Blindness by Jose Saramago

If an attempt is made to describe Jose Saramago’s Blindness in a single sentence, it will be justified to say that the novel is a product of the author’s extraordinary vision. Primarily an allegorical piece of fiction, Blindness is a literary masterpiece in terms of its subtle delineation of ironic humor and bleakness of existence. Numerous thematic constructs are interwoven into the plot of the novel. Post-modern literary techniques such as long sentences without punctuation marks, indefinite usage of proper nouns and so on are incorporated for illustrating the themes adequately.The haunting prose style is beautifully supplemented by the sparse imageries of man’s worst appetites and weaknesses. The socialistic approach to the novel is as significant as the internal representations. This essay is going to elaborate on the arguments that connect the thematic devices of the novel. It might be noted that there are quite a few themes to be taken within the periphery of discussion in order to substantiate the author’s argumentative claims and subclaims.As the novel nears its end, one of the characters remark during the process of getting his vision back: â€Å"I don't think we did go blind, I think we are blind, Blind but seeing, Blind people who can see, but do not see. † (Saramago 292) This statement highlights the political and philosophical essence of the novel. The story of Blindness centers round a nightmarish vision of disorientation and loss. A city the identity of which is kept undisclosed is struck by a sudden epidemic, leaving its inmates blind. Nobody is able to find any apparent reason behind such a contagion.The general tenor of panic and disorientation triggers a social breakdown. The camps set up by the civic administrative body to cater to the disaster are ill-governed. A sense of hopelessness and loss of direction runs through each individual’s psyche. In the wake of the epidemic, the initial government res ponse involves setting up of large quarantine areas to accommodate the infected people. However, the filthy and overcrowded centers turn out to be grossly unhygienic to stand any chance of the inmates recovering. Soon, living conditions deteriorate rapidly, spreading a wave of nervousness and anxiety outside.As far as the thematic significance is concerned, this anxiety plays a steering role through the length of the novel. Anxiety over inadequacy of food and medicine, anxiety over future and last but not the least, anxiety over administrative laxity collectively bring out the central theme of Blindness – of social system failure and mankind’s inane incapacity to care for strangers. As Bob Corbett points out, â€Å"How are we to imagine a world in which some central part of our meaning system suddenly disappears? † (Corbett 1997) A summoning of horror in the uncertain context of the twentieth century is what Saramago pens down in the novel.The disappearance of t his central part can be understood right from the opening chapter when a man stuck in the traffic light loses his vision. The oxymoronic element present here is quite significant. The fact that this man loses his sight while standing in the traffic light and not in any dark corridor sums up the bitter irony of situation. The following course of events, all in a swift motion, underlines humankind’s perpetual struggle to cope with unexpected changes in habitual infrastructures. As soon as the first man goes blind, a series of misfortunes befalls the city. The person who takes him to an eye doctor also goes blind.The entire plot is unfolded around the doctor and his wife, who eventually suffers the same fate as of others. The mysterious blindness doesn’t spare anybody in the unnamed city. A horrifying vision of the apocalypse, like in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, can be felt at every turn of a city that has gone berserk. The government’s disorganized attempt to restore sanity into proceedings falls short of its intended result as a gang of opportunists assume control of the chaotic surroundings. The political turmoil is juxtaposed against the psychological despair to address the theme of unexpected changes in known order.In fact Saramago is well known for coalescing myth, fiction and history in his works in order to depict abrupt changes. The setting of Blindness allows the readers to embark on a timeless voyage back to the mysterious historical times associated with myths and legends. Modern technological advancements have been satirized by the author to undermine their inadequacy in dealing with unexpected blows: â€Å"[There] must be some mechanical fault, a loose accelerator pedal, a gear lever that has struck,† but none of these technical problems are the cause of the car's prolonged halt.The driver inside starts shouting and â€Å"to judge by the movement of his mouth he appears to be repeating some words, not one word but three, as turns out to be the case when someone finally manages to open the door, I am blind. † (Saramago 1) A group of central characters in Blindness, united as a family in the wake of such an unprecedented disaster, play a crucial role. The characterization is done in a deliberate manner to serve the purpose of the plot. In other words, the storyline doesn’t discriminate between characters that are common in one aspect – they are all blind.The doctor, his wife, the girl with dark glasses, the boy with the squint, the man with the black eye patch and the dog of tears are representative of the small world of struggling survivors in the face of seemingly incurable adversity. It is worth spotting that none of these characters has been given any proper name by the novelist. Blindness doesn’t need any nomenclature – this is perhaps the argument Saramago wants to advocate. They are called according to their position in the society and relation with each other.The literary device deployed by Saramago to support his argument behind characterization involves continuous sentence structuring. Some of the sentences run half the length of a page, without any hyphenation or semi colon. Only commas and periods are used sparsely: â€Å"The amber light came on. Two of the cars ahead accelerated before the red light appeared. At the pedestrian crossing the sign of a green man lit up. The people who were waiting began to cross the road, stepping on the white stripes painted on the black surface of the asphalt, there is nothing less like a zebra, however, that is what it is called.The motorists kept an impatient foot on the clutch, leaving their cars at the ready, advancing, retreating like nervous horses that can sense the whiplash about to be inflicted. The pedestrians have just finished crossing but the sign allowing the cars to go will be delayed for some seconds, some people maintain that this delay, while apparently so insignif icant, has only to be multiplied by the thousands of traffic lights that†¦ †. (Saramago 3) Such writing style may immediately recall the stream-of-consciousness technique which is prolifically used in James Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses.Separated by almost a century with regards to dates of publication, there isn’t much difference in the treatment of themes between these two novels. This technique is normally adopted to do away with editing of thought processes as the writer writes. In Blindness, the apparent mystery of the situation and the resultant uncertainties require a technique or writing style that can conform to the inner vacuum the characters feel while expressing their thoughts. At the same time, the narrative must also synchronize with the dialogues. Hence, quotation is non-existent in Blindness.Speeches merge onto one another in a continual maze of words. As a reader, one feels how difficult it is to broaden the viewpoint of observation. As if, a blind spot is generated in the actual reading of the novel, which puts interpretive constraints. As some critics have argued, Saramago’s profuse adaptation of allegorical means may have been inspired by his intent to emphasize more on human factors than on fatalistic elements. Although there are a few distinctive references to the contemporary technological aspects, Blindness doesn’t specify any timeframe.Readers are not given any clear perception about the time the novel portrays. Thus, Blindness reflects a universality of creation, a ubiquitous presence upon human realms of perception. However, there are a few speculations made regarding the probable cultural setting of the novel. Tracing the nature of language spoken by the characters and their food habits, it has been argued that the country shown in the novel is likely to be Saramago’s homeland Portugal. The theme of timelessness is relevant in more than just one aspect of this discussion.As is the case wit h Albert Camus’ The Plague, Blindness too is a novel which symbolically represents a widespread affliction, regardless of space or time. The predicament of humanity in the midst of social, political and ethical degeneration is not a theme that should not be kept bound under a constrained timeframe or spatial margin. Moreover, the way a group of people start fishing in troubled waters, exploiting the helpless condition of others, goes beyond the borderline of time and geographic barriers, echoing the universality of man’s futile but stubborn attempt to cope with disasters.Apart from Albert Camus’ The Plague and Jose Saramago’s Blindness, John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids and P. D. James’ The Children of Men also showcase characteristics of human nature as they emerge in a crisis situation marked by rapid and uncontrollable epidemics. Blindness, however, is distinguishable from other novels in one crucial aspect. It reflects the deep-seat ed humanity of those who are compelled to depend on each other for the sake of survival.This yearning for survival doesn’t seem to fit the category of existentialism or other post-modern philosophical doctrines since it is hampered by the loss of external senses of vision. So the vision must come from within. The message of hope in a situation which is least congenial to breeding of hope is conveyed through the character of doctor’s wife. She is the only person who manages to regain sight. When she and other group members flee from the asylum, the plot takes a turn toward the recreation of a world which is not robbed of all hopes.Since she has vision, she can at least guide her companions in finding food and shelter. The argument Saramago’s seeks to put forth through this episode involves that of restoration of orderliness in a world which is blind. It might be noted, however, that only physical blindness is not the construct of the proposed argument. The spirit ual blindness associated with chaos, opportunism and moral degradation is the fundamental base upon which the plot is built. As mentioned earlier, when the central system starts malfunctioning, human beings tend to cling onto each other in search of a helping hand.A sudden change in the known world makes for a total loss of faith and triggers disorientation in the society. Doctor’s wife metaphorically symbolizes the dependable constant around which other variables revolve. But what does Jose Saramago want to tell in Blindness, especially through the thematic inclusion of ‘one person who is not blind’? Since the novel is widely accepted as an allegory, the question remains: It is an allegory of what? Finding a plausible answer to the question stated above is not an easy task in that multiple layers of interpretation can be made to it.The main problem with an allegorical novel such as Blindness is that it accords too much freedom to the reader. It grants the room f or too many interpretations. On one hand, the allegorical literary device helps reveal the basic needs of a social system – the need for food, shelter and most importantly, for fraternity. Hence the thematic concept of allegory refers to the interdependency of individuals within a system which threatens to go astray. But despite this interpretation, Blindness can be approached from a different viewpoint as well.The novel can be studied as an allegory of human damnation. The novelist criticizes the so-called established norms of civilization in a staunch manner. He observes how human beings, when pitted against a failing central system of order, can indulge in brutal acts of cruelty among one another. This is manifested in the events occurring at quarantine centers where no law and order exists whatsoever. Even the military takes an indifferent stance and refuses to supply basic medication. Consequently, a simple infection assumes a deathly proportion, destroying the lives of many.Timely food deliveries are hindered due to the illegal intervention of a gang of opportunists who unleash lethal torture on the hapless inmates. Thus the allegory of the novel can be explicated from a twofold perspective – firstly, it is a literary device which serves the purpose of underlying the fundamental social requirements for a smooth functioning, and secondly, it brings out the condemnable elements of a society devoid of any order or discipline. Corbett argues that the theory of allegory can also be done away with.Blindness can be seen as a masterful piece of author’s logical reasoning of a world which lacks imaginative sensibility. This point of view insists on interpreting the major themes of the novel from a matter-of-fact perspective. There is nothing beyond what is literally apparent. The logical qualities prompt the readers to investigate into a city’s condition when everyone except a single lady goes blind all on a sudden. The only sighted pe rson acts as a vehicle of hope and good fortune in a time when survival seems impossible.According to Corbett, this methodology of explanation is also applicable to two other novels of Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ and The Stone Raft. (Corbett 1997) The larger social picture painted by Blindness is of worth consideration. The collective physical loss of vision is used by the author as a metaphor for both ‘personal misfortune and social catastrophe’. (Snedeker 1997) The succession of events initiating from a single, odd instance of just one man getting blind while waiting at a traffic signal underscores the broader social context.As the entire population goes blind, the social system starts to crumble under pressure. Public health officials working under the aegis of the government panic and mayhem descend over the city. The disintegration of faith and reliability is apparent as soldiers guarding the asylum premises threaten to kill anyone who attempts t o flee. The disease of blindness is used metaphorically as a limitation from a personal context extending to collective domain. Finding themselves in a society which no longer functions as it should do, the blind men reach the breaking limits of despair and trauma.Due to lack of food and other essential commodities for a healthy survival, the general ways of living begin deteriorating rapidly. Taking a cue out of the broader social significance of blindness, one can critically observe that the metaphor is not restrained to any uni-dimensional mode of interpretation. If approached logically, the sudden onset of the epidemic is nothing but an unfortunate incident that befalls a city, making the lives of its dwellers difficult. So this explanation follows a ‘real’ course.But the symbolic implication becomes apparent when one takes into account the cultural impact of vision impairment that the author leaves ambiguous, arguably in an advertent manner. Hence, the epidemic, no matter whichever way the readers look at it, leads more to the notion of being a realistic literary device. An unnamed city, completely disintegrated by the sudden attack of an epidemic, struggles to combat not just the disease, but also the virtues that make up of human society.A small group of people, led by a woman, find themselves in the squalid and terrifying spectacle of people scrounging for food and shelter. Such visions present a bleak and dreary setting of a post-modern novel. The abrupt ending, nearly as shocking as the beginning itself, goes to show how Saramago eluded the enticement of telling more than what is already indicated. Hence, the construct of allegory, even though it can be discarded from a ‘realistic’ approach, comes back once again. As the blind community of the city gets their vision back, everything seems to fall in pace for the city.The veil of clouds is lifted over from a diseased and desperate existence of the city as if by some mysteriou s power, much to the relief of its inmates. It is apparent that the thematic constructs of change, human coping, the inevitability of disease and the undying spirit to overcome every adversity are extremely well manifested by the literary techniques adapted by the novelist in Blindness. This is particularly true in case of the profuse usage of long, unbroken sentences without too many punctuation marks.Moreover, the speeches without quotation too act as a potent literary device to represent the internal crisis of the characters. Again, the use of descriptive appellation in naming of characters is self-explanatory of its intended purpose. It establishes the interconnection between various characters who are mutually dependent on each other for the sake of surviving in a blind world that does not distinguish between masses. So it can be concluded that characterization, setting and plot work as a cohesive unit in perfect synchronization with the thematic aspects.It is virtually impossi ble to single out any particular argumentative theme if one attempts to focus on the novel in its entirety, especially if that focus takes into consideration the key literary devices. Works cited Saramago, Jose. Blindness: a novel. London: Harvill Press, 1997. Corbett, Bob. â€Å"BLINDNESS. † 1997. 10 March 2009 Snedeker, George. â€Å"BLINDNESS. † 1997. 10 March 2009

