Miss Greenford

Miss Greenford sat behind her 95 years of age typewriter she acquired from the dad to type down a letter to her lone child who presents with the US armed force. She stated, †Dear John, I miss you so much, my subsequent child. Daddy hasn't being feeling great for as far back as a quarter of a year and he is stressed he wouldn't make it before you come back from the war. His desire is to see you before returning home. Kindly come immediately when you get this letter. Grandmother sends her welcome, and Doggy your feline as well. While she sat composing, John, in the quiet of a blast from the foe's camp, gulped a shot. †Retreat everyone†, the General yelled. Lieutenant Jamal from Afghanistan conveyed his companion on his shoulder and ran into the tent where the medical attendants tended the injuries of the harmed officers. †Johnny, Johnny please address me. Open your eyes† he seriously mentioned however John discreetly was surrendering the apparition. The main word that came out of his mouth was ‘mama'. Lieut. Jamal cried! He has lost the main companion in the military that thought about him.He recalled how he used to play b-ball with John alone as all the folks declined his organization and called him names. One day at get together, it was declared a war has separated between the US and Russia and all guys were begged to enroll in the military as quickly as possible. Jamal was terrified to death since he never preferred the sound of a weapon. Experiencing childhood in a ghetto where the dad was a warlord, he was called Ja, the whimp. He generally stows away under the bed during a battle of weapons in the city however John supported him that they can do it. He will be there for him whenever and ensure him against the domineering jerks. John was the sibling Jamal never had. What's more, presently he doesn't have the foggiest idea how he can oversee without him.Back home, Miss Greenford purchased a stamp at the mail station, fixed her letter and presented it on his caring child. She can hardly wait to see him following eight strong long periods of detachment. This war has had a cost for everybody. Miss Greenford herself has been feeling a serious throb in her left bosom of late. Frightened of the most noticeably terrible, she has would not visit the clinic for an exam. †I should be solid to deal with my two young men, John and his father†, she generally murmurs to herself. After three weeks, on the day Miss Greenford had moved toward passing by the mail station to check if her child has answered, there was an uproarious thump on the entryway which alarmed even the vase on the window sheet and it came smashing on the floor.'Who is there?' she yelled from the kitchen. ‘Friends of John, the voices resounded. Miss Greenford ran out of the kitchen like a blaze of helping just to get to the entryway to see men wearing uniform conveying a final resting place. Promptly, she fallen. She woke up to the updates on her better half dropping of cardio assault when he wheeled his seat to the entryway since he likewise heard the yell of †friends of John† from his room.†Both my young men had left me, she cried. What does it benefit me to be alive and upset? The two things that gave me happiness have been grabbed from me, mama†. Old mother Gracie was there to support her girl. She advised her not quit crying. She should let each mucus of sharpness out, at that point she can have her tranquility. †I have been here previously and I know how it feels however don't stress it will make you more grounded. It generally does† Your daddy kicked the bucket in the war as well. The main man I have known tasted demise while in a love protecting his nation. Be that as it may, he kicked the bucket a cheerful man. He kicked the bucket realizing that at any rate he took care of his obligations to his nation. So dismal he was before he passed on when I was pregnant with you for about fourteen days that the specialist said it is a young lady. We had both been appealing to God for a kid, yet he implored all the more intensely on the grounds that he needed his child to be a warrior, a defender of the state and dreams of America. In spite of the fact that baffled, he adored you so without question, my infant. Be happy you gave daddy an officer, presently his spirit will find happiness in the hereafter.

English Essay †Speeches Essay Example for Free

English Essay †Speeches Essay Question: there are the same number of various methods of deciphering and esteeming writings, as there are perusers. Of the innumerable discourses recorded all through time a chosen few have risen above their unique settings and political fights to hold significance today. We have seen their advancement after some time as their blunt thoughts and gathering withstanding importance inside our changing society paying little mind to adjusting esteems. Aung San Suu Kyi, Emma Goldman and Dr. Martin Luther King’s engaging discourses have traversed across decades, joined in their mean to cause to notice an absence of opportunity, equity and popularity based rights and are one of a kind in encouraging others to help their battle for burdened social gatherings. In Aung San Suu Kyi’s â€Å"Keynote address at the Beijing World Conference on Women† in China 1995, she talks with profound conviction in regards to the absence of opportunity that ladies endure. So too does Emma Goldman when in 1917 she conveyed â€Å"The political criminal of today should needs be the holy person of the new age† to a jury comprising completely of men. The segregation that these two ladies talk about embodies ladies over the world, constantly being oppressed for their sexual orientation. Suu Kyi didn't utilize talk in her discourse yet rather decided to build up a feeling of closeness and engaged her audience’s astuteness through a nearby video recording. Her tone and unemotional methodology welcomes her audience members to receive new points of view and to remember ladies for the political procedure as â€Å"no war was ever begun by women†. Her battle proceeds with a well established saying of her way of life that â€Å"the day break rises just when the chicken crows† figuratively portraying how ladies are compliantly treated today by the â€Å"rooster†. The precept needs to change as it is on the grounds that the sunrise creates the impression that the chicken crows. Goldman also addresses the issue of separation by examining the manner in which ladies are treated by power employing men, all the more explicitly in the legitimate and political framework. During her barrier against cases of trick she shields her rebel position and uses mockery and shortened sentences to criticize the jury when she more than once pronounces that she is confronting â€Å"Gentlemen of the jury† andâ only honorable men. The anaphora shows her hatred that there are no females present in the jury, that these men should be straightforward men of honor, a confusing expression in her eyes, thus should treat her a similar way they would treat others similarly situated. An individual understanding analyzes men’s hang on power in the public eye however circumstances are different and society must reject customs that no longer mirror reality. Suu Kyi’s discourse comes when China is venturing out of the shadows and perceiving ladies as their own substances when it once considered them to be second class. Its gathering today would not have adjusted since she talked yet there are more individuals supporting her motivation and assisting with battling for the opportunity of ladies. There is worldwide understanding that since the beginning we are met with similar limits and are everlastingly asked to battle for uniformity and equity. These limits were met when Dr Martin Luther King tested the across the board mentalities of society by approaching his individual American’s by offering â€Å"a new leaf† and equity to all, regardless of what race or shading. Culture in the southern states was vigorously isolated in 1963 and racial division was cherished in southern custom and law. Lord conveyed his discourse when it was required most, anyway Emma Goldman conveyed â€Å"The political criminal of today†¦Ã¢â‚¬  relatively revolutionary as the unimportant thought of the right to speak freely of discourse was viewed as shocking. With two separate causes spoke to by extraordinary speakers; Negro’s and free discourse, the two writers endeavored to win their crowds support for their motivation. Lord conveyed â€Å"I have a dream† to a horde of 250,000 devotees and millions viewing on TV and utilized talk picked up from his proclaiming days combined with the utilization of numerous anaphora’s to successfully to exact dread upon his crowd. His intrigue to their feelings imparted that â€Å"it would be fatal†¦to overlook†¦the movement† and except if something is done about racial unfairness, life is useless. Emma Goldman’s sharp utilization of talk challenges custom and not at all like King’s utilization of feeling she distanced her crowd by mixing negative sentiments and called upon her insight to win her fight. In 1917 when Goldman argue to the jury she looked for equity with all due respect against cases of trick. Asking the court to frame a fair sentiment and perceive her battle for the right to speak freely of discourse she suggests her individual alleged rebels â€Å"Jesus, Socrates, Galileo, Bruno, John Brown† to refut e she isn't and that nothing willâ make her change her position. Ruler was welcomed with an euphoric and serene gathering as he was viewed as a political dissident and today in our contemporary world the noteworthiness of his discourse stays apparent. By speaking to both audiences’ mind with respect to foul play, King and Goldman expected to convince their separate crowds of the correct way to pick. When King howls out that the life of the Negro is still unfortunately disabled by the wrist bindings of isolation and the chains of segregation, his allegorical emotive language increases his energy for opportunity for his kin from more than subjugation. Likewise to King, Goldman battles for equity and through a progression of facetious inquiries she pose to the jury a last time to â€Å"please overlook that I am an Anarchist†¦Have we been occupied with a scheme? Have these clear demonstrations been proven?† She requests a reasonable preliminary and to not be burdened in light of society’s values †she just wishes for equity to win. Tragically the jury saw her as liable yet her works gathering arrives at a higher degree today as we can value her exertion in changing society’s impression of free discourse. While bad form was perpetrated upon three social gatherings, Aung San Suu Kyi, Emma Goldman and Dr. Martin Luther King stood up and were three speakers who figured out how to challenge antiquated social and political convictions of their opportunity to be perceived in our contemporary society. While conveying their discourses they picked up the consideration and backing of a group through their stage nearness, utilization of talk and especially political logical qualities that plan to accomplish this. So as to be remembered they expected to give their crowd a reason and through sincere thoughts of opportunity, equity and vote based rights their gathering has not adjusted from when they were conveyed to now as we are ceaselessly battling for such causes.

Fellowship Opportunity for New Admits Fall 2010-Spring 2011 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

Fellowship Opportunity for New Admits Fall 2010-Spring 2011 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog Last year a newly admitted follower of this blog won the following award I hope for repeat performance this year.   Deadline to apply is April 15, 2010. The Fund for Global Environment and Conflict Resolution, The Center for International Conflict Resolution and The Italian Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Masters Fellows: Fall 2010-Spring 2011 Overview The fellowships for Masters students will be awarded to two, incoming and/or current students from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University who have demonstrated excellence in the fields of conflict prevention, conflict resolution, post-conflict reconstruction, sustainable development, security and the global environment. The Fellowship is open to incoming and current SIPA graduate students and will be for two full semesters; the fellowship is designed to foster new scholarly experts in the following countries or regions: Italy, the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Peru, Colombia, China, the Middle East, and/or North Africa; therefore, preference will be given to applicants from the foregoing countries or regions. All applicants should submit their candidature by 15 April 2010. The decision will be undertaken by a selection committee at CICR, and will be announced in July. All decisions are final, and applications received after the 15 April 2010 will not be accepted. The research work of the selected fellows will involve 10-15 hours of work per week at CICR. The research will revolve around lessons learned and best practices regarding environmental concerns and the role of climate change in three specific fields with various geographical areas of focus: Conflict prevention and control in areas where current tensions indicate the potential for conflict, specifically China, the Middle East, and North Africa Conflict resolution with respect to conflict and post-conflict areas, specifically the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Peru and Colombia. International security in general in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Peru, Colombia, China, the Middle East, and/or North Africa. The Fellows will be awarded $9,000 towards their university fees each semester and a stipend of $500 per month over the course of the academic year (nine months), and will be known as an “Empedocle Maffia Fellows”. Application Process A successful application will include: I. A completed application form (to be provided). II. 500-800 word essay detailing candidate’s motivation for applying to the Global Fund for Environment and Conflict Resolution at CICR. III. Current CV/Resume and copy of passport and visa where appropriate. IV. Minimum one, maximum three recommendation letter(s). The applications should be sent when fully completed to CICR’s Assistant Director, Josie Lianna Kaye at CICRapplications@columbia.edu with the title GECR: Masters Candidate. Masters Fellows 2010 Application Link

