Hank Williams

Hiram King Williams, also known as Hank Williams, was born on September 17, 1923 in Mount Olive, Alabama. His dad was Lon Williams, a locomotive engineer. His mom was Lillie Williams, a church organist. Hank spent most of his childhood in Georgiana and Greenville, Alabama. Hank Williams was a key person in the development of modern country music. He caused a shift in country music from a regional, rural phenomenon to a nationwide, urban acceptance in the late 1940’s. He turned â€Å"hillbilly† music into country music. He became interested in music at a very early age. He learned to play the organ from his mother. He could also play the harmonica. His mother gave him his first guitar when he was eight. His father walked out on the family when Hank was a young child. It became the responsibility of his mother to raise Hank and his siblings. She was a very strong willed woman. He attended Sidney Hanier High School in Montgomery. He quit school when he was 16 years old. He was raised as a fundamentalist Baptist. The music and sermons from his childhood had influenced him. â€Å"My earliest memory† Rolling Stone writer Ralph J. Gleason (as quoted by William’s biographer Colin Escott) â€Å"is sittin’ on that organ stool by her and hollerin’. I must have been five, six years old and louder’n anybody else. † In 1937, Hank’s mother opened a boarding house in Montgomery. Hank helped the family income by shining shoes, selling newspapers, and peanuts on the street. This is where he met Rufus Payne, a black man, known as Tee-Tot. He taught Hank to play the guitar. He would follow him around on the street begging him to teach him to play. He would pay him 15 cents or whatever he had for a lesson. Payne also helped him overcome his shyness. He is the one that the blues influence came from. He made his very first radio performance at the age of thirteen. He formed his first band when he was fourteen years old. I was called Hank Williams and his Drifting Cowboys. He began wearing cowboy hats and western clothes. He sang without amplification and above the sounds of the band. He developed a full throated style of singing. It was similar to Roy Acuff from the Grand Ole Opry. Hank was turned down for the military service because of his back problems. Near the end of the war he began pursuing his musical career again. He started performing at dances nd local events. He also started playing at â€Å"honky tonks†. These were rough and rowdy beer joints that the city’s new comers went to. Williams began abusing alcohol. This problem haunted him the rest of his life. It was partly because of him trying to self medicate the terrible back pain that was caused by a congenital spine disorder. When Hank was 20 years old he met Audrey Mae Sheppard. She was a single mother and separated from her husband. She and Hank married after her divorce was final. They were married by a justice of the peace at a gas station near Andalusic, Alabama in December 1944. They had a child Hank Williams, Jr. in 1949. Hank and Audrey visited Nashville to meet Fred Rose, the head of Acuff-Rose Publishing. The meeting resulted in the recording of â€Å"Never Again† and â€Å"Honky Tonkin’†. This led to signing a contract with MJM. Rose became his manager and record producer. â€Å"Lovesick Blues† became Hank’s trademark tune. It began with a yodel. It spent a year on the charts, including sixteen weeks at the top. He suddenly found himself on a roll. He quickly recorded two more songs, including â€Å"Mind Your Own Business†. They say this song was aimed at his wife. Audrey began to push for more of her own spot in the stardom as he became more famous. They had recorded several sets and she had played with the band some. It was said that her voice was shrill and tuneless. They also said that she didn’t have a very good sense of time. In 1950, he had more successful songs. He also released a series of religious songs with his wife. He used his connections to get a recording contract for her with DECCA. They were not as successful. H recorded his religious narrations talking blues under the name â€Å"Luke the Drifter†. Luke the Drifter walked with Hank Williams and talked through him. These recordings were the closest Hank Williams came to bearing his soul. Hank’s musical career was very successful, but his personal life was falling apart. This was mostly caused by his alcohol abuse that was intensified by his rocky relationship with his wife. This found its way into the words of his songs about heartache, heartbreak, and the break- up of relationships. Hank and Audrey divorced in 1952. As he began to earn more money and spend longer periods of time away from home he began to drink more frequently. While on a hunting trip in Tennessee, he tripped and fell re-hurting his back. He began taking morphine and other painkillers to help control the pain. He quickly became addicted. Following a short tour in Texas, Hank, returned to Montgomery in December to rest before going to Canton, Ohio on January 1, 1953. He was scheduled to play in Canton. Charles, a friend and his driver, was stopped for speeding on their way to Canton. The police officer saw Hank in the car and thought he looked like a dead man. He was then taken to a West Virginia hospital and was declared dead at 7:00 a. . He had died in the back seat of a Cadillac on his way to the concert. He was buried three days later in Montgomery. There was a record crowd attending. His last single released before he died was â€Å"I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive†. It reached number one immediately after his death. In 1953, they continued to release his records that hit number one including â€Å"Your Cheatin’ Heart† Hank Williams was a recording artist for only 6 years and recorded 66 songs under his name (more under Luke the Drifter and with Audrey). Out of the 66 songs 37 of these were hits. Bibliography http://www.allmusic.com/artist/hank-williams-p138231/biography http://britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/644353/Hank-Williams?sections=644353

Can built form influence social problems?