Perfect Competition Essay

The spectrum of market structures varies diversely from highly competitive markets where there are a large number of buyers and sellers, each of whom having little or no power to alter the market price to a situation of pure monopoly where a market or an industry consists of one single supplier who enjoys considerable control over the market price, unless specific restrictions are placed directly by the government. A market structure such as the Chicken Meat Industry can be deemed as â€Å"Perfect Competition (PC)† as it fulfills the following mentioned assumptions: 1. There are many producers in the economy as mentioned in the question.   2. Each individual firm in the market is a Price Taker- the firms cannot control the price of chicken being sold in the market instead they have to simply accept the designated going market rate as the price of their product. This happens due to two major characteristics of Perfect Competition: a. As there are a large number of suppliers, each of them has a relatively small share of the overall market. As a result, these individual firms are unable to affect price by directly bringing about a change in its own supply because by assumption, each firm is small in size b. Due to the enormous competition faced by each firm, no single firm can increase the price that it charges above the price charged by the other firms in the market without losing business caused by a large substitution effect away from that firm 3. All firms produce identical goods, as in the case of Chicken Meat Industry where the product i.e. chicken is homogenous. The characteristics of chicken do not vary much from supplier to supplier as a result they are substitutes for each other. 4. Buyers are perfectly aware of the nature and quality of chicken being sold to them as well as being well informed about the price being charged by each seller. 5. All firms, present and future, are assumed to have equal access to all factors of production as well as any advancement in technology in the production process. 6. The chicken meat industry is characterized by freedom of entry and exit. There are no barriers to entry or exit of firms in long run as a result the present the market will always be open to competition from new entrants. 7. â€Å"No externalities in production and consumption so that there is no divergence between private and social costs and benefits†. (tutor2u.net) Market Analysis Short Run We know that Economic Profit is the difference between the Total Revenue (TR) and Total Cost (TC) where TC consists of both explicit and implicit costs. As Opportunity costs are the next best alternative forgone, a chicken meat supplier can have can have a significant accounting profit with little to no economic profit. In the Short Run, economic profits for individual chicken meat suppliers depend on the position of their Average Total Cost curves. (investopedia.com) In the short run the equilibrium market price, P1 is determined by the interaction between market demand and supply. This price is taken by each of the firms as their selling price which in turn is constant for each unit sold. Therefore, the AR curve also becomes the Marginal Revenue curve (MR). We know, a firm maximizes profits when marginal revenue = marginal cost, therefore the profit-maximizing output for a given firm is Q1. The firm sells Q1 at price P1. Because the ruling market price is greater than the Average Total Cost (P>AC), the firm will make positive economic profit as indicated by the shaded area below.

Analysis of Lady in Black by Francis Cadell Essay Example for Free

Analysis of ‘Lady in Black’ by Francis Cadell Essay Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell, associated with the Scottish colourists was born in Edinburgh in 1883 and by the age of 16 was studying at the Academie Julian in Paris. During his career he was very much influenced by the Fauvists such as Matisse and on his return to Scotland exhibited much of his own work in Edinburgh Glasgow and London. He died in poverty at the age of 54 after the economic climate made it difficult for him to sell any of his work. He painted landscapes (mainly those of Lona which were a favourite of his), interiors, still life and figures in oil and watercolour but is known most for his portraits of glamorous women. One such portrait, completed in 1921, is ‘Lady in Black’ painted in oil. The painting has a rather macabre mood as the woman within the picture has a reflective expression on her face as if longing for the past. There is a mirror behind her, which may also add to the idea of reflection. She is dressed in black, which adds to the morbid mood as it could indicate she is mourning the death of a loved one. Her body language also expresses sadness as her posture is quite slumped, and the small flowers seen behind her could have been meant for a grave. The shadow over her eyes caused by her large hat makes them look undefined and blurry, giving them a sad, depressed look. The painting itself is also very dark as there is very little light and the colours used are very dull and grey, adding to the dreary mood. The media is used very loosely, in an almost impressionistic manner, which may have sprung from Cadell being exposed to the work of the Impressionists who were active in Paris at the time he was being educated there. He uses strokes of bold colour such as the woman’s lips, the flowers in the background and the pink furniture reflected in the mirror. These strong reds and pinks could symbolise love or passion, which adds emphasis to the woman’s lost love. This piece was more or less typical of the Scottish Colourist movement, but also contains undertones of impressionism as not much line is used; instead different colours are layered on top of each other, as the impressionists were known to do. It is a very realistic piece with a well-expressed dreary, nostalgic mood. Analysis of ‘Lady in Black’ by Francis Cadell. (2017, Nov 11).

Critically discuss the dichotomy implicit in the term 'impartial Essay

Critically discuss the dichotomy implicit in the term 'impartial advice' when referring to travel information provided by go - Essay Example The objective of this essay is to show the impact of the partial and impartial advice on travelling and travel patterns. The paper shed light of the reason why biases exist in the issuing of advice and travel information and the remedy to the same. Government advisories seem to target the first time travellers and families. They seem vulnerable and excited and may fail to take full precautions when they travel the tourist destinations around the world. There are other groups that depend on the travel services for business and commercial purposes, management and administration (Unger 1983). These groups are driven by strategy and ambition. These later groups become affected by unnecessary travels bans and alerts. The companies seek to avoid corporate risks. Travel related advises seem to indicate that it does not apply all the time. Governments have a tendency to be precautionary (Prentice 1992). Research shows that most of the governments do not invest a lot getting the resources nec essary to issue travel advisories exclusively. It rare to get a government department that deals exclusively of research and collection of data on travel advisories. Tonny Ridley argues that small countries have no dedicated travel advisory services. This is as a result of lack of commercial experience (Tyrrel 1984). Partial travel advice is issued when the government wants to achieve a certain purpose. Most of such advice is predicated on government interests. It could be a form of censorship or omissions. This is in comparison to the business or commercial sector (Pothman 1978). The government is often accused of not seeing the commercial aspect of travel bans and advisories. Security departments are swift to issue travel advice, which could hurt the economy in the long run. Most travel agencies are said to be biased. They tend to be partial toward airlines and other travel products and services. Therefore, their travel advice is often treated with suspicion. Agencies are biased t owards travel service vendors. They list their favourite airlines first for other reasons other than the professional reasons (Tyrrel 1984). In the United States of America, the federal government was forced to respond to complaints that touched on these biases and partial attitude. The federal government adopted regulations that would limit them from intentionally biasing flights in favour of airlines (Ross 1992). Nongovernmental airlines are known to give professional and impartial advice on air travel. They tend to focus on the economic aspect more than the air travel politics. An air traveller should get advice from as a variety of sources if possible. Consumer lives under the fear of getting biased travel advice. The move by the federal government did not restore the consumer confidence in the travel industry and advice (Pothman 1978). The only way the consumer is assured of getting unbiased and impartial advice is when they go to the agencies directly. Online travel agencies a re increasingly focusing on profitability (Unger 1983). They are in the process of developing software that likes them to CSR. There is growing concern they might favour airlines that offer the agencies high commissions. Travel agencies are legally allowed to be partial while displaying so as to favour their most profitable choices. In the United States of America, this is including the CSR owned travel agencies. This can happen at the expense of the agencies are cheap and professional in terms

