the process so that the author persuades readers not to support the fast food industry by buying their products. It also mentions how air pollution is another undesirable issue and persuades readers that how manures can pollute air with chemicals elements., which make manures that used to make cattle and seeds grow faster another dungarees issue and the same as air pollution.

Concept of Delinquency Essay Example for Free

Concept of Delinquency Essay The National Criminal Justice Reference Service defines the offenses committed by status offenders as the following: â€Å"behaviors that were law violations only if committed by a person of juvenile status. Such behaviors include running away from home, ungovernability (being beyond the control of parents or guardians), truancy, status liquor law violations (e. g. , underage drinking, and other miscellaneous offenses that apply only to minors (e. g. , curfew violations and tobacco offenses. In the Federal Criminal System, juvenile delinquents are juvenile offenders processed in the Federal justice system, with charges of delinquency, which are in violation of state or federal laws. Looking at the definitions of these two, there seems to be a very thin line dividing the two which is why the justice system treats them similarly, which is by having the cases processed by the juvenile courts. From the point of view of the law enforcers, the treatment should be the same as both are violating certain laws and regulations. The other sectors however believe that the treatment should not be the same as status offenses are considered as minor offenses while the juvenile delinquency offenses are of graver status. Therefore the status offenders should not be processed in the same manner as the juvenile delinquents. The latter are considered to have more serious violations of either state or federal laws or municipal or local ordinances. A master’s study that was archived with the Central Connecticut State University Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice supported the claim that the treatment should not be the same. A review of a state program created to deal with status offenders was made and here it is asserted that the treatment of status offenders should not be the same. The paper asserts that status offenders should not be punished without having committed crimes and that they should not be referred to the courts as they have not committed crimes. Further, the juvenile courts should not be used to order children into placement. Why are males more delinquent than females? Is it a matter of lifestyle, culture or physical properties? A study of gender and delinquency entitled Crime Delinquency in the United States presents official statistics that suggest that males are significantly more criminal and delinquent than females. Data show that the teenage gender ratio for serious violent crime arrests is approximately 6 to 1, and for property crime approximately 2. 5 to 1, male to female. Similarly, the study by Melissa Sickmund (Juvenile Justice Bulletin, Oct. 2000) indicates that the males are involved in about 8 in 10 delinquency cases each year. Although they constitute only half of the juvenile population, males were involved in well over 70% of person, property, and public order offense cases and in 85% of drug law violation cases handled by the courts in 1997. The male proportions were somewhat higher in 1988. Here it is seen that males are more likely to be â€Å"frequently delinquent† than females and more likely to engage in serious felony-type acts. The explanations range from the biological to the sociological to the social. Each of the reasons identified in the question is a factor to consider: lifestyle, culture or physical properties. As to the lifestyle, males are more extroverted and therefore more exposed to the environment outside the homes. Even in the modern non-patriarchal societies, the males are seen to perform more roles outside of the house. Culture is an important reason too. Our general notion of the females relates to being mothers and therefore also naturally clinging to maternal support. This natural tendency explains why females will more likely not want to commit crimes. The physical or biological properties are also helpful in explaining this gender issue relative to delinquency. In their physical development, females are more expressive of their emotions, more open to family bonding and ties compared to males. Females have the tendency to be more closely monitored by the parents compared to the males. Should there be mandatory incarceration for chronic juvenile offenders? Those who are in favor or mandatory incarceration are of the opinion that offenders, regardless of gender or age should be incarcerated and that chronic offenders should be punished on a mandatory basis in order to reduce and deter crime . On the other hand, those who do not favor mandatory incarceration are of the opinion that for reform to take place, rehabilitation and not incarceration is the remedy. The paper written by Joseph B. Sanborn Jr. asserts that the traditional primary purpose of the juvenile justice system, which is rehabilitating young offenders, should be preserved. Because of the problem of excluding some juvenile delinquents from being prosecuted in the juvenile courts but only in the criminal courts, Sanborn believes that there must be developed a rationale for this exclusion. Summarizing the arguments for or against mandatory incarceration, a study on Serious Juvenile Offenders , quoting Schuster (1978), observes that the serious violent delinquent is an insignificant part of the total population and only a small part of the delinquent population. Because of their small numbers it is more appropriate to rely on the traditional juvenile court waiver mechanisms than to create new laws for the special handling of serious juvenile offenders. From another perspective, however, although serious juvenile offenders are few, they cause considerable social harm, such that measures must be taken to rotect society from them. This view, combined with an emphasis on crime reduction through incapacitation, has led to a policy of mandatory incarceration for serious juvenile offenders in some States. Another view holds that the incapacitation of chronic juvenile offenders will not substantially reduce the crime problem, because so many serious delinquent acts go undetected according to self-report data; however, the same studies suggest that the more frequent and serious violators eventually become â€Å"official† delinquents. Another perspective neither minimizes the problem of serious juvenile crime nor suggests that the rehabilitative goal of juvenile justice be abandoned. It advocates that juvenile justice develop programs that will facilitate change in serious juvenile offenders while providing adequate protection for society. While research can provide more information on what does and does work with such offenders, youth policy ultimately rests on ethical considerations that lie beyond the province of the legal and behavioral science realms. References http://www.ncjrs.gov/app/publications/Abstract.aspx?id=88858 http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/jjbul2000_10_3/contents.html