Sustainable Energy A Sustainable Life for Everyone Essay

Today’s society encourages us to change our lifestyles and become more environmentally friendly. There are numerous theories and facts about global warming and one of those is to increase the use of renewable energy sources. There is unprecedented interest in renewable energy, especially solar and wind energy. Renewable energy sources provide electricity without giving rise to carbon dioxide emission (World Nuclear Association). It is impossible to convert to these sources completely, however there are things that we can do as individuals and as communities to be more environmentally friendly . As humans advance in technology, the amount of fossil fuels burned is increased at a rapid rate. This is an issue because with this increasing†¦show more content†¦It is projected that at the rate Americans are using hydro for energy that the â€Å"hydropower industry has the potential to create 1.4 million cumulative jobs by 2025† which would help since the unemployment percentage has been rising slowly (National Hydropower Association). Hydropower has also been a big contributor when it comes to making earth a healthier place to live on. Since the earth is composed of mostly water, hydropower is a very easy energy to obtain and water will always be there. It has become a vital source of energy in United States and is â€Å"account[ed] for 65.9 percent of all renewable energy generation in the United States† and is steadily rising (National Hydropower Association). Along with being the largest source of renewable energy, hydropower is very affordable and â€Å"since hydro taps the self-renewing power of our waterways, electricity from hydro is not subject to unpredictable price swings in the markets for energy commodities† which makes it very reliable (National Hydropower Association). It is important for a source of energy to be affordable and available because it will allow for that source to be used for an extended period of time. Hydropower is slowly becoming the top energy resource for humans and with that comes a cleaner and safer planet for humans to live on. Hydropower can only be used in certain areas of the land. It requires large storageShow MoreRelatedWalmarts Sustainable Business Development1666 Words   |  7 PagesWalmart’s Sustainable Business Development The purpose of this paper is to introduce you to the role of sustainable business philosophies and practices of Walmart as well as looking at Walmart’s strategic management perspectives and what type of impact and influences they have on the external forces in the industry. While also focusing on Walmart’s concept of value creation applied to SBD (sustainable business development) and their strategies. Defining Sustainable business philosophies are a systemRead MoreEssay on What is Global Warming?1232 Words   |  5 PagesThe truth is you dont know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed. The film An Inconvenient Truth shows us what will happen in the future if we continue to produce waste and pollution. We are the cause of global warming. Global warming turns the earth into an oven. Each year the overall temperature raise, causing more natural disaster and dry lands. If we let this continues, we might even end up in the same wasteland shown in the film Wall-E. Global warmingRead MoreChina s Drive Toward Ecological Civilization957 Words   |  4 Pagesprevention and control; enhanced enforcement of laws and regulations; accelerated and deepened reforms; promoted a green way of life and production and provided more quality ecological products for the people. These measures will yield a beautiful China with blue sky, fresh air, and clean soil. Meanwhile, we are also keenly aware of the significance of innovation in pursuit of sustainable development, especially in two dimensions. First is innovative thinking. The mind guides the individual’s actions, andRead MoreSustainability Or Sustainable Development And Sustainability Design1589 Words   |  7 Pagesis â€Å"Sustainability has become central to modern life and often causes controversy. Choose an artefact that could be defined as sustainable and analyse it, considering its functional, ethical and aesthetic characteristics†. The reason for choosing this topic is to consider the damaged done to the environment, ecosystem and wildlife to do what we as the public wants in our daily life. The research will explore new ways of manufacturing, producing energy and reducing the carbon prints of sourcing outRead MoreEnvisioning a Sustainable City1014 Words   |  4 Pagesto California, where I continued growing up in Sacramento. These two places have completely different lifestyles. I will begin with my life in Ukraine. As previously mentioned, I grew up in a small village, where everyone had land th at they farmed. Farming was our main source for food, because back then not everyone was able to afford to buy food at stores. Everyone also had animals, mostly chickens, pigs, and cows. Most families had one cow; the lucky ones had two or three. Every day, there was alwaysRead MoreSustainability Framework1158 Words   |  5 Pages Sustainability Framework For: Deryk Stec By: Shyam Maheshwari (3461529) 2/4/2013 This paper explains the sustainability strategies of Adidas and Nike and then compares itself with the sustainable value framework of Hart’s. What is Sustainability? As defined by Environment Canadai, Sustainable development is the process of developing land, cities, businesses and communities so that our current needs are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needsRead MoreThe New Sustainability Advantage By Bob Willard Essay1219 Words   |  5 Pagesleadership experience is vast. His passion for sustainability and helping businesses create overall sustainable cultures that are profitable as they can be was inspiring in itself. After his career with IBM, he pursued Sustainability in a way that he could effectively create and help implement these systems into large and small businesses alike. An author of this and three other books, his company Sustainable Advantage is a B Corporation product, a new type of registered business whose goals largely alignRead MoreBuilding A New Community Within The City1207 Words   |  5 Pagesthe most environmentally sustainable community. Firstly, we provide adequate water supplies of high quality for community use and local farms as long as communities and industry must work together to assure an adequate water supply to meet the people’s needs. Secondly, our communi ties require energy and nonrenewable sources for power generation, home, and workplace, as we know transportation do cause pollution and it is harmful impacts. After we discuss, we think energy conservation and the use ofRead MoreSustainable Development And Environmental Protection1577 Words   |  7 Pages Sustainable development that allows the present generation to meet our current needs, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. In other words, sustainable development is a inseparable system of economic, social, resource and protection of environmental which not only can attain the objective of economic development, but also it can protect the natural resources of atmospheric, freshwater, marine and environment. It can make the future generations live and workRead MoreDo We Live in a Sustainable Society?1735 Words   |  7 Pages| Do We Live in a Sustainable Society? | MMCC Winter 2012SCI 200George Gilmore | | Jonathan Norman | 2/24/2012 | | There are many ways to define sustainability and to answer the question of whether we live in a sustainable society you should first define the question. The simplest definition of what a sustainable society is still very complex. A society that can persist over generations, one that is farseeing enough, flexible enough, and wise enough not to undermine either its

Kant s Moral And Political Theory - 1888 Words

China is one of the countries in the world involved in the most intense human rights violations seen in history for many years now. The United Nations have intervened several times arguing in favor of one of the most important points of Immanuel’s Kant’s human rights view. Kant’s moral and political theory plays a huge role in human rights. According to Kant, the power of the state should be limited in order to protect the people living in it. This way the government would be constrained by the law and it will allow individuals to think and decide for themselves which is how Kant explains how a human being should be rather than wait and be told by others. He assumes that if one is able to act for itself then in the end, that person will†¦show more content†¦He argues that politics cannot conflict with morals because politics represent the rights of the people to exercise free and public reason and not self-interest. He applies human rights to all societi es and at all times when some argue that it should be more of a luxury meaning it should only be applied to those with some type of background and cultural situation. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines human rights as: â€Å"rights (freedom from unlawful imprisonment, torture, and execution) regarded as belonging fundamentally to all persons.† For China, this is a right that it is not fundamental to all persons. Even though over the years it has improved, China still prohibits labor unions, human rights organizations and completely controls judicial institutions. For Kant it would be hard to deny the obvious violation of crime against humanity that it has been committed in China for so long now. Additionally, in order to analyze exactly how Kant would probably evaluate this situation, we would take into account his view in human reasoning, equality and moral autonomy. Each of these plays a role in Kant’s argument over human rights. Immanuel Kant has highly contributed to the development of human rights and his contribution has been essential. His moral principles are based on the ideas of equality and moral autonomy because he strongly believes that allowing a person to act individually will make them act rationally. For Kant, any right originate

Accommodating Differences Free Essays

Multicultural education seeks to create equal educational opportunities for all students, including those from different racial, ethnic and social-class groups. Multicultural education tries to create equal educational opportunities for all students by changing the total school environment so that it will reflect the diverse cultures and groups within a society and within the nation’s classrooms. We will look at three different diverse groups, some common characteristics, challenges an educator may have to accommodate these groups and what special learning opportunities can be offered by such a group represented in a class. We will write a custom essay sample on Accommodating Differences or any similar topic only for you Order Now The three groups we will focus on by culture are Haitians, East Asians, and Hispanics. Some common characteristics they share are all these groups’ value learning and education for their children, but they all face discrimination as well, from one time or another in and out of school. They value family as the center of the social structure and consider the father as the lead, the decision maker, the authoritative figure. When these immigrants are mainstreamed into Western American schools, we cannot automatically assume they will merge into our culture, but look into the culture from whence they came in order to understand certain ways and behaviors they may exhibit. â€Å"Special challenges educators have for many, diverse immigrant families, the right to a formal education and all the trappings of school life for their children are very new concepts. It is common for the children to quickly assimilate their peers â€Å"norms† about socializing, homework, growing sense of independence and other activities surrounding school. † (Kramer, 2000) These are just a few of these difference of challenges a teacher will have to overcome to accommodate these groups. For instance, Americans, Haitians, and Hispanics upon meeting, shake hands, opposed to East Asians. East Asians bow, or nod their heads. When the other groups refer to themselves, they point to their chest. East Asians refer to themselves by pointing to their nose. While some groups look at you when you talk, and this is considered respect, but the Asians look at it as being rude. Consider this, if you were at a table and someone blew their nose, you would consider that as being disrespectful or rude. Not the Asians. Here you can see how important it is to understand one’s culture. What special learning opportunities can be offered by such a group represented in class? By teaching your students to value their differences, you are creating a truly global classroom and an appreciation of each other; you are showing them how to appreciate the rest of the world. Expose the students to this variety of cultures throughout the term, which will enable them to be more tolerable of each other’s differences. Make discussing the differences in cultures in you classroom an important part of what you and your students do together. Accept the concerns of parents or guardians who are not part of your culture, may be different from the concerns you may have. If you are sensitive to the potential differences when you speak with parents, you will find yourself asking questions that will help you determine what their goals for their children are before you attempt to impose your own beliefs. Stress the importance of an open-minded attitude about people whose beliefs or lifestyles are different from those of your students, and make sure you model that acceptance as well. Have activities and manipulative as a resource to explain the multi-culture of the diverse student(s) in your classroom. This way, everyone learns about each other. Even if you have lived in your community all your life, take time to learn about its various cultural groups. Understanding how these groups are represented in the school system will help you understand your students better. Although teaching students from many cultures can be challenging, one of the most successes of the public school system in America is the variety of cultures that meet in the classrooms each day. At a time when school systems are scrutinized and criticized from many sides, classroom diversity is one of our nation’s greatest assets. Although some people try to define culture in ethnic or racial terms, a broader definition is more accurate, â€Å"every person belongs to a variety of culture groups delineated by such features as geography, age, economics, gender, religion, interest, or educational evel. † (Diversity in the Community, 1999) Below is an outline of how Social Studies can be used to accommodate diverse students of grades Kindergarten – 12. General Classroom Tips for Meeting Diverse Learning Needs * Relate class to personal real life skills and experiences * Limit expectations to two or three concepts per unit * Evaluate projects rather than doing tradit ional testing * Concentrate on student strengths and bring those strengths into the lesson * Use concise written and oral directions (spoken, written, and oral). Use short answers rather than long essays * Create small group activities * Provide lecture outlines. Pre-teach concept vocabulary, draw pictures, use concept mapping, webbing, organizers, simplify vocabulary * Be aware of academic levels so that reading, vocabulary, and problems can be addressed * Model assignment expectations, show an example of the product * Use multiple intelligences approaches to teaching the same lessons * Use peer tutoring * Use taped materials (text or study guides) (Teaching Strategies for Students with Diverse Learning Needs, 2011) If you ignore the cultural differences among your students, you will create strife and tension. Conversely, if you choose to accept and celebrate those differences, you will find those differences to be a rich resource for your class. By incorporating strategies in the classroom to meet the needs of all the students, and having an environment showing the diverse cultures, every student will learn about each other and every studen t will receive an equal educational opportunity. How to cite Accommodating Differences, Papers

The Teacher Who Changed My Life Essay Example For Students

The Teacher Who Changed My Life Essay My Spanish teacher changed my life. I started taking Spanish 1A and 1B because I needed electives for 7th and 8th grade and didnt think I could suffer through anything else. I took Spanish 2 because I wanted another year with my favorite teacher. See, I’ve never really minded teachers. I always got along with them just fine. At the same time, I never really felt like I could relate to any of them either. They were friendly and they taught just fine. They just never really tried to level with their students. I feel like because of that, my grades werent exactly what they could’ve, should’ve, been. I never saw a reason to do the work. If my teacher didnt care enough about me to ask why things werent getting done, then why should I do them? There was no real reason besides a grade. The motivation just wasnt high enough to make me care. Then, I started taking a class with Mrs. Davis as my teacher. When I didnt do the work, she asked why. She cared. She wanted to know me more than the other teachers seemed to. She wanted to see more than just another face in a desk everyday. We will write a custom essay on The Teacher Who Changed My Life specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now She wanted that with all her students. She still does. So, I explained things to her. She listened. She paid attention. She remembered and always asked for a follow up. She still does. For the first time since I started school, one of my teachers really seemed to see something other than another face and another grade. I was important. I’d never felt like a teacher found me important. So I started doing the work. I started wanting to make the grade. I started caring about what other teachers saw in me when they saw my grade. I wanted to be different, better somehow. Mrs. Davis found a way to make me see there was more to doing the work than making the grade. She always said, still says, your legacy is what you leave on paper. I wanted my legacy to be something more than bad grades and missed assignments. I wanted my grades to reflect a smarter individual, and I dont think I would’ve reached that point without Mrs. Davis. She has done so much for me over the years that Ive been a student of hers. I dont think shell ever quite realize how much she changed things for me. It’s not just me she does so much for though. She wants to make an impact on every student’s life. She tries so hard to reach her students. To connect with them on a level that’s not quite so superficial. She seems to really care about her students, their achievements, and their goals in life. She has taught so many lessons over the years, not just of Spanish but of life too. Mrs. Davis wants us to understand there are things out there past everyday school rules we are going to have to face. She wants us to be prepared for that. I don’t know that her words have reached everyone. I know they’ve reached me though. One of the best grades I have, I have in her class, simply because of her teaching style and her pushing. All the time she is pushing her students to try harder and to be better. She doesnt wait for them to show an interest, she makes them. I know she made me. If I had never taken Spanish 1A, I dont know where I’d be today. I don’t want to find out. Mrs. Della Davis is a Spanish teacher at El Dorado High School. Mrs. Della Davis changed my life.