The concept of social problems is linked to a wide spectrum of contrasting definitions. Jerome G Monis defines it as â€Å"these social conditions identified by scientific enquiry and values as detrimental to human well-being†. On the other hand Malcom Spector and Jon I Kitsuse defined them as â€Å"the activities of individuals or groups making assertion of grievance and claims with respect to some putative conditions†. (http://syg2010-01.fa04.fsu.edu/Week_1.htm) Taking into consideration the different approaches to this debate the point that the main reason for people's behaviour is physical form can be argued. Urban form can be seen as one of the reason for social behaviour but to deny the influence of social, economical and political factors is to simplify the complexity of society and the different relationships within it. In any case both arguments will always be episodes in the long saga of traditional controversy. Social problems have been divided into 3 groups by Kenneth C Land (www.soc.duke.edu): Deviant behaviour, including drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, crime and violence. Social inequality and conflict including aging, the ederly, racial and ethnics relations, the sexes and gender inequality, poverty and economic inequality and homelessness. Finally, human groups and social change which include the changes in the economy and workplace. The social problems that can be correlated directly to urban form are seen as the one under the social inequality category and antisocial behaviour. The line of thought that establishes that the built form influences directly to social problems has been named architectural determinism and assume that the layout and form of physical environment would shape, even determine the quality of social life. During the period following the Second World War the architects of the Bauhaus and architects such as Le Corbusier thought that they were in a position to alter society for the better through the medium of physical design. By design we understand the design of a whole town as well as the design of relatively small scale units. Maurice Broady described this as â€Å"the architects who builds a house or design a site plan who decides where the roads will and will not go and who decides which directions the houses will face and how close together they will be, also is, to a large extent, deciding the pattern of social life among the people who will live in these houses. It asserts that architectural design has a direct and determinate effect on the way people behave† ( Maurice Broady 1968 cited in Taylor, N, 1998). The case of the Business Academy located on Bexley and designed by Norman Foster can be an example of how a radical project has changed students behaviour towards education. Very different to the 1960's building where students use to attend lessons, the Academy is an open-plan where lessons are carried out in alcoves and where no division of spaces have been created. The Business Academy has been seen as a success where â€Å"the proportion of children at school achieving five good grades at GCSE has leapt from just 6% to 36%† (www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/b/building/shortlist.htm). The results of this achievement could change the life style of the generation of students attending lessons in the building. The improvement of the education can bring a change for better work opportunities for the students and at the same time will have an impact on the perception of one of London's most deprived areas. A building can also change the perception of the character of a city. Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum transformed Bilbao from an industrial Spanish Basque region to an international tourist destination. But is this, just the building form, which has made the difference? To resume the success of some enterprises or the failure of others in physical terms is to simplify the complexity of society. We can attribute the achievement of the Norman Fosters' project to the conjunction of a different kind of built environment, when compared with more traditional educative centres, and the introduction of new and innovative educational techniques. On the other hand the fact that such an important architect has designed a revolutionary building to be used as a school can have changed people's perception about education. It has built a sense of identity among the pupils and indirectly has lead them to improve their performance. On the other hand Guggenheim Museum has demonstrated the importance of power and identity. It has been part of the political strategy from an elite in order to change the image of one of the most problematic niches of nationalism in Spain, that is Bilbao. It does not only offer an optimistic view of the city but it also can be seen as the attempt of internationalisation of the Spanish culture after the cultural archaism of Francoism. It involves a tourist campaign which had the objective of promoting the city and radical regeneration projects which have improved the services and have transformed the vision of the city. Consequently, built form is only a minor reason for the development of social problems. Social problems find causes in social conditions. Giddens argues that â€Å"everyday lives are, of course, influenced, reproduced and changed by structures of social, economical and political power† (Giddens cited in Dickens 1990, pg 3) and it is extremely difficult to generalise about these affects. Physical space is socially constructed by people's perceptions. What Giddens calls Locales are spaces which â€Å"are indeed usually socially specified for some kinds of activities. Locales carry social meanings and symbols which are widely accepted and which considerably affect social relations† (Giddens cited in Dickens 1990, pg5). They affect how people interpret their own and people's circumstances. Physical space is socially constructed. There is a socially constructed perception in Britain about areas characterised by high, concrete, block of flats. This kind of housing has always been associated with high levels of graffiti, vandalism and litter. Alice Coleman argues â€Å"that vandalism take place in zones where residents are unable to keep a watch over who is entering or leaving their estates† (A. Coleman, 1985, pg158). They are seen as impersonal, stratified dwellings and undesiderable places to live. Crime, antisocial behaviour, unemployment, poverty and inequality are seen as distinctive features of these places. But factors such as poor services, no good transport links, authority government tenure and the meeting of several marginalised groups suffering from what Durkheim called anomya â€Å"condition or malaise in individuals, characterized by an absence or diminution of standards or values, and an associated feeling of alienation and purposeneless† (www.free-definition.com/Anomie.html) are ve ry relevant when considering the main reasons for this kind of problem. People who are not satisfied with society, who have not got the same access to commodities than the major part of the population and that experience from the indifference of institutions, which are characterised by low skill occupations, family disorganisation, poverty, illiteracy and racism suffers are grouped in this kind of residential development which are cheap to build and can accommodate a large number of people in minimal space. These people are the product of â€Å"exacerbation of a logic of economic and racist exclusion† (Savage, Warden & Ward, 2003, pg76). Again we can argue here whether the physical environment is the reason for these problems and again a new example contradicts the simplicity of the architectural determinism discourse. Spain, as almost all European cities is flat based. Almost 80% of the population in Spain live in flats. People in Spain have been brought up living in high density block of flats. The perception of people about living in this kind of housing is completely different to the British one. Being the common norm between the population it does not lead to any of the social problems described above. They are not associated to vandalism and poor quality accommodation. They are the standard residential housing where people live. The areas where vulnerable groups live are characterised by poor links of transport, no easy access to schools, located on the outskirts of the city and who residents are immigrants or part of a minor ethnic group. They are tenure tenants that lack sense of identity with the place where they live, lack of resources and are victims of some conditions that are made difficult to improve their situation. The areas where they live are characterised by the use of cheap materials and an even higher density than in other areas. Families live in small flats where they have to share rooms. The combination of all this features, together with the difficulties to establish zones of autonomy and self management is what, in Spain, generate major social problems and no the fact that people live in this type of housing. Even the new theories which aim to explain social change and society within the context of postmodernity claim that the city will evolve as mean of facilitating interpersonal communication â€Å"Although individuals live in a particular place and participate in community life in and around that place, it is interaction and not place that is the essence of life† (Clark, 2003, pg 139). Once again the importance of predominant social conditions over physical form are highlighted in order to understand the future of the cities or urban form and consequently its social costs. The global village is the sociological destination of the city. The power of media will spread urban values. Information, and no physical design, is being the basis for an explanation of the present and future society and of people way of living and behaviours. Information is the leviathan that will lead future changes and policies. Practically speaking in planning grounds, the future of the city is called â€Å"compact city† and will be the fruit of an urban renaissance supported by governments and elite groups. In its July 12 Spending Review the government announced â€Å"a 50% increase in new social house building†¦an extra 10,000 homes a year†¦and further plans to increase housing supply and improved affordability by funding the Sustainable Communities Plan to deliver 200,000 additional homes in the Thames Gateway and other growth areas† (http://global.factiva.com/en/arch/print-results.asp). The government has named this project urban renaissance and it involves the better use of buildings within developed land to accommodate about 3.8 million new households between 1996 and 2021 and to do this the government â€Å"supports the idea of the ‘compact city', that is a higher density, mixed use development on brownfield land close to public transport nodes† (Burton, 2002, pg 537). This encouraged urban renaissance will imply the adoption of high density constructions in order to satisfy the demand for new housing at minimal environmental costs and this means a high proportion of apartments and terrace houses. The benefits will be â€Å"the conservation of the countryside, less need to travel by car, thus reduced fuel emissions, support for public transport and walking and cycling, better access to services and facilities, more efficient utility and infrastructure provision and revitalisation and regeneration of inner urban areas† (Burton, 2002, pg 538). But which will be the social problems attributed to this new concept of housing form? According to Elisabeth Burton, nine social problems have been seen by population as are related to compactness (Burton, 2002, pg 547-548): * access to superstores * access to green open space * public transport use * extent of walking and cycling * amount of domestic living space * death rate from mental illness * crime * social segregation * death rate for respiratory disease. Again we can argue that although some of the social problems can be seen as a product of this kind of development they are not directly correlated to built form. The invocation of the high-rise horrors of post war urban Britain and the congested squalor of Victorian Britain is where Bowers see the root of this apprehension (Bowers cited in Jenks, Burton and Williams, 1996). For example the difficult access to services may find is cause in the increase in number of users within an area but may also be seen as lack of appropriate infrastructure and therefore a failure in developer and government's attempt of offering the necessary infrastructure for a new development. On the other hand, why does it promote crime and social segregation or how can it be associated to mental illness? When people live in close proximity they are more aware of the existence of neighbours and there are more opportunities to informally interact with your neighbours. The relationship between people living within flats is less gregarious. It also provides casual surveillance and respect for property. For designers and housing providers seeking to promote social equity, and according to the research developed by Elisabeth Burton, higher-density housing such apartments and terraces are the best form of housing, â€Å"especially if they are developed on derelict land in areas where there are plenty of locally-provided services and facilities† (Burton, 2002, pg 558). The extent to which built form influences social problems has therefore been seen as very limited. The confluence of several economic, social, political and environmental reasons results in the creation of social problems. In addition, the weight of the importance of the built form, when taking into consideration the different social problems, tend to change from one country to another depending on the perception of the different kind of built form by the population. This perception will always be shaped according to the culture and socialization the individual has experienced. What in some countries is seen as undesiderable form of housing in others is the common norm. In Britain â€Å"compact city† has been proved to be the best option for future urban development if sustainable reasons are taking into account. The promotion of places that make efficient use of available space and environmental resources will lead to the adoption of high-density development. This residential housing has been seen through history as a reason for the emergence of social problems and people associate this type of built environment to vandalism, crime and social inequality. The introduction of this new model into planning practice will need to be seen together with changes in the population mentality and will meet several difficulties when confronting well rooted ways of thinking. People will have to be educated to accept the change. It will not create additional social problems if it incorporates features that improve people's quality of life like high standard local services and an easy reach of a range of facilities. This new concept of built form will generate debates and modification in people's constructed reality before being able to be generally accepted, a shift in people's attitudes towards the new form of housing. It needs to be an attractive option and it will involve action and investment from government and agencies in order to disassociate false presumptions about this kind of built form.