Are Concerns over Immigration to Do with Culture of Economic Reasons Essay Example for Free

Are Concerns over Immigration to Do with Culture of Economic Reasons Essay Almost all economists are in agreement that immigration has positive economic effects. Indeed in the United States it â€Å"provides natives with a net benefit of at least $80,000 per immigrant, or as much as $10 billion annually† (Bolin, 2006). However despite this there are huge numbers of advocacy groups pushing the pros and cons immigration to the populations of the host countries, with natives having negative views towards immigration (McLaren Johnson, 2007). Through the course of this essay I will examine whether the root cause of these often xenophobic views towards immigration have root causes in economic reasons (immigrants taking jobs from natives, and leading to lower wages) or symbolic reasons, where the natives are fearful that the immigrants will bring their culture to the host country and cause change. Enoch Powell, the Conservative British politician, gave a warning that immigrants were causing such strife that â€Å"like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood† (Powell, 1969). This turned out to be nonsense, and his advice that immigrants should be encouraged to leave, would have left Britain, and many other countries that rely on cheap foreign labour in a horrific state of affairs. Immigrants are now taking far longer to integrate into their host country and this is upsetting many natives. â€Å"In the past a third-generation migrant, for example in America, would have been expected to have shed much of his grandparents’ identity† (The Economist, 2008), not speaking his mother tongue and having little loyalty to the country his family originated from. This is changing â€Å"as migrants feel loyalty to more than one country† (The Economist, 2008). For example, Moroccans in Europe, even fourth generation, are encouraged by the Government to identify with the African country, and are granted Moroccan citizenship under the constitution. As many source countries such as India and China grow intent on gaining remittances from their emigres, â€Å"migrants even several generations on may come under great pressure to retain some of their old identity† (The Economist, 2008). This can all lead to immigrants never becoming fully integrated into the host country, causing social problems such as immigrants bunching together in the same place. Due to globalisation and time-space compression, it has become far easier for migrants to emigrate further away from their own country, this causes problems as they subsequently have little in common with their host country and find it harder to integrate into the community. Traveling long distances to emigrate is no longer a problem and in the future there will be the problem of â€Å"people moving greater distances and settling among different ethnic, religious and cultural groups† (The Economist, 2008), meaning they will have problems integrating. â€Å"Danes in Sweden or Albanians in Greece have little trouble integrating into the relatively familiar societies next door. Even Poles in Ireland prosper, perhaps thanks to the incomers’ good standard of education and skill and the shared Catholic faith. But Iraqis in Sweden, Somalis in Canada or Pakistanis in Norway typically find integration harder† (The Economist, 2008). Samuel Huntington blames this on the â€Å"great divisions among humankind† (Huntington, 1993) that are the differences between civilisations. He believes that immigration will ‘intensify civilization consciousness and awareness of differences between civilizations and commonalities within civilizations’ (Huntington, 1993). This leads to a ‘them versus us’ attitude, with the natives having the xenophobic view that the immigrants are qualitatively different from themselves. As the natives of the host country would have spent time constructing â€Å"discursive practices that attempt to fix meanings which enable the differentiation between the inside and the outside to be made† (Doty, 1996), they will resent immigrants not properly integrating themselves into the community. Research on social identity appears to conclude that identity is highly important to individuals, with individuals protecting these identities even if they have no realistic meaning (Monroe, et al. , 2000). People use these identities to provide a sense of self (Sniderman, et al. 2004), partly in order that they may distinguish between those similar to themselves and those different. The ‘identities tend to have their basis in perceptions of differences’ (McLaren Johnson, 2007)with those viewed as outsiders thought to have radically different values and approaches to life. â€Å"The threat posed by minorities and immigrants may be symbolic in nature and may stem from concerns about the loss of certain values or ways of life† (McLaren Johnson, 2007), due to immigrants having a significant presence in the host country. Immigrants also often congregate in areas of the host country, London for example has a huge immigrant and minority presence with only 44. 9% classing themselves as ‘White British’ (Gye, 2012), in the 2011 census. This all means that natives are fearful that immigrants will cause them to adapt or change their ways of life. Migrants who preserve â€Å"a strong religious sense that cuts across any national loyalty may be the hardest of all to assimilate into broadly secular Western societies†. In the post-9/11 world Muslims are often seen as being the greatest cultural threat to Western societies. In a recent survey McLaren and Johnson measured anti-Muslim feeling in the United Kingdom. They found that 62% of people agreed with the statement that British Muslims are more loyal to Muslims around the world, than to other Britons, only 12% disagreed. Only 30% of Britons felt that Muslims living in Britain were committed to Britain, with 47% feeling that they could never be committed to Britain. 