Voter Apathy

Voter Apathy VOTER APATHY The main fault in elections today is voter apathy, or the choice a registered voter makes to not participate in the voting process of an election. The low voter turnout is a result of many different reasons. Some voters have little or no interest in the election, others feel their vote will not make a difference either way, and don't bother to take the time to vote. And yet, other voters choose not to vote because of a lack of good candidates to choose from.The voter turn out has become so low, there are more people not voting then people who do vote. In the 1996 presidential election, 51% of registered voters did not vote, and that value has only become worse with the time that has passed. Only 38% of eligible voters participated in the mid-term elections in 1998.It is debatable if the candidates are the ones at fault for this.Polish_parliamentary_election_2007_voter_turnout -...Some candidates spend too much time with negative campaigning, trying to make the opponent l ook bad, and worrying about media coverage, then to give a detailed opinion about a position.... what really counts. This leaves voters uneducated about the candidates and unsure which candidate would be best to support with their vote.In our society, people are more likely to vote in an election if they actively dislike one of the candidates running. The candidate is seen as a threat to them, and provides a motivation for registered voters to go to the polls and vote. People who like both candidates, even if they like one significantly more than the other, are not as likely to vote as those who like one and dislike the other. These impressions about a candidate can be influenced by neighbors, family members, and co-workers. If a person's family,

How To Set Deadlines To Make Your Team More Efficient

How To Set Deadlines To Make Your Team More Efficient Youre blogging for obvious reasons: Your  blog is a really powerful tool. On one hand, it acts as an SEO tool to bring your business website more traffic, while on the other, it provides useful information that helps establish your brand and build trust. And that helps turn your readers into paying customers. But blog posts are comprised of multiple components, so they require multiple people- or for one person to wear many hats- in order for the right keywords, ideas, text, images, and marketing to come together and work  as a cohesive unit. So how to set deadlines and work as a collaborative team to create awesome content is a challenge. But heres exactly how you can rock a content creation process that works for your team- from how to set deadlines and assign  roles to actually creating  the collaborative blog post. How To Set Deadlines To Make You (And Your Team) More Efficient via @titanwebagency1. Establish Blogging Goals And Guidelines Before you start blogging, you need to establish goals for your blogging team so they have some guiding principles that will inform their work. What do you hope to accomplish with your blog? Some examples of good goals for a blog are: Increase organic traffic to website as part of a comprehensive content marketing campaign. Build your organization’s reputation as a trusted source of information in your industry. Connect with potential customers in your target audience. Create original material to publish to social media outlets. In addition to establishing some broad goals, such as getting more Web traffic, you should also have some specific blogging guidelines for your team. Some examples of these might include: How many words each post should have. How many links/images/keyword uses/etc. each post should have. How often blog posts need to be published (editorial calendar). Where to find appropriate images for the blog. Writing tone/grammar/style guidelines. Information about the target audience you are writing for. By establishing goals and guidelines for your blog, you create a foundation that will help shape your blog and ensure that all team members are on the same page. If everyone on the team understands what you hope to accomplish with your blog and how you want them to do it, this will eliminate the need for extensive rewriting, editing, and other issues down the road. Start #blogging by turning your goals into #blog posts. #contentmarketing2. Make Sure Everyone Knows Their Role When you imagine how a blog post is created, you might think of a single person, typing away in solitude- the blogger. However, effective business blog posts often require several people to work together in a collaborative environment. Usually, it’s most effective for the roles to be split between two or three people, though sometimes one (very busy!) person may fulfill all roles. Here are some of typical roles that go into blog post creation: Project manager: This person assigns all tasks and sets deadlines. Topic and keyword generator: This person is responsible for finding blog topics and doing research to determine the best keywords and title to use. This person may also be the project manager. Content writer: This person is responsible for writing the content, which should incorporate the ideas, keywords, title, etc., as given to them by the project manager or topic/keyword generator. Content editor: This person checks and fixes the content’s grammar before the post is published. Image-finder and blog publisher: The accompanying images (and image tags) are essential for a good blog post. Someone must be responsible for finding these images and securing the necessary copyrights. This same person is often also in charge of actually posting the blog (typically using a content management system  like  WordPress) and making sure everything looks as it should. Promoter: A blog post is not worth much if no one ever reads it. Someone needs to promote your blog on social media, posting links to it across different sites and social media platforms. These marketing team roles may differ somewhat from one team to the next, but the point is that everyone involved is responsible for a particular task so that nothing gets left by the wayside. Make sure everyone involved in #blogging is responsible for a particular task so nothing is missed.It’s also good to have team members that can fulfill multiple roles if needed. For example, if your main writer is out of town one week, the editor should be able to step in and fulfill her role. 3. Set Deadlines Your Team Can- And Will- Actually Meet Everything youve done so far- setting goals, guidelines, and roles- has led up to how to set deadlines that are realistic and achievable for your team. Once everyone knows their role in creating a blog post, you need to set deadlines to make sure each team member actually completes their assigned task, and that they do so in a timely matter. After all, you should be publishing a new blog post every one to two weeks, so timeliness is key. In today’s mostly virtual workplace, the best way to set deadlines and make sure everyone is on task is by using  a project management tool like . With , you can manage all communications regarding the blog in one place, and ensure all tasks and subtasks are completed on time. helps teams collaborate together on content marketing projects like blogging, social media, and events. The tool allows teams to assign different tasks to multiple people working on a given project, while minimizing the use of email. You can use to assign tasks and deadlines to your entire team.  This is an actual example of the workflow we use at ! Based on role, you can customize your workflow, set deadlines for each team members unique tasks, and comment back and forth to the team right in . What Does A Successful Collaborative Blog Post Look Like? So, you’ve put together a team and they’ve started to publish blogs. But how do you know if these blogs are any good? Well first, you’ve got to make sure they have specific instructions. All of our writers know exactly what is expected with each blog post, including, but not limited to: Word count Tone of article Number of inbound and outbound links Types of images to use And more†¦. Think of the things youd have to include in a perfect Write For Us page. Let’s dive into it a bit deeper. Okay, so, what qualities do effective blog posts have? Good blog posts have multiple visuals. Custom images, illustrative screenshots, and photographs of real people are best (as opposed to stock photos). The guidelines for our writers specify how many images, and the types of images that are appropriate for the blog post. Good blog posts are easy to read. Content should be broken down into multiple sections with multiple headers and sub-headers. Bullet points and numbered lists are much easier to read than a big wall-o-text. Good blog posts are optimized for SEO. Posts will integrate keyword research in a natural, organic way. Good blog posts have links. Make sure your blog post links to other resources for further reading, including previous blog posts you’ve published. Where possible, you should also link to studies and statistics that reinforce the points you make in your blog. Good blog posts are original and engaging. This means that they shouldn’t have any re-hashed content from other blogs. They need to have original ideas and be written in a fresh, engaging manner. Good blog posts have proper grammar. If you want your blog to be successful, a blog post with bad grammar is simply unacceptable. Make sure all writers and editors are up to par and don’t have sloppy writing habits. Good blog posts have great titles. Having a catchy title is crucial if you want your blog to do well on search engines. If you need help you can use a headline analyzer or a blog topic generator. Don’t Forget About Guest Blogging While not every blog post will require a guest blogger, this is another important role that makes your blog a group effort. As a guest blogger- someone who writes a post for a website other than their own- I am able to gain exposure and Web traffic for my business through new outlets, and allow new audiences to get to know me. Another great thing about guest blogging is that it is a two-way street, meaning that I often receive a guest blog post from the site I’m writing one for. This helps me meet my own content needs and also get some fresh and interesting perspectives for my blog. This is a great way to divvy up the work for your team, which puts a little less strain on some of your deadlines. Remember: Your Blog Is A Work In Progress Having one good blog post is certainly an accomplishment, but in order for your blog make a lasting impact that furthers your organization’s goals, you need to publish great blog posts on a regular basis. That means knowing how to set deadlines each team member meets.

Research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Research Proposal - Essay Example Although judging people from the face value may reveal certain issues about them, it is not a representative way of understanding an individual. The story introduces to the readers a number of characters that are only defined by the things they carry. However, such tendencies may not provide the exact representation of the individuals presented in this context. Jimmy Cross is thought to be in love with a former girlfriend who he dated before joining the service (O’Brien 3). The assumption presented in the story that Cross intimates is that he hopes the girl is still in love with him. However, the letters from the woman suggest a contrary opinion. Ideally, what is thought to be a love issue is blown out of proportion only for the mere details in the letter. Though the letters reveal an element of love as exhibited by Cross, the woman feels the opposite way effectively making the letters a mere symbol of love and not the actual feelings (O’Brien 3). O’Brien introduces the characters by describing the different things carried by the soldiers. Ordinarily, one would easily define the individuals based on the various things they have in their possession. For instance, Henry Dobbins is introduced as a person who carries extra foodstuffs (O’Brien 5). From the face value, it would mean that Dobbins likes eating or never gets satisfied. However, such a perception may not have any basis because being a soldier would mean that Dobbins is only taking precautionary measures so that he is not disenfranchised while in the battlefield. O’Brien introduces Ted Lavender as an individual who carries the tranquilizer pills. Defining the personality or the character of Lavender by the pills he carries does not provide facts concerning her. Kiowa walks with the hunting hatchet throughout the journey, and this would perhaps give the impression that he is a hunter (O’Brien 6). It is important to note that such an individual may carry the hatchet only for fun and not for

Is unethical to lie during Negotiations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Is unethical to lie during Negotiations - Essay Example Considering the legal clauses and ethical considerations, there are many aspects that can be termed to be unethical but legal. For instance, if a broker states the history of a property only revealing its net worth, location and future value, and avoid describing the legal charges associated with the asset because the concerned party did not ask about it, it can be termed as unethical. However, this can be justified on the legal grounds. Therefore, in a few instances, such tactics can be legal as well as can be unethical, depending on the merit of the case and intentions. Being completely honest during negotiation, even after knowing the fact that it can earn lesser than what is expected, can never be naive. Revealing the entire truth during negotiation can often result in the cancellation of the deal with higher return. Despite such risk if a negotiator is revealing the entire truth being honest, it must be highly appreciated and respected. However, if the negotiator in this context expects that even after revealing the truth he will earn the deal without losing any bid, the act can be termed as naive. It is because in this case the negotiator is unable to forecast the risks associated with the ethical representation of the facts expecting irrational return. Considering these facts, I personally think that being completely honest while negotiating can be naive by no means when the associated risks are considered significantly. But, if due consideration is not provided to the risks associated with the decision of being completely honest; it can be stated as a naive act. In terms of legal code of conduct, the rule of negotiation can be stated as unique to an extent. But based on the ethical ground, the rules associated with negotiation are not quite unique. Lying during negotiations has frequently been identified in many instances which eradicates the chance to signify the practice