Asian American Literature Essay Research Paper It

Asiatic American Literature Essay, Research PaperIt is true that all people are created different, and therefore no two civilizations will of all time be the same. Throughout Asiatic American literature at that place seems to be a battle between the Asiatic civilization and American civilization. More specifically, there is a battle between Asiatic adult females and their Asiatic American girls, and what it means to be feminine, and how a adult female should move. The chief battle is between how the American adult female should move and how the Asiatic adult female should move. However, the behaviour of the Asian adult female seems to be dominant through out the narrative because although the girls and the female parents may non acquire along all of the clip, the female parents to have a batch of regard from their girls. Therefore, the female parents sentiment on how they should move, which is acting like the Asian adult female, is most apparent. This is the instance in The Joy Luck Club, written by Amy Tan and besides in the short narrative # 8220 ; Waiting for Mr. Kim, # 8221 ; written by Carol Roh-Spaulding. These two narratives have really different significances, nevertheless they are similar in the facet that they are all Asiatic adult females with Asiatic American girls seeking to acquire their girls to maintain and utilize their Asiatic heritage. There are certain behaviours that Asiatic adult females are expected to hold, and the female parents feel that their girls should utilize these behaviours. In The Joy Luck Club, the novel traces the destiny of the four mothers-Suyuan Woo, An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-ying St. Clair-and their four daughters-June Woo, Rose Hsu Jordan, Waverly Jong, and Lena St. Clair. Through the experiences that these characters go through, they become adult females. The female parents all fled China in the 1940 # 8217 ; s and they all retain much of their heritage. Their heritage focuses on what is means to be a female, but more significantly what it means to be an Asiatic female. In the short narrative # 8220 ; Waiting for Mr. Kim, # 8221 ; the chief female character Gracie understands what it means to be an Asiatic female, but she does oppugn the significance because of her sisters. Her sisters ran off from place before their matrimony could be arranged and eloped. This is wholly against Asiatic civilization, and it causes Gracie to oppugn her heritage and her Asiatic muliebrity. In both of these narratives there are certain features of females that are the same, they are interior strength, obeisance, award and regard, the good of the whole is better than the good of the person, and happening things out for yourself. In the chapter # 8220 ; Scar # 8221 ; the feature of award and regard is foremost noticed. In this chapter An-mei finds out how her female parent fundamentally deserted her, her female parent did go forth for a good ground, which was to keep the award of her household, but either manner her female parent left her. Her grandma had to raise her, and she learned much about the Asiatic adult female from her. An-mei was demoing some disrespect towards on of her aunts, and her aunt told her that she was being disrespectful. Her grandma so interjected and said, # 8220 ; When you lose your face, An-mei? it is like dropping your necklace down a well. The lone manner you can acquire it back is to fall in after it. # 8221 ; She was speaking about A-mei # 8217 ; s female parent, and how she left because she had disrespected the household and she was dishonourable to the household name. The lone manner for her female parent to recover regard and award was to go forth and make it on her ain, which is a feature of an Asiatic adult female. Another feminine feature that comes from that scene is being able to make things on your ain. However, this is an American influence. This characteristic comes from the chapter # 8220 ; Rules of the Game. # 8221 ; This is a curious chapter in the book because it is a chapter where the adult female is non seen as inferior to the adult male. Waverly # 8217 ; s brother, Vincent, received a cheat set for Christmas. However, Waverly is the 1 who took full usage of the cheat set. She was a natural, she would crush her brothers in cheat, which would usually be looked down upon in Asiatic civilization, but she was encouraged. She was even given lessons in cheat, and she was a national title-holder. Unlike An-mei # 8217 ; s female parent, Waverly was conveying award to the household name. When Waverly is encouraged to stand out in cheat she learns something from her female parent. Her female parent said in her broken English, # 8220 ; This American regulations? Every clip people come out from a foreign state, must cognize regulations. You non cognize, justice say, Too bad, travel back. They non stating you why so you can utilize their manner to travel frontward. They say, Don # 8217 ; Ts know why, you find out your self. # 8221 ; This is an American usage, more than an Asiatic 1. She is explicating that in order to win as an Asiatic female in the United States, so there are certain things that you will hold to happen out on your ain. Besides in this chapter was the theme/characteristic of inner streng th. Waverly says she six when her mother taught her the â€Å"art of invisible strength.† Waverly was walking by the candy store when she was a young child, and she was begging her mother to take her inside. Her mother refused to take her inside, which angered Waverly. Then her mother went on to explain, â€Å"Wise guy, he not go against wind. In Chinese we say, Come from South blow with wind-poom!-North will follow. Strongest wind cannot be seen.† This means that the strongest way to win an argument is to keep to yourself, which Waverly used in her chess matches. Waverly goes on to say, â€Å"A little knowledge withheld is a great advantage one should store for future use.† Another example of invisible strength, inner strength, is the â€Å"The Moon Lady.† Ying-ying’s mother was telling her how a woman should act when she said, â€Å"A boy can run and chase dragonflies?But a girl should stand still.† The girl would have a better chance cat ching the dragonfly than the boy, she would catch the dragonfly with inner strength, rather than muscle like the boy. The chapter, â€Å"The Moon Lady,† has another characteristic of what it is to be female, which is the good of the whole is more important than the good of the individual. They were all on their way to see the Moon Lady, and if you see the Moon Lady, you receive one wish from her. Ying-ying asked what a â€Å"secret wish† was, and the answer was that is was on that you cannot ask. Ying-ying was young as this point, so she asked why. Amah’s response to Ying-ying was, â€Å"This is because?because if you ask it?it is no longer a wish but a selfish desire?Haven’t I taught you-that it is wrong to think of our own needs? A girl can never ask, only listen.† Here she is telling that by making a wish for herself she is being selfish and forgetting that she is not the important one, but the good of the whole is the important one. Amah is als o hinting at obedience when she tells her daughter that she is not to ask questions, but just listen to the men and go along with it. Arranged marriages are a very tough thing to go through. Marrying someone because one has to has to be hard because one is not marrying out of love. This is exactly the case in â€Å"Waiting for Mr. Kim.† Gracie two twin sisters have already run away from to and eloped with two men. Their marriages were not arranged because they left before their father could arrange them. Now, with her sisters gone, Gracie is the only remaining daughter, and she is somewhat frowned upon because she was the â€Å"third daughter.† She did not really like the two men that her father was thinking of arranging the marriage with, but it did not matter. It did not matter because as her mother told her, â€Å"Girls don’t choose.† The girls just sit there and look pretty while their fathers choose for them, they have to comply with their fatherâ₠¬â„¢s decision. They are obedient, and at the same time respectful of the decision that is made. Another characteristic that appears in this story is that women made to think that they are second class compared to men. When her Mr. Kang, Gracie’s father, would walk, he would sometimes reach back to hold Mrs. Kang’s hand, but she would pull away. Not only would she pull away, but she would â€Å"stay behind as she cleaned her purse or took forever with her coat, just to have it the way she had learned it, her husband a few places ahead, women behind.† Her mother not only believes that this is how women should act and it is a part of their femininity, but she is passing this way of thinking onto her daughter. Her mother is relaying the message to her daughter that no matter what you need to show your husband respect and let him know that he is in charge. Both of these stories have displayed that there are certain characteristics of females and they are inner stren gth, the good of the whole is better than the good of the individual, find things out for oneself, honor and respect, and obedience. All of these characteristics have displayed not only what it means to be feminine, but also what it means to be female. It is not so much an Asian female, but it is because that is how their mothers were raised and that is how their mothers will raise them. There are really no American females for the daughters, or mothers, to see and mimic. The only way of life that the mothers know is the Asian way of life, therefore that is the only way that can be passed down onto their daughters. Sometimes that is hard for the daughters to understand because the daughters have grown up in American culture, and they know what it is like to be an American woman. No matter how one views this situation, these stories focus on what it means to an Asian female, but more generally what the mothers know best on how to teach their daughters on how to be female.