52% of people thought that Britain would begin to lose its identity if more Muslims came to live there. Clearly there is considerable anti-Muslim feeling in Britain and concern that British-Muslims pose a threat to the identity and culture of Britain (McLaren Johnson, 2007). Most economists are in agreement that immigration has very little effect on native’s wages; this should mean that natives won’t oppose immigration based on the misbelief that immigrants lower wages. Although conventional economic wisdom states that an increase in supply of labour will lead to a decrease in price, this doesn’t happen. Friedberg and Hunt conclude that a 10% increase in immigrant levels in the population, decreases wages by 1% (Friedberg Hunt, 1995). Economist Francisco Revera-Batiz came to the same conclusion, noting that although immigration has increased the supply of low skilled workers into the United States, there has been very little impact on the wages of high school dropouts, the lowest skilled people in America (Rivera-Batiz, 1998). One of the most influential studies is Card’s 1990 study on the Miami Labour market after the sudden influx of 125,000 Cuban immigrants in 1980 due to a sharp downturn in the Cuban economy. Surprisingly the arrival of so many immigrants didn’t affect native wages, although it did lower the overall wage level in Miami; due to the immigrants being employed in low-wage jobs (Card, 1990). This tallies with the outcomes of other natural experiments in recent history such as the homecoming of 600,000 Portuguese after the collapse of their empire in Africa in 1974-76, the return of 900,000 Frenchmen from Algeria in 1962 (The Economist, 2008) or the influx of 610,000 Russian Jews into Israel 1990-94, increasing the labour force by 12%; all had negligible effects on native wages. Immigrants don’t decrease wages because as well as increasing the supply of labour, they become a domestic consumer for goods as well as services, they â€Å"create jobs as consumers and fill jobs as producers† (Bolin, 2006). A higher total population, ceteris parabus, will lead to the production of more goods and services, boosting the host countries gross domestic product (GDP). In some rare cases immigrants can even boost native’s wages. Illegal Mexican immigrants, who are â€Å"predominantly low skilled† (Bolin, 2006), have a positive effect on other workers’ wages (Bean, et al. 1998). This is due to immigration increasing the productivity of native workers by â€Å"taking low-skilled jobs, freeing higher-skilled workers to work in higher-skilled employment where they can be more productive† (Bolin, 2006). Based on the results of a range of economists, using results based on a â€Å"range of methodologies† (Bolin, 2006), it can be seen that immigrants have a small negative impact on native wages, although mainly low-skilled workers. Based on this, natives shouldn’t be concerned over immigration levels based on their own wages falling. The popular theory that immigrants ‘come over here and take our jobs’, has been shown to hold very little truth, as most studies â€Å"find no or negligible effect[s]† (Bolin, 2006) on employment rates. The ‘lump of labour fallacy’ is the mistaken idea that there are a set number of jobs in the economy, and when an immigrant takes one of those jobs, it is a job lost for a native. This is incorrect for three reasons. Firstly, by coming to a country â€Å"immigrants increase the supply of labour and hence reduce wages. In turn, cheaper labour increases the potential return to employers to build new factories or expand their operations. In so doing, they create extra demand for workers† (Grinda, 2006), and more jobs are created. Secondly, immigrants are consumers as well as producers. When there is a large influx of immigrants such as the 610,000 Russian-Jews into Israel in the early 1990’s, they are in need of goods and services. People are employed to provide these goods and services, meaning more jobs added to the economy, and immigrants simply enlarge the economy. Thirdly, immigrants are 10 to 20 percent more likely to become entrepreneurs and start their own business than natives (Briggs Moore, 1994). In 1999, The Wall Street Journal reported that â€Å"Chinese and Indian immigrants run nearly 25% of the high-companies started in [Silicon] Valley since 1980†¦The 2,775 immigrant-run companies had total sales of $16. 8 billion and more than 58,000 employees† (Thurm, 1999). â€Å"Immigrants not only take jobs, they make jobs. They open new businesses that employ natives as well as other immigrants and themselves. And they do so in important numbers† (Simon, 1999). Similarly, the findings by Friedberg and Hunt discovers â€Å"no evidence of economically significant reductions in native employment†. Card, as well as examining the impact of the Muriel boatlift on wages also examined the impact of it on employment. Even though Miami’s workforce was increased by 7%, virtually overnight, with an influx of relatively unskilled Cuban workers he finds â€Å"no evidence of an increase in unemployment among less skilled blacks or other non-Cuban workers. Rather the data analysis suggests a remarkably rapid absorption of the Muriel immigrants into the Miami labour force† (Card, 1990). Again with immigrant’s impact on wages, the evidence seems to suggest that a lack of evidence that immigration causes native unemployment. This should mean that concerns over immigration should not be linked to worries over employment. Due to immigrants being â€Å"disproportionately low-skill[ed]† (Bolin, 2006) they tend to have lower wages than natives. It is often assumed therefore that they depend more upon the welfare system than natives. The level of benefits are often higher in the host country than the source country, and it is often suggested that it is this difference that brings in migrants. Borjas coined the term â€Å"welfare magnet effect† (Borjas, 1999), making the point that immigrants are drawn to the country with the highest benefits. This however has all been shown to be completely false, and many economists believe that over the long term immigrants more than pay for the public services