Strategic Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Strategic Human Resource Management - Essay Example The ever-changing environment reminds us that, for a business to survive, it has to concentrate on its core competencies to be ahead of the competitors. The concept of Strategic Human Resource Management has changed keeping in mind to be sustainable in this world of high cut throat competitions. Human resource management (HRM) involves all management activities and decisions that directly or indirectly keep marks on the human capital of the company. HRM is full of different strategies, in the other way HRM in strategic level is called SHRM. SHRM implies different aspects of an organization. First it gives importance on the human resources which is a differentiator among the competitors. Secondly it gives a clear idea about the process and goal of the company. Third it reflects different HR programs. The main aim of SHRM is to be successful through human capital. SHRM helps organization to get skilled, dedicated and motivated human capital. It also helps a company to retain its valuable workforce. There are lots of elements are related with SHRM. Those are discussed below. SHRM creates a transformation among the staffs. It brings certain changes among the staffs. Those are team building, global perspective, strategic planning. SHRM also brings transformations in organizational structures. The hr policy will maybe centralize or decentralized. It would be guided by SHRM. It is a discipline which enlightens different practises, ideas, concepts keeping in line with HRM tactical planning, philosophy, activities and long term goal of the company. SHRM gives great guidelines on how to lay the strong base for strategic advantages by the creation of effective organizational structure and design culture, value proposition of workforce. The appropriate communication strategy also can be prepared for a changing landscape. It gives Strategic human resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words Strategic human resource management - Essay Example Building Business Case for HR as a Strategic Asset Human resource professionals need to build strong case studies supporting the business objective communicated by the management to employees. The HR department can use previous research works, academic resource, survey reports and industry data in order to support order to build business case. Strategy Map Creation Performance measurement action needs to be integrated by HR department in order to trigger value creation process. The company needs to create graphical representation of performance drivers while mapping the value chain process. HR Deliverable within Strategy Map HR managers need to depict performance drivers and HR enablers separately in order to increase potentiality of strategic map. HR deliverables must support firm level performance drivers of strategy map. Aligning HR Architecture with HR deliverables HR managers need to architect existing HR system (work organization, competencies) in accordance with HR deliverable s (low turnover) to increase strategic value of the map. Aligning existing HR system with organization’s macro level strategy plays cordial role in this step (Becker, Ulrich and Huselid, 2001, p.p 36-47). Strategic Measurement System In this stage HR managers develop measurement tool for HR deliverables to fulfil business objective of the organization. Measurement Detailed process flow for executing and monitoring is drawn in this step. HR managers focus on implementation strategy of the HR Scorecard in context to objective of the organization. The seven step model can be defined in the following manner. (Source: Becker, Ulrich and Huselid, 2001, p.p 36-47) 2.0 Balance Scorecard Some of the major performance measurement tools that are being used in current business scenario include Balanced Scorecard, Economic Value Added (EVA), Activity Based Costing and Management, Performance Prism and Quality Management. However among the aforementioned tools, importance and usage of bala nced scorecard will be principally highlighted through the entire report. While the saying ‘balanced scorecard was coined in the early 1990s’, the origin of this approach however is believed to be deep, and also embrace radical work of General Electric (GE) during the early 1950s. The work was basically based on reporting of performance measurement. Apart from this French process engineers have also contributed immensely towards the development of performance management tools. There work was during the early 20th century. In this context the engineers literally developed a â€Å"dashboard† in order to monitor performance levels in a simplified and efficient way. Despite of its early conception, it was originally developed at Harvard business school by Dr. David Norton and Dr. Robert Kaplan in the year 1992 (Eckerson, 2010, P. 11). During the initial phases after the development of balanced scorecard, it was merely used as the performance measurement tool or a per formance measurement agenda. Nevertheless slowly with the passage of time balanced scorecard has been able to gain much more importance in the professional field. A number of companies incorporated balanced scorecard into their system of operation in order to facilitate effective and well-organized performance measu

Impact of Guilds on Medieval Life Research Paper

Impact of Guilds on Medieval Life - Research Paper Example Guilds were the early associations of skilled workers that originated in the European countries – mostly, France, Germany, England and Italy – which had the written consent of the authority of their region to manage the workforce relevant to the requirements of job owners. Guilds had their advantages of working as collective union whereby ensuring employment opportunities to all the members with reasonable wages and social respect. They held high regards from the monarchs and clergymen for the unique knowledge they possessed for accomplishing the required merits at their desired fields of work. This essay focuses on the influence of guilds in industry, trade and economy across the world during the medieval period. Origin and Extend Guilds were probably the first organized group of individuals set for contributing money and effort towards a common goal in the history of mankind. They comprised the involvement of people from all walks of life which had the original root f rom the Anglo-Saxon civilization throughout Europe. According to Staley, as early as the period of Roman Empire, trade unions were formed with the association of men of similar age, interests, instincts and employment skills and trained for the purpose of the wellbeing and the moral guidance of the society (33). Early guilds were effectively trained by the trade schools for the military purposes and for the constructive requirements of kingdoms. Trained guilds were able to handle jobs in organized sectors, and most of them provided employment to individuals working from their homes. Organized activities of guilds had their influence greatly on the administrative sectors of revenue and merchandise in the early European economy. Since the ancient trade involved international transport of commodities, merchants had formed guilds that operated their business mainly through sea-routes. These trade gilds were the founders of sub-classes of business processes like wholesalers, retailers an d business agents in their domestic as well as international commerce. The foremost of all their achievements was the formation of colonies in foreign countries for the easy access to international business. A clear reference of the proceedings of the early merchant guilds focus the light to the centralized business management applications they employed in the international commerce. Some studies like that of Richardson show that these guilds had a strict regulation of a contractual relationship among members by which they were collectively responsible for the default of each member; and in case of the goods being forfeited at a foreign port for alleviating bad debts, the owner could claim for compensation from the actual defaulter at his home country. Craft guilds, on the other hand, focused on the promotion of particular trades and owned small work units that usually operated from home. Their basic segment of work related to conversion of agricultural commodities to consumable goo ds and their sales in the open market. Bakers, butchers and brewers were the most important category that held the profession in the consumer goods trade. More durable goods were the elements of manufacture guilds that produced goods and sold them in distant markets besides meeting the demands of the local buyers. Under the durable’

Marketing assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Marketing assignment - Essay Example which is concerned with partitioning or dividing the market into one or more segments which can be targeted by the organization for selling and marketing their products / services by developing marketing mixes which are specific to such market segments. Dividing a market into various parts / segments helps in configuration of a company’s value chain and gives a competitive edge to the organization as compared to its competitors1. Segmentation helps organizations in developing a market mix which caters to the specific needs and concerns of the customers belonging to a particular market segment and helps in offering higher value to their target customers. In economic terms, the process of segmentation can be viewed as creation of monopolistic or oligopolistic market conditions whereby organizations seek to realize the highest price that their target customers in the particular market segment are willing to pay. Targeting refers to targeting a product to a specified market segment which comprises of customers who are most likely to consume the company’s products. Targeting helps the organizations in achieving best return on their investments, reach their core customers, gain a wider market share and achieve strategic positioning in the industry. The targeting strategies available to the marketers include2: This involves selling a single product to the entire (mass) market and is based on the assumption that the needs and demands of the consumers to whom the product is marketed are more or less identical. For instance, products such as Colas, Burger King, K – mart etc market and sell a unique product to a mass market. It involves selling different products to different market segments in a way which is appealing to every set of customer according to their respective market segments i.e., the marketers try to match the product with the needs of the customers in each of the identified market segment. For example, airline companies offering different services to

Not yet confirmed. Something with politics or international law, but Essay

Not yet confirmed. Something with politics or international law, but an easy one - Essay Example ility to target a wide group of public and because the people themselves can start revolutions and take active decisions through the use of this media. Social media can serve a number of significant purposes in the modern societies. They are used as active modes of communication, raising awareness about political and social matters, entertainment, education, news and publications, public announcements, current affairs and so on. Also, the social media impacts the arena of modern politics through a combination of the important interfaces of social communications and the use of technology. This report is prepared with the aim of discussing and evaluating the role of social media in different political unrest situations. The report is prepared by introducing social media followed by an analysis of the impact of social media on the national and international political scenarios. This is done by considering the examples of political unrest and protests in countries like Middle East, Philippines, Moldova and Iran and analysing the role that social media played in aggravating or controlling these situations. The report also includes a discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of social media in politics. A suitable conclusion is given by summarizing the entire write up and highlighting the main findings from the report. Social Media Network (SMN) is a part of the Information Communication Technologies (ICTs). The social media networks can be defined as the online utilities and tools that facilitate communication, collaboration and participation in information generation through the digital mediums. 1Social media is an extended part of media which uses the information communication technologies to communicate and collect information through different channels formed by the convergence of technologies available in the foray of computing, microelectronics, optoelectronics, broadcasting, software and telecommunications. 2It can also be said that the social media

Phonology Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Phonology - Case Study Example And when producing pp, the lips will be stretched to produce y. The whole word is uttered in half a second. Elision: Elision is the loss of a phoneme. I.e. the omission of sounds (vowel/consonant/syllable), so that the speaker can simplify the pronunciation. This usually occurs in a fast speech and is normally unintentional. Allophone: Allophone is a phonetic variant of a phoneme in a particular language. I.e. it is one of the several speech sounds belonging to the same phoneme. A change in allophone does not alter the meaning, but rather makes the word sound non-native. Minimal pairs enable the linguists to build up the phoneme inventory for a language or a dialect. Though the words differ by only one segment, there may be wide variations in terms of articulation. However, most minimal pairs are considerably distinct and hardly pose inconvenience to the speaker or listener. Complementary Distribution: it is the mutually exclusive relationship between two phonetically similar segments. It exists when one segment occurs in one particular environment and the other occurring in an entirely different environment. Example: Consider the allophones [p'] and [p]. ... Example: Consider the allophones [p'] and [p]. [p'], the aspirated phoneme occurs when there is a syllable onset and is followed by a stressed vowel (as in the word put) and the unaspirated phoneme [p] occurs all other times. Here we see complementary distribution in similar phones. Every time it need not be allophones. For example,[h] and ['] are in complementary distribution, since [h] only occurs at the beginning of a syllable and ['] only at the end. Since they have hardly anything in common in phonetic terms, they are better considered as separate phonemes. Phonological conditioning and conditioning factors: Consider the words- cats, dogs, judges. The final sounds- /s/, /z/, /s/ occur after the sounds /t/, /g/ and /'/, respectively. When the distribution of the various allomorphs can be stated in terms of their phonemic environments, the allomorphs are said to be phonologically conditioned. Phonological conditioning is the most general and productive kind of conditioning of morphemic variants in languages. Phonemic overlapping: Biuniqueness: It is a principle which provides a one-to-one correspondence between phonemic and phonetic levels of analysis. A phonemic description is said to be biunique if phonemes and allophones are unambiguously mapped on to each other. Example: send and sent pronounced as /sent/ and seed and seat pronounced as /si:t/. Neutralization: phonemes that are contrastive in certain environments may not be so in all environments. In those environments where they do not contrast, the contrast is said to be neutralized. Example: consider the word sum: /s'm/. In another word, plumber: /pl'mb'/, since /m/ is followed by a plosive sound /b/, the contrast is lost. Archiphoneme: This is an abstract phonological