Developments of China and Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Developments of China and Europe - Essay Example If we analyse the history of Europe, it will come to our notice that Europe has been defined and redefined from time to time and its identity changed with the overall historical periods. (Hudson 2000). For example, a Europe of Middle Ages is different than the Europe during the industrial revolution similarly, if we assess the rise and fall of China, we will observe the same patterns in its history. Development of China also took place in a very strange and somewhat unusual manner because it flourished along the yellow river and in various city states. This simultaneous development of cities within Chinese civilization provided it necessary uniqueness in terms of its evaluation as one of the most important civilizations of the world. The era during 200-800 A.D. in Europe started with the rise of Roma as the center of world civilization. From 753 BC to AD 337, Roma or Rome dominated the European history and brought up one of the most important civilizations of the world which laid the foundations for later moderation that took place during that period. One of the most important aspects of this period was the development of political institutions in the Europe and as such modern foundations of democracy as the most preferred method of governance was laid down. (Davies 1996). On the other hand, in China, first 100 years i.e. 100 AD were marked with the invention of paper and its mass scale production was started under the direction of Cai Lun. Similarly, Buddhism also started to make inroads into the Chinese culture as missionaries of Buddhism started to gain significant influence within the Chinese society. (Ebrey 1999). If we compare the initial period of the history in these two regions, we will come to a conclusion that the both the regions were parallel to each other in terms of religious development because at one hand, Buddhism was gaining control in Chinese society in the first

Continuation of Design principles 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Continuation of Design principles 3 - Essay Example The detailed architectural model is used to achieve the level of security in the system, the performance of the system as well as the effectiveness and efficiency (Coulouris, Dooimore, and Kindberg, 2001). There are three (3) forms of the system architecture include: the client based, server based and the client-server architecture. As the proposed system for ‘Electronic Credit Checking and Mortgage Approval’ is online, therefore, I have chosen the client server architecture. The client-server architecture for the proposed system that presents the client has to place a request to the web server by utilizing the web browser (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, etc.). The web browser takes the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request, Files Transfer Protocol (FTP), data, etc. to the web server of the Mortgage Company; the web server would interact with the database server for the relevant information. The database server would send a SQL query to the database and the database returns the information against the query. The database server would reply to the web server with the information received from the database. The web server would display the information on the web browser of the client. The web application would be deployed on the web server or application server; the database server would contain the database as shown in the following diagram (Kambalyal, n.d). The system architecture that has been used for deploying the web application is 3-tier architecture that provides higher flexibility; high security can be implemented at each level of the service, and high performance due to sharing of tasks between servers, moreover, it can be extended (scalable) with the requirements of the Mortgage Company (Kioskea, 2012). The client has to use the web browser to access the web application over the internet, in order to provide security the client’s request has to be passed through the firewall deployed

Differiating Between Market Structures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Differiating Between Market Structures - Essay Example The first part of the paper will identify the market structure of the high technology industry; outline the market share of Samsung Corporation, explain why I decided upon this marketing structure and how different the marketing structure is from other alternatives. Part two of the paper will identify four competitive strategies that may be used by Samsung to maximize its profits effectively within the high tech industry’s competitive environment. More so the paper will evaluate the efficiency of these strategies in the market structure. Market structure of the high technology industry High technology industries are prone to the same market forces just like any other industry, but there exist few forces that are stronger in the high tech industry. Research claims that these forces affected the market structure of high technology industry in the 1890s and are still affecting the same industry to date. The high technology industry falls under an imperfectly competitive market st ructure, which means that products and services are highly differentiated (Varian, 2001). There are vast factors that arise from effective price discrimination that affects the high technology industry. These factors include personalization of products and pricing, versioning, bundling, switching costs, lock-in and economics of scale. Differentiation of products and services - The information technology allows flexible observation and analysis of consumer behavior, which in turn brings in various kinds of marketing strategies that seemed impossible on a large scale. For instance, a seller can offer prices and goods that are differentiated through individualized behavior and characteristics. Ideally, the high technology industry allows the market of one phenomenon where customers can personalize their prices (Varian, 2001). The high technology industry customers can personalize their adverts on the front pages online and can still buy a personally configured computer. According to th e theory of monopoly first degree price discrimination in most industries charge the highest prices they can to each customer, but the technology industry’s case is different because online sellers face competition from each other as well as from online sellers; hence, further stiffening the competition. Versioning - Versioning is a second-degree price discrimination that usually falls under product quality, which means that sellers design product line that appeals to different market segmentation. For instance, the latest trend of DVD version sells at a higher price and has a lot of content, an aspect that studios uses to discriminate prices between collectors and viewers, as well as between buyers and renters. Bundling - Bundling is the process of selling two or more distinct goods together for a single price. In the technology industry, these goods are â€Å"small† information goods like the individual items of web content that are sold in extremely large bundles. B undling affects the economy by reducing the dispersion of willingness to pay as well as increase entry barriers, but it enhances firm profits and overall efficiency (Varian, 2001). For instance, instead of a soft w3are company selling a word processor and a spreadsheet separately at different prices, the company could combine the two products and sell them at a higher price. Switching cost - Unlike other industries, switching costs in the high technolo

The Future of Cloud Computing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Future of Cloud Computing - Essay Example In this report a discussion will be presented using the concepts provided in the chapter and in the scholarly articles about the increased use and advancements in the computer technologies. This report will analyze all three forms of the discussion and present agreements and disagreements with the authors about the future of these topics. This will reflect an individual understanding about the topic on which an appropriately structured conclusion will be developed. CHAPTER SUMMARY The findings proposed in the chapter show that the use of IT and advancement in the computer technologies require that new methods evolve. For ensuring the safety of the data providing non physical spaces to the users for storing the data have led to such innovations. The developments in mobile computing segments, artificial intelligence and cloud computing are the examples of the developments in the IT industry. These facilities provide safe storage of the data online and make accessibility easier. Associa ted to these advancements are several advantages and disadvantages. The examples of such systems are Google cloud storage, Apple’s cloud, Microsoft’s cloud and other facilities like Dropbox and Amazon. There are four forms of the information clouds namely, 1. Global information/ Internet 2. External information cloud 3. Local information cloud 4. ... The main reasons why users prefer using the cloud facilities are archiving the data in backup, store application data, computing, sharing data and building apps and websites. SCHOLARLY ARTICLE 1: MODELING AND SIMULATION OF CLOUD COMPUTING SOLUTION FOR DISTRIBUTED SPACE DATA STORAGE AND ACCESS IN MOBILE COMMUNICATION NETWORKS Then high bandwidth radio telescopes generate large amounts of digitized data. The challenge associated with this is to provide the ease of access with highest efficiency of the data which is recorded. The main emphasis of the topic is to understand the storage and the retrieval of the space signals. This requires advancement in setting the core technologies and implementing it completely within the cloud computing paradigm. The article is a proposition which suggests cloud computing solutions. Within the distributed space it is required that the data stored can be accessed and at the same time it can become a part of the mobile communication networks. The modeli ng and the simulation results of the processes assist in developing an understanding that the proposed solutions perform satisfactorily in extracting the data from the specified space. The future of this process shows utter reliance on the cloud computing processes for data storage. Verification of the importance of the process and implementation of the process shows its importance in the future (Kurmis, Dzemydiene, Didziokas, & Trokss, 2013). The author of the paper is suggesting that the cloud computing process is acquiring popularity and the ease of access is providing in setting the methods which can enhance the usage. He further suggests the methods which can lead to advancements of the process. SCHOLARLY ARTICLE 2: HEAD IN THE

