Monday, September 30, 2019

Poverty in America Essay

Poverty in America seems to stare at us in every town and major city. Being a culture of materialism and economic success, you would imagine that we would have enough prosperity to see that everyone has a fair share of housing, healthcare and money to fulfill their basic needs. However, as collection plates and fundraisers of our churches continue to ask more and more of us, it sometimes feels as if the need for charity will never cease. In fact, in Deuteronomy 15:11 we read that, â€Å"The needy will never be lacking in the land; that is why I command you to open your hand to your poor and needy kinsman in your country. † With this is in mind, we as Christians can remember that charity is a work of God, not an obligation put upon us by our own personal community. Later in the New Testament we read of Jesus saying, â€Å"The poor you will always have with you; but you will not always have me. † This statement again affirms the need for charity will always continue. And logically, as our population grows while our resources become more limited, this statement clearly makes sense. Yet, with all of the poverty we see, we also view just as much corporate greed and needless spending. If you’ve ever watched MTV Cribs, you wonder how one movie or sports star can justify sleeping at night in a bed that cost more than a half a years rent for some families. Granted, we might not always have the celebrities here on earth, but should we give them as much reverence as Jesus, and justify their increasing expenditures? The gap existing between the financial extremes seems to be forever growing rather than diminishing. Though the Bible admonishes that we should be giving of charity; in today’s culture this may mean taking a further step and turning away from our reverence for entertainment. Instead of buying a ticket to the football game for several hundred dollars, we may consider buying two months worth the food for the local food pantry to accomplish this goal. We may not eliminate poverty, but perhaps stop the growth of the gap between the two extremes. Works Cited The New American Bible For Catholics. (1986). South Bend: Greenlawn Press.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Benefits of Not Home Schooling Essay

Parents may have various options for choosing what kind of education that’s best for their children. The know what good be an advantage and disadvantage of sending their children to school or opted to have a home education, whatever their decision is, it would be both beneficial to parents and to their children as well. There are lots of factors that parents would choose not to send their children to school, rather to enroll them in home schooling. Some parents feel that because of the rising tuition fees and the status of public schools made parents to be alarmed and have doubts about formal schooling. Let’s take a look what are the advantages of home schooling. First, parents feel that they have the control of the kind of education their children will get. They will be able to guide their children on the activities and lessons, because they have the ability to look after their children. They also feel that it’s less stressful for children if they are not enrolled in school. Because of financial needs, parents opted to home schooling because it is less expensive, compared to private schools that continues to increase each year. Emotionally wise, People who are involved in home schooling believe that children who get their education at home enable them to develop a stronger bond between parents and children. The very fact that children will be spending more time with their parents because of being schooled in the home enriches the relationship between the generations. This is beneficial to both parents and children. Where in formal schooling, children spend more time in school and when he gets home he is pre occupied with a lot of school works that tends children to become stressed out. There are also tendencies coming from parents to pressure their children to do well in school. But let’s take a different perspective; I believe that children who are into home schooling are deprived of social interaction, especially interaction with their peers. Those who are into home schooling are confined within their houses, children needed to take some time off and interaction is very essential to the development of children in terms of social and emotional aspect. A child will develop her communication skills, social skills, and even cognitive skills because interaction leads to experience, and experience leads to knowledge. School is not solely based books but rather a learning experience. There are lot of things we can learn outside from our home, from our teachers, classmates and friends. We need to socialize and experience certain things within the context of the book in order for us to understand and learn better, theories are not there for us to just memorize rather apply it into our daily lives. Books could not be merely understood just by reading them we have to apply it even on simple things, and experience such events will enable us to learn something valuable. I truly believe that practical experience of learning will help me understand and gain knowledge better compared into being confined within our home. We can balance school and its pressure and our relationship with our parents. Yes, there may have a big gap in financial aspect but we just can’t sacrifice the kind of education we need, for education is beyond learning, it is our future.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

APPLICANT TESTING Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

APPLICANT TESTING - Coursework Example They may be tested for their cognitive ability to understand arresting procedures and application of those procedures. Potential police officers even undergo personality testing to identify the degree of fitness of the applicant to serve on the police force. One of the best ways to test police officers for the police department is the cognitive ability test. This testing method is used to identify the applicant’s ability to understand procedures and rules and their application in the field work. These tests are inexpensive because these tests can be conducted through computer based software that offers different questions based on multiple choices and these tests can be conducted online. The problem with these tests is that the applicant may perceive that the tests are not directly testing skills required to perform the job. These tests can result in legal issues because these tests may result in unintended discriminatory practices. For example: these tests have been found to resulted in unintended discriminatory practices against certain minority and protected groups such as the African Americans. Sims states that African Americans have been found to score sixteen percent less than White Americans on these tests (Sims, 2007). In order to avoid legal action and decrease the chances of being help responsible for unintended discriminatory practices, organizations can make these tests more jobs specific in order to be able to prove that these tests were conducted without the intention of discriminating against the protected groups. Personality trait tests used for applicant testing is another significant test that is being used in order to perform tests that help in testing the psychological aspect of applicants. These tests are mainly administered in order to identify the psychological disorders or issues that applicants might be facing and due to these disorders applicants are rejected. The main

Friday, September 27, 2019

Texas and The Death Penalty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Texas and The Death Penalty - Research Paper Example Being represented by the right lawyer determines the chances of providing adequate evidence to ascertain one's innocence or guiltiness. Opponents of death penalties argue that some people may end up being killed while they are innocent if the trial is not fair or if the accused person’s counsel lacks expertise. This has raised the issue of the appropriateness of death execution for punishing offenders since the trial process may result in conviction and murder of innocent individuals (â€Å"American Civil Liberties Union† Web). Another issue surrounding the death penalty is diversity inconsistencies such as racial and gender. There have been arguments that the number of African Americans sentenced to death and executed is higher as compared to other races. Additionally, there are perceptions that cases where the victim is black rarely lead to death row while those involving white victims often lead to death rows. Such statistics have led to questions regarding the evenhandedness of the justice system when dealing with capital offenses. On the issue of diversity, there is a problem regarding the role of gender in determining the penalty. In most cases, capital offenses involving men are likely to lead to the death penalty as compared to those involving women. At times, this has created the notion that the justice system favors women suspects (â€Å"American Civil Liberties Union† Web). Another issue surrounding the death penalty in Texas is whether the punishment serves its purpose. Legal punishment is designed to correct the perpetrator of the crime and or deter others from committing such crimes.  

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Summarize, in detail, an uploaded article in psychology Essay

Summarize, in detail, an uploaded article in psychology - Essay Example Klonsky has pointed out that the results of some studies suggest that it is found among 14% of college students, that more women self injure and that self injury has become increasingly common in recent years. The results of studies also show that the tendency to injure oneself first starts to appear between the ages of 14 to 14 and the most common form of injury is skin cutting, which occurs in about 70 to 97% of individuals. Self injury can be damaging for individuals because it causes physical injuries necessitating medical treatment, which could even be severe enough to lead to death. More damaging however, is the psychological distress caused to the victim and his or her loved ones. The rest of the article deals with the 18 empirical studies. Klonsky’s review has included only those studies which directly address the functions of self injury, i.e, studies which assess the motivation and reasons for self injury as well as the variables associated with self injury, such as affect states and preceding events. The seven common functions repeatedly examined in these studies include (a) affect regulation or self injury as a response to alleviate acute negative affect (b) anti-disassociation, or ending the experience of disassociation (c) anti-suicide, or to combat the urge to commit suicide (d) interpersonal boundaries or to assert one’s autonomy (e) interpersonal influence or to seek help from others (f) self punishment and (g) sensation seeking.( Klonsky, 2007:229). The author also states that three primary methodologies have been used in the studies to examine the above functions, namely (i) self reports of injurers where they discuss the reasons why they injure themselves (ii) self report of phenomenology, where self injurers talk about the experience of self injury and (iii) laboratory studies. The laboratory studies do not rely upon self reporting; rather the injurers are asked to perform

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

International Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

International Human Rights - Essay Example rnments act in particular ways or to refrain from given acts, for the reason of protecting and promoting human rights and other fundamental freedoms of people (Buergenthal, 67). Non-discrimination principle is a broadly-based one in the international human rights law. The principle stands out to be so much vital in all the key human rights treaties thereby providing the central theme of a number of international human rights conventions for example, elimination of racial discrimination and discrimination against Women. With respect to all human rights and freedoms the principle of non-discriminatory eliminates discrimination of all aspects be it color, race or any other factor. The equality blends well with the principle of non-discriminatory since every individual is born free and equal to rights and dignity. All human rights are interdependent, interrelated and indivisible, whether the rights are political or civil, for example, the right to life, equality before the law, and freedom of expression; social, economic, and cultural rights, for example the right to housing, work and social security, or even collective rights, for example the rights to self-determination and development. Universality principle of human rights is the foundation of international human rights law. This principle has been reiterated in various international human rights declarations, resolutions, and conventions. For instance, Vienna World Conference of 1993 giving illustrations on human rights stated that it is the role of States to promote and protect all human rights and freedoms, despite of their cultural, political and economic systems. The expression of universality of the human rights is seen when states ratify the fundamental human rights treaties beyond all boundaries and civilizations Human rights are inalienable in that they should not be taken away from the individual they are duet to, except in specific circumstances and with respect to due process. The right to liberty,