A startup business EZ-learn Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

A startup business EZ-learn - Essay Example This essay discusses that the country’s pre-school educational policies are reflective of the fact that the country has the potential need of products that could integrate efforts to enhance pre-school education and ease learning for kids. Furthermore, a vast majority of UK parents are working; they need easy tools and quick products for learning of little kids. EZ-learn products facilitate learning through activity and play. EZ-learn has adopted a flat structural design for its operations; which is based on five teams; management, product conception and development, marketing, human resource and finance & accounting. The company has identified its strengths, weaknesses along with the opportunities and threats existing in the industry. The target market comprises of teachers and parents. The competitive environment is severe as there are so many educational toy firms and learning centers. However, EZ-learn positions itself over two important dimensions; first it identify its p roducts as learning tools and secondly it categorize them as best gift items for kids. The marketing objective of EZ-learn aligns with the marketing mix of Snap-learn. It entails the key 4P strategies. The product strategy addresses the potential need by focusing 3 main areas of quality, functionality and intangible values which are responsible for strong brand development. Pricing strategy focus value pricing and set depth of sales incentives offered. Distribution strategy uses in/direct placement of Snap-learn. For direct distribution EZ-learn uses e-business strategies (online order placement) and for indirect distribution the company has collaborated with SMYTHS retailers. Communication and selling direct marketing efforts for designing promotional campaign; which uses social media networks to transform buzz marketing and below the line activities to stimulate purchase response from the target market. It offers sales incentives for a limited period. As the report proceeds, it en tails EZ-learn’s financial statements. They identify the numeric worth of EZ-learn. The operations, logistics, human resource and e-business strategies are also elaborated with detail. Finally the report ends with recommendations to the management and illustration of references and pictures of the products. Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 Contents 3 INTRODUCTION TO EZ-LEARN 5 PRODUCT 5 STRATEGIC POSITIONING & EZ-LEARN STRUCTURE 6 Point of Parity, POP: 6 Point of Differentiation, POD: 6 COMPANY STRUCTURE 7 SWOT & PESTEL ANALYSIS 9 POTENCY 9 ACHILLES' HEEL 9 OPPORTUNITY 9 THREATS 9 MARKET & COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS 10 FINANCIALS (CASH FLOW FORECAST 12 CASH FLOW STATEMENT 12 Income Statement 13 VALUATION TECHNIQUES 14 Net Present Value 14 Average Return on Investment 15 INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN 15 FINANCIAL RATIOS 15 MARKETING AND SALES 16 Promotions: 18 OPERATIONS / LOGISTICS/HUMAN RESOURCES/EBUSINESS STRATEGIES 19 OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION 20 RECOMMENDATIONS TO MANAGEMENT 20 Bibliog raphy 22 Kaplan, R, & Atkinson, A 1998, ‘Advanced management accounting’, Prentice Hall, vol. 3, pp. 798. 22 Kieso, D, & Weygandt, J 2004, Intermediate Accounting. John Wiley & Sons, New York 22 Mason, C 2001, ‘What Do Investors Look For In A Business Plan?’, International Small Business Journal. Available from: [Accessed 20 March 2012] 22 APPENDIX 23 SALES GRAPH 23 NET INCOME OF THE COMPANY 24 INTRODUCTION TO EZ-LEARN EZ-learn is a company that is aimed to provide easy learning opportunities to mums’, mentors or even caretakers of a toddler or a preschooler. We aim to â€Å"simplify learning method† for little kids by developing new techniques and by coordinating elderly way of learning. Our vision and mission for EZ-learn is: EZ-learn is

Christian liberty Essay Example for Free

Christian liberty Essay According to the page, Martin Luther’s argument revolves around two basic proposition of liberty. Which states that: â€Å"A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none† (Luther). By this statement he meant that once a person is freed by Jesus Christ, there shouldn’t be any other thing that would have a true dominion on the person on earth. So if Jesus sets you free, indeed you are freed. He explained that man has two folds nature: the inner soul, the spiritual and the carnal, outward flesh. A Christian does not become righteous by doing anything that has to do with flesh but only by the faith in Jesus. Nothing on earth should have any influence on Christian liberty. The second principle was that a Christian â€Å"man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone† (Luther). The two propositions appeared to be contradictory but Luther was able to explain further on both making it clear. He asserts that only one thing alone is necessary for a Christian liberty and that is the Gospel of Christ. He defines Christian liberty as the freedom from the law putting it that the law is not meant for a righteous man. It is the belief in Christ that brings peace and liberty. While Freedom of the soul and its justification comes by faith alone and not by work, he said â€Å"it is evident that by no outward work or labor can the inward man be at all justified, made free, and saved† (Luther). In conclusion, Freedom comes when one belief in the word of God, that is one’s soul get freed and one become saved. Whereas, one get liberty after one has believed wholeheartedly in the Gospel of Christ, it is the word of God that teaches liberty. The freedoms mentioned by Martin Luther all have an element in common: they are all divine freedoms from things of the world. In contrast, Christians should be voluntary servants to God and other men, motivated by love for God and the changes made by salvation. Reference Luther M, Concerning Christian Liberty. Retrieved May 09, 2010 From http://homepage. mac. com/shanerosenthal/reformationink/mlchrlib. htm

Ed Boehm Essay Example for Free

Ed Boehm Essay Edward Marshall Boehm Inc. Case Study The Edward Marshall Boehm case talks about a company whose main objective is to produce the highest possible quality porcelain products while keeping a focus to nature. The following report will include the company’s vision and mission statement, their main objectives, a SWOT analysis and their specific plans in great detail. Edward Marshall Boehm’s vision for the company is â€Å"to capture that special moment and setting which conveys the character, charm and loveliness of a bird or animal in its natural habitat† with his highest possible quality porcelain products. His mission is similar to his vision statement in that he wants to make the world aware and protective of endangered wildlife by making them aware of nature’s charm. As stated in the introduction, the main objective is to make the highest objective porcelain products focused on nature. Other main objectives include trying to establish the company to stay profitable for the long run. The company is particularly focused on making their quality products with the purpose of raising awareness and raising a profit, rather than mass producing for quantity. With these objectives, they believe it will put them where they want to be in the long run. After reviewing the case we have completed a SWOT analysis to get a better idea of where they are headed. The company’s strengths are numerous and promise success. They use a very high quality porcelain clay equal to the finest in the world and have the skill to make many different beautiful figurines. Mr. Boehm is not only extremely artistically talented but also has unlimited knowledge about the art market. He also leads promotion for the company and possesses great merchandising skills. Mr. Boehm could be named as a strength himself. The porcelain figures are becoming increasingly recognized as unique, and irreplaceable as well as many becoming collector’s items; the most intricate have been priced at over $20,000. The weaknesses are less numerous than the strengths but are still existent. First, the figure making process is complex, including 52 steps. This makes it extremely hard when orders become numerous and they start to get backordered, it is hard to catch up because Mr. Boehm is the only artist. Considering at the time this case was written Boehm was 55 years old, it may be hard to view the long-term vision for the company because he may not be around to always be able to create the same quality products he once was able to produce. There is also the expense of creating the products, and the travels Mr. Boehm makes in order to bring back live models of his birds. The company may look at several opportunities in order to improve their company. First, they should consider expanding into international markets; doing this could get their name out there and attract more customers. Mr. Boehm should look into teaching other people how to make the same high quality figures so they are able to create more products efficiently and have less backorders. Finally they should look into selling their porcelain clay to other businesses in order to make more money. We feel that this company faces many threats. As mentioned before Mr. Boehm’s age could potentially be a threat for the businesses. The fact that they have backorders may start to frustrate the customers and cause them to stop ordering from the company because the wait isn’t worth it. A rise in the cost of materials to make the figures may cause him to raise the cost of selling them which will in turn cause the loss of customers. New competitors could always be a threat and they may find a more efficient way to get the figures to customers quickly without backorders. We have a few specific plans that will help this company continue to thrive in the future. The most important thing to do is for Mr. Boehm to train other people in his craft. This is crucial if the company is to plan for long term. Another plan is to hire more than one company to distribute the product. Right now they only have one distributor, Milton China. With more distributors he could reach a larger market. The final plan we came up with is to work on technological advancements to make the long tedious process of making the figures quicker. The largest problem of the company is that it has so many backorders, with technology they could possibly speed up the process and narrow down the amount of backorders. We feel with our analysis that Edward Marshall Boehm Inc. is in good position for the future but they could make vast improvements if they capitalize on their opportunities and focus on the specific plans we provided.