Software crisis

Software crisis INTRODUCTION: Since last 20-25 years, there has been a rapid increase in the development of programs using a computer. Also, the difficulty level of software has increased to a greater extent. In other words, a drastic change has occurred in the development of computer programs. In order to make the programs more and more predictable, different types of patterns have been created. But the software industry is still many years away from becoming a mature engineering discipline. Even in todays society, software is viewed with suspicion by many individuals, such as senior managers and customers, as something similar to black magic. The result is that software is one of the most difficult artifacts of the modern world to develop and build. Developers work on techniques that cannot be measured or reproduced. All this, lead to a new concept called software crisis. It has become the longest continuing crisis in the engineering world, and it continues unabated. As the nature of software is that it is intangible, malleable, and intellectually intensive and has trivial replication. Our ultimate goal is to make quality software-on time and within budget which can be achieved through application of systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation and maintenance of the software. SOFTWARE CRISIS The difficulty of writing the code for a computer program which is correct and understandable is referred to as software crisis. The term software crisis revolves around three concepts: complexity, change and the expectations. This term was given by F. L. Bauer at the first NATO Software Engineering Conference in 1968 at Garmisch, Germany. Current System design approach is exceedingly empirical. It is unable to cope with increasing systems complexity. A number of problems in software development were identified in 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The problems that software projects encountered were: the projects ran over-budget, caused damage to property even to life. Despite our rapid progress, the software industry is considered by many to be in a crisis. Some 40 years ago, the term Software Crisis emerged to describe the software industrys inability to provide customers with high quality products on schedule. In general it refers to poorly written, hard to read, error-prone software that often lacks good documentation. Software crisis is also referred to the inability to hire enough qualified programmers. It has become the longest continuing crisis in the engineering world and it continues unabated. The most visible symptoms of the software crisis are late delivery, over budget; Product does not meet specified requirements, inadequate documentation. One of the most serious complaints against software failure is the inability to estimate with acceptable accuracy the cost, resources, and schedule necessary for a software project. Conventional assessment methods have always produced positive results which contribute to the too well-known cost infested and schedule slippage. As the world becomes more and more dependent on computers and as the complexity of software systems continues to rise, the crisis can only get worse. It is particularly severe in vital segments of the economy such as the health and financial services, and the transportation, manufacturing, communication, power generation, and defen se industries. Software Crisis in terms of statistics in 1990s * 31 % of projects canceled * 52.7% cost an average of 189% over budget * 84% are late or over budget (91% for large companies.) * The average system is delivered without 58% of proposed functionalities * $81 billion in 1995 for cancelled projects * $51 billion in 1995 for over-budget projects Only 16.2% of software projects are completed on-time and on-budget. In larger companies, a meager 9% of technology projects come in on-time and on-budget. In addition, about one third of all projects will be canceled before they ever get completed. Further results indicate 53% of projects will cost an average of 189% of their original estimates. In financial terms this analysis revealed that over $100 billion in cancellations and $60 billion in budget over runs occur in the Software Sector annually. CAUSES Software engineering today is in severe crisis. The situation is particularly grim because this crisis is not widely acknowledged by the software development industry. The causes of software crisis were linked to the overall complexity of the software process and the relative immaturity of software engineering as a profession. The main reason for the crisis is the lack of a sound software construction methodology with which to manage the high complexity of modern applications. The notion of a software crisis emerged at the end of the 1960s. An early use of the term is in Edsger Dijkstras ACM Turing Award Lecture, The Humble Programmer (EWD340), given in 1972 and published in the Communications of the ACM. Dijkstra says, The major cause of the software crisis is] that the machines have become several orders of magnitude more powerful! To put it quite bluntly: as long as there were no machines, programming was no problem at all; when we had a few weak computers, programming became a mild problem, and now we have gigantic computers, programming has become an equally gigantic problem. Edsger Dijkstra * The cost of owning and maintaining software in the 1980s was twice as expensive as developing the software. * During the 1990s, the cost of ownership and maintenance increased by 30% over the 1980s. * In 1995, statistics showed that half of surveyed development projects were operational, but were not considered successful. * The average software project overshoots its schedule by half. * Three quarters of all large software products delivered to the customer are failures that are either not used at all, or do not meet the customers requirements. To explain the present software crisis in simple words, consider the following. The expenses that organizations all around the world are incurring on software purchases compared to those on hardware purchases have been showing a worrying trend over the years. Not only are the software products turning out to be more expensive than hardware, but they also present a host of other problems to the customers: software products are difficult to alter, debug, and enhance; use resources no optimally; often fail to meet the user requirements; are far from being reliable; frequently crash; and are often delivered late. Among these, the trend of increasing software costs is probably the most important symptom of the present software crisis. Software crisis: The present scenario The Software Crisis began 4 decades ago and continues today. In the 60s, we began to speak of a software crisis. A thirty year long crisis was beginning. A world-wide research effort also began. Today, the situation is quite different. We have a Science of Programming. We know a great deal about how to design and document software, but the Software Crisis continues unabated! The software crisis continues because the communication between Computer Scientists and those who write software, including the Engineers, has been very poor. Current software standards, are weak, superficial, and are not based on software science. Process oriented standards are empty because there are no product/document standards. SOLUTION Over the last twenty years many different paradigms have been created in attempt to make software development more predictable and controllable. While there is no single solution to the crisis, much has been learned that can directly benefit todays software projects. One of the possible solutions to the software crisis is the study of software engineering. It is believed that the only satisfactory solution to the present software crisis can possibly come from a spread of software engineering practices among the engineers, coupled with further advancements in the software engineering discipline itself. Software engineering is concerned with all aspects of software production from the early stages of system specification through to maintaining the system after it has gone into use. As a solution to this software crisis, we must apply a disciplinary artistry; using tools that help us manage this complexity. The skilled systems engineer, can through the use of these techniques and by the application of systems engineering methods and project management skills, reduce the demands placed on software engineers, hence reducing the software engineering effort and also reducing the total development cost. But still, there is no single approach which will prevent all the consequences of software crisis in all cases. While there is no single solution to the crisis, much has been learned that can directly benefit todays software projects. It is our human inability to deal with complexity that lies at the root of the software crisis. It has been noted frequently that we are experiencing a software crisis, characterized by our inability to produce correct, reliable software within budget and on time. No doubt, many of our failures are caused by the inherent complexity of the software development process, for which there often is no analytical description. Through the use of computer-aided symbolic specification techniques and simulation, and with an understanding of the software development process, the skilled systems engineer can contribute to the resolution of the software crisis. The skilled systems engineer, can through the use of these techniques and by the application of systems engineering methods and project management skills, reduce the demands placed on software engineers, hence reducing the software engineering effort and also reducing the total development cost. In software engineering, the possible solution to software metrics is the use of proper software metrics and the proper utilization of these metrics. For the implementation of this solution to the problem of software crisis some pre-requisites are there. They are: 1. Knowledge of basic statistics and experimental design. 2. Basic understanding of commonly used software life cycle models, at least to the level covered in an introductory senior or graduate-level software engineering course. 3. Experience working as a team member on a software development project. In addition, for maximum utility in analytic studies and statistical analyses, metrics should have data values that belong to appropriate measurement scales. Software engineering is still a very young discipline. There are encouraging signs that we are beginning to understand some of the basic parameters that are most influential in the processes of software production. ÃÆ'Ëœ For the projects which are delivered late must adopt the following methodology: Project Planning Scheduling Project planning means creating work breakdown, and then allocate responsibilities to the developers over time. Project planning consists of construction of various tasks, timelines and essential pathways including Gantt charts and PERT charts and different written plans for various situations. It is quite usual in software development process to work backward from the project end date which results in complete software project failure. It is impossible that a project can be completed efficiently from the planning stage to the implementation stage. Allocation of roles and responsibilities has to be clearly defined. Proper scheduling is also required before the start of the project. It includes the time scheduling, teams scheduling. ÃÆ'Ëœ For the projects running out of budget, cost estimation methodology must be applied: Cost Estimation Cost estimation is mainly involved the cost of effort to produce the software project. But its not limited to the effort only. It also includes the hardware and software cost, training the employees and customer, travelling to the customer, networking and communication costs. Cost estimation should be done as a part of the software process model. Cost estimation needs to be done well before the start of the project development. Failure of the budgeting for the cost of the project results in complete disaster. Development tools, cost and hardware cost also need to be estimated first. ÃÆ'Ëœ In order to cope up with the increasing system complexity, risk management should be applied: Risk Management Risk management is an important factor towards software project failure if its not managed timely and effectively. As nothing can be predicted that what will happen in future so we have to take the necessary steps in the present to take any uncertain situation in the future. Risk management means dealing with a concern before it becomes a crisis. Project managers have to identify the areas where the risk can be and how it can affect the development of the project. Risk can be of technical nature or non technical. After the risk is identified there is a need to make the categories of that risk. Risk analysis is the process of examining the project results and deliverables after the risk analysis and applying the technique to lower the risk. After the risk is analyzed, the next step is to priorities the risk. At first focus on the most sever risk first; and les sever later. Managing the risk to achieve the desired results and deliverables is done through controlling the risk at its bes t. Conclusion Thus, we have discussed software crisis, its causes, the present status and the possible solution to this crisis. Software engineering appears to be one of the few options available to tackle software crisis. Software engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to development, operation, and maintenance of software; that is, the application of engineering to software. It is believed that the only satisfactory solution to the present software crisis can possibly come from a spread of software engineering practices among the engineers, coupled with further advancements to the software engineering discipline itself. The solution being advocated is to place a special emphasis on fault tolerance software engineering which would provide a set of methods, techniques, models and tools that would exactly fit application domains, fault assumptions and system requirements and support disciplined and rigorous fault tolerance throughout all phases of the life cycle. Also, the software must not be considered equivalent to a widget, i.e. a gadget. REFERENCES: Books referred: Software engineering: concepts and techniques Peter Naur Software engineering- Richard H. Thayer Websites and links: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_crisis www.apl.jhu.edu/Classes/Notes//SoftwareEngineeringOverview.PDF http://www.unt.edu/benchmarks/archives/1999/july99/