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Suffering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Suffering - Essay Example Inc, 2009)At a time where comfort and convenience are common market commodities, with things such as instant food, instant shopping and even instant help so prevalent, the society has lost the appreciation of sacrifice and self-denial. As a result, we have become accustomed to labelling small comfort and convenience disruptions as sufferings. There are, of course those who are inevitably suffering pain, those with terminal illness or emotional burdens, coping with a loss or bearing bodily pains. At these times, when, no material thing can bring about healing, no words, no touch are enough to console, will there really be someone who can bring comfort If someone has authored or at least allowed sufferings, will He also be there to appease The issue of suffering can be viewed from different views and fields. It can be studied philosophically, can also be of examined by mere reasons and most of all, and most prominently, it can be scrutinized in view of faith. Indeed many people have tried to explain sufferings, both those who believe and those who do not believe in the existence of God. An article of Arthur Schopenhauer says that "unless suffering is the direct and immediate object of life, our existence must entirely fail of its aim. It is absurd to look upon the enormous amount of pain that abounds everywhere in the world, and originates in needs and necessities inseparable from life itself, as serving no purpose at all and the result of mere chance (Schopenhauer). Even the great philosopher believes that it is futile to consider suffering as no purpose at all. He associated it with our needs which ordinarily come with life. An academician from the East, who happened to be an Islam, also had a slice of view on suffering on a lecture that he has conducted in one of the premier universities. According to him, suffering is not necessarily negative. It is unavoidable because our world is far from perfect and that what matters most is our view of it. It is negative to those who see it as a stumbling block and positive to those who approach it as a stepping stone toward his perfection and spiritual growth (Espiritu, 2006). Michael Martin has evalutead william Craig's oral debates about the concept of suffering. The latter saying that sufferings increases acceptance of God and Christian evangelism such as what happened in the country of El Salvador (Martin, 1997). He has dismissed this argument however as according to him, it runs in contrast to rationality. Bob and Gretchen Passantino tried to answer the question, "If God is good, why is there too much suffering in the world" The article says that, suffering is the consequence of wrong choices specifically of sins (Bob Passantino, 1997). God has given us the freewill so that when we reap the consequences of our choice. He added further that, although God allows people to make wrong choices, as He has not created us to be robots, He works in the midst of suffering for our favor. God has the assurance that He will elimitane suffering in the last time, through the suffering that Jesus Christ Himself has underwent, and that's the greatest comfort that we can receive. Another article posted online by the United Church of God asks, "Is God indifferent to Human Suffering". When we label catstrophes such as hurricane, thypoons ans earthquakes that claim thousands of lives to be "acts of God", we tend to look at God as indifferent and heartless (United Church of Go

Monday, September 23, 2019

Team Creation Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Team Creation - Research Paper Example The first step towards choosing people for a project is to consider their professional skills (Cummings & Worley, 2014). While one may pick people because of their technical talents, one does not necessarily require persons with the highest competence, but rather just the right people for the task. The good team members should be reliable, trustworthy, available, flexible, and those who can abide by the rules. An assignment breakdown sheet will assist a team manager to assign the right people to the right tasks. It can be achieved alongside a master plan on a work breakdown structure that includes all tasks arranged in a hierarchical diagram (Cummings & Worley, 2014). To start selecting a team, a project manager will have to assess the skills of all potential team members. A manager needs to establish how experienced a team member must be and how much experience they need to possess for them to fill a particular role. The first team-building strategy is to select a competent team leader and members. Once the selection process is over, the team must set goals. A majority of teams fail in particular because they lack goals; they want to accomplish something, but they lack specific goals (Kerzner, 2013). Secondly, a team must emphasize on communication because it is necessary for effective team-building. It is essential to communicate in every way: phone, in person, email, and through the web.   An effective leader knows when fast intervention is needed to solve a problem. Proper solving-making strategy can go a long way to helping a team to accomplish its tasks (Kerzner, 2013). A group leader must recognize the good work done by members. Every individual needs recognition in whatever they do. It is important for a leader to be conscious of cultural needs and concerns of every member.   All members of the team must be incorporated from their cultural point of view.   Conflict is any condition where there are

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Keeping the Lights On the Tanks Full Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Keeping the Lights On the Tanks Full - Essay Example This value shows that the current generation highly depends on crude oil and that life would be almost impossible if the use of crude oil products is stopped. Is this the case? This paper looks at a variety of options that we can use as a substitute to the use of oil. Before we take a look into this topic it is good to ask a very simple question, â€Å"can there be any positive effect on the alternative change of using crude oil products as our main source of energy or can it just worsen the situation?† Taking a walk around my neighborhood, I noticed that there are so many oil refineries. The one question that I asked myself is the cost that it takes the oil manufactures to erect and maintain such large industries. From the information that I collected, it is estimated that it cost over $20 million to erect an oil refinery site and even more to maintain it. Is it not an obvious fact that all these are transferred to the consumer and not the oil manufactures? It means that all these costs are incorporated into the prices of the oil and the consumer is forced to pay for it. This is just a simple example of how expensive oil is to the common man (Cothran 54). If an alternative could be made such that the source of energy does not have to depend on large refineries such as the ones set aside for the oil refinery then in turn we would reduce the prices of energy tremendously. For example let’s take a look at someone using a generator to provide electric energy to his family and another using solar energy. The one using solar energy will have to use just a few dollars for installation while the other would have to be buying diesel like every day. This shows that crude oil products are expensive and there are other sources of energy such as solar energy that are less expensive and that can provide us with more energy as compared to the crude oil energy (Behrens 78). Never has it ever been recorded that people fright for cooking oil that is made from natu ral vegetables. However from the movie it is also evident that oil cost us a lot of lives to import and export. Take a look at the bombing of the twin towers (Fuel). This is just an example of how much pain we aver to go in order to maintain the oil energy that flows into our market. We have to do a lot of things in order to get oil, we have to create enemies and at the same time use force and even soldiers in order to get and maintain the oil that we use. If we didn’t depend on oil then there would be no enmity between the US and Iraq or any Arabian country. However due to our dependency on oil we have to get exposed to terrorists and at the same time have our people killed as we kill others as well so that we can maintain our energy at all times. If we used bio diesel instead of the regular diesel, then there would be no fight for energy as every nation would be able to produce its energy. This means that bio-diesel apart from being cheap and readily available will bring mo re peace to the world as compared to the fights that are seen by oil and the lots of lives that we have to lose because of the fights for oil energy (Behrens 78). If we used clean coal as our source of energy then there would be less pollution to our environment. Before the world was a better place to live in. people could swim anywhere, and eat most of the fish that comes from almost all the waters.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Study Two University at the Same Time Essay Example for Free

Study Two University at the Same Time Essay Since study only one university is not attractive anymore, because it is too simple and provides less benefit too. So these day, almost all undergraduate students or just graduated from high school are ambitious by choose to attend two universities at the same time, because they think they could hold two bachelor degrees at the same time after they graduate. In hindrance, this may not provides any benefit but just bad influences to their health, time, education and money. Especially, it would provides them â€Å"Stress†, that could badly affects their study. Moreover, participating in two colleges at the same time will face health issue, because most students will not eat punctually as they used to, and sometimes they might have ate some unhealthy food or fast food or could be junk food outside, that could cause them a serious health problem. Theoretically, students would face up to busy and critically hard assignments from both universities. Unfortunately, sometimes the deadline of the assignments might be the same, and for sure, that will make them feel stress and couldn’t pay attention or absorb the education well during class. In brief, taking two universities at the same time is not an option for those who are unhealthy and unable to manage their time probably. But if they are stubborn and really want to participate in it, they should balanced it equally beforehand.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Project Procurement And Pre Tender Method Statement Construction Essay