The Jamaican Early Childhood Curriculum Education Essay

The Jamaican Early Childhood Curriculum Education Essay The Jamaican Early Childhood Curriculum was recently crafted. The curriculum is built on the principle that children learn best when content from various disciplines along with skills from the developmental domains are integrated in line with the childrens holistic view and experience of the world. These principles are learning through play, sequenced learning, individual learning, the practitioners multiple roles, inclusion of all learners, integrated curriculum and the domains of development, the learning environment, assessment in early childhood, involving parents and community (Davies, 2008). While the curriculum address various objectives that need to be met in fostering Early Childhood learning and outlines the requisite instructions, there are challenges to the implementation of the curriculum. Broadly speaking, these factors are usually internal and external. These factors reduce the effectiveness of the curriculum and weaken the chance of effective learning at the Early Childhood Level. The factors occur as challenges when there is a mismatch between the situation that the curriculum was designed to target and the reality. This difference causes the actual learning outcome to deviate from the intended learning outcome. The curriculum is normally assume that the student is operating at a particular level, the students parent and environmental background offer a certain level of support, and the teacher operates at a certain level. The real problem occurs when the curriculum does not cater for the majority case of students. Internal factors usually include teachers, students, school infrastructure and resources. Teachers are the driving force of implementing the curriculum effectively. A teachers creativity, capabilities and qualification enables him/her to transfer the content of the curriculum in a meaningful way that will connect with the diversity of learners. According to Jalongo and Isenberg (2012) a teachers knowledge of the children and the content of the curriculum will enable him/her the ability to provide for the childrens strengths and weakness, their interest and to develop the knowledge, skills, values, and dispositions they will need to become productive members of the society. Hence the teachers role in developing the curriculum is to shape what children should learn and how they should learn it. In doing so the teachers methodology is essential in brining the curriculum alive. Jalongo and Isenberg (2012) posit that the teacher strategies and plan for learning is the thread that weaves t he curriculum. This they say is what of teaching and the how of teaching. Its therefore, imperative that teachers plan for the students learning so as to cater for the diverse learning styles in their classroom. The methodologies that the teacher employs should fit the students ability to gain knowledge and develop the necessary skills. Teachers should therefore choose content that are developmentally appropriate to achieve required learning outcome. On the other hand a teacher should also be competent and acquire keen insights on the capabilities that children posses in order to cater for holistic development. If this is not achieved then the implementation of the curriculum would have fails to cater for the children needs and development. The key ingredient for any curriculum is always the learner (Jalongo and Isenberg, 2012). They posit that a curriculum should focus on what a child know and can do and what a child should know and can do. Hence the content of the curriculum should take into account the needs, interest, age and stage of development and the social and cultural context if the child. The child as the learner possesses the ultimate success of the curriculum. This takes into account the abilities, skills, background knowledge and exposure /experience that the child acquire before entering the learning environment. According to Puckett and Diffily (2004) being aware of the differences in childrens development, strengths and challenges will allow curriculum planners and teachers to plan effectively in order to meet each childs developmental needs. Jalongo and Isenberg (2012) stated that a curriculum should consider the following, Child development and learning, Child needs, abilities and interest and Social and cultural context in which children live. The considerations of these will enable the teachers to perform effectively within the teaching and learning environment. The school infrastructures and resources play a vital role in the delivery of the schools curriculum. External factors usually include parents, home and community. This is another driving force in the implementation of the curriculum. The importance of parental involvement is key in the success of academic achievement. This sets the foundation of the learning attitude that children carry to the learning environment. Support from parents increases the academic achievement in later years. Burke (2010) concurred children whose parents are actively involved in their education at an early age aids the nurturing of a childs education and overall development and is one of the core indicators of later achievement. It is through this involvement that children understand and appreciate the importance of a solid education. The involvement of parents can break or build the implementation of any curriculum. Parents are unaware of the powerful effect that have on what and how the content of a curriculum is designed and implemented. I strongly believe that parents are the first line of support for all children. They are the primary source of socialization and set the foundation for formal learning to take place. The home is the initial environment for optimal nurturing and it ideally creates a sense of belonging. Acknowledging that meaningful parental involvement is need its not a one-size fits all. We have to take into consideration the socio economic status of these parents as well as their educational background. The background of these parents especially in urban environs allows for limitation on the input they can offer to the implementation of the curriculum. Hence, few or no involvement occurs and the inability to hold teachers accountable for poor curriculum implementation is poor. Burke (2010) states that when parents are involved in the educational process of their children and, as such, they will be able to include or add additional information and insight from their own personal experiences to teache rs in order to support their childs learning and development. The community is seen as the secondary source of socialization.

The World of Chariots :: essays research papers

The World of Chariots Chariot Racing, popular public game in the classical world of ancient Greece and Rome, in which horses pulled a two-wheeled chariot, or small cart, driven by a charioteer. Often the chariot driver stood in the chariot, rather than sitting. A chariot driver cracks his whip to encourage his horses. Chariot racing was a popular pastime in ancient Greece and Rome and was recorded as an event in the ancient Olympic Games. At the ancient Olympic Games, which began in 776 bc, the chariot race was often the first and most spectacular of the events. The course consisted of 12 double laps, nearly 14 km (9 mi) in all. The most important race was for teams of four horses controlled by one driver. The owners of these teams were nobles, and the victory wreaths were awarded to the owners. By the early 7th century bc there were also professional charioteers from the lower classes. Greek chariots were light, two-wheeled vehicles driven with the driver standing up. Accidents were frequent, and emotions often reached a high pitch. Greek lyric poet Pindar, who sometimes wrote victory odes for the owners of winning teams, tells of one race in which 40 teams were entered but only one finished. Chariot racing was a popular theme in Greek art, appearing in sculpture, vase painting, and engravings on coins. Chariot racing in the Roman Empire was significantly different than it had been under the Greeks. Racing stables were distinguished by the color that their drivers and horses wore. Red and white were the older colors, but green and blue gradually eclipsed them, eventually overtaking them entirely. Interest in chariot racing centered on the victory of the color rather than on the skill of the driver or the quality of the horses. Political and even religious importance came to be attached to the colors. Chariot drivers were commoners, freedmen, or slaves who had been professionally trained from boyhood. If successful, their prestige and earnings were tremendous; unlike the Greeks, the Romans regularly awarded monetary prizes. Roman satirical poet Juvenal remarked that a certain charioteer earned a hundred times the salary of a lawyer. Honorary inscriptions in stone recorded many interesting facts about both drivers and horses. The most prized horses came from Libya, Sicily, Spain, Thessaly, Armenia, Parthia, and Cappadocia. A team of four horses controlled by one driver was the most common, although races were run with teams of as many as ten or as few as two horses.

Procrastination Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To procrastinate is to put off doing something out of casual carelessness or common laziness. It often needlessly postpones or delays events or objectives in your life which can effect others. Procrastination is almost like a drug in your life, because once you start doing it a little bit, it slowly adds up to a dependency that you will find to be common habit. Although this is what we all perceive procrastination to be bad, there are some benefits to it. It can have beneficial impact on how you take pressure, or how well you can act when time is limited.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Procrastination is something that you don’t naturally have an innate ability to do. It is often brought on by finding ways around things such as due dates. It will mostly start off as not doing small homework assignments or even just simple house-hold chores that you try to put off as long as possible just to be able to play more. Or when you are even doing homework, such as a essay, you can find your self having a multitude of characteristics of it. Some may be just seem like difficulty concentrating or daydreaming. You may think that you are just having a small writers block, but you could actually possibly be subconsciously procrastinating because you know u you don’t want to do this, so you delay it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Amazingly how so many high school, and college students do this, not many seem to realize the consequences of it until its to late. S...

Why Our President Has To Leave :: essays research papers

This is an essay about why I think Bill Clinton should resign, and also why I think he won't. You see, Bill Clinton is a man without morals. Well, actually that's not quite true. He does appear to have morals; he just sacrifices them to expediency whenever the opportunity arises. If absolute selflessness with respect to one's values were a virtue, Bill Clinton would be the most virtuous president the United States has ever had. Fortunately, most people do not hold this view of morality or ethics (I hope!). The majority of people still seem to hold integrity in some esteem. If they do, and I am right about Clinton's complete lack of principles, then hopefully this short essay will find a few receptive minds. Firstly, let me review the evidence for my contention that Clinton should resign or be impeached. Now, to like-minded people, that must sound like an almost interminable proposition. Don't worry though, I will limit it to just the "bare" facts of the Lewinsky affair. 1. Bill Clinton had sex with an intern in the White House. 2. He lied under oath in a deposition to a grand jury. 3. He lied to the American people. 4. He attempted to cover up his illicit affair, and obstruct an investigation. Do these offences merit his impeachment or resignation? The primary defense of his actions has been the argument that what he does in his private life does not affect the fulfillment of his public duties as President. It's not hard to knock this contention on the head. Clinton is a public employee. Consider what would happen to any employee caught having sex with one of his staff in his office, during work hours. You'd get very short odds on whether he'd last the rest of the day. Being President of the United States of America is probably the most important job in the world. It carries enormous power, influence and prestige. It consequently necessitates a commensurate level of responsibility and gravity. And here we have a President conducting a year long affair with an intern less than half his age. Yes, the President is entitled to have a private life. But, no President is entitled to put his private life ahead of the interests of the nation. And Bill Clinton was clearly more interested in attending to Miss Lewinsky than to the affairs of the nation. So, whether or not you think Presidents are elected to show moral as well as political leadership, one cannot escape the fact that Clinton subjugated his public responsibilities to his private interests.

Short Story Essay

The characters In the science fiction genre are too small minded to see the big picture. These characters are unable to evaluate the consequences of their actions. The characters are also resistant to the warnings of others. As a result, their ignorance may not only have jeopardized their own life and freedom, but may also have Jeopardized the lives and freedom of others. Characters in the science fiction genre are unable to evaluate the consequences of their actions and as a result jeopardize their own lives and freedom or the lives and freedom of others.To begin, in the short story â€Å"Men are Different† by Alan Bloch, the Robot is unable to see that treating the man as he would a fellow robot could result in the mans death, and ultimately the end of mankind. In the story the Robot decides that the man needs to be fixed and attempts to see what Is wrong with him: â€Å"†¦ His thermostat circuits were shot†¦ I turned him off without any trouble† (Bloch 1). The robot archeologist Is here studying the last man In the system. When the man begins complaining of the heat the Robot assumes he can fix him by opening him up as he loud do to another Robot.This shows that the Robot is unable to evaluate the consequences that may occur if he tries to fix this man. He is unable to see that he does not have the knowledge to fix a human and ultimately ends up killing the man, and ending mankind as a whole. Next, in the story â€Å"Random Sample† by T. P Caravan, the little girl could not see that by being mean and aggressive towards the aliens she could be putting her life, and the lives of others in Jeopardy. The little girl is telling the psychologist about her encounter with the aliens when she explains, â€Å"Anyway, hey paid a lot of attention to him, so I went over and punched him a couple of times.I'm afraid we broke up the insides of their spaceship a little† (Caravan 2). Here, the little girl Is telling the doctor about how s he Interacted with the aliens. She starts explaining what happened and It Is shown that she was very mean and aggressive towards them. By misbehaving and hurting the aliens and their spaceship, it proves that the little girl was unable to evaluate the consequences that would follow her actions. Ultimately, by acting this way towards the aliens she gave them a bad impression of humans which made them return to earth and kill off the human race. Lastly, in the story â€Å"Before Eden† by Arthur C.Clark, the scientists were unable to think about the consequences to Venus and its life forms if they buried their waste on the planet. After Hutchins and Garfield burry their waste and leave, the carpet plant comes back and discovers the garbage they left behind: â€Å"As the carpet crawled back to the lake, it carried contagion to all Its world. Even as the Morning Star set Its course for her distant home, Venus was dying† (Clark 6). When Hutchins and Garfield bury their garba ge on Venus, they do not think about how It could affect the planet. The carpet ends up coming back, finding the garbage and then eating It.The concentrated food, chemicals and nicotine from cigarette butts end up infecting the their garbage on the planet, they ultimately killed off all of the life on Venus. In conclusion, these characters in the science fiction genre were unable to evaluate the consequences of their actions and in all cases either put their own lives and freedom r the lives and freedom of others in Jeopardy. The characters in the non-fiction genre are resistant to the warnings of others and as a result, put their own lives and freedom or the lives and freedom of others in harms way.To start, in the story â€Å"The Weapon† by Frederick Brown, the doctor does not listen to the warning of Mr†¦ Maenad about his creation of the weapon. When Mr†¦ Maenad comes to Dry. Graham's house he expresses his concern about what Dry. Graham is creating: â€Å"Dry. Graham, you are the man who's scientific work is more likely than that of NY other man to end the human race's chance for survival† (Brown 1). As soon as Mr†¦ Maenad enters the doctors home, he warns him of how dangerous the weapon he is creating will be to mankind. Dry. Graham is resistant to his warning and claims that he is only advancing science.Ultimately, Dry. Graham ignores the warning and creates a weapon that could destroy mankind. It is only when Mr†¦ Maenad gives a gun to his mentally ill son, that he realizes how destructive the weapon really is if put in the wrong hands. Next, in the story â€Å"A Sound of Thunder† by Ray Bradbury, the hereafter Sickles does not listen to Travis' warning about leaving the Path and how it could change the future. When Sickles asks why they cannot leave the Path, Travis explains, â€Å"Step on one mouse and you leave your print, like a Grand Canyon, across Eternity.Queen Elizabeth might never be born†¦ There m ight never be a United States at all. So be careful. Stay on the Path. Never step off† (Bradbury 7). Here, Travis is explaining to Sickles why it is important to never leave the Path. While Travis is explaining this, Sickles questions him and does not believe that what Travis is saying sakes any sense. Sickles ignores the warning and later on in the story when he is running back to the time machine, he steps off the Path and changes the future.Ultimately, he puts peoples lives and freedom in danger by ignoring the warning and changing the future. Lastly, in the story â€Å"The Murderer† by Ray Bradbury, Mr†¦ Brock does not listen to the warning the psychiatrist gives him about damaging technology and as a result Jeopardizes his own freedom. When the psychiatrist is speaking to Mr†¦ Brock, he asks him if he's aware that the technology he is damaging is not his and says, Mimi don't want any further help from the Office of Mental Health? You're ready to take the consequences? (Bradbury 4). The psychiatrist is here explaining that because the technology he destroys is not his, if he does not take help from the Office of Mental Health he will be punished. Mr†¦ Brock ignores the warning and says it is only the beginning. By ignoring the warning, Mr†¦ Brock puts his own freedom in jeopardy and therefore has to remain in prison. The characters in the non fiction genre were too resistant to the warnings of others, and as a result put their own lives ND freedom or the lives and freedom of others in Jeopardy.In the science fiction genre, characters put their lives and freedom or the lives and freedom of others in Jeopardy. Characters in this genre cannot evaluate the consequences of their actions. The characters are also resistant to the warnings of small minded and blinded by what they want. The characters go by their own agenda rather than considering the greater good. They do not look at the bigger picture which results in their own de ath and loss of freedom, or the death and loss of freedom of others.