Childhood Obesity Essay

What is making the next generation fat? Just a decade or so ago the debate of childhood obesity was not even a matter to be discussed. Our grandparents never even questioned the weight of their children. Their children, our parents, ate healthy foods at the family dining table and played outside all day long, but the subject of childhood obesity has gained quite a bit of interest since those days. With the ever so growing popularity of fast foods, the introduction of Play station and Xbox games and the more demanding careers of today’s parents, the overdevelopment of both urban and suburban areas our kids are living sedentary lives and are becoming very overweight. The epidemic of childhood obesity is rapidly rising in America. The number of children who are now overweight has tripled since 1980 and the prevalence of obesity in younger children has more than doubled. Overall, approximately 17% or 12.5 million of the children in the United States between the ages of 2 and 19 are already obese (_C_ _enters for Disease Control and Prevention_ _, 2012_). This finding is very disturbing to many Americans and has caused many debates on who is responsible for this rising epidemic and how can we control it. Childhood obesity is measured by the body mass index (BMI). The BMI is calculated using a child’s height and weight. BMI does not measure body fat directly, but it is a reasonable indicator of body fatness for most children. A child’s weight status is determined using an age and sex specific percentile for BMI rather than the normal BMI categories which are used to determine an adult BMI. These are used because a child’s body composition varies as they age and also varies between boys and girls. Overweight in a child is defined as a BMI at or above the 85th percentile and lower than the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex.  Obesity in a child is defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. The causes of childhood obesity are multi-factorial. Obesity in children is caused by a lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating habits, media and marketing campaigns, adverse family conditions, stress and the avai lability of technology. Most Americans agree that childhood obesity is more prevalent today than ever before. If you look into the bedroom of an average American child you find video games, a computer, usually a television and possibly some other electronic gadgets. Today American children have access to just about anything they could ever want. They just ask and most parents will buy them whatever they want. If you looked into the same child’s room thirty or forty years ago you would have probably found baby dolls, toy trucks and probably even some books. You would have found the neighborhood children outside playing in the kickball or hide and seek in the yard. Children played outside from sun up to sun down. The playing of these physical activities outside has unfortunately been replaced by the inactive high tech toys of today. The kick ball and hide and seek games of thirty years ago have now been replaced with games being played on the Play Station, Xbox or Wii. It is estimated that children in the United States are spending at least twenty five percent of their waking hours watching television and statistically children who watch the most hours of television have the highest incidence of obesity. If you take another look inside the house of 30 years ago you would find a dad who went to work every day and a mom who stayed home to tend to the household duties and the children. With the rising cost of our day to day living expenses in America, most homes now must have both dad and mom working full time to make ends meet. Over the last two decades there has been an increase in the number of dual income families as more women have entered the workforce and more women become the sole supporter for their single parent family. This new way of living has caused American children to eat whatever is convenient for mom or dad to fix or for some children to eat whatever is easiest for them to fix for themselves. Constraints on time has made working parents rely more heavily on prepared, processed, and fast  foods, which are generally high calorie, high fat, and low in nutritional content. Usually these â€Å"easy† meals come in greasy bags from fast food establishments or in plastic wrappers within a frozen cardboard box and have to be cooked in the microwave before eating. In some homes the stove never even gets warm from preparing a meal more than once a week. These â€Å"easy† meals are contributing to the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. Today’s youth are considered the most inactive generation in history and the marketers of fast food have taken full advantage of it. American children are exposed to some 40,000 or more food advertisements per year. (_U.S. D_ _ept. of Health & Human Services_ _, 2011_). Most of these advertisements promote fast food. Therefore, the expanding fast-food industry is another cause for the rising childhood obesity epidemic. Fast food companies like McDonald’s or Burger King are not only selling their food, but also have a way of marketing which is not fair to consumers. Most fast food restaurants offer a toy together with a children’s meal. Usually the toy is from a popular new movie or television show so it is very appealing to children. Children are stimulated to eat junk food because they know they will be rewarded with a toy. Psychological issues and stress are said to cause obesity in adults, but they both can cause obesity in children as well. Some children have a difficult time dealing with stress, so they use food to comfort them when they feel unsure of things. Like adults, they too use food as a comfort when they feel, bored, anxious or angry. Children in the past did not have to worry so much about parents being divorced and remarried, mothers that worked long hours or fathers that traveled for most of the week. Today’s economy has put financial strain on parents and children cannot help but to hear and feel the results of these tough economic times. The children of this generation are all too familiar with all of these situations. Each child has to contend with different factors in their lives and they too turn to food as a solution. Our environment too has an effect on the growing number of obese children. Experts are now looking to at our environment as a cause of the rapid  increase of obesity in children in the United States. In urban and suburban areas the overdeveloped environment can create obstacles for children to stay physically active. In urban areas the space for outdoor recreation can be scarce, which prevents kids from having a protected place to play. Neighborhood crime, lack of street lighting and busy traffic can impede children from being able to run and play or ride bicycles as a means of daily exercise. In the suburban areas, the evolution of ‘sprawl’ can prevent children from walking or biking and contributes to the great amount of dependence on using motor vehicles to get around. Suburban neighborhoods too lack resources for physical recreation and many suburban neighborhoods do not include sidewalks. Genetics and DNA are also contributing factors in the causes of childhood obesity. A group of British researchers checked the DNA of 300 children who were overweight. They looked for extra copies or deletions of DNA segments. They found evidence that a deletion of DNA may promote obesity. The deletion of chromosome 16 is thought to cause obesity in children because it removes a gene that the brain needs to respond to the appetite controlling hormone leptin. Children with a chromosome 16 deletion appear to have a very strong drive to eat. These children are very, very hungry and always want to eat. (_British Medical Association, 2005_) This very slim chance may be the only cause that we cannot change. Unfortunately, some children are destined to obesity. These children are born with the genes that cause them to put on weight more easily and quicker than other children. These children end up storing the fat more easily than other children. There is not anything these children can do about their genes. Despite the strong influence that genetics can have on the epidemic of childhood obesity, studies show that our genetic makeup has not changed dramatically over the last couple of generations. Therefore the increases and prevalence of childhood obesity has to be mostly from other behavioral and environmental factors, not genetics. There are a number of root causes of obesity in the children of the United States. Selecting one or two main causes is next to impossible because the potential influences are multiple and intertwined. With the contributing factors of technology, family structure, advertising, stress and our  physical environment we are making the next generation fat. We can make small changes that will have a significant impact on the issue of childhood obesity. Parents and caregivers can encourage children to adopt healthy eating habits and be more physically active. We need to focus on overall good health, not necessarily a certain goal weight. We should teach and model healthy and positive attitudes toward food and physical activity. We should establish daily meal and snack times, and eat together as families as much as possible. When we shop for groceries we should purchase foods that will give children a wide variety of healthful foods to choose from. We should try to plan meals and serve them in sensible portions. Allowing children to â€Å"scoop† their own food can promote them eating in unhealthy amounts. These are just a few ideas of small change that can make a huge difference. We also need to promote exercise as much as possible. Having children walk to school when distance and safety allows is great exercise. Children should be encouraged to play outdoor games rather than just be allowed to sit in front of the television. There are plenty of activities that our children can do to get exercise. Remember even household chores like raking leaves or running the vacuum cleaner constitute as exercise. Washing the car on a hot summer day can be fun while they are getting exercise. Some children will jump at the chance to earn a few bucks. Children can be rewarded with a few dollars and they will never know they are being bribed into getting some exercise. Eating out is another place to be mindful of our decisions. When eating out is it important to be conscious of our food choices and try to keep healthy eating in mind. Lots of fast food places now offer healthy alternatives. The obesity issue is prevalent in the next generation, but it is not too late for us to work together to reverse this epidemic. REFERENCES British Medical Association, June 2005. _Preventing Childhood Obesity._ London: British Library Catalog. Centers for Disease Control, July 16, 2012, _Overweight and Obesity_. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html Ford-Martin, Paula. _(2005) The Everything Parent’s Guide to the Overweight Child._ Massachusetts: Adams Media Hassink, Sandra G, MD, FAAP. (2006) A _Parent’s Guide to Childhood Obesity._ United States: American Academy of Pediatrics. Herscher, Elaine, Woolston, Chris and Tartamella, Lisa. (2004) _Generation Extra Large._ New York, New York: Basic Books. Ludwig, David, MD, Ph.D. (2007) _Ending the Food Fight._ New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne, Ph.D. (2005) â€Å"I’m Like, So Fat!† New York: The Guilford Press U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, April 19, 2011, _Childhood Obesity._ Retrieved from: http://www.hhs.gov

Shortcuts to Essay on Business Idea Samples Only the Experts Know

Shortcuts to Essay on Business Idea Samples Only the Experts Know The Debate Over Essay on Business Idea Samples It's really hard to decide on which idea can be great to begin a business and a career. A thriving idea has to start somewhere, and if it's very small in the first place, an open dialogue should occur to provide the idea some actual importance. If the home based business idea works, it is going to get the job done for you with the proper mindset and energy. If you like the concept of a house business but hate the notion of selling, you've got to come up with new skills to supply you with the confidence to bridge the gap. You may be wondering what type of product which you could even construct your business around, and who'd get it. If you're interested in a business in arts and crafts, but don't necessarily need to be doing all of the work yourself then it's possible to expand you network and sell items that could be sold for a reduce price $10 to $100. Another g ood idea is handmade soap. There are many tips for businesses that are expected to be somewhat successful ideas in the present sector. Just devote some time doing some on-line small business research and you're guaranteed to obtain the ideal small business idea for you. Become a Virtual Assistant Another excellent small business idea is to be a digital assistant. You could have always wanted to begin a business, but you might not have the confidence which you really can pull it off. The business demands immense commitment, cleanliness and most importantly, plenty of compliance to healthcare requirements, safety and tranquil for those neighbors kids. The fantastic thing about the online today is the awesome quantity of information that is easily offered. Think about what it is that you are good at, or what you've always wished to do for a living, and do it. Finally, there are numerous benefits of having your home based or internet enterprise. 1 great thing about internet bus iness is the fact that it puts you in contact with potential buyers in every corner of earth. As soon as you have a couple samples made, you can begin marketing them online. There are several freelance outsourcing sites that you can join to start writing articles for clients. Content marketing is now the primary focus of the digital advertising era and with websites hiring increasingly more content writers for marketing their goods, the demand for copy editors is on the upswing. Online affiliate marketing is likewise an alternative. Up in Arms About Essay on Business Idea Samples? Otherwise, don't be discouraged, there are a lot of more opportunities for women to locate business ideas online. There are lots of home business tips for ladies. The 3 small small business tips for women can be divided up into continuing your career, locating a new career, and the way to discover how to begin a business and company ideas utilizing the web. A number of the most effective small small business tips for women are ones that are devoted to a flexible schedule that could work aro und other commitments. Ladies constitute the most significant portion of the job at home workforce. Yes, they are not just at par with men, but if you actually compare the tasks handled by a women, compared to that of a man, women are actually the ones who are multitasking and yet successful. Throughout time, they have proven to be savvy business owners. An increasing number of women are opting to work at home. Writing online articles for profit is just one of the simplest ways for women to begin earning an income from home. Below are a few of the best internet business tips for women that you are able to begin with right away. There are a number of online jobs and business opportunities for ladies. It is often quite straightforward and extremely profitable to begin your own business of selling cosmetics online. The Importance of Essay on Business Idea Samples In fact, the most effective small business tips for women can get the job done even if she only has a couple of hours a day to spend. In the modern financial climate of international recession it is difficult to locate work and it's especially tough if you want to return to work after starting a family. It's possible to get a variety of opportunities to begin your own company, in addition to find others that are doing something similar. You can also locate available chance for work by searching. Essay on Business Idea Sampl es Help! The web is a probable start due to the visibility and superior traffic it brings to the table. Investing in such a business would bring immediate revenue since it's a service that is required almost everyday. It is possible to also build websites for your clients and raise your earnings. There are many network multi level advertising opportunities on the regions of health care and personal beauty solutions.

Geroge Orwell Essay - 1878 Words

Geroge Orwell â€Å"One of the things Orwell bequeathed us was the adjective ‘Orwellian’†¦. It is a frightening word, generally applied to a society organized to crush and dehumanize the individual, sometimes signifying the alienation of that individual if he dares to rebel† (Lewis 13). George Orwell, the pseudonym for Eric Arthur Blair, depicted the importance of the individual in society and the danger of too much community in his literature. Through his personal experiences, however, he explored the ideas of socialism and was torn between the individual and community ideals. In his literature and his past, Orwell spoke against movements that remove the individual, but still emphasized the importance of community. Thus, he advocated a†¦show more content†¦He enjoyed the idea that everybody was equal, but he still showed resentment towards it. His inner conflict between these two ideas and his experiences as a member in the Spanish Civil War caused him to c hoose a median between the community ideals which he saw and the individual ideals which he missed: â€Å"I have seen wonderful things and at last really believe in socialism, which I never did before† (qtd. in Chen). With the start of World War II, George Orwell began his fight against Nazism, fascism, and communism. In the eyes of many, communism became interchangeable with socialism, and he criticized writers of his time that were in support of Stalin and his â€Å"socialist† movement: â€Å"Why should writers be attracted by a form of Socialism that makes mental honesty impossible† (qtd. in Lewis 76)? In an attempt to pacify the radical communist movements and change imperialism, he spoke of a third method to reform the British Empire—a middle ground that would create a socialist community in Britain. John Newsinger wrote, â€Å"[He had a] call for a new socialist movement that would reject both Communist-style revolution and Labour Party reformism in favour of a third way to socialism, a third way that he continued to call revolutionary but that was adapted to modern conditions† (qtd. in Chen). Through this, one can see that Orwell wanted to avoid such movemen ts as communism, which attempted to obtain control over the individual, and yet he had a need to preserve theShow MoreRelatedThe Dysptopian Novel of 1984 by Geroge Orwell632 Words   |  2 Pages The dystopian novel of 1984, written by the English writer George Orwell, was first published by Secker and Warburg in 1949. The novel discusses the life of Winston Smith and his venture to rebel against the totalitarian state in which he resides. George Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning after World War II, with the intention of describing a society that he would never want to live the day to see. Unfortunately, he knew that it was more of a precaution to say this is how life for some was like in GermanyRead More1984 Dystopian Society Essay1212 Words   |  5 PagesEnvision the presence living in a dystopian society - where citizens are watched day-and-night. George Orwell’s novel 1984, written in 1949, depicts and illustrates the future of the 1980’s. Orwell imagined the worl d in which totalitarianism reigned, individualism is dead, and history is just sentiment. The world diverged into three superstates: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. With protagonist Winston Smith and the citizens of Oceania, they have experienced the impression, having to live life behind