Project Procurement And Pre Tender Method Statement Construction Essay Contract procurement has an impact on project performance in terms of costs, time and quality. During one of the briefing meetings at the pre-tender stage of a construction project, your Director has interest in collaborative procurement method and need your advice. In addition, your Director has multiple sites going on at the same time and therefore many site offices. Critically explain why collaborative procurement would be beneficial between the site offices to your Director. Masterman, (2002) defined a procurement system as, the organizational structure adopted by the client for the implementation, and at times eventual operation, of a project. While Love (1998) adopted the definition such that, It is an organizational system that assigns specific responsibilities and authorities to people and organizations, and defines the relationships of the various elements in the construction of a project. There has been an increasing recognition that the conventional (traditional) approach to contract procurement is inadequate (Rowlinson, S. 1999). However, it has been noted that there are still relatively few procurement systems for clients to choose from. Each procurement system that is available delivers project success to a variable degree (Bowen, 1997). In todays context, it can be seen that clients satisfaction is seen to be largely dependent on the selection of the most appropriate procurement methodology, and failure to select an appropriate procurement approach is recognized as a primary cause of a project failure (Masterman, 1996). However, which procurement route to undertake for a particular project be it building or infrastructure works depends on the objective and requirements in terms of its functionality, cost, time and quality set by the client. While the selection of an appropriate procurement system in an essential part of the building process, it is unlikely that an ideal procurement system that satisfies is all criteria will be available to ensure success (Winter, 2005). There are many factors that influence the project performance and contract procurement certainly has an impact on costs, time and quality. However the procurement system will influence whether the project will be a separated procurement system (traditional), integrated procurement system (design build and its variant), management oriented system (management contracting, construction management), or collaborative arrangement (partnering, Early contractor Involvement, ECI, e-tender). Figure 1 below shows the various forms of procurement systems. CLIENT Experience/inexperience PROJECT MANAGEMENT TEAM OPTIONS In-house/external/in-house external PROCUREMENT TYPES Separated/ (2) integrated/ (3) management oriented/ (4) collaborative Separated Single-stage/sequential Two-stage/accelerated (2) Integrated Direct design Build Competitive design build Develop construct Turnkey BOT (3) Management Oreinted Management contracting Construction management Deep Marine (4) Collaborative E-procurement Parterning ECI The various procurement options available reflect the fundamental differences in the allocation of risk and responsibility to match the characteristics of different projects and client needs (Winter, 2005). When client select the type of procurement system to be use, strategic consideration must be considered especially at the stage on deciding whether to appoint a designer (architect/engineer), integrator (contractor), manager (project manager) or a group of all 3 working collaboratively. Under this approach the client can use any of the systems from any of the other categories either singly or in combination, or even a bespoke system of his/her own making but with the choosen systems(s) being implemented within a specific setting controlled by the client. Collaborative arrangement (Partnering) as required by the director has some benefits especially for multiple sites and with many site offices running at the same time. The benefits of time, cost and quality is explained below. Benefits of time: several studies have indicated that by using the partnering approach the largest benefit is from the design and management processes were the flow of information between all parties helps to reduce the design times as designers and contractor understand and are more efficient in working together. It allows for faster project times as the selection process is eliminated which can be costly and time consuming. The project can have an early start on site, shorter construction times and lower risk of time overruns. However, using strategic partnering is more beneficial as it can achieve a 50% time saving it firms use the correct management procedures. Benefit to Costs. As partnering assures certainly in the projects in terms of design and construction results in fewer cost overruns, reduce claims and litigations and the project cost also reduced. This is one of the important part of the project where saving some of the cost can add value to other important works that may be required at the end of the project. Benefits to quality: Partnering can certainly improve the quality standards in building and there are indications that as a result, there are reduced number of defects, hence less rework is required. This is again another important aspect of the project where quality standard not only maintain but improved. Effective partnering relationships will also benefits from the RD and innovative thinking which assist to improve productivity and quality. TASK 2: As part of the pre-tender process for a contract bid document, for multi-storey building projects for various sites, you are required to write a pre-tender method statement. Prepare a pre-tender method statement that you will submit with your bid document. Pre-tender method statement is one of the important parts in the pre-tender process. Method statement is a document detailing how a particular task or activity will be carried out. Its detail the particular risk or danger associated with the particular parts of the project. However an assessment of construction methods to be considered during the tendering is required. The objectives of preparing a method statement are as follows: To enable managerial experience to be called upon during estimating, a demand is created for information relative to performance. Managers find it is necessary to record resources, quantities and time in order to contribute. To enable data concerning new construction techniques and methods of handling materials to be included in an estimate. The method statement may be developed from work study data and planning cycles prepared for an alternative plant and labour situation. To permit the plant requirements for a project to be summarized for inclusion in the contract preliminaries or plant schedule. To ensure the output and duration of different methods and machines is realistically matched. To give guidance to the estimator on specific on specific bill of items relating to plant and labour requirement in order that realistic rates may be built up. In this case study, a pre-tender method statement is to be prepared as part of the pre-tender process for a contract bid document for multi-storey building projects for various sites. Various formats for method statement can be used; like a pre-printed standard format that has been designed for repetitive works for familiar design such as in this case-study. Information that is required on method statement includes the operation or work stage. Each operation requiring analysis of plant or method should be listed in the method statement, for example excavation work, formwork, concrete handling and placing, choice of plant for lifting precast floors or erecting steelwork. Quality of work is also required where this is directly affect methods of construction, number of man-powers and machineries. Realistic methods of construction together with constructive alternative and sequencing of operations should be outlined clearly. The summary of plant will assist in the preparation of the preliminaries plant element where an example is tabulated in the table below. S/No Operation Quantity method Sequence of operations Plant and labor output duration 1 Excavate over-site to reduce levels and remove to tip 70 x 100 x (ave.) 450mm = 3150 m2 Excavate using hydraulic power shovels. Load excavated material direct into 8 cubic metre capacity lorries cart away to top Alternative Excavate using hydraulic backactor, track mounted 360 deg slewing machine laoading direct into lorries hymac 580 or similar Site strip to commence after taking initial grid of levels DITTO 1 banksman Cat. 951 crawler tractor 4 lorries 1 banksman 40 m3/hr 35 m3/hr 3150/40 = 79 man-hr 90 man-hr 2 Excavate pad and strip foundations 300 mm of strip foundation bases say 200m3 Excavate shallow foundations using Rymac 580 as before and load direct into lorries On stripping factory areas the excavation work to the factory area commence 1 banksman 1 Hymac 2 lorries 3 Concrete strip and pad foundations 100m3 ready mixed concrete Ready mixed concrete to be discharged direct into foundations. Site access via hardcored formation On fixing of bolt boxes to 6 pad foundations, concrete work may commence 3 labourers 1 day/ 4 to 6 bases 4 Erect steelwork and roof cladding N/S/C Contractor to prepare central area of floor slap with oversite hardcore for crane during erecation Bases to be checked by steel-work contractor, prior to erection and leveling of bases to receive steelwork bases on one bay of portal to be complete prior to erection of steelwork. N/S/C 10 days The content and description of the pre-tender method statement for the proposed construction of multi-storey building is outlined below. Introduction This method statement is prepared for the construction of propose multi-storey building project located at the site location indicated in site map. Before any work is commenced, the contractor shall confirm in writing to the engineers that the relevant site and survey works is true and accurate record of the condition of all properties, lands and crops inspected. The contractor shall clear the whole area with the boundary lines as shown in the drawing and shall exercise care and attention to ensure all the clearing activities and operation is confined with the boundaries and no damage is caused to any property or vegetation outside the boundary. Site establishment Where appropriate, the engineer shall arrange surveys to be carried out, in conjunction with the contractor and owner of the land, of all the condition of all properties, lands and crops which may be affected by the works. The sites includes the work areas and borrows areas, if any, indicated on the drawings and includes such other areas of roads, footpaths and lands which, in the opinion of the engineer, are necessary for the execution of the works. The contractors shall confine his constructional operations within the site, or such other areas of land as may be negotiated, and shall instruct his employees not to tre-pass. Site accommodation The contractor is to provide offices for the exclusive use of the Resident engineer. The location shall be determined by the contractor within the contract area and agreed by the supervising officer. Provide and maintain water, lighting and power supply and pay all the charges in connection therewith. The contractor also shall provide and maintain all necessary sheds and stores and remove the same from the site on completion of the works. Site access The contractor shall comply in all respects with all local road traffic regulations concerning the road site access, the warning light and guarding of the road works. The contractor shall construct and maintain diversion ways wherever the works will interfere with the existing roads, footways or other ways over which there is a public or private right of way. Before any work in or affecting the use of site access and main road is commenced, the contractors proposal method of working shall be agreed with, and confirmed in writing to, the engineer and the highway and police authorities. Materials and distribution Unless specified to the contrary, all material shall be in accordance with the relevant British Standard (BS) and Code of Practices (CP). Should alternative requirement be provided by a BS and no one alternative be specified elsewhere in the contract, then before proceeding to execute the works or to order materials, the contractor shall give notice requesting further specification of such matter. The contractor shall submit list of suppliers from whom he propose to purchase the material for the execution of the work. If required by the engineer, the contractor shall submit to the engineer test certificates and samples furnished by the supplier or manufacturer of any material or article indicating compliance with the requirement of the contract. Materials shall store in the manner as to preserve their quality and condition to the standards required by the contract. Sub-structure works The contractor shall carried out all sub-structure works including earth work in such manner as to prevent erosion or slips, and limit working faces to safe slopes and height, and shall ensure that all surfaces have at all times sufficient gradient to enable them to shed water without causing erosion and to prevent ponding. The contractor shall provide and maintain all necessary temporary access roads and temporary drainage and shall divert and reinstate permanent drainage system. The purposed alignments and levels of temporary access roads shall be submitted to the engineer for approval prior to their construction. Super structure All super structure works such as ground beams, flooring and roof trusses shall be constructed in accordance to the design given by the engineer. The contractor shall supply and install all open mesh and steel plate flooring and structural members necessary for the support of flooring, walkways, staircases, hand railing, ladders etc. shown in the drawing unless otherwise stated. External envelope Before interfering with access to any property, the contractor shall provide satisfactory alternative arrangements. The contractor shall take necessary precautions to avoid causing any damage to roads, lands properties, trees and other features and during the currency of the contract, shall deal promptly with any complaints by owners or occupiers. Mechanical and electrical services The tenderer shall allow in his tender for providing a suitably qualified engineer with at least ten years working experience on similar installation to coordinate the civil, mechanical and electrical details and to advise the engineer of any changes. The specification covers, but is not necessary restricted to, the provision of an electrical supply, instrumentation, lighting and power for the complete works. This include construction, performances, installation and testing of electrical equipment such as electrical ducting, opening pockets, cable wiring, transformer cables, and termination etc. for both works on the site of the proposed new power supply to the building. Overall working program The contractor shall provide the overall working program of the construction activities and to keep updating and reviewing for time to time the progress of the works, including the financial status, the material, manpower and other related works. Where required by the contract, the contractor shall provide record progress photographs taken as and what directed by the engineer. Health, safety and welfare of work people The contractor shall be responsible for the safety of all persons engaged in the execution of the work and shall take such safety precautions as are generally accepted as good civil engineering practice, including the provision of first aid equipment and personal trained in its use. The contractor shall appoint a safety officer who is responsible for safety inspection at the construction site.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Death of a Salesman - Problems with the American Dream Essay -- essays

Death of a Salesman - Problems with the American Dream What specific ills does Miller diagnose in the America Dream? Discuss with reference to â€Å"Death of a Salesman†. The American Dream is an idea that originated from the Pilgrim Fathers and has remained in the American society. It is the belief that America is the land of opportunity where everyone can be â€Å"great†. The word â€Å"dream† is in fact probably the best way to describe the problems that Arthur Miller can see in this belief. The word â€Å"dream† can suggest something wonderful to look forward to achieving, or, it may imply that something is only a dream, something that is impossible to achieve. We can see Miller believes â€Å"dream† to mean the latter of these interpretations when we see the character Howard in Death of a Salesman. It is implied through the way that he disregards Willy’s past loyalty to his company, that he has only achieved his dream of success through moral compromises, and therefore, that few achieve the dream without doing this as well. The American society however, seems to support the first definition of the word â€Å"dream†. They have certain claims to self-perfection that are absent in a large part of the world: â€Å"I celebrate myself, and sing myself, and what I assume you shall assume†, Song of Myself by Walt Whitman. Others tend to accept far greater, that conditions of life are hostile to man’s pretensions. It is thought that if they live by this dream, that there is a natural order in favour of them ...