Poverty in Bangkok Essay

Tailand is a inelegant in S prohibitedheast Asia and the only province in the region which was not fey by colonizers. The Asiarooms. com provided a proof to the putting green k without delayledge that name of the country came from the occurrence that be devoid of colonizer govern office they ar free, thus Thailand means land of the free (Thailand nation initiative par. ). The countrys population as reported by Asiarooms. com as of 2006 is nigh 64 million (Thailand population el even outth line).Similar to to the highest degree developing countries in the world, migration of tribe from sylvan to urban aras in search for better paid stemmas andopportunities, is a trend in Thailand. capital of Thailand has been the preferent destination. It is a common belief that westernization and establish of consumerism as seen in telly, broadcast and strike media provided the inertia and idealism for unre gotive people to impel to prime urban shopping m all told that i s Bangkok. According to United Nations s ejecttness yardstick as reported by Stick earth, piteous people ar those whose income is US$1. 00 per day or be starting time. The UN report further verbalise that as of year 2000, there argon about 19 million Thailanders class as poor and that is about 29. 9% of the total population. These peopleare the verdant habitants in the provinces of north, west and northeast regions of Thailand (Stickman, want 4th par. ). They are full of wish that they low bearing successfully seek an art in the city and send affair of their w climb ons back to their impoverished families which they left field in the homespun celestial spheres. As they move to the city, it is a normal expectation that most of them get out baptismal font problems tie in to product line housing. Majority of them opt to stay with their relatives and friends in slum theatre of operationss fleck stressful to modify to the hot env agitate manpowert and searching f or an employment. cod(p) to the feature that studyity ofthem are hope slight having come from an agri tillage area where strain farming is the plethoric livelihood, experience pass on tell us that the chances are they provide get a job which is commonly low paying in the sluttish sphere. If the new city d surfaceer is a female, experience get out tell that temptation is great to make water cash from harlotry and drugs to relieve the tension of psychological use up that their families left behind in the countrified area may go hungry. It back end be hypothesized that since the new city dweller lack the essential skills and knowledge for a high paying job, majority of them will opt to be added to the ever alternate magnitude slum population of Bangkok.As a sign of progress, separates who have tasted the experience of woful money from their serve rendered as mistress or nameer in unceremonious firmament and not from 2 farming, will opt to get their families bac k in the coarse areas to stay with them in the slum areas amidst the hardship and glaring neon lights in the city. This paper aims to elucidate the plight of rural pastureers with emphasis on the female wind upual activity in urban setting and causes of privation of slum dwellers in Bangkok.Current pre restrict of Women in Thai Society The Thai moodsmagazine.com in 2002 revealed that women condition in Thailand has come a bulky to its present stage where the women are supposed to be in the like level of societal standing to men. In the middle 18th century, the wives were considered as stuff and nonsense thing that commode be feature and be disposed of anytime. The culture of Thailand even up to this day expect women to go to work like men and at the same time produce sustentation of the household, cook food, take of the children and ensure the upbeat of family members at all times (Women status in Thai purchase order initiative par). It has been in the affectiona te structure inThailand in the past that adult female had to take care of the husband and be dutiful to him. Whether born from a high association or not, ladies were still considered inferior to men (Social Structure beginning(a) par. ). Theravada Buddhism is the trust of almost 85% of Thai population (Asiarooms. com, Religion foremost par. ). Buddhism as worship instilled into the mind of Thais the concept of karma. This concept is profoundly engrained into the culture of Thais. The doctrine of karma teaches that every forgiving act carries with it a chastity and geological fault points. The merit makes karma pure and uncontaminating while demerit makes karma dirty.Buddhism instilled into the minds of Thai that their life on earth is a cover of being born again. When they die, they will be promoted into higher(prenominal)(prenominal) karma if they have no demerit. If their soul is contaminated due to demerits, they will be reincarnated into a lower form of life, they will bear punishment and must learn to correct their karma (Sexwork. com Buddhism and harlotry 7th par. ). Furtherto a greater extent, Buddhists believe that by helping close toone and showing thankfulness to their parents, they are purifying their soul conduct to cull karma and nirvana, the purest of all souls.It is this belief that ladies since they are viewed lower in status than man under Buddhism ( 10thth par) opt to be ill-treats and sacrifice their virginity and shame and to earn money and give to their parents to redeem themselves and cleanse their karma (9th par. ). On nigher analysis, the over-all effect in the long run is dependency of the family to their daughter prostitute for financial support and forgetting to strive harder to earn a descent living.3 thusly the family remains in pauperization all through their lives. Earning much money as prostitute comparedto farming in the rural villages where the ladies originated and at the same time cleanup position their karma gave the woman an honorable profession in her own and familys perception per cadence of Buddhism. In totality, up to the present time, we can say that women under the Thai culture as influenced by Buddhism are considered as profitable investment like a material thing and less of a human being under the condition of want as experienced by economically deprived rural Thais. The varied Faces of Poverty in Bangkok light Sector, Slum Settlements and whoredomOn closer analysis of an agricultural providence trying to be an industrialized one, the poverty in Bangkok is mainly due to migration of poor rural folks who are less skilled to do urban jobs (Sethuraman 79). This is the undercoat for majority of them landing into jobs in the idle sector of the rescue. fountain Mark Kramer in his book Dispossesed argue that jobs in the free sector in Bangkok are mainly of small scale as the capital investment is also principally minimal (120).The reservoir revealed that the activities are ordinarily conducted without proper approval and recognition from regime and as such lack laws and regulations related to worker compensation standard and safety. The major activities embarrass retail trade, transport sterilise and maintenance, personal and domestic services which include harlotry and small scale manufacturing. The enterp rhytidectomys in in stately sector normally employs ten or fewer employees and broadly speaking prompt family members. The work is normally labor intensifier and require less skill which rationalise the rationale for offering a low pay.The workers learn the needed skills on the job and the employer-employee relationship is un penwith little or no appreciation of worker mightilys and industrial relation (121). For this modestness, the entry and exit in the unceremonial sector is easier than in the formal sector. The operation of the informal sector work in conjunction with the formal scrimping and contribute a lot to the thriftiness of Thailand and become integral part of the spheric economy (122). Despite this fact however, we can conclude that the wages of individual worker is just barely enough for impart to mouth existence of the worker and his family. This is the reason for the ever existence of poverty in Bangkok.The workers of the informal economy live in cramped quarters make out of scrap ply board galvanized iron and used tires and erected by the worker themselves on the land not their own. The 4 ingress of the slum houses in the last 50 years gave rise to a well known squatter community called Klong Toey (Kramer 125). The causality revealed that the Klong Toey slum community is populated mostly by rural migrants from nor-east Thailand who came to Bangkok for job opportunities. Being squatters, they constantly face the danger of legal ouster , their make swag housedismantled and their properties like television sets and sala sets destroyed and dispossessed due to the fact that they h ave no legal right to the occupancy of the land (126).For this reason, the slum area dont receive primary facilities like water, electricity and garbage remotion from the political relation. The make shift shacks are create very close to each other provided with very small lane just enough for a two fashion walk. The reservoir added that there are some small stores and food lots that remove basic commodities like canned goods, salinity and sugar inside the slum area. to a greater extent than 100,000 people live in the area reservation it dampand fishy heart permeates.One thing is very noted in Kong Toey and that is the clean maintenance of Buddha shines with wise(p) flowers daily, a proof that the slum occupants are deeply religious despite their poverty (127). The origin added that health problems and poverty goes egest in hand at Klong Toey. modernization and access to television, radio and print media gave rise to consumerism among rural Thais. The poor people are a lso hoping that someday they can fork up money to buy the amenities and luxuries in life. It is an accepted fact that when there is poverty and the strong desire for material thing,prostitution will surely set in. authentic sources revealed that prostitution in Bangkok is in an ever increasing trend due to three causes. First, it is promoted by the government, second, prostitution and woman is already interwoven in the Thai culture, third, the practice is indirectly support by Buddhism, the dominant faith of the Thais. 1. whoredom is indirectly promoted and encouraged by the government Author Dave in Phoenix reported that the Thai government by virtue of The diversion impress of 1996 declared that Prostitution is black in Thailand. Yet the law is written (even if enforced) as to protect the activities that take in so many billions of baht to the economy which supports so many families, women and children, and does little to change the sexual traditional morals of Thailand ( som e other report on The Entertainment Places Act of 1966 30th par. ).It can 5 be said that based on the dictum of the author, the prohibition is only on paper but is not strictly enforced as doing it will harm the economy.As a support to the fact that the Thai government is encouraging prostitution, Justin Hall, a subdue Degree student of Politics of atomic number 16and selenium Asia researched from reliable documents that in 1967, during the Vietnam War, Thailand concord to provide rest and recreation services to American serviceman (International semipolitical Economics 4th par), thus Thailand in the words of Senator Fulbright agreed to become an American brothel(4th par 4th line). It is a fact that American soldiers need girlfriends and Thailand need dollars. The Vietnam War resulted to injection of about $16 million into the Thai economy annually. The author added that in 1957, there were about 20,000 prostitutes in Thailand but in1964, when the Americans established septe nary military bases in the country, the number skyrocketed to 400,000. after the war, the resulting slack in dollar earning was replaced by prostitution dollars from tourism which centered on sexual aspect (third par. ). 2. Prostitution is now interwoven in Thai society The practice which can only be do by a pleasant and innocent woman is drawn by the prospect of much higher reenforcement than what they could earn in government position, doing bungled labor in informal sector and in agriculture (Hall, Opportunity 1st par. ).The author reported further that astudy of a Thai sociologist Pasuk Pongpaichit in 1982 for International Labor Organization of UN revealed an estimated income of sex worker to be about 25 times higher than what can be earned in other occupation. The author added that a couple of years work could enable the prostitute family to build a house which can only reinforced out of lifetime savings in rural area of Northeast Thailand. The author claimed that Our surv ey clearly showed that the girls felt they were making a perfectly rational close within the context of their particular social and economic structure (Opportunity 3rd par.).This shows that the entire family can be support by just one prostitute and the entire rural village is made up of such families (Opportunity 1st par. ). It is thus expected that a girl in a family will bring economic fortune to the poor family by working as a prostitute. 3. Prostitution is indirectly support by Buddhism, the dominant religion of the Thais It was learned earlier from author Dave in Phoenix that Buddhism inculcated into the minds of 6 Thais that our life on earth is a process leading to being reborn or re-incarnated (Buddhism and Prostitution 7th par. ).The good acts to chum person showing gratitude for what they have done serve as a merit factor leading to a clean karma and ultimately nirvana.. Buddhism propagated the belief that woman is of a lower gender and should not be praised, loved and taken cared of as their inwrought role is nothing else but of procreation. The girl in the family upon reaching adolescent age is more than willing to be a prostitute, earn money to support her parents and family. The girls are sacrificing for they know that their acts will lead to clean karma and they will be reincarnated to a higher being after death and hit eternal peace or nirvana.(Buddhism and Prostitution 10th par. ). The foregoing analysis supported by reliable sources points to the fact that prostitution is a product of poverty and the way out is inspired by societal acceptance of the practice ably supported by religious belief. Summary and induction It was proven from the sources consulted, that migration of rural folks from Northeast Thailand to urban Bangkok in search of better paying jobs is the trend in the last three decades. The exodus resulted to more cases of alleviated poverty than reducing it. As a means of fighting poverty, the rural folkswhile seeking their hazard in Bangkok congregates in informal settlements one of which is the known Klong Toey slum community. In exchange for a low paying job in the informal sector but still better than farming, the new urban dwellers developed within themselves the inborn quality to endure psychological painfulness and stress from constant threat of eviction and dispossession of the materials they painstakingly bought out of the money coming from sweat and sacrifices.One of the proven ways to seek out of poverty is to be a prostitute. The Thai government although pressured by UN to stop thepractice cannot do anything but indirectly support prostitution for fear of losing precious dollars which help the economy survive. It is a co-incidence that the female gender is being looked at as the one who can do it as it is accepted by society as indirectly influenced by Buddhism. Being the land of the free, Thailand is maintaining its sovereignty in the community of nations and it is only their society and no one else can judge the religion of female prostitution as a way of escaping poverty.Works CitedDave in Phoenix. good office of Prostitution- The Creative Law to crouch to Outside Pressure Yet retain Traditions and Economic Advantages to Families Sexwork Cyber Center. 1999. 23 April 2009 Dave in Phoenix. The puzzle out Of Thai Buddhism on Prostitution tralatitious Acceptance / Encouragement vs. Modern repossess Views. Sexwork Cyber Center. 1999. 23 April 2009 Hall, Justin. Prostitution in Thailand and Southeast Asia. 1998. 23 April 2009 Kramer, Mark. Dispossesed. New York Orbis Books, 2006 Sarutta.Womens Status in Thai Society Thaiwaysmagazine.com. 10 September 2002. 23 April 2009 http//www. thaiwaysmagazine. com/thai_article/1911_thai_women_status/thai_women_status. hypertext markup language Sethuraman, S. V. The urban informal sector in Asia an annotated bibliography. geneva International Labor Organization, 1992. Stickman, L. Thailand-Population, Poverty and Prostitu tion. Stickmans guide to Bangkok. 23 April 2009 http//www. stickmanbangkok. com/ indorser/reader291. html Thailand Population AsiaRooms. com. 23 April 2009. 23 April 2009. http//www. asiarooms. com/travel-guide/thailand/thailand-overview/thailand-population. html