To what extent was the final solution planned Essay

To what extent was the final solution planned - Essay Example While some people believe that this was a spontaneous decision made by Hitler, others believe that the process was systematically planned. The aim of this paper is to find out how far the Final Solution was planned. The investigation will cover what the Final Solution was, the debate of the decision, the extermination camps, and to what extent it was planned. It was right around 1942 when the plans of the Final Solution fully took hold, but over one million Jews had already been murdered. â€Å"It was only with the decision to eradicate the entire Jewish population that the extermination camps were built and industrialized mass slaughter of Jews began in earnest. This decision to systematically kill the Jews of Europe was made by the time of or at the Wannsee Conference, which took place in Berlin, in the Wannsee Villa on January 20, 1942. During the conference, there was a discussion held by a group of German Nazi officials to decide on the ‘Final Solution of the Jewish Question’† (Wikipedia 2008, p. 1). The extent to which the Final Solution was planned can be proven by documents that contain the minutes and other records of the Wannsee Conference. The Allies located these documents at the end of World War II and used them as evidence in the Nuremberg Trials. â€Å"The records and minutes of this meeting were found intact by the Allies at the end of the war and served as valuable evidence during the Nuremberg Trials. â€Å"By spring of 1942, Operation Reinhard began the systematic extermination of the Jews, although hundreds of thousands already had been killed by death squads and in mass pogroms. In Heinrich Himmlers speech at the Posen Conference of October 6, 1943, Himmler, for the first time, clearly elucidated to all assembled leaders of the Reich, in frank and brutal terms, what the "Final Solution" referred to† (Wikipedia, 2008, p. 1). The Final Solution was the Nazi’s plan to

Financial Risk ManagementOption Trading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial Risk ManagementOption Trading - Essay Example Commodity risk arises from the potential movement in the underlying commodity and as such includes energy products as commodity. (Jorion, 2007). The speculative trading in options by CAO indicate that the company was betting too much on speculations about the movement in the prices of the oil in international market which however, did not happened positively all the time and company plunged into troubles. Historically, it has been observed that the energy products are relatively more volatile as compared to other commodities and as such unorganized speculative activity in such products definitely result into losses for the firms. Credit Risk is another important aspect of overall risk management and firms have to relatively take care of the fact that credit worthiness of the parties with whom they are trading is good. Credit rating therefore plays a critical role in defining the future relationship of the counter parties to any transaction. The major role of credit ratings and credit rating agencies is therefore of providing an independent opinion based on certain specific criteria.(Servigny & Renault, 2004). The analysis of the given facts will indicate that the firm attempted to involve itself in trade with companies whose credit worthiness was not good in the market. By trading on their behalf, CAO actually attempted to acquire the credit of risk of those companies whose overall credit risk was relatively higher as compared to other companies. CAO entered on behalf of the airlines by offering identical contract terms to counter parties and in return of premium waiver of those air lines, CAO basically assumed the credit risk of all such airlines. The involvement of back to back transactions itself indicated that the CAO was more than willing to assume the credit risk of these airlines however, with more volatile increase in the oil prices, the overall net exposure of CAO

Argument for and against the Use of Death Penalty in Contemporary Amer Essay

Argument for and against the Use of Death Penalty in Contemporary America - Essay Example One of the opinions that support the implementation of the death penalty against capital offenders is its effectiveness in eliminating the criminals from the society. This effectively reduces rates of capital crimes by permanently eliminating the criminals from the targets. As opposed to imprisonment that often allows the criminals back to the society to induce high probability of further crimes, death penalty ensures complete elimination of the criminals from the society and hence reduces the rates of such crimes. The death penalty also identifies an economic advantage to the government that can then save its limited financial resources for social utilities instead of using the resources to maintain individuals who have been detrimental to the society’s utility. It, therefore, allows the government to focus on a single interest of providing the society’s utilities instead of dividing resources toward meeting utilities and maintaining individuals who have been detriment al to the government’s utility initiatives. The death penalty should also be implemented because of its retribution effect that not only punishes crimes but also derives utility from achieved justice to victims of capital crimes. Relatives and close friends of a murder victim will, for example, derive social and emotional utility from a death penalty against the murderer besides the general good of a safer society. The death penalty has also been supported for its effectiveness in discouraging criminals. This is major because people fear death and the associated pain. A person will, therefore, be more rational to refrain from a crime that attracts death penalty for fear of losing his or her own life as opposed to crimes that only attract fines or imprisonment, penalties that do not physically affect the criminals’ lives. There are however a number of augments that oppose implementation of the death penalty.  