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Gabon: An Example For All Of Africa :: essays research papers fc

Gabon: An Example For All of Africa   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The country of Gabon is praised as being one of the most successful countries in Africa. Gabon is a very diverse country in many ways. There are a variety of different tribes that call Gabon home. Also, the land differs through out the county.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gabon is one of the smaller countries of Africa with the area of 267,670 square miles. Comparatively, this is the almost the same size as Colorado. The terrain of this tiny country consists of narrow coastal plains; a hilly interior; and Savannah in the east and south. Much of the interior is rain forests and is not arable. Only 1% of the land is arable The remaining land is either meadows, permanent crops, or other land forms. (The World Fact Book 1995)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gabon is one of the most thinly populated countries in Africa. It has a population of approximately 1,155,000 (July 1995 est.) There are 11 people per square mile. The majority of the Gabonese are of ages 15-64 years. The average life expectancy is 55.14 years. Women live to be around 58, while men are usually around 52 when they die. This is why only 5% of the population is older than 65. The infant mortality is lower than many other African countries, 92.4 per 1,000 live births. (The World Fact Book 1995)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As in most African countries, there are many Bantu tribes make up the ethnicity of the country. There are four major tribal groups. The Fang, Eshira, Bapounou, and the Bateke. (The World Fact Book)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The largest of these tribes is the Fang. They live mainly in the northern area of Gabon. Many years ago they were considered the fiercest warriors of the area. Now, they dominate many of the countries governmental positions. (World Book Encyclopedia page )   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the earlier tribes that is since gone was the Omyene. They lived along the coast. The Omyene are important because they were the first of the natives to meet the European traders and missionaries. They played an important role of keeping peace with the Europeans. (World Book Encyclopedia, 1992 page 2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Along with there being so many different ethnic backgrounds, there are many religions as well. The major religion is Christian,75 % of the population. About 1% of the population is Muslim. The remaining 24% are animists. These include all of the tribal practices. (The World Fact Book)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the reasons why Gabon has been so successful is that it has a stable government. It is a republic and has multiple political parties. The capitol, Libreville ( aprox. Gabon: An Example For All Of Africa :: essays research papers fc Gabon: An Example For All of Africa   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The country of Gabon is praised as being one of the most successful countries in Africa. Gabon is a very diverse country in many ways. There are a variety of different tribes that call Gabon home. Also, the land differs through out the county.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gabon is one of the smaller countries of Africa with the area of 267,670 square miles. Comparatively, this is the almost the same size as Colorado. The terrain of this tiny country consists of narrow coastal plains; a hilly interior; and Savannah in the east and south. Much of the interior is rain forests and is not arable. Only 1% of the land is arable The remaining land is either meadows, permanent crops, or other land forms. (The World Fact Book 1995)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gabon is one of the most thinly populated countries in Africa. It has a population of approximately 1,155,000 (July 1995 est.) There are 11 people per square mile. The majority of the Gabonese are of ages 15-64 years. The average life expectancy is 55.14 years. Women live to be around 58, while men are usually around 52 when they die. This is why only 5% of the population is older than 65. The infant mortality is lower than many other African countries, 92.4 per 1,000 live births. (The World Fact Book 1995)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As in most African countries, there are many Bantu tribes make up the ethnicity of the country. There are four major tribal groups. The Fang, Eshira, Bapounou, and the Bateke. (The World Fact Book)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The largest of these tribes is the Fang. They live mainly in the northern area of Gabon. Many years ago they were considered the fiercest warriors of the area. Now, they dominate many of the countries governmental positions. (World Book Encyclopedia page )   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the earlier tribes that is since gone was the Omyene. They lived along the coast. The Omyene are important because they were the first of the natives to meet the European traders and missionaries. They played an important role of keeping peace with the Europeans. (World Book Encyclopedia, 1992 page 2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Along with there being so many different ethnic backgrounds, there are many religions as well. The major religion is Christian,75 % of the population. About 1% of the population is Muslim. The remaining 24% are animists. These include all of the tribal practices. (The World Fact Book)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the reasons why Gabon has been so successful is that it has a stable government. It is a republic and has multiple political parties. The capitol, Libreville ( aprox.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

All Quiet on the Western Front :: essays research papers

In All Quiet on the Western Front, is a novel that shows all of the horrible things and situations that occurred in WWI. It also talks about â€Å"the lost generation† that in fact WWI produced. The main character Paul Baumer and his fellow friends, had spent times listening to their teacher Kantorek's speeches. He talked about how it was the boys' â€Å"duty or job† to go out and b patriotic and help fight in the war. All in All the decisions that they had made at this time, still had them pondering on the outcomes their lives would have.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nationalism at this time was seen as a tool used by those in power to control a nations. By this time, Paul and his friends are â€Å"seduced† into the army by the nationalists ideas. They have also realized that their enemy really isn't the others, its the men who had power in their OWN nation. This shows how Paul and the others have indeed themselves involved in the spread of their nationalism which regards to thinking of right and wrong. As the boys continue through the rough training given by Corporal Himmelstoss, they realize what they have gotten themselves into. In training, Himmelstoss's ideas and drills drag on to make the boys despise him. Even though Corporal Himmelstoss made the boys do horrible things as to stand out in the cold risking frostbite, and gruesome practices and training, they boys have realized what Corporal Himmelstoss has only done the things to make them stronger and without the training, there would be no way they would have ma de it through the brutal war. But, by the end of the novel, Himmelstoss tries to make amends to the boys, and yet they have realized what Himmelstoss has done for them is what still kept them alive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While at the front, Paul's relationships with his others vary. It was always an on going battle between him and Himmelstoss because of their differences of opinions. Albert Kropp was one of Paul's closest friends. They were both injured at a time where they were placed in a hospital where they both retrieved treatment. On the bad side, Kropp's leg had been amputated. They had shared a togetherness. Kat was another one of Paul's closest friends. They were always there for one and other and seemed to have distinctions about what was going on. During a battle Kat gets hurt and Paul tries to help him.

Monday, September 16, 2019

How Does Priestly Present Mr. Birling in an Inspector Calls

J. B. Priestly presents Arthur Birling as a self obsessed, work oriented â€Å"hard-headed business man† in Act1. The stage directions describe him as a â€Å"heavy-looking, rather portentous man† giving an impression that he looks rather threatening. He is very traditional and speaks formally, even around his family. He has worked hard to raise himself up the social ladder and is proud to think that he’s going to be knighted.Even at his daughter’s engagement party, Birling’s head is still wrapped around business and this is evidently shown when he says â€Å"Your father and I have been friendly rivals in business for some time now†¦. and now you’ve brought us together, and perhaps we may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing†¦. † He also states that the party is â€Å"one of the happiest nights of my life† but this could have a double meaning for not only is Sheila getting married, but it can be seen as a business opportunity.These quotes show that Birling is very work oriented and uses Sheila’s marriage for his own selfish reasons. As well as being selfish, Birling is rather overconfident in his opinions. His mistaken view of the â€Å"unsinkable Titanic† is an example of dramatic irony. This is ironic as the Titanic actually sank but only the audience is aware of this. Another example of the use of dramatic irony is when Birling says â€Å"The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war†¦..I say there isn’t a chance of war† This is also ironic as two years after this play was set, WWI began, followed by another. Priestly uses this device, in this sense to show how foolish and naive Birling is and therefore the audience will begin to question his other views. As he is talking to Eric, he says â€Å"You’ve got a lot to learn yet† suggesting that Birling thinks he knows more than others. We can tell that he lik es the sound of his own voice, when he says â€Å"Just let me finish, Eric.†It implies that he doesn’t want to hear anyone else’s opinions but wants other to hear his. His egotistical personality includes Birling’s ignorance of social responsibility. â€Å"Still, I can’t accept any responsibility. If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d had anything to do with, it would be very awkward, wouldn’t it? † This shows us how selfish and self centered Birling can be. â€Å"†¦. a man has to mind his own business† This quote tells us that Birling opposes to socialism and he shows this throughout the whole of Act I.