Database Needs for Early Learning Programs Essay

The Outcomes and Targets for the recently passed Families and pedagogics bill be very high. At the heart of the levy is accountability and using info in by the way ways to improve annual taboocomes. In the commonwealth of primaeval accomplishment the dollars lead double and the derive of boorren and passkey staff served exit increase dramatically. The take in for reliable, accessible selective information is great. An HSD IT web based information system (ELNIS) was created in 2006 for the previous levy. It was deployed in the pass of 2007 and began to be used in the 2007-2008 school course.Hosted by the narrate of Washington, it is accessible to for individually one daysncy low signal with the city through a city leveraged computer and digital certificate. Help desk support and schooling are also provided by the city. In 2009 the state ECEAP program substantially changed its enrollment form. ELNIS no perennial advertes the data elements require by the st ate. It was decided, because the change came so late in the twelvemonth, that it was not feasible to mend the changes in ELNIS. For the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school classs the data has been out of sync with enrollment forms for ECEAP.ELNIS was designed in 2005 with the expect of having a single primaeval acquire data base for ECEAP, shout up, and baby foreboding Subsidy. This proved to be unfeasible given the fourth dimension constraints and particular resources available to accomplish the task. tiddlerren are entered into multiple data bases that do not connect with individually other, only all ECEAP pip-squeakren are also in ELNIS. In 2010 notional program substantially change the pip-squeak sagaciousness tool, much(prenominal) that in the nett category of the levy 2010-2011 the fry mind data is no longer transfered into ELNIS.Again it was decided not to reconfigure ELNIS to match the changes in the assessments because of measure and cost, until the ba re-ass levy passed. The OFE closureical report drives the immediate bespeak for data. Each calendar month OFE requires a data set of demographics, attendance and assessment data be delivered on the last sidereal day month following the month report. In the MOA each category between OFE and HSD the data elements are negotiated. The data inform required for early learnedness in 2010-2011 is on pages 5 8 of this report.These bequeath alleviate form a substantial part of the required data, but there give be excess contingents and issue forth of records entrust increase substantially. Further, each year an analysis is completed by the data and military rating strategic advisor in August/ family line for the previous school year. The data is used to protagonist managers and education specialists to improve the performance of the agencies in the abutting school year. This process aims by creating a bountiful data set of assessments matched to each child who has been served .The early vision was that the data would be stored in ELNIS and download for use in evaluations ready to be account or analyzed. ELNIS is capable of containing the demographic data (although it no longer matches the data collected for ECEAP families) for each child, the agency, target and schoolroom data, and the ECERS assessment. It can no longer upload the Embedded boor Profile judicial decision data, the PPVT- 4 child data, nor any data about professional development. All of this data must be managed one by one in Excel spreadsheets and appended to the download from ELNIS.Increased ask for data and natural data elements The new levy embarrasss six components of which are three are new and three are expanded Professional learning Family Engagement and Outreach Preschool Kindergarten Transition internal Visiting political platform Health and Mental Health Support for Children The new required elements for reporting are expected to include the following forefingers of progress toward the outcomes name-Child Home Program (PCHP) administergivers/Adults will make change magnitude positive fashion on the Parent and Child Together tool ( accordance).PCHP Children will bet banal on the Child mien Traits (CBT) and the Teacher Rating of Oral lyric poem and Literacy (TROLL). Family sponsor and Neighbors (FFNS) Care suppliers Caregivers/Adults will demonstrate increase positive style on the Parent and Child Together tool ( agreement). Step forrad Preschool Programs Children enrolled will bear upon the exemplar cross off and/or make gains on the Peabody get wind vocabulary experiment-4 (PPVT-4) of loose incline by the end of the preschool year.Step Ahead Preschool serving children who are position Language Learners Children will make statistically significant gains in English Language Acquisition at the end of the preschool year on the PPVT-4. Step Ahead Preschool Children will pull together age take expectations at the end of the preschool year on Teaching Strategies aureate Child (TSG) assessment. Children served by Step Ahead and SEEC and enrolled in full-day kindergarten Children will meet the age- aim expectations on Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) .SEEC Pre-K schoolrooms will meet the Environmental Rating Scale (ERS) barised at the end of the program year. SEEC Pre-K Teachers will meet standard on the schoolroom sagaciousness gain ground System ( household) at the end of the program year. Children enrolled in Step Ahead pre-K program will cave in fewer than 5 absences per semester. Children served by a Step Ahead Preschool will be assessed at train 2 or higher on the regularise English assessment test at the low gear of Kindergarten. weigh of early learning and child wield settings receiving targeted consultation or knowledge.% of children who enroll in kindergarten on time. % of children enrolled in full day kindergarten. % of children who attend 90% of school long time. % of children who meet the birth to 3-year indicator for wellness (TBD). % of 4 year olds who meet standard on the curriculum embedded assessment in preschool. previous(predicate) encyclopedism Health Number of early learning and child mission settings and providers receiving targeted consultation or training. Number of children in early learning and child pity settings receiving developmental assessments.Number of children in early learning and child care referred for mental health therapy and/or medical follow-up. Number of low-income families linked to a health care home, Medicaid coverage, and/or other health care resources. perspicacity Tools used to provide outcome and indicator data constructive opinions Child Teaching Strategies Gold (administered surrender, winter and spring of the pre-k year) Classroom Curriculum-embedded classroom checklist (administered annually) CLASS Annual voluntary observation of pre-k and kindergarten- tertiary nock teachers to measure teacher effectiveness.Summative sound judgments Child PPVT-4 (administered course and spring of pre-k ) Child WaKIDS ( administered fall and spring of kindergarten) Classroom ECERS ( administered annually) Performance Payment with OFE will likely include these Outcomes (indicators) 2010-11 Indicator BaselinesNumber of Students Meeting IndicatorPercent of Students Meeting Indicator Families demonstrating increased positive style on the contract and the CBT 35/4283. 3% Children making gains in the Standard add together from the fall pre-PPVT to the spring post-PPVT 657/93570. 3%Children with a minimal of two assessments get together age-level expectations on Teaching Strategies Gold397/546 73. 0% Children are in classrooms meeting an ECERS standard of 5 in each sub racing shell or an median(a) of 6 in all subscales. 397/636 62. 4% Indicator Targets2010-20112012-132013-142014-152015-162016-172017-182018-19 Families demonstrating increased positive manne r on the PACT and the CBT 83. 3% 84% 85% 86% 87% 88% 89% 90% Children making gains in the Standard realize from the fall pre-PPVT to the spring post-PPVT 70. 3% 73% 76% 80% 83% 86% 89% 90%.Children with a minimum of two assessments meeting age-level expectations on Teaching Strategies Gold 73. 0% 75% 78% 81% 84% 87% 89% 90% Children are in classrooms meeting an ECERS standard of 4 in each subscale or an mean(a) of 6 in all subscales. 62. 4% 67% 71% 76% 80% 85% 89% 90% Conclusions ELNIS as currently configured will not meet the needs of the primordial Learning System to report data to the funder, to use data for improving outcomes, or to manage data for contract payment purposes and monitoring. Either work needs to begin ASAP on reconfiguring ELNIS or a new data system needs to be created or purchased.Options include an HSD IT build or a purchase of a configurable off the shelf software system, such as Adsystech or ETO. data will need to begin being describe to OFE in the fall o f 2012, eight months from now. What options exist for meeting this need? What resources are available? What planning team should be assembled? information Set currently required to be reported by OFE (2010-2011) SEEC Early Learning Pre-K Source HSD (monthly) Data ElementData TypeNotes Year numericalThe year of the period that the data is reported for. e. g. 2006 for reporting period declination 2006.MonthnumericThe month of the period that the data is reported for. e. g. 12 for reporting period December 2006 Child HSD ID mathematical1 = English 2 = Other than English 3 = English and another language 4 = not reported Student IDNumericEnter SPS Student ID later on child is enrolled in Kindergarten Ethnicity principleChar 25 categories from SPS Childs Home LanguageNumeric Gender CodeChar 1 SEEC self-assurance CodeChar 4Corresponds with Agency name look-up table SEEC Site CodeChar 4Corresponds with classroom localise look-up table SEEC Classroom Code Char 7Corresponds with classr oom look-up table.SEEC StatusNumeric1 = Step-Ahead Pre-K 2 = Step Ahead Match SEEC degreeNumericTier I Step Ahead, Tiny Tots, Refugee Womens Alliance, and Jose Marti Tier II Denise Louie Education Center/Head take leave Tier III Non-Step Ahead Early Childhood Education and Assistance Programs (ECEAP) , Neighborhood nominate Head Start Tier IV Comprehensive Child Care Program (CCCP), other Head Start Programs in the City of Seattle Days in Pre-K ProgramNumeric/NullTotal number of days the student