Country Music Essay Example for Free

Country Music Essay Country music is one form of music that has both an extensive history and also has a prominent place in the public consciousness right now. It is one of the most interesting types of music because of the fact that many people completely misunderstand where it came from and its roots. Though much of the history country music can be traced to many southern venues, it has since grown to be a much more â€Å"national† type of phenomenon, with influence stretching from Bakersfield, California to the Atlantic coast of the United States. Performers now come from all over the world to take part in the country music phenomenon and in recent years the, country music has gained a much more mainstream following than it had in the past. By both celebrating its roots and being willing to branch out to reach new listeners, country music as a whole has positioned itself for much greater success in the future, as well. In order to truly understand the origins of country music, one has to look as far back as the turn of the twentieth century. Though country did not truly get its start until later, the groundwork for the industry was being laid by musicians who probably did not even know what country music was. Old jazz musicians and church gospel singers provided the original motivation for what would become the country music movement. Singers would later draw influences from those old styles in order to develop the characteristic country sound that is so popular and prevalent in today’s music world. Country officially got its start in 1921 in Bristol, Tennessee. Before that time, people had been singing songs in order to pass down stories and to fill the idle time, but there had never been an organized country music industry. According to Roughstock’s History of Country Music, â€Å"Although musicians had been recording fiddle tunes (known as Old Time Music at that time) in the southern Appalachians for several years, It wasnt until August 1, 1927 in Bristol, Tennessee, that Country Music really began. There, on that day, Ralph Peer signed Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family to recording contracts for Victor Records† (Roughstock). Those two popular acts laid the framework for country to come, and they are both remembered for their innovation and their ability to connect with singers of that time. Over the course of time, country music has seen many different movements that have all helped to shape the sound that is prevalent today. The Bluegrass movement, headed up by the famous Bill Monroe of Kentucky was a type of music where people relied heavily on the banjo, the acoustic guitar, and the mandolin. Before Monroe starting experimenting with these instruments, people had never thought to use the guitar as a lead instrument before. This Bluegrass sound would prove to be a characterizing sound and it has influenced many of today’s most popular singers, including women like Allison Krause. According to Jeri Rowe of The News and Record, the Bill Monroe movement is something that almost all of the famous musicians have felt over the course of time. According to Rowe, â€Å"Ask anyone familiar with bluegrass music and theyll probably have a Bill Monroe moment† (Rowe, 1996). Other movements have become popular in country music, including the innovations that came along with the Bakersfield sound. Though country music had long had its roots in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, young people out in California changed the way that people thought about the country music industry by expanding the sound to include something of an â€Å"Outlaw† movement (Encyclopedia of Country Music). Among those people who led this popular movement were Merle Haggard, who became a spokesperson for the common man during his time. His songs like â€Å"Long Haired Country Boy† and â€Å"Okie from Muskogee† made him famous. Another famed musician that was a part of the progressive country movement, as it came to be called, was Willie Nelson. Nelson is known as a popular singer and songwriter today and he has worked alongside dozens of extremely popular musicians during his career. He sang songs like â€Å"Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain† and â€Å"Mommas, Don’t Let your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys† that were able to really connect to fans on a very personal level. One of the unique things about the country music industry is that all of these different movements have helped to create the sound that characterizes country music today. Starting with the Outlaw movement, the Bluegrass movement, and things like the Nashville sound, people have begun to combine all of these different elements to create a very real sound of today. The Nashville sound is something that came about, as one might guess, in the heart of country music located in Nashville. This came about when Roy Acuff made the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville a popular thing. It started out as just one of the many barn shows that played country music across the powerful radio airwaves. Over time, the Grand Ole Opry became much more than that. It came to characterize the Nashville sound, which was a new sound that included things like the old steel guitar and drums in the background. The Nashville sound changed the way people felt about country music, as musicians like Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs brought their unique methods to Nashville and gained popularity. All in all, the Nashville sound represented a brand new vision for country music, where people could experiment with different things on the highest level at the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry gave legitimacy to these acts and people began to quickly respond to the new techniques and new sounds that they were hearing up on the stage (Hemphill). Today, the country music world has moved even more into the mainstream than it was in the past. It is safe to say that widespread radio is what helped country music take off and now people are enjoying it in different ways. When things like TNN and CMT came about, country music was put on television for the world to see. Though this made some people in the country music world mad because the networks opted for the new styles and neglected some of the older heroes of country music, it helped the industry at large. People could not watch country music as much as they wanted and they could begin to put faces with the voices that they had heard on the radio. The innovation of music on television really helped the country music industry as much as it helped all of the other music industries. More records are sold today than ever before, as people like George Strait have sold hundreds of millions of records. Strait owns the record for most number one hits for a singer, while the South Carolina-based group Alabama owns the record for most number one hits for a group. Other acts that have become popular today are people like Garth Brooks, who helped change the way country music was looked at in a sense of live performances. Brooks turned the country music world into something of a rock show and made the shows more appealing to younger people. In the past, country music had been looked at as something that was a little bit boring when seen in concert. People went to see country music shows because they liked the sound of the music, not because they wanted to be entertained. This all changed when Brooks came about in the late 1980s. He added things like lights and great technology to his shows. The sound was impressive and finally the country music world was able to compete with the rock world at least on some level. This was a very important change for country music and predictably, more and more artists starting picking up where Brooks left off. It is fair to say that the country music world has not been completely embraced by the media at large, but the media has at least picked up on the national importance of some of the acts. In the past, the country music world might have been pushed off to the side with the rock and roll world taking center stage a little bit more. People are now coming to realize that rock and country are much more inter-connected than they might have originally imagined and that country music deserves to be recognized for its huge following. With country music selling at high rates in record stores and television channels getting great ratings, there is no choice in the national media but to pick up on the new and changing times, even if they do not totally believe everything that is being said. There is some perception out there that country music is a music based in the south and for southern people, though evidence has been provided to the contrary. One media controversy worth remembering happened with the popular group The Dixie Chicks, who were ostracized by the media and the mainstream country music world for their comments about President George W. Bush. Their political talk earned them a place on the proverbial country music blacklist. A Gazette Newspaper article speaks to the fact that the controversy may have been overblown by some media outlets, as country music singers are certainly not the first musicians to speak out in a political way. In fact, music has always been an avenue for this type of free speech. That article says, â€Å"Even entertainers have a right to say whatever they want to about U. S. foreign policy and politics and in fact, many have been doing so for decades, getting rich and famous while thumbing their noses at the nation that makes them so† (Gazette). One of the concerns of many country musicians today is that the media is willing to give time to the current stars, but no one will recognize the people who laid the framework for the country music movement. One People Magazine article quotes popular country music star Alan Jackson talking about living legend George Jones and how no one is willing to recognize him. The article writes, â€Å"Jackson spokeswoman Kay West said Alan was inspired by a visit to Jones earlier this year in the hospital after Jones was involved in a near-fatal car wreck. Alan said that had George Jones died there, there would have been a 10-minute tribute to him on the show, West said. But he lived, and they wouldnt give him three minutes† (People). All in all, country music seems to be growing at a faster rate than it ever has. Helped along by more coverage in the media and the fact that more and more types of musicians are currently getting involved in country music, the industry has taken off at a higher degree than most might have imagined in the past. Though the roots of country music are strong and many people seek to preserve and celebrate those roots, there is no denying that the industry in branching out in a desire to incorporate new fans and new acts alike going into the future. With that in mind, the future of the industry is strong and as stable as it can possibly be. Works Cited Hemphill, Paul. The Nashville Sound. 30 September 2005. Everthemore Press. Kingsbury, Paul. The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Oxford: 2004. People Magazine. Country Music Controversy. 2008. http://www. people. com/people/article/0,,616549,00. html Roughstock’s History of Country Music. The Beginnings. http://www. roughstock. com/history/begin. html Rowe, Jeri. The News and Record. 12 September 1996. BILL MONROES INFLUENCE FELT BY MUSICIANS IN THE TRIAD; AREA BLUEGRASS FANS REMEMBER BILL MONROE, THE FATHER OF BLUEGRASS MUSIC. The Gazette. 7 May 2003. Whistling Dixie Freedom of speech not at issue in country music controversy.

The Vikings Rise and Fall of the Norse Sea Kings by Poertner Rudolf Essay Example for Free

The Vikings Rise and Fall of the Norse Sea Kings by Poertner Rudolf Essay The book brings to life the vital, expanding Norse civilization that dominated the western world between 800 and 1100 A.D.   During the late 800s, Harald Fairhair was trying to unite Norway under his rule.   Before he came to power, chieftains ruled over different areas of what is now Norway.   There were many people who disagreed with Harald and many battles ensued where the chieftains lost.   Under Harald, chieftains had to give up their titles.   The forced unification of Norway threatened their hereditary rights and burdened them with taxes (Poertner 54).   People who would not stand for this fled Norway and settled on islands off the coast of Norway and invaded Norway.   The Vikings left Scandinavia as a result of a population growth and a general famine in Europe, farmland began to become scarce.   Hearing that Iceland had good land, the people left.   Although many parts of the island were not habitable due to volcanoes and ice fields, there were areas that had many attractive qualities.   These qualities made coming to Iceland an easy decision to a lot of people.   By 930 all the good land was occupied and the population of Iceland was about 30,000 (Poertner 55). This leads us to the settlement of Greenland.   After being banished from Norway, and then Iceland for murders he committed. Erik the Red decided to search for land in the west.   He had already heard stories of what would later be called Greenland so he knew it was out there.   He spent three years there and lived by hunting and fishing.   When he went back to Iceland he told everyone about the place he named Greenland which had good pasture land and good hunting. In the year 986 he and twenty-five shiploads of settlers set sail for Greenland.   Only fourteen ships arrived safely on Greenland due to storms at sea. Within a year or so after the settlers came to Greenland, the first known sighting of America was made by a European.   Bjarni Herjolfsson was sailing from Iceland to Greenland when he was blown off course, within sight of America.   He saw three places but did not stop anywhere until he got to Greenland.   Erik the Reds son, Leif Eriksson eventually bought Bjarnis ship and sailed in search of the land that Bjarni had seen.   The first place Leif stopped at was flat and stony.   He called Helluland. The second place he stopped at was a wooded area he called Markland.   The third place was the one place he stayed, calling it Vinland.   He was very pleased with it and told of a land where rivers overflowed with salmon, the grass did not wither in the frostless winter, and there was an enormous amount of timber, something that was lacking in both Greenland and Iceland.   After spending a winter in Vinland, Leif and his crew return to Greenland where they tell of their exploration loaded down with timber and grapes (Poertner 60). Leifs brother Thorvald made the next journey to Vinland with a crew of thirty.   He is the first European known to have met a native.   The explorers killed eight natives whose people later attack the explorers and Thorvald was killed in the attack.   The explorers left.   Thorfinn Karlsefni then went to Vinland with his wife, Gudrid,   and others, hoping to make a permanent settlement. That ended the settlements in Vinland.   The skirmishes with the natives may have made the Vikings feel threatened.   The settlements of Greenland also died out, but for many more reasons.   The Little Ice Age began and once fertile land turned to ice, and what soil that did not turn to ice eventually just gave out.   The cattle and crops began to waste away.   There was also competition with the Eskimos for marine game.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For historian buffs this book is excellent and easy to follow.   The book was up to date for that time and I enjoyed the book very much.   The Author is Scandinavian or German and the book was translated into English. I tried to find information on the author but was unsuccessful in the time I had.   I recommend this book to any Viking or Norse buff.