Chicory Root Extract Atopic Dermatitis Health And Social Care Essay

Atopic dermatitis is a genetically transmitted, chronic inflammatory tegument disease that is characterized by chronic redness of epidermis1. The disease normally presents during early childhood but may get down or prevail in big life 2. 10 % to 20 % of kids and 1 % to 3 % of grownups are affected by this status. Adult atopic dermatitis is normally a continuance of the childhood status although in 2 % of the entire instances may get down after 20 old ages of age 3. It is the earliest presentation of atopic characteristics in patients who suffer from allergic coryza and/or asthma in ulterior life 4. The atopic dermatitis may undergo remittal at pubescence and so gets exacerbated in big life particularly in response to environmental exposure to thorns 3. The characteristic characteristics of disease are pruritus, scrape, and chronic and/or get worsing eczematous lesions 5. Presently, there is no unequivocal remedy for this status and direction is aimed at relieving the symptoms of the status hence it presents a clinical challenge 6. The direction includes good tegument attention ( such as usage of moisturizers and creams ) , trigger turning away while pharmacological interventions such as usage of anti-inflammatory drugs ( topical corticoids and unwritten antihistamines ) besides contribute to the curative armamentarium 3. The new calcineurin inhibitors are among the new intervention options which limit the badness and frequence of flare-ups 6. Due to an increased hazard of infection, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral drugs are besides portion of the intervention regimen 6. Different intervention options available are shown in the figure 1: hypertext transfer protocol: //onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.1398-9995.2006.01153.x/asset/image_n/ALL_1153_f5.gif? v=1 & A ; t=ghv2sj68 & A ; s=0e428ba76d59dc1a7fd694a0dcbd25f4c38e76d4 Beginning: Akdis et Al, 2006 The furnace lining or terrible instances present a challenge in their direction and necessitate alternate therapies like the application of wet dressings in combination with topical corticoids, short-run intervention with systemic corticoids, phototherapy with ultraviolet visible radiation 8, immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive agents ( cyclosporins, pimecrolimus and tacrolimus ) 9, Imuran, interferon- IA? , 3. However, bulk of these therapies have been found to be associated with side-effects like nephritic toxicity, hepato-toxicity 3, skin combustion and thinning etc.9 This has resulted in involvement in the alternate traditional therapies. Cichorium is a medicinally of import works that belongs to the household Asteraceae 10. The tuberous root of this works is made up of a figure of medicinally of import compounds such as inulin, acrimonious sesquiterpene lactones, coumarins ( esculin ) , flavonoids and vitamins 10. Hence, the root infusion of the works has been used as an antihepatotoxic, antiulcerogenic, antiinflammatory, appetiser, digestive, gastric, liver tonic, cholagogue, cardiotonic, depurative, diuretic, emmenagogue, antipyretic, alexeteric and besides as tonic 11. Furthermore, it is besides helpful in headache, heapatomegaly, degenerative arthritis 12, anorexia, indigestion, flatulency, gripes, urarthritis, firing esthesis, icterus, splenomegaly, hyperdipsia, Hansen's disease, , amenorrhea, chronic and biliary febrilities, ophthalmitis, sore throat and emesis, arthralgia, lumbago, asthma and general infirmity 13. Chicory root has been shown to hold anti-inflammatory action by suppression of COX-2 activity 14. Furthermore, the chicory root infusion has been shown to possess antibacterial 10 and clamber protecting belongingss 15. The safety profile chicory root infusion is good 16 and is better tolerated 17. A combination of these belongingss makes it a suited agent to be tested against atopic dermatitis. Although its usage in the intervention of skin allergic conditions has been mentioned in the literature, no surveies could be identified proving the efficaciousness of chicory infusion against atopic dermatitis in grownups or kids. Despite the deficiency of identifiable research into the usage of chicory root infusion in pull offing grownup atopic dermatitis, the grounds available pertaining to its widespread usage and anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial usage suggests that chicory root infusion could be a good direction option by bettering the disease symptoms and associated conditions. In drumhead, a randomised control test on an equal sample size, focused entirely on the consequence of chicory root infusion on the symptoms of atopic dermatitis should be carried out utilizing blinded research workers.Research QuestionDoes the chicory root infusion better the symptoms in patients enduring from grownup atopic dermatitis?Proposed ProbeThe probe aims to find whether the root infusion of chicory works decreases the badness and symptoms of grownup atopic dermatitis. A randomized vehicle-control dual blind test will be performed on 100 patients enduring from atopic dermatitis at the Liverpool infirmary. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria Participants between 20 to 50 old ages of age enduring from or diagnosed with non-exudative atopic dermatitis utilizing the Hanifin and Rajka criteria 18 will be indiscriminately assigned to instance and control groups. Exclusion standards for participants enduring from exudative dermatitis, patients who received UVB phototherapy or photo-chemotherapy in the last 1 month, and patients who received systemic therapies such as steroid or other immunosuppressive drugs in the last 3 months were excluded. Study and vehicle Group Preparations The ethyl ethanoate chicory infusion will be dispensed in an ointment signifier with a standard base pick which contains a mixture of glyceryl mono/distearate and polythene ethanediol stearate, isoparaffin and cyclopentadimethylsiloxane 19. This base will function as vehicle and cream merely with no other actions. The control group will have the base pick merely along with ethyl ethanoate to minimise the consequence of any confounders. Intervention Following blessing from the local moralss commission, informed consent will be taken from all the patients while making the baseline hiting for atopic dermatitis. Subjects will so be indiscriminately allocated into either the intervention group or control group after baseline appraisal and marking. The survey group ( n=50 ) will have ethyl acetate chicory root infusion in ointment signifier whilst the vehicle group ( n=50 ) will have a placebo in ointment signifier with indistinguishable visual aspect and wadding. Treatment will dwell of using a thin bed of unction on the affected country twice daily for a period of eight back-to-back hebdomads. All other signifiers of interventions will be prohibited during the survey period. The marking will be done at 4 hebdomad intervals. Both the clinicians and the patients will be blind to the intervention that they are giving or having as the survey and vehicle unction will be dispensed in indistinguishable wadding. Result Four major parametric quantities of the disease, viz. , extent, strength, waterlessness, and itchiness, will be flatly recorded harmonizing to the eczema country and badness index ( EASI ) 20. The symptoms will besides be estimated by hiting patient reported symptoms utilizing a structured questionnaire with nonsubjective standards. A usage of hiting systems and nonsubjective standards will assist to standardise and compare the results in both groups. The result tonss of the two groups at baseline and at 4 hebdomads interval will be compared utilizing a two-tailed Studentaa‚Â ¬a„?s t-test with the significance degree set at 5 % . All the analysis will be done utilizing SPSS. Restriction Restrictions of the survey include the fact that the participants may endure from flair ups due to surcease of all other types of interventions. However, if at any point it is felt by the wellness attention squad that the intercession is arousing any unwanted effects and patient demands systematic therapy, the test will be terminated early or that patient will be dropped out. This may increase the bead out rates and compromise the cogency of the survey. Ethical Issues Participants will be informed that non-participation or backdown at any phase wonaa‚Â ¬a„?t compromise their medical attention. Informed consent will be taken from the patient and his doctor before get downing the intervention and will be discontinue at any clip if the patient or his physician want to make so.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Assess Different Sociological Explanations of SuicideAnomie Essay

Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess different sociological explanations of suicide. (21 marks) Suicide is the  intentional  taking  of  one’s  own  life and sociologists over the years have tried to put forward various explanations for why someone may do this. Within sociology there are many different views on suicide on the causes and explanations for it, these come from two main methodologies which are Positivists who believe that sociology is a science and they should aim to make causal laws on suicide rates, compared to Interpretivists who believe that they should look for meaning behind occurrences and certain individuals experiences before the suicide. Other perspectives also put in their views on what they believe to explain suicide for example, Realists. Item A references to Durkheim’s Structural Functionalist view on suicide, as stated Durkheim believes that due to sociology being a science with the topic of suicide it is very easy to make causal laws or as said in Item A ‘social facts’. Due to the fact Durkheim believed that there were a number of causes behind suicide he form four types of suicide from a Positivist viewpoint. Egoistic suicide which is when individuals are not integrated well enough into society for example people who live alone compared to those who live with family. Secondly Altruistic suicide which is when individuals are felt to be too integrated into society causing suicide, for example members of the armed forces were said to have greater suicide rates than civilian personnel as they were too strongly integrated into a united body. Durkheim also put forward the idea of Anomic suicide, this is when the norms and values in society become unclear or confused in times of great social change and an individual is not taught to adapt to changes well enough. For example an unexpected death of a family member is sudden social change which can cause Anomic suicide. Lastly, he suggested Fatalistic suicide. Fatalism is the thinking of the individual that they can do nothing to affect their situation and individuals find their future blocked and oppressed due to society over regulating them. For example slaves and prisoners may have this mindset when they take their own lives. Durkheim said that his work on suicide had several merits as it correctly revealed that suicide is a social rather than psychological occurrence and proved his methodology that you can establish laws and show that sociology is a science. However his theory on suicide has been met with some criticism. Douglas claimed that Durkheim’s work relied too heavily on the use of official statistics on suicide and he incorrectly assumed that these were representative of the real truth. Douglas notes that official statistics are socially produced and can be distorted in many ways, for example via concealment and varying definitions of suicide by coroners meaning that the validity of the statistics is doubted. So Douglas himself put forward an explanation for suicide. Douglas adopted a Symbolic Interactionist perspective, along with a interpretive methodology which is opposite to that of Durkheim. Some would argue that Douglas selected to look at suicide as an area of investigation as he thought it would illustrate the beliefs of Interactionists and highlight the short comings of the Structural Functionalists positivist approach. Douglas used psychiatrists reports and newspaper accounts to come up with his four patterns of social meaning for suicide and within his study he took a very subjective approach looking at meaning and motives. In Douglas’ view suicide could be due to four reasons, the first to gain release from the cares of the world to find happiness, to change the opinion of others in the suicides favour, to achieve a state of fellow feeling creating a climate of sympathy or to simply get revenge towards those who are causing pain towards them. Douglas believed that his work highlighted that suicide is a rational act rather than an automatic response to the environment as people are active not passive, and also to show that sociology is not a science and we should look into meanings over statistics. Obviously this was highly criticised by Structural Functionalists such as Durkheim who believed that Douglas’ work was too unscientific and that he incorrectly assumed that the nature of man is active rather than passive. Another sociologist who takes an Interpretivist methodology is Atkinson, believing that social meaning and context is more important in finding root causes. However unlike Douglas, Atkinson is a Ethnomethodologist which has a central belief of showing that each individual use their own members methods to work out what they see. This is why Atkinson decided to study suicide, also to show how official statistics are not enough. Atkinson focused on a Coroner’s report and underwent participant observation at an office to see what methods they used to decide whether a death was suicide or not. Atkinson stated that they used ‘common sense’ theories of suicide so if certain information were to fit the theories it would be called a suicide. They would look at clues to help decided, Atkinson named a few to which he believed was important within their decisions. Firstly was there a suicide note left, this clearly is a big clue to whether or not the individual meant to kill themselves. Secondly how did the individual die as certain ways such as hanging point towards suicide, also the location of the body, usually if it is hidden away out of sight then the person is indicating that they did not want to be found. Finally did the individual have any past mental illnesses or life history that could lead them towards suicide. Atkinson therefore stated that a suicide verdict reflects the assumptions and interpretation of the clues by the coroner rather than reality and facts. Atkinson’s study was said to have some merits as it did identify what clues coroners use to arrive at a suicide verdict, but also shows that positivists use of quantative data such as official statistics is not valid as they are produced by coroners who base the label of suicide on their own social assumptions. Hindess put forward a criticism for both Douglas and Atkinson, arguing that although Interpretive researchers have maintained that suicide statistics can be misleading they haven’t stated to what extent they distort people’s ideas, so therefore it may only be slight and still be possible to make accurate causal laws from a Positivist viewpoint. Taylor has put forward his view on suicide, taking a Realist approach which is very different from the explanations already stated. Taylor has tried to combine both Interpretivist and Positivist methodologies to come to a verdict on suicide. Taylor underwent a study on the London Underground and people who had died from falling underneath a train asserting that causal factors are important in considering suicide especially that of significant others such as family. In his investigation over half of the 32 who had died were said to have committed suicide although they were no actual evidence, coroners just based this on history of mental illness. Ignoring such factors of suicide and focusing on coroners is unrealistic, so looking at causal factors is from Taylor’s view a valid approach. But it is also important to gain a fuller understanding of suicide by finding a synthesis between the causes of the occurrence which is the Structural Functionalist side but also the exploration of the social meanings behind it, showing the Interactionist approach. Taylor therefore identified a category for suicide which is Sacrifice suicide, where it has occurred by the conduct of other people towards the suicide, for example family members have made the individuals life so unbearable this is the only way out. An advantage of Taylor’s approach to suicide is that it attempts to show how both positivist and interpretive methods are useful in trying to understand suicide, however certain sociologist have criticised it for being too one sided. It has been stated that Taylor focused more on the Interactionist failing to achieve ‘Structuralism’. Another criticism from Durkheim is that Taylor’s cause of suicide that he put forward seems unimportant compared to the large scale of the structural causes central concern such as sudden social change which is a more widespread reason. To conclude many sociologists have differing views to try to explain suicide and why they think individuals do take their own lifes, however these are just theories because no one will ever know the real root cause of why someone has ended their lives unless they leave a note explaining why and in many causes this does not happen.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Claudius Speech †Hamlet Essay