they use (Simon, 1999). In the United States â€Å"most immigrants, including Mexicans, are usually less likely than comparable natives to receive welfare†, with the per capita cost of social welfare for immigrants being 8% less than the per capita cost for natives (Bean, et al. 1998). It is plain to see that objections to immigration come from those who are worried about the identity and culture of their nation being eroded, rather than for economic reasons. Immigrants are solving many problems for the host countries, such as the problems of aging populations and those participating in the workforce being increasing choosy about the jobs they do. Immigrants have few economic disadvantages, although high immigration may bring about a small decrease in jobs for the natives, the tax revenue that they bring in more than displaces this negative effect. As the immigrants have little impact on jobs, and simply create more jobs in the economy, disproving the lump of labour fallacy, they don’t have a negative impact on wages which is a positive for the economy as a whole. The argument that immigrants have a negative impact on the identity and culture of a nation holds some truth. Due to the fact that a nation’s identity is made up of what its inhabitants believe it to be, immigrants having different views, can water this identity down.

Language A System Of Communication English Language Essay

Language A System Of Communication English Language Essay A language is a system of communication by using sounds or conventional symbols. It is through language that we are able to express ourselves and communicate to others. Everyone knows the importance of English Language in todays world as it is an international language. At present time as the world has turned into a global village, so we cannot deny the importance of English Language. As English is a global language, it enables us to communicate with people belonging to different cultures. Most of the researches in different fields of life e.g. medicine, education, economy, e-commerce and aviation etc are done in English Language. It is also the language used in tourism. These reasons become a source of motivation for people to learn this language. The knowledge of English Language is vital if a person wants to access electronic information available on the internet. In addition, English is also a requirement in most government and private jobs. The use of English Language provides many prospects in the social and financial world. Greddol (1997) specifies the uses of English Language in different fields of life: English is the working language of international organizations and conferences. English is used in the fields of science and technology. It is used in international banking, economic affairs and commerce. Advertising for global brands is done in English. English is the language of audio visual and cultural products. It is the language of international tourism. It is the language of higher education. English is the language of international law. It is a relay language in interpretation and translation. It is the language of technology transfer. It is the language of internet communication. Importance of English Language in Pakistan English Language has a lot of importance in Pakistan. It is our official language. It is used in civil administration. It is the language of the constitution and of the legal system. It is also used in media. English is also used in international trade and commerce in Pakistan. It is used in the stock exchange as well. All the information available on the internet is in English. All the modern scientific researches and books available on them are in English. English is taught as a compulsory subject from nursery and Kindergarten levels. English is the medium of instruction in the English medium schools of the country. It is also the main cause of failure of students because it is not our first language but it is taught as a compulsory subject. This shows the role and importance of English in Pakistan. It has become important for every student to learn English as its importance is growing day by day. We cannot survive in the economic world without the tool of English language. Aims of Learning a Language Coleman (1996) stated most popular reasons for learning modern languages among the students as for future career, because I like the language, to travel in different countries, to have a better understanding of way of the life in a country or countries where it is spoken, because I would like to live in a country where it is spoken etc. Cook (2002) made a list of the aims for which a second language is learnt: Self-development A method of training new cognitive process A way-in to mother tongue An entrà ©e to another culture A means of communication Self -development Some people learn the second language for their self-development. They think that they will do their self-development by learning a second language and will become a better person. A method of training new cognitive process When people learn new language, they learn about themselves and their societies from new perspectives. A way-in to the mother tongue If people learn a second language, in fact, they make clear the concept of their first language. We can say that they learn their first language with the help of second language. An entrà ©e to another culture People also learn another language because they also want to know about the country where it is spoken. They want to have the knowledge of art, literature, music and culture of that country. A means of communication Some people learn another language in order to be able to communicate with the people who speak that language. The above mentioned goals of learning a second language can be classified into two main groups i.e. internal and external goals (Cook, 1938). External goals. External goals relate to the learning of language for the use of language outside the classroom. For example, for traveling a country, reading literature, communicating native speakers, to gain education from foreign country, traveling shops, markets etc. Internal goals. Internal goals refer to the students mental and self-development as individuals. They may think from different perspective about themselves and their societies. Through the last century, external goals have been dominating the internal goals. English Language Teaching (ELT) in Pakistan English plays a very important role in Pakistan as