Child Protection Policy UK

Child Protection Policy UK Anglo-Saxon society has traditionally entrusted parents with the responsibility of bringing up their children. Parents, under such societal traditions, are required to look after the physical, emotional and mental needs of their children, provide them with a warm and comfortable family atmosphere, educate them to the best of their ability, and ready them for future adult responsibilities.* Birchall The overwhelming majority of people in the UK try to follow these tenets to the best of their abilities. Social changes like the increased incidence of divorces, live-in relationships, and single parenting, whilst significantly changing the social and economic structure of UK society, have not affected basic child rearing responsibilities. Modern day parents remain as committed to their children as their predecessors. Whilst the overwhelming majority of members of British society think of children as precious, both in the individual and in the collective context, some parents exhibit significantly deviant behaviour and subject their children to neglect and various forms of mental and physical abuse. *Arthurs Children are also vulnerable to physical and other forms of abuse outside their domestic environments for a variety of reasons. The social services infrastructure of the UK, which came into being as an integral component of the welfare state after the closure of the Second World War, has always emphasised the need to safeguard and protect children. Policy makers of different governments, both conservative and labour, have consistently made efforts to bring about laws and policies for the safeguarding of children, adolescents and vulnerable young adults. The social work infrastructure of the country also provides high priority to protecting children from different forms of abuse. Brandon A significant number of children in the country, despite the presence of a plethora of protective laws and policies and the existence of a huge, nationwide, protective social service infrastructure, are subjected to various degrees of emotional, mental and physical abuse.CReighton Incidents of child abuse and death continue to regularly be reported in the national media. One such episode, which ended in the tragic death of 8 year old Victoria Climbie in 2000, led to the institution of The Laming Commission and to significant changes in social welfare policy. * The formulation and implementation of the Every Child Matters (ECM) programme, which constitutes the overarching structure for child care in the country, places immense emphasis of the safety and security of children.* The countrys social care policies and social services infrastructure contain specific policies and processes for the identification of children at risk, followed by mandatory need assessment, and the provisioning of adequate security to them through planned interventions. The continuance of physical abuse against children, some episodes of which lead to substantial physical injury and even death, is a cause of intense distress to the people and policy makers of the country. Much of media debate and discussion on the issue assigns the responsibility for such continued violence against children, despite the existence of extensive preventive infrastructure, very squarely, on inadequate managerial leadership and decision making skills at various levels of the social services and social work infrastructure, as well as in other public services like health, education and policing. Learning Lessons Ofsted, Lord Laming Whilst incidents of violence against children have in the past led to inte nse criticism of individual social workers and of the social services system, contemporary nationwide soul searching over child safety is bringing up concerns regarding managerial control, leadership and decision making, across the ambit of the concerned public service organisations. Laming The Serious Cases Review, a national fact finding process that among other things investigates episodes of serious violence against children, has time and again provided details on reasons behind individual child abuse cases, the learning to be taken from such episodes, and the actions needed for the prevention of recurrence of such horrific incidents. U/LL The continuance of such episodes, despite the presence of extensive preventive machinery and the availability of such significant information has created confusion and concern over the ability of public service organisations to control and reduce child abuse and related deaths. Observers and analysts feel that a number of causes have combined to produce, stagnation, inefficiency, and ineffectiveness in the decision making of public sector agencies, and in their ability to work in cooperation and in collaboration with each other. This study takes up the investigation of child abuse in the UK, the findings of the serious case reviews, and the learning obtained from such reviews. This is followed by an exploration and analysis of the factors that limit the role of such learning in the actual decision making processes of various public agencies that are associated with and are responsible for the safety of children in the UK. 2. Commentary Legislation and Public Policy on Child Protection Abuse against children can occur in numerous different circumstances and across social and economic segments. Children are specifically vulnerable in circumstances or environments that concern family violence, bullying, substance misuse, learning inadequacies, mental health problems, and social and economic difficulties; also when children are unplanned, unwanted, premature or disabled. Vulnerable children may again be open to threats from more than one type of neglect or abuse. CPG The occurrence or possibility of significant harm provides the trigger for initiation of child safety and protection measures in the UK. The occurrence of significant harm depends upon a range of issues like the extent of abuse, its impact on the child, and the circumstances in which the abuse took or can take place. Whilst even a single traumatic episode may constitute significant harm, the term is more representative of a cumulative pattern of episodes that adversely affect a child. CPG The Children Act 1989, as well as The Children (Scotland) Act 1995, state that all local authorities must act jointly to safeguard children in need. The Children Act 2004 subsequently introduced a statutory structure for local cooperation for protection of children in England and Wales. All organisations that are responsible for providing services to children, including those that are engaged in education and health care, need to necessarily take steps for safeguarding of children in the discharging of their normal functions. CPG The English, Scottish and Welsh Executives have published detailed guidelines on inter-agency working on protecting children, which are available on their websites. CPG The Social Services is the lead child protection agency. It is statutorily responsible for making enquiries into all issues concerning child protection and is the main contact point for child welfare. The police are also empowered to intervene in all circumstances that could concern the safety of children. Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) and Child Protection Committees (CPCs) are responsible for outlining the ways in which relevant organisations in individual local areas must cooperate to provide safety and security to children. CPG All organisations responsible for providing services to children are required to have clear structures and practices for child protection in place. These include (a) specific lines of accountability for work in child protection, (b) arrangements for suitable checks on new volunteers and staff, (c) procedures for handling of allegations of abuse against volunteers and staff members, (d) suitable programmes for training of staff, (e) a policy for child protection, (f) appropriate procedures for whistle blowing and (g) a culture that encourages the addressing of issues related to safeguarding of children. CPG Health care professionals who have apprehensions about neglect or abuse should adhere to local child protection procedures and should have access to required support and advice. CPG NHS organisations must have a doctor and nurse with requisite expertise in child protection. Private hospitals also need to compulsorily have child protection policies as, well as named professionals who possess expertise in child protection. It is also mandatory for all professionals dealing with children, as well as members of the general public, to bring apprehensions or fears about the vulnerability of any child in their domain of knowledge, (who is or could be under physical threat), to the attention of the local social services department.CPG It thereafter becomes mandatory on the social services to take such reference into account, carry out detailed assessments of the needs of the child under threat and plan and implement appropriate interventions. CPG Serious Case Reviews and their Findings The social service in the UK has been rocked by instances of child abuse, some of which have led to death. Two year old James Bulgar was brutally murdered by two ten year olds, Thompson and Venables, in 1993. JB The incident, which attracted immense publicity and public outrage and led to the imprisonment of the two perpetrators for many years, increased awareness of the dangers faced by children and young adults and the need to bring in policies and procedures for improving their safety. The tragic death of 8 year old Victoria Climbie, in 2000, at the hands of her carers, led to the institution of a public inquiry, the severe indictment of social workers for being negligent towards their duties and responsibilities, and to a number of positive developments in the area of child protection. The publication of the Laming Report, in 2002, led to the formulation of the Every Child Matters programme and the enactment of The Children Act 2004. The death of 17 month old baby P, in 2007, which occurred out of injuries suffered at the hands of his carers, (his mother and her boyfriend), during a period in which he was repeatedly seen by social workers brought home the fact that children continued to be unsafe despite the introduction of legal enactments and policy reforms, and the strengthening of the social services sector. * The neglect, abuse, or death of a child being a matter of immense national concern, UK public policy calls for the undertaking of serious care reviews in circumstances (a) where a child has been seriously injured or harmed, or has died, and (b) abuse is suspected or known to have been a factor in the occurrence of the incident. Chapter 8 of the Government Document Working Together to Safeguard Children (1999) states that a LSCB must necessarily carry out a serious case review in all circumstances where a child dies and neglect or abuse is suspected or known to be