Claudius, the former ruler, husband of his sister and brother of the recently perished king gives a speech at the beginning of Act I. II of Hamlet. Shakespeare’s use of literary devices allows the reader to comprehend the intentions behind Claudius’s figurative language within his coronation speech. The opening scene in Hamlet portrays Denmark to currently be critically unstable and with militaristic chaos; however, in Claudius’s speech he disposes that idea and conveys confidence in the stability of the nation. This chronological set up introduces the theme of appearance vs.  reality as Claudius efforts to manipulate the kingdom into trusting that he has everything under control is carried mischievously yet successfully throughout his speech. Aware of the presence of the rightful king, young Hamlet, Claudius commences his speech with an ambiguous line that strikes the attention of Hamlet. Once he is aware of young Hamlet’s attention, he continues to approach the courthouse. He seemingly shows a state of grief as he acknowledges his dead brother. â€Å" My dear brother’s death† the use of alliteration makes us aware that Claudius has used that line several times before in order to show a sign of loss. He wants to appear that has suffered too from this death, he mentions that â€Å" the memory be green† this metaphor is placed to represent the idea that the memory is fresh and it has not been long since he perished, while also leaving a gruesome image of the old kings decomposing body. His first use of anti-thesis is then exposed in line 6, when he mentions â€Å" the wisest sorrows† in that line he is understanding those in grief but reminding them to think of themselves and the future of Denmark instead. After respectfully mentioning the death of Hamlet, and expressing his condolence to the kingdom he deceitfully moves on to the second important announcement: his wedding. Uneasy, Claudius is trying to go about his speech like a metaphorical obstacle course hoping there is no interference or opposition, while still being able to appear as confident. Efficaciously, he presents his marriage â€Å" Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, Th’ imperial jointress to this warlike state. † Using the state of war as his alaby to the marriage of his brother’s wife he is able to convince the courthouse that it is for the greater good and that his actions are a form of self-sacrifice for the nation. Continuing to justify his marriage as a cause and affect matrimony instead of acts of incest he mentions the â€Å" mirth in funeral † and â€Å"dirge in marriage†. This literary device is important within his speech because it is his second antithesis, and a paradoxical clause. In this he is suggesting that he brought happiness to this sad event for the benefit of his people. â€Å"In equal scale, weighing delight and dole† Claudius is trying to banish the aura of unsteadiness and declares balance. He makes up for the sorrow of his dead brother, by marrying his sister. Even though it is an obvious unusual event, Claudius reflects enough confidence as king and successfully manages avoid any opposition. A good strategy used was his the frequent use of â€Å" we†. This indicated that the king was not only speaking for himself, but he was speaking for everyone like a good statesman would. In reality however, he was doing so to make everyone aware that it was of â€Å" better wisdoms† to agree with him, and that those with worst wisdoms would not face good consequences. Claudius gently expresses his supreme control over Denmark and threatens anyone who dares oppose him in a non-aggressive way. He later finalizes the topic of marriage by dismissing the awkward topic of the table like a typical political â€Å" For all, our thanks† As king, Claudius then addresses the issues with Norway. Assertively, he informs the kingdom of his plan of action. He repeats the line â€Å" dear brother’s death† giving it little sentimental value. He then quickly states that Norway believes that Denmark is â€Å" disjoint and out of frame. † He assures the courthouse that the case is not so, and that they will successfully deal with Fortibras. The irony behind that is that Denmark is weak, regardless of what Claudius wants his people to believe. In order to seem like a man of action Claudius puts his future plan forward â€Å" Thus much the business is we have here writ to Norway, uncle of young Fortibras. † By doing that he convinces many that he is a potent king. Writing to Norway makes him seem like he is aware of what he is doing and that the nation does not need to worry. To complement his assurance he appoints two messengers to deliver a letter, this is significantly important because his objective is to prove to the court that he trusts his officials, ironically thought, he is purposely sending two people incase of a betrayal. Claudius’s speech had a successful outcome. He was able to gently hide his inner insecurities and expose himself as a good statesman and valiant leader. His word usage was essential to the deliverance of his speech as it allowed him to get his awkward points across like unusual marriage to his sister. His use of antithesis did make the reader question the sincerity of his grief, but it did not seem to affect the opinion of the courthouse. He showed clear superiority over everyone within the courthouse, especially Hamlet, while making himself clear that he would not tolerate any disagreement of his coronation. Most importantly, he put an action plan forward and proved himself as king.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Automatic Control and Systems Engineering Literature review

Automatic Control and Systems Engineering - Literature review Example A block is a negligible component of Event-Condition-Action system that can state the behaviors represent in a process model. An algorithm is urbanized to detect blocks beginning a process meaning network and transform it into a hierarchical hierarchy model. The behaviors in every block type are modeled by means of ACTA formalism. This provides a hypothetical foundation from which ECA rules are recognized. The future ECA rule-based move toward shows that it is likely to execute the workflow by means of the active ability of database without users’ interference. The operation of the future methods is illustrated from side to side an instant process. FOR the previous several years, companies have been experiencing a lot of changes in their commerce surroundings. One is an interior change caused by the rising force for the need to satisfy a variety of customer wants. In order to meet the varied purchaser needs, corporations may have to branch out their commerce processes. Another alter faced by companies nowadays is an outside one resulting from the put in to in strategic coalition and e-Business. This modify compels a corporation to become caught up in the commerce processes of other company [2]. Not only have such interior and external changes caused by a lot of new commerce processes to be shaped, but they have also greater than before the difficulty of the processes. According to the expert analysis, the changes in commerce environments have shaped the necessity of knowledge and tools to make sure efficient and effectual process management. As a consequence, there have been many attempts to improve information systems towards as long as higher functions of process management further than simple treatment of self-governing tasks. A WorkFlow Management System (WFMS), a software tool to describe, administer, and pass multifaceted business processes there a new solution to the requirement of process management knowledge and utensils (G. Alonso, C. Hagen, D. Agrawal, A.E. Abbadi, and C. Mohan, 2000). Consider the commerce process obtainable in Fig. 1. This instance shows a process of credit card request, which is collected of variant behavior, such as â€Å"request form satisfying† and â€Å"form scanning.† A WFMS more often than not uses such a graphical symbol to explain the commerce reason. The model represents the priority relations among behavior and some structural relations, such as behavior proceeding in serial arrange or parallel. The symbol also includes thorough specifications of action, such as task performers, connected documents, and essential applications.