lingua franca. English is taught in a very strange manner in the country. Students belonging to rural backgrounds and even other students are taught English in schools and colleges but they are still not able to communicate in English comfortably and confidently. One of the reasons behind this is that our educational system is not aware that they should focus on all the four skills of the language. Only the skills of reading and writing are focused, while the skills of listening and speaking are neglected. The students do not get the required input. The students can never speak the language because they do not listen to it. Our teachers teach English language through translation. They translate everything in Urdu. In this way the students are not motivated to learn it. The teachers speak Urdu in English classes. If the students find anything difficult to understand, the teacher will instantly translate it in Urdu instead of explaining it in English. This is the situation in government sector schools. The condition is different in private schools. This wide gap between government and private schools is not healthy for a developing nation. Private schools are also giving importance to the two neglected skills of listening and speaking. Creativity is promoted and students are motivated to speak in English even outside their classes. It is very important for a teacher to know the process of language learning. It is the duty of the teacher to bring different activities in the class to develop a healthy environment in the class which promotes language learning. Our teachers of the government sector focus on accuracy and the students are supposed to memorize the language. In this way, the students do not feel comfortable to communicate in English. Siddiqui (2002) stated that the significant position of English in subcontinent it due to its colonial past. During that period, this language promoted due to its privileged status and it was the official language. Learning English language was a key to get a job and enjoy the privileges from the government. But some fundamentalists Muslims refused to acquire this language because they wanted to hold strongly their own language i.e. Urdu. They believed that acquiring English language will be the sign of their salvation. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan took initiative considering the importance of learning English language. He started some educational movements throughout the subcontinent which brought a revolution in the economic status of Muslims. After the independence of Pakistan, Urdu was declared as the national language of Pakistan. Urdu language was able to be treated as lingua-franca- a language of communication. Urdu was such language that could be spoken by the people of different provinces in Pakistan. With the passage of time, regional languages went on losing their importance and Urdu language overcame them but English remained the official language of Pakistan even then. Many policies were offered at government level to replace Urdu with English as official language but it retained its position. In mainstream schools, English language was to be taught from class five but now it is taught as compulsory subject from class one. The demand of English is very high in Pakistan. People like to send their children in English medium schools. The number of students in English medium schools is very large. The government had offered a policy of teaching English to everyone but this policy is not giving us a desired outcomes. We do not have qualified teachers to do the job properly. There are many factors which can show the state of English language teaching in Pakistan. These include, Students Teachers Textbooks Methodology Evaluation Supervisory staff Economic problems Over crowded classes Students Everyone up to the Bachelor level has to study English as a compulsory subject. Many students do not like this compulsion because the students who come from the rural back ground are not motivated towards learning English. Their parents cannot help them because they are mostly uneducated. They are not clear in learning the purpose of learning English language. They think that only good student scan learn English language. Some people have realized the basic purpose of learning English language in modern age. They have realized that the English is the key to any success and to get a good job. Teachers In majority of our schools, English is taught with a well known and classic method i.e. Grammar Translation Method (GTM). Teachers who teach English are not well trained. In government sector schools, English is taught by B.Ed degree hold teachers who have studied English at B.Ed level as optional subject. They teach English to their students as they have been taught by their own teachers. At college level, English language is taught by the teachers who have done Masters in English literature. In Pakistan, teaching English language is considered as teaching literature. These teachers become failure when the matter of written and oral discourse comes. Text books The syllabus is emphasized on just two skills i.e. reading and writing skills while very little importance is given to the listening and speaking skill. Our text books are full of stories, poems, plays, essays etc. because the curriculum designers have mostly the literature based background. So their preference is also literature based. The content of our books is also very large. The teachers are always at pressure by the principles and the parents of the students. So the preference of the teachers is the completion of the course by some easy way without giving emphasize on concept making. Teachers are not guided well that how to teach a text book. Evaluation The assessment system of English language in Pakistan is very weak. The exams are mostly rote-memorization based. In exams, same questions are repeated again and again. The guide books are available in market to give the students the summaries and answers of the questions. Supervisory staff The supervisory staff is unaware of the latest methods of teaching English language. They aim just to get high marks to their students for the popularity of their school and college. Economic problems Economic problems and lack of facilities is also a major problem in the process of teaching and learning of English language in Pakistan. Due to the lack of funds, there are not audio visual aids, language laboratories etc in