has participated in the Pre-K program during the month.ECERS Average Subscale rack up and average totalNumericRange 1-7 ECERS Met StandardYes/No/Null ECERS average scotch of 4 across all 7 elements Classroom Quality StandardYes/No/NullClassroom met quality standards Classroom LevelNumeric/NullClassroom correspond based on years of experience and training world-class Child sagacity Social/ steamy DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudents level from the beginning(a) yeasty Curriculum chi ld assessment or spunky/ mount COR foremost Child perspicacity Physical DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudents level from the initiatory Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/ cathode-ray oscilloscope COR.1st Child estimation Cognitive DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudents level from the 1st Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR 1st Child Assessment Language DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudents level from the 1st Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR second Child Assessment Social/Emotional DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudents level from the second Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR second Child Assessment Physical DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudents level from the second Creative Curriculum child assessment. or High/Scope COR second Child Assessment.Cognitive DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudents level from the second Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR. second Child Assessment Language DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudents level f rom the second Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR. third Child Assessment Social/Emotional DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudents level from the 3rd Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR. 3rd Child Assessment Physical DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudents level from the 3rd Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR. 3rd Child Assessment.Cognitive DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudents level from the 3rd Creative Curriculum child assessment. 3rd Child Assessment Language DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudents level from the 3rd Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR. Formative Assessment ChildYes/No/NullChild met the standard in the final embedded assessment as adopted by the SEEC assessment workgroup. PCHPYes/No/NullParticipated in Parent-Child Home Program. SEEC Early Learning Peabody Picture dictionary psychometric test, Fourth version PPVT Source HSD (twice yearly) Data ElementData TypeNotes Child HSD IDNumeric.Child AgeXX-XXChilds ag e at time of test in years and months 1st assessment standard brandNumeric/NullStudents standard take a leak from the 1st Peabody Picture Vocabulary screen out. 1st assessment rude(a) takeNumeric/NullStudents raw earn from the 1st Peabody Picture Vocabulary streamlet 1st assessment stray akin fall guyNumeric/NullStudents grade equivalent nominate from the 1st Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 1st assessment age equivalent scoreNumeric/NullStudents age equivalent score from the 1st Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 1st assessment process scale valueNumeric/NullStudents growth scale value from the 1st Peabody Picture.Vocabulary Test 1st assessment centile scoreNumeric/NullStudents percentile score from the 1st Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 2nd assessment standard scoreNumeric/NullStudents standard score from the 2nd Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test.2nd assessment raw scoreNumeric/NullStudents raw score from the 2nd Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 2nd assessment grad e equivalent scoreNumeric/NullStudents grade equivalent score from the 2nd Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 2nd assessment age equivalent scoreNumeric/NullStudents age equivalent score from the 2nd Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 2nd assessment growth scale valueNumeric/NullStudents growth scale value from the 2nd Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 2nd assessment percentile scoreNumeric/NullStudents percentile score from the 2nd Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test.SEEC Early Learning ECERS Source HSD (twice yearly) Data ElementData TypeNotes SEEC Classroom Code Char 7Corresponds with classroom look-up table.1st ECERS score piazza and FurnishingsNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 1st ECERS score Personal Care RoutinesNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 1st ECERS score Language and conclude Numeric/NullAverage score for subscale 1st ECERS score Activities Numeric/NullAverage score for subscale 1st ECERS score Interaction Numeric/NullAverage score for subscale 1st ECERS score Program StructureNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 1st ECERS score Parents and StaffNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 1st ECERS cumulative classroom scoreNumeric/NullAverage score across all subscales 2nd ECERS Score Space and FurnishingsNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 2nd ECERS Score Personal Care RoutinesNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 2nd ECERS Score Language and Reasoning Numeric/NullAverage score for subscale 2nd ECERS Score ActivitiesNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 2nd ECERS Score InteractionNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 2nd ECERS Score Program StructureNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 2nd ECERS Score Parents and StaffNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 2nd ECERS cumulative classroom scoreNumeric/NullAverage score across all subscales.Early Learning Parent-Child Home Program Source HSD (twice yearly) Data ElementData TypeNotes YearNumericThe year of the period that the data is reported for, e. g. , 2006 for reporting period December 2006. MonthNumericThe month of the period that the data is reported for, e. g. , 12 for reporting period December 2006. Child HSD IDNumeric Student IDNumericEnter SPS Student ID after child is enrolled in Kindergarten Ethnicity CodeChar 25 categories from SPS, Other, Bi-Racial/Multi Racial Gender CodeChar 1 AgeNumeric In Parent-Child Home visitor ProgramYes/NoStudent has participated in the Parent-Child Home Visitor Program during the month.Parent-Child Home Visitor Program Provider CodeNumeric292 = Atlantic Street Center 304 = Neighborhood House at Rainier Vista 305 = Neighborhood House at New Holly 310 = Southwest Youth and Family Services Parent-Child Home Visitor Program Total Number of VisitsNumeric/NullCumulative number of visits during the month. 1st Child Behavior Traits (CBT) Assessment Cooperation with Adults earthly concern Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 average score for items that make up the domain shown at go away 1. Does not let on this behavior 2. sometimes processs this behavior 3. Most of the time exhibits this behavior 4. ever exhibits this behavior 1st CBT Assessment wariness to Task field of operation.Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 average score for items that make up the domain shown at odd 1. Does not exhibit this behavior 2. Sometimes exhibits this behavior 3. Most of the time exhibits this behavior 4. Always exhibits this behavior 1st CBT Assessment Engagement in developmentally Appropriate Tasks empyrean Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 average score for items that make up the domain shown at left 1. Does not exhibit this behavior 2. Sometimes exhibits this behavior 3. Most of the time exhibits this behavior 4. Always exhibits this behavior 2nd CBT Assessment Cooperation with Adults DomainNumeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 2nd CBT Assessment Attention to Task DomainNumeric/NullScore ranges 1-4.2nd CBT Assessment Engagement in Developmentally Appropriate Tasks DomainNumeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 3rd CBT Assessment Cooperation with Adults DomainNumeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 3rd CBT Assessment Attention to Task DomainNumeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 3rd CBT Assessment Engagement in Developmentally Appropriate Tasks DomainNumeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 1st Parent and Child Together (PACT) Assessment Parent-Child Interactions Domain Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 average score for items that make up the domain shown at left 1. Does not exhibit this behavior 2. Sometimes exhibits this behavior 3. Most of the time exhibits this behavior 4.Always exhibits this behavior 1st PACT Assessment - lordly Parenting Behavior Domain Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 average score for items that make up the domain shown at left 1. Does not exhibit this behavior 2. Sometimes exhibits this behavior 3. Most of the time exhibits this behavior 4. Always exhibits this behavior 2nd PACT Assessment Parent-Child Interactions Domain Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 2nd PACT Assessment Positive Parenting Behavior Domain Numeric/Null Score ranges 1-4 3rd PACT Assessment Parent-Child Interactions Domain Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 3rd PACT Assessment Positive Parenting Behavior Domain Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4.1st Teacher Rating of Oral Language and Literacy (TROLL) Assessment Language ScoreNumeric/NullScore ranges 0-20 (5 items with upper limit of 4 points for each item) 1st TROLL Assessment Reading ScoreNumeric/NullScore ranges 0-20 (5 items with maximal of 4 points for each item) 1st TROLL Assessment Print imagination ScoreNumeric/NullScore ranges 0-12 (3 items with maximum of 4 points for each item) 2nd TROLL Assessment Language ScoreNumeric/NullScore ranges 0-20 (5 items with maximum of 4 points for each item) 2nd TROLL Assessment Reading ScoreNumeric/NullScore ranges 0-33 (8 items with maximum of 4 points for each item one Yes/No item scored 1/0 ) 2nd TROLL Assessment Print Concept ScoreNumeric/NullScore ranges 0-28 (7 items with maximum of 4 points for each item).