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Ways of Preventing Juvenile Crimes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ways of Preventing Juvenile Crimes - Essay Example Some of these programs have led to considerable decrease in crime rates while others have had no effect. This paper will deal with two juvenile crime prevention programs. Juvenile crimes Programs The Gang Reduction Program One of the programs that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) enacted to aid in the prevention of juvenile crime is the Gang Reduction Program (Benekos & Merlo, 2006). The aim of this program is to deal with the gang activities that take place in a given region. This program entails different interventions on addressing individual, family, and society issues that lead to crime and gang activities. The program involves centralized, national, and local resources to aid in the deterrence, intervention, and containment of juvenile crimes (Greenwood, 2006). The objective of the Gang Reduction Program is to address the issues of juvenile criminals, the family, school, peers and the community. The reason for this is because these are the avenu es that either offer support to the occurrence or prevention of criminal activities (Greenwood, 2006). For instance peer groups have a very high influence on the character of an individual. In terms of family, one might come from a family where all the family members are criminals hence this makes it harder for him or her to quit the vice. The social status of the family might also be a contributing factor. As a result of poverty, the juveniles may opt to involve themselves in criminal activities in order to meet their daily needs (Siegel & Welsh, 2011). The role of the community in promotion of juvenile crimes is in the cases in which there is poor organization to an extent that the youths can easily access the drugs and firearms. In order to deal with the juvenile criminal issues, the Gang Reduction Program has set up prevention, intervention and control activities. Prevention actions mainly deal with the families, and the juveniles who are at risk of getting involved (Greenwood, 2006). For instance, in case of the youth who are ideal, the preventive measure is to ensure that they are involved in activities that will keep them busy, like attending school. Intervention activities entail management actions like outreach to sustain the youths who are involved in criminal activities with an aim of offering a better option to gang connections (Siegel & Welsh, 2011). The aim of these activities is to enable the youth change their conduct. Control activities entail police patrols, informing the society, offering support to the law execution intelligence distribution, setting up multi- organizational law enforcement and trying gang influencers, employing more instructors in affected schools to ensure all the youths are monitored while at school, and increasing regional watch teams that are associated with the Program. Thus by doing so, there will be prevention in juvenile crimes (Benekos & Merlo, 2006). The Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Program (JABGP) Another program which the OJJDP set up is the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Program (JABGP). This Program provides financial support to the state administration for programs supporting the accountability of youth offenders in juvenile justice systems (Benekos & Merlo, 2006). The funds are mainly allocated in supporting the rationale of the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Program. The areas that receive support from the JABGP are; juvenile drug and gun track; facilitating school protection, provision of education on regulated approval for criminals; education curriculum for prevention and control of offenses; execution of early recognition, management, and establishment and maintenance of

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

LEGAL ASPECTS OF NURSING Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

LEGAL ASPECTS OF NURSING - Case Study Example 2. The nurses are negligent for delaying their medication documentation for such a long period of time as the next day. The fact that a medication is not documented endangers the patient of receiving too little or too much of the medications on subsequent shifts when other nurse have no way of knowing that there are missing entries in the records. 3. When the root of the problem or cause of the situation is evaluated the ethical principles which must be considered are patient safety first and foremost. Standards of practice should also be evaluated and the facility policy on medication should be evaluated to ensure that it is clear in all areas of medication administration. 4. If the case was heard in court the charges would likely be malpractice and negligence. Negligence and or malpractice can be defined as ‘the doing of something a reasonably prudent person would not do,’ it must be shown that the standard of care what deviated and that there were damages or injuries because of the negligence or malpractice (Understanding Negligence, 2012). The possibility of something dangerous or injurious to a patient due to medication errors such as those described is very strong and often nurses are taken to court for the same errors which end up causing injury to a plaintiff. Because there were no injuries reported or complaints from patients described it is less likely that the case would require court charges against the nurse. 1. The primary defendant in this case would be the original nurse suspected; however after the testimony and other nurse’s acknowledging their own wrongdoing and medication errors they should be suspended and held liable as well. The plaintiff could be the facility if they chose to bring charges against the nurse which is unlikely as this was cause negativity towards the facility. Most likely if charges were brought against the nurse they would stem from a patient incident. 2. The court would probably rule in

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Nucleic acid hybridisation and Nucleic acid probes Essay

Nucleic acid hybridisation and Nucleic acid probes - Essay Example For instance, if a DNA strand with a desired nucleotide sequence is to be detected from a mixture of many other strands, an oligonucleotide containing a few complementary bases to the desired sequence can be prepared and attached to an anchor such as a membrane or a paper. When soaked in a solution having a mixture of many strands, the one, which is complementary to the oligonucleotide, will bind to it through complementary base pairing, also known as â€Å"zippering† (Lodish et al, 2004, p. 11). When double stranded DNA is heated in a dilute salt solution, its two strands separate because of the breakdown of complementary base pairing (melting). This strand separation is called denaturation. The temperature at which the two complementary strands separate is called the melting temperature ‘Tm’, and is affected by the percentage of G.C base pairs, ion concentration of the solution, presence of destabilising compounds like urea, and the pH of the solution (Lodish et al, 2004, p. 105). A particular fragment of DNA or RNA whose nucleotide sequence is complementary to a gene or nucleotide of interest is called a nucleic acid probe. A nucleic acid probe has to be designed in such a way that it hybridises through complementary base pairing to the target DNA or RNA that has to be detected. It should be long enough (about 20 nucleotide long) to pair exclusively to the target nucleotide sequence. Probes are labeled with radioactive tracers, histochemical compounds or fluorescent dyes to enable their detection from a heterogeneous mixture of nucleic acids (Nussbaum et al, 2004, p.41). For instance, 32P labeled probes are developed using polynucleotide kinase that transfers a

Monday, September 9, 2019

MOTIVATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

MOTIVATION - Essay Example Batul Nafisa Baxamusa has written an article on equity theory even she has described various aspects of the theory. According to her, motivation factors usually differ from person to person. She states that few persons are motivated through the fame they earn whereas for most of the persons money is the motivating factor. While analyzing the Adam’s equity theory, she has brought into light an interesting fact that most of the employees tend to compare themselves with their coworker to judge the remuneration and reward provided to him and here lies the importance of the equity theory (Baxamusa, 2010). Yoon (2001) had highlighted the importance of the empowerment of the worker in the workplace. According to him, instead of being pleased with their jobs, few employees feel burnt out and powerless due to the increased workload and lack of job security. He proposed empowerment as the critical intrusion program to boost motivation (Yoon, 2001). Incentive is a part of motivation and Stolovitch (2004) has mentioned his two major findings regarding incentives at workplace. These two myth-breaking findings are â€Å"Incentives destroy personal, intrinsic interest in work† and â€Å"Incentives only results in paying more for the result you would have had anyway†. It has definitely a major impact on determination of the motivational factor in the workplace (Stolovitch, 2004). According to Amabile (2002), the prevailing psychological view of Motivation is that extrinsic motivation destabilizes the intrinsic motivation. He has proposed two mechanisms for the synergic combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and those are ‘motivation-work cycle match’ and ‘extrinsic in service of intrinsic’ (Amabile, 2002). Hackman and Oldham (2004), have suggested a model consisting with the specifications under which an individual can internally be motivated and can perform the work effectively. It focuses on three categorical variables and

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Working with and leading people Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Working with and leading people - Essay Example The individual abilities of the members are also reinforced as a result of working as a group. This is because the workers share their experiences and help each other out in times of difficulties. The members working in the team are also able to learn and apply their new skills in the course of executing their tasks. Working as a team enables the establishment of participation and the involvement of all team members in Tesco’s activities. This ensures that their assigned activities are performed efficiently and quickly. The decisions that are made as a result of a team working together as a group are better than the decisions an individual makes. The team members incorporate their collective experiences and skills before making a decision (Mathis and Jackson, 2010). The use of brainstorming enables the generation of ideas from different members of the group and helps in bringing in new ideas to the group. Working as a team also enables the members to feel confident of the results they present to the organization,. This is because the ideas generated by the members undergo the necessary criticisms and cross examinations before the decisions are reached. The active participation of the team members enables the generation of many diverse concepts within the organization. They eventually assi st the organization in achieving their set objectives. The concepts and ideas that the team members suggest are considered as alternatives when similar problems occur (Drucker and Ferdinar, 2006). Decision making in a team is slow though most of the times the most appropriate decisions are reached. The harmonious working of the members of a team leads to an increase in their satisfaction. The speed of accomplishing events in the organization is also increased because of the collaboration between the team members. A worker requires to have a problem solving ability as this enables him to handle complex situations. These assists the workers in meeting their

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Democracy - Essay Example With that being said, what makes democracy American to start with? First, democracy is â€Å"a political system or form of government† of the people living in a specified territorial ground which it also protects. Undoubtedly, â€Å"it runs with promulgated rules and laws† that are embedded in a constitution which people have to abide with. Second, sovereignty rests on the people therefore they are given the â€Å"right of suffrage or the right to vote†. (â€Å"What is democracy?†, 2004) This also means that major decisions and issues must be thrown to the electorate to decide. Within this context, the â€Å"majority rule† is followed. Thirdly, democracy is always directed to work for the â€Å"common good of the society† covering the fields of education, food, shelter, environment protection, safety and order. Fourthly, democracy always considers the respect for the dignity of man and his personal freedoms such as freedom of religion, freedo m of expression, among others. Learning from the above, what else does not work with democracy? According to the International IDEA : â€Å"The relationship between democracy and development is the key challenge.