Pakistan. Teachers are also not trained for using them. Over crowded classes In the government sector schools, Classes are overcrowded. The environment in the class is not learners friendly. Methods of English Language Teaching According to Asher and James (1982), Methods are the combination of techniques that are used and plasticized by the teachers in the classrooms in order to teach their students and approaches are the philosophies of teachers about language teaching that can be applied in the classrooms by using different techniques of language teaching. For example, if a teacher has an approach that language is the communication and learning a language is in fact learning the meanings, functions and uses of language. So the techniques will be based on the communicative language teaching and task based methods. According to Freeman (2000), Methods which are taught to the teachers make a base and give them thinking about the applicable techniques and principles according to the situation where they stand. They are clear about their attraction towards certain methods and also think that why have they repelled certain method. The knowledge of method is very necessary because their knowledge is base of teaching. History of Language Teaching Today, English is the worlds most widely studied foreign language. Five hundred years ago, Latin was the most dominant language to be studied because it was the language of business, commerce and education in the western world. In the sixteenth century, however, French, Italian and English gain in importance as a result of political change in Europe and Latin gradually became displaced as a language of spoken and written communication. Latin became a dead language. It was being started to read in the books as classic language. Children started to enter in the grammar school in sixteenth and eighteenth centuries to learn grammar rules of Latin. To learn Latin language became a mental gymnastic. In the eighteenth century, when modern languages began to enter in the curriculum of the European countries, these languages were taught by the same methods as Latin language was taught. Grammatical rules were memorized. Written practices were done. The passages were translated from the second language to the first language and vice versa. By the nineteenth century, this method was considered as a standard method of teaching language. The textbooks were divided into chapters. Each chapter contained a certain grammatical rule and rule was practices with a lot of written exercises (Richards, and Rodgers, 1986). Grammar Translation Method Grammar translation method was first known in the United States as Prussian Method. Grammar translation method dominated European and foreign language teaching from 1840 to 1940. Characteristics of grammar translation method According to the Richards and Rodgers (1986), the principle characteristics of Grammar Translation Method are: In Grammar Translation Method, the goal of learning a second or foreign language is mainly to be enabling to read the literature of that language and is to get benefit from intellectual development that results from foreign and second language study. Grammar Translation Method enables to learn detailed grammatical rules of target language and enables to translate into and out of the target language. In Grammar Translation Method, reading and writing skills are focused while listening and speaking skills are totally ignored. In Grammar Translation Method, the memorization of grammatical rules of foreign language and of the vocabulary items is focused. Vocabulary items are limited to the text that they are taught. Vocabulary items are memorized with the help of their meanings in the native language. In Grammar Translation Method, sentenced is the basic unit of teaching and language practice. The learners are enabled to do detailed analysis of a sentence through this method. The learners are enabled to translate a sentence into and out of the target language. In Grammar Translation Method, accuracy is emphasized rather than fluency. The basic purpose of this method used to be able to pass the written examinations. In Grammar Translation Method, grammar is taught deductively i.e. by presenting and practicing the detailed grammatical rules of target language. A syllabus of grammatical rules if followed in which rules are systematically put in to a sequence starting from the simple rules to the complex rules. In Grammar Translation Method, students are directed and instructions are given in the students native language so that they may easily understand the instructions. The students native language is used to explain new items and to enable them to compare two languages i.e. native language of the learners and foreign language. Main techniques associated with grammar translation method There are some major techniques that are adopted in the teaching of second or foreign language through Grammar Translation Method. Translation of a literary passage. Students translate a reading passage into and out of the target language. In checking of the translation, the focus of the teacher is on vocabulary and grammatical structures. The translation may be written or spoken or both. Students should not translate idioms but must understand their meanings. Reading Comprehension Questions. A passage for reading and understanding is given to the students and they have to answer the questions given at the end of the passage in the target language. The questions are put into a sequence. The first group of questions is related with the information drawn from the passage, second group of questions require students to make inferences based on their understanding of the passage. The third group of questions requires students to relate the passage with their own experiences. Antonym and synonyms. Students are given a list of words and a passage. The students have to find out the antonyms of those words in the passage. Similarly, the students can also be given a list of words and can be asked to find out the synonyms of the given words from the passage. Deductive application of rules. Grammar rules are presented before the students with the all possible information that can be given to the students relating to the grammatical rules. The rules are also explained with examples. Once students understand a rule, they are asked to apply it for some different examples. Fill in the blanks. The students are given a series