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E-Government in Kazakhstan Challenges and Its Role to Development Free Essays

string(278) " particular have been explored and analyzed: first, published academic journal and newspaper articles on e-government; second, reports published by the international organizations; and finally, review of websites of both public and private agencies in Kazakhstan and elsewhere\." Public Organiz Rev (2010) 10:31–47 DOI 10. 1007/s11115-009-0087-6 E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development Shahjahan H. Bhuiyan Published online: 9 July 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract This paper critically examines the progress made in introducing and implementing e-government programs and policies in Kazakhstan. We will write a custom essay sample on E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development or any similar topic only for you Order Now It argues that in order to achieve the articulated development goals, the Kazakh government has moved toward e-government paradigm to ascertain a people-centered, accountable and transparent government. Available data substantiates that the initiative faces several challenges such as political support and relationship between political institutions, bureaucracy and citizens, digital divide, widespread corruption, lack of human resources, and inadequate infrastructural development, which needs to be amputated to improve public service delivery. This study illustrates some international development experiences to understand the benefit of e-government. Such experiences may serve as policy guidelines to the successful implementation of e-government to ensure overall development in Kazakhstan. Keywords Development . E-government . Kazakhstan . Service delivery Introduction Electronic governance has been widely endorsed as a solution to a range of predicaments in the public sector. With promises of decreasing corruption, cutting red tape, reducing government costs, and fluctuating participatory governance, the egovernance revolution has swept most nations, capturing the imaginations of policy makers and attracting the interests of citizens and business alike (Salem 2006). Electronic government evolves swiftly through defined stages, beginning with a web presence of public agencies (â€Å"interaction†) to a means for citizens around the clock seven days a week in the convenience of their homes (â€Å"transaction†) (Netchaeva 2002). This essentially creates a new ground for public sector operation. The S. H. Bhuiyan (*) Department of Public Administration, Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research (KIMEP), 4 Abai Avenue, Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan e-mail: sbhuiyan_68@yahoo. com 32 S. H. Bhuiyan equence of stages was depicted as inevitable, fueled by technology, citizen demand, and economic realities in the public sector (Mayer-Schonberger and Lazer 2007). The prime objective of any technological innovation is to improve the quality of human condition. This cannot be achieved by technological advances alone. First and foremost, they have to be successfully applied to human society. Such an approach is significant for governance and public administration because of its impact on a larger section of the society (Sharma 2002). To reap benefit of the information and communication technology (ICT), international development agencies are paying considerable attention to the gradual improvement of egovernment, particularly in developing countries. The most recent United Nations Report entitled e-Government Survey 2008: From e-Government to Connected Governance succinctly illustrates the importance of e-governance: ‘E-government can contribute significantly to the process of transformation of the government towards a leaner, more cost-effective government. It can facilitate communication and improve the coordination of authorities at different tiers of government, within organizations and even at the departmental level’ (UN 2008, p. xii). In the same vein, the 2001 Human Development Report entitled Making New Technologies Work for Human Development, commissioned by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), clearly portrays the role of ICT for development as it stated: ‘[I]t is time for a new partnership between technology and development. Human Development Report 2001 is intended as the manifesto for that partnership’ (UNDP 2001, p. iii). Again, in the United Nations system, the World Bank launched an e-government website, and in November 2002 its Information for Development Program released The E-Government Handbook for Developing Countries. Later on, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development convened the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva in December 2003, and in Tunis in November 2005. Outside the UN system, many initiatives were launched. One was the Roadmap for E-Government in the Developing World, released by the Pacific Council on International Policy in April 2002 (Holliday and Yep 2005, p. 239). Kazakhstan was a part of the USSR until its collapse in 1990. During the Soviet regime, public documents were largely shelved as ‘classified’, and thus restricting people’s access. Living with such cynic norms of governmental operation for years, the Government of Kazakhstan (GoK), after independence in 1991, quickly realized the need of a transparent and accountable government. In the midst of transitional challenges, the Government has chosen the introduction of e-government for the twin objectives of providing fast and quality access to public services and of improving public services’ effectiveness through the widespread use of ICT in the public sector (World Bank 2006). In order to measure how far e-government initiatives have contributed to the improvement of relationships between politicians, bureaucrats and citizens in post-independence Kazakhstan, this paper: (i) analyzes the background to the introduction of e-government programs and policies; (ii) describes the overall development of e-government; (iii) investigates the challenges facing the implementation of e-government initiatives; and finally (iv) highlights its contribution to development. In short, the main focus of this paper is to critically examine the progress made so far in introducing and implementing e-government programs and policies in Kazakhstan. This paper concludes by presenting a road E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 33 map showing how e-governance in Kazakhstan can be utilized as an instrument of development. In reality, Kazakhstan is in transition. Of the many transitions now going on, an important one is the shift from ‘closed’ to ‘information’ society. Here lies the significance of the present study, insofar as it analyzes how this shift is being negotiated in a crucial area of development, the public sector. There is much to gain from a critical assessment of the success of e-government initiatives have so far attained in post-independence Kazakhstan, as it sheds light on the challenges it is confronted with at present, which in turn helps to identify some of the ways as to how they can effectively be overcome. The existing scholarship on e-government in Kazakhstan is less than satisfactory. This paper is intended to make a contribution to the steadily emerging area of study focused on e-government in a local as well as global context. Methodology This paper is based primarily on secondary sources. Three sources in particular have been explored and analyzed: first, published academic journal and newspaper articles on e-government; second, reports published by the international organizations; and finally, review of websites of both public and private agencies in Kazakhstan and elsewhere. You read "E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development" in category "Papers" The latter contributes to our understanding regarding the contents and services they provide to citizens. What is E-government? E-government was introduced in the field of public administration in the late 1990s, though it has not been clearly defined and understood by scholars and practitioners of public administration (Moon 2002). The term e-government arises by analogy to the concepts and practices of electronic commerce applied to the public sector, referring to the delivery of government services to the public ‘on-line’ (typically over the Internet) or to the technological infrastructure required to deliver those services (Brown 2005, p. 242). E-government denotes the strategic, coordinated use of ICT in public administration and policy decision-making (Haldenwang 2004). Similarly, by e-government, Tandon (2005) refers to the provision of efficient, convenient and transparent services by government departments and agencies to citizens and businesses. The Global study of E-government, a joint research initiative for global egovernment by the United Nations (UN) and the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), provides a comprehensive definition of e-government: Broadly defined, e-government includes the use of all information and communication technologies, from fax machines to wireless palm pilots, to facilitate the daily administration of government. However, like e-commerce, the popular interpretation of e-government is one that defines it exclusively as an Internet driven activity†¦to which it may be added â€Å"that improves citizen access to government information, services and expertise to ensure citizen 34 S. H. Bhuiyan participation in, and satisfaction with the government process†¦it is permanent commitment by government to improving the relationship between private citizen and the public through enhanced, cost-effective and efficient delivery of services, information and knowledge. It is the practical realization of the best that government has to offer. † (UN and ASPA 2002, p. 1) According to World Bank, e-government means to governmental use of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other agencies of government (cited in Sharma 2002, p. 607). The World Bank definition indicates the areas of operation of the concept and also lays down the broad benefits accruing out of this utilization of ICT to the field of governance, namely, to promote citizen empowerment, improve service delivery, strengthen accountability, increase transparency, or improve government efficiency (cited in Tandon 2005, p. ). This paper takes a wider view of e-government by adopting the application of ICT tools to the improvement of governance through building public-private partnership to achieve development. In this article, ‘e-government’ and ‘egovernance’, despite their subtle conceptual differences, are interchangeably used. Kazakhstan: co ntext The Republic of Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia bounded in the West by the Caspian Sea, in the North by Russia, in the East by China, and in the South by Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan (see Box 1 for summary information). Extending over a territory of 2,725,000 square kilometer (Makhmutova 2001), it is the second largest country of the former Soviet Republics with a population of 15. 48 million in 2007 (World Bank 2008), of whom 4. 5 million are ethnic Russians (Wilson et al. 2002), and population density 5. 7 per square kilometer (Agency of Statistics of Kazakhstan website: www. eng. stat. kz). Kazakhstan continues to negotiate the enormous challenges inherent in any transition from a planned to a market economy and, in the last decade, has experienced plummeting production levels (Wilson et al. 002) and two-digit (now 11%) inflation continues to grow. In recent days, Kazakhstan makes considerable progress in almost all aspects of life. Although, critics expressed concern about the limit of the country’s democratic development and the lack of its commitment to hold free and fair elections. For example, the most recent Presidential elections were held in December 2005 when President Nazarbayev won a third term with more than 90% of the vote. The elections gained negative commentary from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which claimed they had not met international standard, citing campaign restrictions, interference in polling stations, multiple voting, pressure on voters, media bias and restriction on freedom of expression (Keesing 2005 cited in Knox 2008, p. 478). In the same vein, in 2001, another scholar also observed: â€Å"It is as yet too early to herald the dawn of real democracy in Kazakhstan† (Robinson 2001). Kazakhstan’s economy has gone through stages of decline, stagnation, and high economic growth after independence in 1990. The period from 1990 to 1997 was the E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 35 period of negative economic growth, or at best stagnation (in 1995–1997, economic growth was close to zero) due to transformation in economic arrangements. It was only from 1998 that Kazakhstan entered the phase of strong and sustained growth (Agarwal 2008). In the first nine months of 2007, Kazakhstan’s GDP grew by 9. % (ESCAP, 2008). In 2007, GDP per capita was US$ 7,857 (UNDP 2007). However, GDP growth is projected to fall to 5% in 2008, and a modest increase to 6. 3% is penciled in for 2009 (ADB 2008). Over the period 1998–2004, the population living below the poverty line in Kazakhstan declined significantly from 39% in 1998, to 20% in 2004 (Agarwal 2008). The measures being taken by GoK to raise the living standards of the po pulation have cut poverty levels by 1. 7% in 2006 by comparison with 2005 (to 18. %), and the figures for 2007 indicate that poverty levels have fallen to 12. 7% (UNESC 2008). The long-term development strategy ‘Kazakhstan 2030: Prosperity, security and improved living standards for all Kazakhs’ was adopted in 1997. It identified seven priorities for the country’s development: (i) National security, (ii) domestic stability and social cohesion, (iii) economic growth, (iv) health, education and welfare for the citizens of Kazakhstan, (v) energy resources, (vi) infrastructure, transport and communications, and (vii) a professional state. Since 1998 all the programs adopted in the country are being developed in accordance with the noted development strategy of the country, which aimed at improving the quality of life for the population by reducing social exclusion and raising the quality of social services, improving the environment, and involving civil society in development (UNESC 2008, p. 6). Box 1: Kazakhstan: summary information Head of State President Nursultan Nazarbayev, first elected in December 1991 and re-elected in 1999 and 2005. National Legislature Bicameral: 77-seat lower house (Majlis), 39-seat pper house (Senate). Language Kazakh is the state language. Russian is most widely spoken. Currency Tenge Exchange rate 2007 average US$ 1 ? 120 Tenge Unemployment rate 8. 8 (2003) Adult literacy rate (% ages 15 and older) 99. 5 (2005) Life expectancy at birth (both genders) 65. 9 years (2005) GDP 104 billion US$ Internet users (per 100 people) 12 Time required to start a business (days) 21 Sources: Agarwal 2008 ; UNDP 2007; Wilson et al. 2002; World Bank 2008. The development initiatives of GoK have contributed to improving human development index (HDI). In 2007/8, the HDI for Kazakhstan is 0. 