Key Sectors of Economic Growth in Kenya Essay Example for Free

Key Sectors of Economic Growth in Kenya Essay Economic growth is the increase in the amount of the goods and services produced by an economy over time. It is conventionally measured as the percent rate of increase in real gross domestic product i.e. real GDP. In Kenya the key main sectors to achieve economic growth are agriculture which is the mainstay economic growth drivers, energy sector, manufacturing and industry, service sector which is mainly tourism, financial services and banking and also the private sector. All of these sectors are in line with the Kenya Vision 2030, the economic pillar. The key sectors are as discussed below: 1. AGRICULTURE: Agriculture has been the key factor of economic growth of Kenyan economy. It continues to be the key factor that will drive the economic growth of Kenya as it contributes to about 24% of Growth Domestic Product. And for this reason the government should increase budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector up from the Kshs 53.5 billion allocated in National Budget 2012/201 so as to be in line with the Maputo Declaration which requires the budget allocation to agriculture to be atleast 10% of total Government budgets and The government should also subsidize the farm inputs such as fertilizers for the farmers, this will maximize production. Livestock farming also has to be considered. If the government increases funding to the agricultural sector, such occurrences as food shortages, seasonal inflation and unemployment would be curbed if not avoided. Agricultural sector which includes; †¢Livestock sector and dairy farming: The livestock sector provides employment opportunities while also increases income. Kenya exports from hides and skins for leather industry earned Kshs 4 billion. Also reforms need to be made on the Kenya Meat Commission. †¢Fisheries: Kenya earns around Kshs 4 billion from this sector. The sector also employs about 60000 people and also over half a million people depend on this sector for livelihood through trading and fish processing thus thee number of fish processing plants should be increased. 2. TOURISM SECTOR: The service sector of Kenya contributes 63% of Growth Domestic Product and it’s mainly tourism industry which is the country’s principal source of foreign exchange thus the government. The tourism industry along with the government has to take steps to address the security problem and to reverse negative publicity especially after the post-Election Violence of 2007 following disputed General Elections. Such steps among others should include establishing a tourist police and launching marketing campaigns in key tourist origin markets. Former minister of Tourism Najib Balala ran such campaigns in CNN. 3. ENERGY SECTOR: The energy sector an important sector to drive the smooth growth of the economy hence there is need for the Government to put up measures that would help the sector to grow thereby, contributing to the growth of the economy as the sector is depended on by manufacturing and industrial sector and also the agricultural sector. There exists limited power generation and transmission capacity in the country. This is caused by lack of adequate investment in power systems and infrastructure development. This combined with rapid economic growth, new customer connections and unreliable rainfall patterns have caused the current electricity shortage in Kenya. Though Kenya is not natural resource endowed, the natural resources the country can boast of for energy generation are small hydro, geothermal, coal, biogas, tidal waves, solar, wind and recently the oil exploration in Turkana. The government needs to invest heavily in the energy sector so that there is no over reliance on Hydro power. The government should implement a policy to attract private sector investments in the energy sector i.e. the Kenya Private Sector Power Generation Support Project. In doing so it will boost economic growth and in job creation. 4. INDUSTRY AND MANUFACTURING SECTOR: Kenya boast of being the industrialized country in East Africa, the manufacturing sector contributes to about 15% of Growth domestic Product, this percentage doesn’t as the manufacturing sector is hampered by high energy costs, shortages of hydro telemetric power, poor infrastructure and counterfeits products i.e. cheap imports. Industrial and manufacturing sector has become increasingly significant to Kenya economy due to increased urbanization. Most industrial plants are located in urbanized towns which has led to the reason Kenya has three cities i.e. Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu; they include food-processing industries such as grain milling, beer production, and sugarcane crushing. These plants contribute significantly to national income as well as generate employment. Also the oil refinery which processes imported crude petroleum into petroleum products, mainly for the domestic market. In addition, a substantial and expanding informal sector engages in small-scale manufacturing of household goods, motor-vehicle parts, and farm implements. 5. FINANCIAL SECTOR AND BANKING: Kenya is East and Central Africas hub for financial services. Most of the banking institution and other financial services firms are located in the urban centres as it is considered that urban people have higher income which is not the case, thus innovation and opening of banking sectors should be put in place in rural areas. Such innovations includes mobile banking which where now rural populations have daily access to financial services as most people now own mobile handsets. MPESA is the widely used mobile banking, it is estimated that MPESA has given access financial services to about 75% of the people. Government thus needs to encourage other mobile money transfers such as Tangaza, Yu cash, and Airtel money. In doing so it will create a competitive environment and thus many people will get access to the financial services. The Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) ranks fourth in Africa in terms of Market capitalization. Stock markets provide market liquidity that enables implementation of long term projects with long term payoffs thereby promoting a country’s economic growth. Moreover, efficient capital markets not only avail resources to investors, they also facilitate inflow of foreign financial resources into the domestic economy. Government needs to institute reforms in the financial sector as capital market development is an important component of financial sector development and supplements the role of the banking system in economic development. Capital markets assists in price discovery, liquidity provision, reduction in transactions costs, and risk transfer.

Friday, September 6, 2019

Character Analysis of Thomas Gradrind in the Hard Times Essay Example for Free

Character Analysis of Thomas Gradrind in the Hard Times Essay Thomas Gradrind is the first character presented in the book Hard Times by Charles Dickens. He is one of the central figures through whom the author weaves a web of intricately connected characters and plotlines. The main central features of his character are his monotone attitude and appearance that is mechanized. Mr. Gradrind’s opening speech to a group of young students during the opening scene embodies his dryness and the hard fact that he impounds in his student’s heads.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gradrind is best described physically as an obstinate carriage, square coat, square legs, square shoulders by the narrator, which is suggestive of Gradrind’s unrelenting rigidity (Dickens, 2001, p.47). During the first few chapters, Gradrind expounds his philosophy of calculating his rational self interest. He believes that human nature can be governed by complete rational rules. He is also ready to weigh and measure any parcel of human nature and be able to tell what it comes to. He lives by a joyless, pure memorization approach to education and life.   In the novel, his dull approach regarding education is shown: Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the    principle on which I bring up these children.   Stick to Facts, sir! (Dickens, 2001 p.47) By this philosophy, he was able to triumph financially and socially. Even his way of living as a hardware merchant is an implication of his fixation on hard material reality. He also became a member of the Parliament and this position allowed him to indulge his interest tabulating data about people from England. Though he is not a factory owner, he evinces the spirit of Industrial Revolution as he treats people like a machine that can be reduced to a number of principles of science.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although it seems that the narrator’s description of Gradrind seems depressing, the latter also undergoes significant change in the novel which later catches the narrator’s sympathy. This is when Louisa confessed to Gadrind that something really important is missing in her life and that she is unhappy about marrying Bounderby. This makes Gradrind realize that the education system that he has is not perfect. This is also proven when he learned that Tom, his son, robbed the bank of Bounderby. After Gradrind realizes his failures, he admits to himself that he is really sorry for relying too much on facts. The dilemmas of his children made him feel and learn love, compassion and sorrow. He later becomes a humble man and making his facts and figures in greater connection with the virtues of faith, hope and charity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Throughout the book, Thomas Gradrind was a man who clings to facts and statistical objects as the only truth. He believes that these are the important things that should be dealt with in order to achieve a healthy productive life. This makes him somewhat closed-minded since he solely sticks to his own vision of truth about life. He can be quoted as a perfectionist who strives to make his children perfect and raised them with perfection. Ironically, his children cannot absorb all that he was feeding.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thomas Gradrind lives in a reality where he always depends on meanings and calculations. This trait of his was shown in his dialogues such as this: Herein lay the spring of the mechanical art and mystery of educating the reason without stooping to the cultivation of the sentiments and affections. Never wonder.   By means of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, settle everything somehow and never wonder† (Dickens, 2001 p.89) This implies that he has a scientific and mathematical approach to life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After being a prominent citizen of Coketown he later becomes one of the Parliament members. This gives him a chance to implement a one-sided practical philosophy on local schools. He is often viewed as rationalist, self-centered and cold. In raising and teaching children like Louisa, Tom, Jane, Adam, and Malthus, he sees to it that they are equally practical. They are also always forbidden to nurture emotions and fill their minds with imaginations. He also views love and forbearance as a means of regulating facts and figures. Not until Louisa runs to him in full distress of the impending misfortune when she marries Bounderby that he realizes the limitations of his philosophical notions about hard facts. Despite his stubbornness and fixation on logic, Gradrind is a great father to his children. He raised his kids well because he always wanted the best for them. He does things which he thinks will benefit their individuality. Thus, after hearing Louisa’s troubles, he makes it a point to change himself and support her in her agony. For his children, he learned to repent for his wrongdoing and became ready to change his ways that caused his children’s unhappiness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The main conviction of Gradrind in the story is his utilitarian point of view regarding facts and figures. Being a man of facts and figures, utilitarianism is manifested in his view of every individual. Rather than see people as a unique person, he develops a general view of people, which focuses on their productivity and usefulness in the society as a whole. He feels that everything in life can be measured through universal calculation and tabulations. Everything can be computed, from interior designing to marriage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Further analysis of Gradrind’s character suggests that he also mirrors the way people think during the era of industrialization. Charles Dickens wanted to explain to his readers the ideals and disadvantages of industrialization. Thomas Gradrind is an embodiment of how an individual embraces the beliefs and practices of industrialization. The way factory owners think during the time of industrialization is shown in the character of Gradrind. They are only after the monetary gain rather than the individual worth of the workers.   Dickens created an enduring tale that reflects the issues of an era filled with historical transformation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The philosophy of utilitarianism and its connection to industrialization is given enough meaning through Thomas Gradrinds character. After practicing the fact philosophy, his daughter Louisa made him realize that something is more important than the lessons of facts and figures. Before the novel ends, she ends up confessing to her father that â€Å"there seems to be nothing here but languid and monotonous smoke† (Dickens, 2001, p.78). She complains how mechanized the way her father raised her that brought her such misery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is in the near end of the novel that Gradrind realizes and sees his errors. He feels sorry for the way his children suffered his ideological principle. For the first time he did not dwell on facts and figures and humbly felt sorry for what he did, Dickens used Gradrind to tell readers how to understand that there is more to life than facts and figures. He wanted to use Gradrinds character to show that everyone can change even the industrialized society during that time. Thomas Gradrind can be viewed by readers as character of change. He changed his philosophical ideals in place of something more important—his family’s happiness. Each individual has his or her own set of principles. Although it is worth sharing with others, it should not be shared to the extent of imposing it to others to follow. It should also not be used to manipulate other people. Gradrind can be an eye opener for many people who live under the influence of abusive power and authority. Louisas case made a turning point on her fathers life and paved the way for a better life for his children. Work Cited Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. Norton Critical Edition 3rd Ed. 2001.