of sentences with some missing words. The students have to fill in the blanks with some suitable grammar items such a preposition and verbs with different tenses. Memorization. The students are given a list of vocabulary to memorize them with their meaning in the native language. Students are also required to memorize the grammatical rules. Use words in sentences. In order to check the understanding of the meaning and sue of vocabulary, the students are asked to use the list of typical words in their own sentences. Composition. The teacher gives a topic to the students to write about that topic in the target language. The topic is based on some aspect of the reading passage of the lesson. Advantages of grammar translation method Nazir (2002) narrated as The structure of a foreign language is best learnt when compare and contrasted with that of the mother tongue. According to Ishtiaq (2005), the Grammar Translation Method is based on a system and is in a sequence because in this method all the grammatical rules are arranged into a sequence for the convenience of the students. This sequence starts from the simple rules and eventually leads to the complex rules. When a book is written by an author on grammatical rules keeping in view the sequence, he writes one lesson that is completely based on one rule of grammar. Each lesson is divided into certain rules and these rules dominate the lesson. Larson (1986) narrated importance of Grammar Translation Method as in Grammar Translation Method, students are made to learn new words. Therefore, this method helps in improving vocabulary. Reading and writing are the two primary skills that are developed most so as to enable the students to read the literature in target language. Grammar is taught deductively and it makes use of students mother language. Disadvantages of grammar translation method Neilson (2003) stated that in Grammar Translation Method, oral skills i.e. speaking and listening skills are totally neglected while the whole attention is given to just reading and writing skills. Through this method, the students become able to read the literature of the target language by translating it into their native language but cannot communicate into the target language and even cannot understand the target language spoken by any native speaker. In Grammar Translation Method, the authority of the classroom is totally in the hands of the teacher and teacher is at the centre of the classroom. The communication is just from teachers to students not from student to teacher and not even from students to students. The students are considered empty minded which have needed to be filled with all the possible vocabulary and grammatical structures that can be filled in their minds. The main disadvantage of the Grammar Translation Method is that it is almost impossible to translate all the phrases and sentences into the target language because the main focus is the translation of this method so such students who have been taught through this method become fail to communicate well in the target language. In the Grammar Translation Method, accuracy is emphasized rather than fluency and students go on thinking to accurate the grammatical rules which actually hinder their fluency. In Grammar Translation Method, the teacher abruptly interferes and stops the students wherever they make the mistakes so they become conscious while speaking and communicating in the target language and become unable to be fluent. Criticism of the grammar translation method There have been various criticisms on the use of Grammar Translation Method for the teaching of modern language particularly English. There are some objections that have been put on the Grammar Translation Method. Grammar Translation Method emphasizes on the reading and writing skills on the expense of listening and speaking skills. But learning the listening and speaking skills of a language is more important than leaning reading and writing skills because it is a natural way of learning a language. In Grammar Translation Method, writing gives learners a reflective chance to look at their writing that whether they have written correct spellings, vocabulary and grammatical rules. The main aim and goal of most of the learners in learning modern languages is not just to develop reading and writing skills whereas they want to communicate well and understand the native speakers language. Grammar Translation Method demands the arrangement of the grammatical rules in a structure starting from the simple rules and leading to the complex rules. While most of the learners especially adult learners want to start using the language straight way because they have not got time to learn all the grammatical rules one by one and start using them after then. Grammar Translation Method emphasizes to make the students learn each rule and practice it one by one and after commanding a rule move to the next one. So there remains the need to revise all the rules again and again so that they may not get washed out of the learners mind. In Grammar Translation Method, sentence is the basic unit of the language. The learners are made able to memorize certain rules of grammar and certain vocabulary which they have to fit everywhere they find a chance to use them. But if learners find some unusual situation they become unable to fit their memorized rules to fit in that situation. In Grammar Translation Method, grammatical rules and vocabulary is memorized in modern ways of teaching a language memorization is not regarded while exposure of a language, experience and use of language is preferred and recommended. People have different learning styles. Some people like to learn vocabulary, grammar rules, phrase and sentences through memorization. But when they have to sue them, they must have time to stop and recall the memorized items. In Grammar Translation Method, the focus of the learners is the manipulation of the grammatical rules and words to write correct sentences with prescribed content. But in learning the modern languages, it is recommended that the major focus should be more and more on the oral practice and expression of the personal meanings. The expression of the personal meanings may spoil the structure of the grammar rules and sentences. In Grammar Translation Method, the teachers and the learners mostly speak in their first language or native language. While it is highly recommended that use of second and target