794, which gives the country a rank of 73rd out of 177 countries (UNDP 2007). In the contrary, the 36 S. H. Bhuiyan ongoing mammoth development activities also encouraged, it would seem, widespread corruption in the country. As a result, during the years, Kazakhstan consistently gained poor corruption perception index (CPI). A 2008 Global Country Report on the state of corruption launched by the Transparency International ranks the country 145th among 180 countries with a CPI 2. (Transparency International 2008). Admittedly, the backdrop painted a landscape that suggests the critical importance of implementation of e-government scheme in Kazakhstan with an aim to quick and quality access to public services, improving its effectiveness, combating corruption, poverty reduction through income generation, and thus building a breeding ground for development. The state of E-government in Kazakhstan Overall situation: benchmarking Kazakhstan has envis ioned joining 50 most competitive countries in the world by 2030. In achieving this goal, ICT plays a critical role by readying the country for entry into the forum of competitive world. In doing so, Kazakhstan’s accomplishments in fostering e-government include (World Bank 2006): Recognition of e-government as a priority at the highest political level and the elaboration of an e-government strategy; Establishment of the Agency for Informatization and Communications (AIC) as an independent regulatory authority empowered to implement state ICT policy; Creation of government agency Web sites (32 out of 42 government agencies have their own Web sites); Development of a number of corporate networks and databases (e. g. , integrated taxation, customs, pension information systems) by individual government agencies; and Enacting important legislations such as the laws on e-documents and esignatures. Kazakhstan has made substantial progress in introducing ICT in public sector. In terms of e-readiness, the United Nations Report on the e-Governance Survey 2008 recognizes Kazakhstan as the leader of Central Asia, while the region has regressed the most since the 2005 survey. This global survey report has ranked the country 81 among 189 countries with an index value 0. 4743 as compared with 65 among 179 in 2005 (UN 2008, pp. 31–32). Table 1 shows e-government readiness in Central Asian countries. The table indicates that the countries in the region had a lower e-government readiness index than in 2005. In spite of government’s efforts, Kazakhstan slips from its 2005 position partly because 2008’s Survey had more focus on the interactive and transactional stages which largely remain unachievable, and thus the scores were lower (UN 2008). Another potential reason is its weak telecommunications facility. A 2004 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) data shows that effective teledensity in the country was quite low, 16. 23 (ITU 2004). However, this number continues to improve. In 2000, the main telephone lines per 100 people were 12. 3 E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 37 Table 1 E-government readiness for Central Asia Country 2008 Index 2005 Index 2008 Ranking 2005 Ranking Kazakhstan 0. 4743 Kyrgyzstan 0. 4195 0. 4813 81 65 0. 4417 102 Uzbekistan 0. 4057 76 0. 114 109 Turkmenistan 0. 3262 79 128 †¦ Tajikistan 0. 3150 0. 3346 Region 0. 3881 0. 4173 132 117 World 0. 4514 0. 4267 †¦ Source: UN 2008, p. 32 which increased to 19. 1 in 2006, while in the same period mobile cellular subscriber increased from 1. 3 to 51. 2 (World Bank 2006). The e-Government Survey 2008 data shows that both mainline telephone and cellular user further increased to 19. 77 and 52. 86 respectively (UN 2008). E-government program objectives and implementation Kazakhstan’s e-government program incorporates a three-stage approach (World Bank 2006): st stage: creation of the basic components of e-government infrastructure, such as the governmental portal, a â€Å"payment gateway† providing a linkage with the banking system, national identification system, government-wide ICT network backbone infrastructure, creation of cross-agency information systems, provision of mainly informational and transactional e-government services, promoting Internet use among the citizens and bridging the digital divide. 2nd stage: expansion of the scope and depth of e-government services (predominantly of transactional nature) and comprehensive ICT-enabled reengineering of government administrative procedures. rd stage: ICT-based transformation of government agencies’ operation, building a fully-fledged information society, provision of e-health, e-education, e-culture, e-demo cracy and other services. Some tasks related to the first stage were implemented in 2006. On the April 12, 2006, e-government web-portal (www. e. gov. kz) was launched which provides more than 900 information services (egov magazine 2007). This portal is tri-lingual: Kazakh, Russian and English. Laws ‘On Informatization’ and ‘On Amending Certain Legal acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Sphere of Informatization’ were developed and enacted. Interagency electronic workflow with digital signature has been implemented in 39 state bodies. A pilot model of National Authentication Center for physical and legal entities has been developed, and a pilot project on integrated transportation medium of state bodies has been implemented in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. In an interview with the egov magazine in July 2007, Kuanishbek Esekeev, the Chairman of AIC, reported that GoK had implemented, on 38 S. H. Bhuiyan an experimental basis, government databases on ‘Physical Bodies’ and ‘Legal Entities’, in six oblasts (regions). Moreover, 15 interactive services such as land register and address register software were developed and tested in pilot zones: Citizens’ Service Centers (CSC) of Almatinskiy and Saryarkinskiy regions, Astana (egov magazine 2007). To connect citizens with the web, till 2006, 460 public access points kicked off. Eleven classrooms for providing computer literacy were opened in several regions as a part of capacity development of public sector employees, where more than 1,500 civil servants have been trained (egov magazine 2007). In 1997, a state program was adopted to incorporate information technology (IT) into the general education system, so as to create IT network within the international education space. In 2007, the provision of computers to schools had reached one computer for every 21 pupils compared with one for every 62 in 2001 (UNESC 2008, p. 15). Besides, online instruction has been introduced into the teaching process, comparing a set of five subject schemas, and work has been progressing to connect the education system to the Internet (UNESC 2008). The AIC is currently working to develop interactive services delivery through national e-government portal. In recent days, the Agency has been successful to deliver limited e-services. For example, it is possible to submit tax statements to the authorities as well as to clear mutual payments with the state budget through electronic channels in real time using digital signatures, which distinguishes Kazakhstan from other CIS countries (World Bank 2006, p. 10). In March 2006, a service has been launched, which enables citizens to submit applications to five ministries (e. . , Ministry of Economic Affairs and Budget Planning) and get an answer to his or her question in 3 to 5 working days. Almost all Akimats (city government) and ministries opened their virtual reception rooms. Visitors can download reference-document; get acquainted with legal base and search addresses of various offices (AIC website: www. aic. gov. kz). Future plans The transactional phase of e-government development will allow citizens to pay for using public services via governmental portal. AIC is in the process to implement a payment scheme based on existing electronic transactional (payment) system of second-tier banks. GoK is committed to build a transparent information society that presupposes gradual increase of the portal users in number. It means this will eventually transfer public services delivery only in electronic form. As a move to this, AIC plans to provide 900 different kinds of services that are to be exhibited on the portal in 2009 (egov magazine 2007). The challenges In 2005, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs has estimated that more than 60% of e-government projects in developing countries fail (Salem 2006). Likewise, Kazakhstan confronts with multifaceted challenges to the introduction of e-government, and some of them are described here. E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 39 Political support and relationship between political institutions, bureaucracy and citizens Kazakhstan e-government program receives strong support from the President and his office. AIC has been given a mandate to coordinate and lead the effort (World Bank 2006). But problem arises due to the government’s tendency to monopolize political power (Perlman and Gleason 2007), dodging the established norms of multi-party politics. As a consequence, in the August 2007 elections, the President’s political party â€Å"Nur Otan† (father land) received 88. 41% of vote and captured all seats, and thus became the only party in the parliament when none of the parties were able to meet 7% threshold required to obtain parliamentary seats (Bakenova 2008, p. 4; Iqbal 2007). It is corroborated that political elitism is compounded by the fact that Kazakh opposition political parties are in disarray and fractured, offering no real alternative to the voting public (Knox 2008, p. 487). Kazakhstan is dominated by a formal political elite and a highly centralized and power base comprising the Administration of the President of Kazakhstan and key stakeholders therein : the State Secretary, Head of Administration and Security Council Secretary (Knox 2008). Cummings (2005, cited in Knox 2008) argued that the elite system is a compelling factor behind the emergence and maintenance of authoritarianism in Kazakhstan. Given disintegrated political context, it is clear that political communication develops in line with one’s party affiliation, which limits the general trust in government. As a result, the nature of relationship existing between the party in power and opposition signals low quality of political development in Kazakhstan. The lack of political participation, however, compartmentalizes the development of e-governance. On the other hand, a major means through which interaction between citizens and politicians occurs is the parliamentary website, which is supposed to facilitate the top-down flow of information from the legislature to citizens, allow a bottom-up channel for feedback from citizens to the elected members, increase transparency by providing detailed information about legislative procedures and activities, expand the number of avenues for greater public scrutiny of the nature and processes of public policies and thus enhance the accountability of these elected politicians to their constituencies (Norris 2001, cited in Haque 2002, p. 38). To this point, Kazakh Parliament maintains a website (www. parlan. kz) and provides a list of basic information such as parliamentary activities, legislative acts, constitution, and list of parliamentary groups. It also provides an option to the website visitors to contact parliamentary secretariat to inform their queries and comments. The emergence of e -governance has significantly changed the nature of the relationship between citizens and public servants (Haque 2002). A 2002 World Bank survey made an assessment of Kazakhstan’s governance and service delivery. The survey suggests that general areas where Government can work on to improve the quality of public services through e-government. For example, the results of the survey indicated that households were not satisfied with their interactions with public officials (World Bank 2002). To improve this perception, ICT can be utilized for the reduction in the time that citizens and businesses have to spend to complete transactions with public bodies can be set as one of the performance indicators. If the transactions can 40 S. H. Bhuiyan e completed online, citizens do not have to spend the time to visit and wait at a public office, as long as they have an Internet connection (World Bank 2006, p. 20). Corruption In April 2005, the President of Kazakhstan signed a decree ‘On Measures to Step up the Fight against Corruption’ to strengthen discipline in the activities of state bodies and officials (Transparency International 2006, p. 185). Against this backdrop, petty corruption in the various form of bribe taking is a fixture of daily life (Gleason 1997, p. 379). High profile corruptions are also rampant. For example, the President of the state-owned Kazakh Telecom joint-stock company was sacked by Security Council when it was revealed that his monthly wage was $365,000 (Knox 2008, p. 487). Similarly, in 2007, Kazakh Anti-corruption Agency (financial police) filed charges against the selection committee of â€Å"Bolashak† (future) program, a presidential scholarship scheme that enables talented young Kazakhs to study in developed countries. The charges stated that many scholarships have been actually purchased through the corrupt jury decisions (Bakenova 2008, p. 94). It is widely believed that e-governance is promised to reduce corruption, which displeases corrupt political executives and bureaucrats, who, in turn, create building blocks to the implementation of e-government programs. Digital divide ‘Digital divide’—exclusion of groups within the population to get access to a computer—is another challenge that has received government attention. It reveals that only 12% of the population in Kazakhstan has skills to use PCs and half of them can use computer without being helped (egov magazine 2007), and only 12% are Internet users (World Bank 2008). To bridge the gap, the government is implementing Digital Inclusion Program for years 2007–2009. This program aims to increase number of ITC educated people by 15% and prepare the country to the transition from the industrial to information society (AIC website: www. aic. gov. kz/? mod=staticIng=rusid=22, accessed November 22, 2008). Many governments across the world have taken up measures to lessen the magnitude of the problem. Philippines and Hong Kong, for example, have facilitated this partly by providing free or subsidized access to computers and Internet) in designated public places (Holliday 2002). Telecommunications infrastructure is relatively problematic, although there are examples of significant public intervention. To this effect, several municipal governments in Germany have facilitated the development of high-speed network cables, fiber optics, and public access to improve digital economy (Hasse 2002). Infrastructural development E-government operation requires strong technological infrastructure such as computing and telecommunications. A great deal of financial resources is involved to develop structure. In Kazakhstan, it is more burdensome due to its vastness and unique geographical structure. The government has so far (2005–2007) allocated E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 41 approximately US$380 million (World Bank 2006) for the purpose of e-government implementation. Let alone government fund is inadequate to meet required expenses, which warranted a partnership among public, private and donor agencies for the accumulation of investments. Kazakhstan’s poor infrastructural readiness for egovernment also reflected in the e-Government Readiness Survey 2008 where it scored 0. 