language should be maximized in learning the language but here maximization does not mean teachers and learners should all the time speak in the target language. The speaking of the second language is also advantageous because in language classrooms we may also have multilingual learners that may belong to different languages so a single language i.e. second or target language will be convenient to use without pointing a single native language. In Grammar Translation Method, teacher should explain, describe the grammatical rules, tell the meanings of the words, translate the passages, conduct grammar practices, correct mistakes and teacher should authorized the classroom and learners. But now it is highly recommended that teachers role in the class should be as a guide and facilitator. Teachers role in the language classroom should be less. Teacher should act behind the scene. Teacher should give the problems to the learners to solve, interact among each other and generally it leads the learners to be independent learners. In Grammar Translation Method, translation is the basic technique. Translation is a way of understanding the meanings of the written and oral texts by converting the texts into the first or native language of the learners. Translation is a way of comparing and contrasting two languages i.e. first language and second language. But now it is highly recommended that translation should be avoided because it leads to such a mental process which hinders or stops learning. The learners should be encouraged to speak and even think in second language as much as possible. In Grammar Translation Method, accuracy is emphasized rather than fluency but it is now highly recommended that accuracy should come at the last and fluency should preferred first. If the learners are corrected on their mistakes from the very beginning, they will become hesitant to speak in the target language. When they will start to speak, their minds will abruptly become read to look upon the grammatical rules that they are using so I this way they will become unable to be fluent in language (Jonathan, 2012) Grammar translation method in Pakistan Faiq (2003) stated that in most of the Pakistani schools, Grammar Translation Method is used to teach English. In Pakistan, Grammar Translation Method is used to learn and memorize the grammatical rules in such a way that rules are deductively presented and practiced through the exercises of translation, fill in the blanks and by using such other techniques. Mostly students are taught certain letters, applications and stories like thirsty crow, greedy dog etc. In Pakistan, it is considered that learning a language means just to be able to read literature and write certain kinds of things without giving importance to the listening and speaking skills. Grammar is taught through deductive method i.e. rules are presented to the learners, deep analysis of the rules is done and rules are used for translating passages of English into Urdu ad of Urdu into English. It is a common practice in our public sector schools that a student reads aloud the lines of a paragraph and teacher translate it into Urdu word by word. Teachers write the meanings of the difficult words on the blackboard. Linguists say that a language can be better learnt without translation and meanings of the difficult words can be told through demonstrations and actions. Language can be better learnt and taught by using it actively in the classrooms. Grammar can better learnt through inductive or implicit method i.e. exposure of a rule is provided to the learners and learners grasp that rule unconsciously. The importance of listening and speaking skill cannot be denied in the public sector schools of Pakistan. Writing is also an important skill but just copying the material from the blackboard is not a good practice. It limits the thinking process of the learners. Learners should be given some topics to write on them in their own words. In our schools, teachers and textbooks take the central role in the classroom while the students sit passively depending on the teachers and textbooks. The learners purpose of sitting in the classroom is to take lectures from the teachers. The interaction from the students to teachers is not ever into the consideration of public sector schools. They just know how to feed the minds of the learners with information. Learners should be considered as living beings with their own minds, ideas and thinking. The learners have their background knowledge. The use of the leaners background knowledge can be helpful for the teachers to teach a language. Direct Method The direct method was the outcome of the reaction against the grammar translation method. It was developed on the supposition that the learners of foreign and second language should directly think in English. This method is against the translation of written and oral text and focuses on telling the meanings of the words through action, demonstration or real objects. This method focuses on directly thinking, doing discussion and conversation in second language. According to Palmer (1959), the direct method has the following characteristics: Translation is banished in the language classrooms including the use of mother tongue. When grammar is taught inductively that means exposure is given to the learners related to the grammar rule that is being taught. Through this method grammar rule is internalized to the learners. Oral training precedes any sort of reading and writing. The learners are given chances for oral communication first and then it leads to the reading and writing skills of the language. We can say that listening and speaking skills lead to the reading and writing skills. The use of detached sentences is shifted by the use of connected text. The pronunciation is taught systematically through the system of phonetics and phonology of the target language. It means that learners are motivated to speak in the accent of the second language. So the learners have to follow the phonetics and phonology system of the second language. The use of bilingual dictionary is banished totally in the language classrooms. The teachers dont tell the meanings of the word through the learners native or first language while the difficult words are described through action or through natural context. The vocabulary and structures of the language are inculcated to large extent by the teachers and answered by the students. Purwarno