306 on infrastructure index (UN 2008). Human resources There is no denial that in most of the developing countries e-government programs suffer due to the lack of quality human resources. Kazakhstan is no exception. A 2006 World Bank report points out that even AIC, the lead organization to implement e-government, is struggling with the shortage of professional staf f, leaving only 12–15 for the ‘informatization’ task (World Bank 2006). To overcome the challenge, GoK provides continuous training and education to develop professionals in this field. However, given the low public sector compensation packages, it is unclear whether the shortage of professionals will ever be overcome. Admittedly, Kazakh public administration suffers from migration of knowledgeable employees to its growing private sector due to attractive emoluments. This will essentially constrain country’s journey toward e-government development. Poverty Given the gradual decline of the population living below the poverty line, the reduction of poverty is still an important policy goal for Kazakhstan (Agarwal 2008). However, a Gini coefficient (a measure of income inequality, with higher values denoting more unequal incomes) increased from 25. 74 in 1988 to 33. 85 in 2003 (ESCAP 2008). Income inequality is on the rise and took a defiant shape due to onslaught global economic meltdown, which also affects Kazakh economy. Consequently, rates of rural poverty continue to grow, and the economic necessity force migration from rural areas to the towns, which contributes to increase urban poverty too. According to UNDP, nearly 16% of the total population lives on less than US$2 per day (Euromonitor International, www. euromonitor. com/pdf/indonesia. pdf, accessed November 22, 2008). In this context, it is argued that a large population is unable to buy PCs (price of a PC ranges between 40,000–60,000 Tenge) and be connected with Internet (initial connection fee and deposit amount to nearly 20,000 Tenge even with the state-owned Kazakh Telecom). Apart from the above, there are disparities in the distribution of basic services in Kazakhstan (Gleason 1997). For example, a study shows that due to ageing Soviet transmission and distribution lines, electricity losses average 15%, reaching 30% to remote areas (cited in Cochran 2008, p. 1), which causes frequent power cut1 mainly in rural settlements and thus upset the prospect of their social and economic life. This poverty-ridden environment is often not receptive to adopt technological innovations, like e-government. 1 Kazakhstan produced 76. 3 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity in 2007 and consumed just over that amount, 76. 4 billion kWh (Cochran 2008, p. 1). 42 S. H. Bhuiyan Harnessing privacy Rapid adoption of global networks and technological innovations has raised many outstanding concerns from civil society over the protection of their privacy and personal data and has brought into focus the possibility of the rise of ‘Big Brother ’ (cited in Bhuiyan 2006, p. 114). In a similar vein, referring to Korea, Jho (2005) illustrates that the Korean government has faced fierce public opposition and suffered major setbacks in pursuing some of its ICT projects. This symptom worries yet growing civil society of Kazakhstan and effective dialogue with the government can reduce tension over the issue. E-government in the context of development New ICTs can make a significant contribution to the achievement of good governance goals (Heeks 2001). The e-governance permeates the four domains of government: its role in fostering economic growth and social cohesion, its relationship with the governed, its internal administration, and its relationship with the international environment (Brown 2005, p. 251). In each of these areas developing countries are faced with limitations on institutional capacity and infrastructure, financial resources and civil service skills that characterize—and prolong—lower levels of development (Brown 2005). Against this backdrop, efforts have been made for implementing e-governance in many developing countries and some of them were successful. The outcomes of those practices have shown improved government functioning, better service delivery, and triumph over many socio-economic, political and administrative ills. Among them, three cases are presented below to help us to understand the usefulness of using e-government to achieve development goals. Lessons learned from the cases have immense value to reorganize Kazakh public administration in line with e-government mandate. Case 1. Brazil: house of representatives e-participation The Brazilian House of Representatives website allows citizens to talk to their representatives and to participate in debates directly through the Internet. The Government of Brazil also provides an e-participation platform that permits Members of Parliament and citizens to communicate through chat rooms, discussion forums and the service â€Å"Falm com Deputado† or â€Å"Talk to the MP†. This form of eparticipation has enhanced the interaction between citizens and Members of parliament. In a country as vast as Brazil and with a geographically dispersed population, online participation has provided citizens with a greater voice in the creation of policies and laws. (UN 2008, p. 31) Case 2. Health service in Malta The Malta Health Ministry is an excellent example of providing customer service online. The portal allows citizens to apply for the European Health Insurance Card online. It has an electronic patient library provided through a partnership with a E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 3 private firm, which provides citizens with a medical encyclopedia, information on surgeries and procedures, and has animated lessons. The portal also provides its citizens with a list of local pharmacies. (Source: http://www. ehealth. gov. mt/article. aspx? art=90 cited in UN 2008, p. 60) Case 3. E-seva program in Andra Pradesh, India The Government of Andra Pradesh has a clear vision to create a knowledge society by using IT in all aspects of devel opment and governance (www. esevaonline. com, last accessed November 24, 2008). Consequently, E-Seva (electronic service) program was launched to effectively deliver public and social services to the citizens. This program offers services of multiple central, state and local government agencies as well as some private sector organizations. The salient features of E-Seva include the following: 46 e-Seva centers (with 400 service counters) spread over the Twin Cities and Ranga Reddy District. All service counters are facilitated with an electronic queuing system. Operating from 8:00 a. m. to 8:00 p. m. , on all working days and 9:00 a. m. to 3:00 p. m. n holidays (Second Saturdays and Sundays). ‘One-stop-shop’ for over 66 government-to-consumer (G2C) and business-toconsumer (B2C). No jurisdiction limits- any citizen in the twin cities can avail of the services at any of the 46 e-Seva service centers. Online services: eForms, eFiling, ePayments. Payments by cash/cheque/DD/credit card/Internet. The Government of India data shows that e-Seva cente rs offer the total of 132 G2C services from 16 government departments, and 15 B2C services from 10 business firms. Services include, among others, online transaction processing of payments, issuance of certificates, and licenses. The number of transactions at e-Seva centers was initially under 5,000/month (August 2001). It quickly gained popularity and the number surpassed a million in July 2003. As of May 2004, the level of transaction is above 1. 1 million. (Source: http://www. esevaonline. com/ cited in World Bank 2006, p. 42) The first case makes it clear that interaction between MPs and citizens through Internet helps the former to better understand citizens’ opinions, grievances, and demands, while the latter participates in scrutinizing public policies and laws. Kazakhstan government needs to implement the practice, contextualizing it to the local conditions, to boost up contact between parliament members and citizens, a pre-requisite for ensuring good governance. The second case is focused on electronic delivery of customer services related to healthcare in an EU country, Malta. The dismal performance of healthcare sector in Kazakhstan (Iqbal 2007) warrants a major overhaul. As a part of perceived reform, GoK may experiment with the transferability of Malta’s practice in public healthcare outlets. The third example illustrates the significance of providing public services through public-private partnership (PPP) in Andra Pradesh, an Indian state. PPP is now a common strand of ‘third way’ government policy, with better efficiency promised 44 S. H. Bhuiyan from the private funding of public infrastructure through the transfer of risks to private concerns. In this perspective, GoK may consider to build PPPs as a potential strategy to deliver effective and efficient services to the citizens. Over and again, control of corruption and poverty reduction are two important development challenges that are being facilitated through e-government. These issues are in some detail discussed here. Corruption Heeks (1998) points out that the level of corruption in the public sector sharply decreases in countries where e-government exists. A survey in India has revealed that, in the states where e-government has been established even partially, the corruption rate has substantially fallen. The survey has found that in Kolkata and Mumbai, two Indian cities, due to implementation of e-governance in some public sector, corruption rate has declined to 19% and 18% compared to 51% and 38% respectively in 2000 (Kabir 2008). Similarly, in Bangladesh, one may observe that due to computerization of Railway Reservation System, the number of black-marketers has decreased considerably. Elimination of the middle-men in citizen-government interaction, in fact, is the major factor eradicating corruption (Kabir 2008). Poverty reduction Admittedly, the Nobel Peace Prize winning Grameen Bank has made a significant contribution to the development of ICT in Bangladesh. During the years, Grameen philosophy has proved that ICT can be very useful to uplift the rural and disadvantaged communities in Bangladesh and beyond (cited in Hossain 2005). According to the founder of the Bank and Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus identified three key areas ICT can play an immediate role in helping the poor (Yunus 2004, cited in Hossain 2005) are: 1. Integrating the poor into the mainstream economy by expanding their market, eliminating the middle-men in their business, and creating international job opportunities through service out-sourcing; 2. Bringing information, educational programs, skill training, and healthcare services, etc, all in a very user friendly way, even to the most remote villages; 3. Empowering the poor, particularly poor women, with a stronger voice that can be heard behind the borders of their villages, better access to information, and improvement in the democratic process. The study by Aminuzzaman et al. (2003) found a positive correlation between the uses of ICT and poverty reduction in Bangladesh. According to the findings, at the individual level, the Village Phone (VP) of Grameen Bank has contributed significantly to income generation of rural women (popularly known as phone ladies). Socially, it has given a new status and image to those women who are getting Bank’s support to start this venture both at the family and community levels. Moreover, at the community level, it has narrowed gaps between cities and villages by enhancing frequent communication between family members. Economically, it has increased business transactions and dissemination of information (Aminuzzaman E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 45 et al. 2003, p. 327). In an earlier but similar study by Bayes et al. 1999) also evaluated the role of VP (of Grameen Bank) within the context of rural development in general and of poverty reduction in particular. They came up with two basic conclusions: first, pursuance of pragmatic policies can turn telephones into production goods, especially through lowering transaction cost, and second, the services originating from telephones in villages are likely to deliver significant benefits to the poor in Bangladesh (Bayes et al. 1999). Kazakhstan suffers from rampant corruption and poverty. As a means to control corruption and eradicate poverty, the government can evaluate the suitability of the noted (or similarly designed) initiatives for implementation in Kazakhstan. Conclusion The paradigm of e-government emphasizes coordinated network building, external collaboration, and one-stop customer services to facilitate efficient service delivery to citizens, and, thus, contrasts sharply with the traditional bureaucratic paradigm, which stresses standardization, departmentalization, and division of labor (Ho 2002). In order to keep pace with the articulated development goals, particularly to achieve Kazakhstan 2030, the GoK has started to move toward e-government paradigm to establish a citizen-centered, accountable and transparent government. Kazakhstan’s past political history was linked to the long-standing legacies of monopolism, clanocracy, and cynicism of the Soviet period (Gleason 1997, p. 379). In the new Kazakhstan, situation has not improved to the extent many had expected. The country is still marked by widespread corruption, abject poverty, digital divide, lack of infrastructural development and human resources. In this context, egovernment offers opportunities, though rudimentary at the present stage, to the government to improve service delivery across the country. The international development experiences clearly portray the benefit of egovernment. Such experiences may serve as policy guidelines to the implementation of e-government in Kazakhstan, after careful evaluations to their acceptability in Kazakh society. An important challenge to e-government implementation in developing countries is the lack of financial resources. The case of Kazakhstan is very much the same. The honeymoon period of booming Kazakh oil economy is under stress. To continue the systematic implementation of e-government even during the sluggish economy, public-private partnership is a necessary strategy for the avoidance of huge initial investment costs. The successful implementation of the program will surely change the public administration landscape and enable the government to deliver services to a transparent, accountable, and client-focused environment. References ADB (Asian Development Bank). (2008) Asian development outlook 2008 [Kazakhstan]. 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(2004). Petersburg Prize 2004- acceptance speech delivered by Professor Muhammad Yunus in the Prize giving ceremony on June 27, 2004, at the Development Gateway Forum 2004, held at Petersburg Conference Center, Kongiswinter, Germany Shahjahan H. Bhuiyan is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Administration at Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research (KIMEP), Almaty. He earned a Ph. D. in Development Studies from the University of Bonn, Germany. His research interests are in governance, public policy and administration, public management, organization theory and behavior, culture, knowledge and development. Copyright of Public Organization Review is the property of Springer Science Business Media B. V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. 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