a factor. Learning All LSCBs are also enjoined to consider the conduct of a serious case review in the following circumstances. (a) a child sustains a potentially life-threatening injury or serious and permanent impairment to health and development through abuse or neglect, (b) a child has been subject to particularly serious sexual abuse, (c) a childs parent has been murdered and a homicide review is being initiated, (d) a child has been killed by a parent with a mental illness, (e) the case gives rise to concerns about inter-agency working to protect children from harm. (Learningà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 2008) The same document defines three specific aims of a serious case review, namely (a) the establishment of whether any lessons about inter-agency working can be learnt from the case, (b) the clear identification of the nature of these lessons, the ways in which such lessons will be acted upon, and the change that can be expected to result from such working, and (c) improvement of inter-agency working and the institution of better safeguards for children. when a child dies and abuse or neglect are known or suspected to be a factor in the death, local agencies should consider immediately whether there are other children at risk of harm who need safeguarding (and) whether there are any lessons to be learned from the tragedy about the ways in which they work together to safeguard children. (Sinclair Bullock, 2002) Serious case reviews, it is stipulated, should be conducted by individuals who are independent of all involved agencies and professionals, and should be submitted within a period of four months of the decision for carrying out the review. LSCBs are obliged to send each completed review for evaluation to Ofsted. The results of the Ofsted evaluation are shared with LSCBs and constitute an integral part of the information used for the yearly performance assessments of local areas. Learning The Ofsted study of the 50 serious case reviews received by the agency from April 2007 to March 2008 provides significant information on the nature of child abuse, the reasons for such abuse, and the working of different agencies who are entrusted with the responsibility of preventing such abuse. *The study reveals that children aged less than one year formed the largest group of the total surveyed population. This segment, which comprised of 21 children, was followed by the 11 to 15 age segment (14 cases), the 1 to 5 age segment (8 cases) and finally the over 16 segment (6 cases). The majority of these children died from the abuse that was inflicted upon them. In the case of children aged less than one year, the commonest cause of injury or death was physical assault by a parent, or the partner of a parent. Amongst the children and young people in the age group 11 to 16, 9 killed themselves, 3 were murdered by other young persons, and 1 died of anorexia. The key issues that arose from the evaluation of 50 serious case reviews concerned drug and alcohol misuse, domestic violence, mental illness, and learning difficulties or disabilities. In the case of drug and alcohol misuse, reviews found that the concerned agencies did not suitably evaluate and access the risks that could come about from such misuse, particularly in the case of very young babies. Domestic violence also featured in a number of serious case reviews, often in conjunction with drug and alcohol misuse. Agencies were again found to be inadequate in understanding, accepting and assessing the effect of domestic violence on young children. In some of these cases the history of domestic violence in the family was known to outsiders and police intervention had occurred in the past. Agencies, particularly the police, did not follow policies and procedures, with identified issues including poor levels of police training and inadequate attention to recording and reporting of domestic violence occurrences. Mental illness came across as an issue of concern in a number of reviews. In many cases the health visitor and the midwife were unaware of the histories of the mental health of the mother, or of the learning difficulties of the father, which otherwise would have influenced their assessments. A number of delays occurred in the assessment and treatment of people in need of assistance from mental health services. A few cases involved issues related both to mental health and to learning disabilities. The serious case reviews repeatedly point to specific inadequacies on the part of agencies in dealing with child abuse problems. The various agencies were found to be limited in their understanding of basic signs, symptoms and factors concerning child protection risks. Agencies tended to respond reactively to a particular situation rather than by perceiving the situation in the context of the history of the case. Agencies, by themselves, did not have complete details of the involved families or records of their concerns. The agency staff accepted, on a number of occasions, standards of care that in the normal course would not be acceptable by most families. Very little direct contact was established with the children in order to find out their thoughts and feelings about their situations. In many cases professionals tended to be uncertain about the importance of child protection issues, more so in complex and chaotic family environments, and placed inordinate trust on the statements of parents. Families on the other hand often expressed hostility to establishment of contact with professionals and engineered numerous strategies to keep them at a distance. Very few assessments contained evaluation of the quality of relationships between children and parents. In many cases multiple assessments were carried out on families, which were followed by the establishment of plans that did not contain any clear expectations of the changes that were needed for the sake of the children, and the likely consequences, if such changes did not occur. Many of the reviews reveal a number of lost opportunities on the part of universal services for suitable intervention and prevention of abuse. Such agencies included schools, health services and other services like housing, Connexions and Surestart. The majority of reviews pointed out that whilst policies and procedures were by and large appropriate and adequate, there was poor practice in the implementation of basic procedures, including in assessment, planning and decision making. With the understanding of the signs, symptoms and risk factors of child protection being inadequate, agency staff continued to be unaware of the possibility in the situations they were handling. Communication, both between and within agencies, was found to be poor; and specifically so with health agencies. Record keeping was essentially poor across agencies and particularly so in health services and schools. All agencies failed in seeing children in person, recording how they were, how they looked and wha t they said or noticed alterations in appearance or behaviour. Management oversight was identified in practically 50% of the evaluations, mostly in connection with social care managers. The absence of the management overview was common in cases concerning chronic neglect. Managers in such cases, instead of trying to see the larger picture, tended to react and make their decisions in response to specific incidents, as and when they arose. One manager decided it was not appropriate to remove four children on the basis of one minor injury and that instead a full assessment should be undertaken, without taking into account the catalogue of previous incidents and concerns, and the fact that the family had already been assessed four times. (Learning, 2008) Individual staff errors, in connection with social care staff, as well as members of police and health agencies were mentioned in a few cases as being instrumental in the lack of prevention of child abuse. Whilst staff capacity and resources were by and large not felt to be a major reason behind the failings, the requirement for additional staff training was mentioned in the majority of serious case reviews. The lack of basic awareness of indicators of abuse in important staff groups like teachers, health visitors, GPs, midwifes and emergency and accident personnel was felt to be a matter of great concern. Poor assessment and planning was a concern in most evaluations. Issues like parenting abilities, drug and alcohol dependence, and mental health problems were not addressed in decisions concerning the need for assessments. Universal services were felt to be inadequate in undertaking risk assessments for purposes of deciding whether specific cases should be referred to social care agencies. Members of universal services did not appear to have competencies in listening to children, in questioning what was presented to them, and in being open to the chances of abuse. With the prevalence of a rule of optimism, it was hard for such people to be curious about what the children were facing. Social care services were found failing in acting in accordance with their procedures, both with regard to assessment and planning. Assessments were not made in a number of cases, without such actions being supported by adequate reasons. Assessments, in other cases, were poorly done, often failing to take account of the wishes, feelings, or situation of the child, or of information available with other agencies. A number of reviews revealed agency neglect. Agencies, in such cases knew the families for considerable periods. The common themes that emerged in areas of neglect concerned (a) the failures of individual agencies to possess complete pictures of families, situations, and records, (b) agency tendencies to respond reactively, (c) resigned acceptance of otherwise unacceptable standards of care (d) failure to make direct contact with children and (d) not taking children seriously, when they try to tell agency representatives about their situations. An important message that arose from one of the reviews related to the issue of family support obscuring the need for child protection. It also was felt that (a) agencies should be more alert to the possibility of unintentional collusion by professionals in the continual abuse of children and that (b) decisive action needed to be taken when evidence of change with regard to circumstances of children was insufficient. The evaluation also takes note of poor record keeping, especially in the case of schools. Schools, in more than 60% of the cases, did not have comprehensive records, either of families of children, or of their attendance or non attendance. The Lord Laming Report on The Protection of Children in England, 2009, also makes a number of negative observations about management skills, leadership, and quality of decision making in the agencies responsible for directly and indirectly safeguarding children. Laming The report specifically calls upon the relevant Cabinet Subcommittee to ensure the adoption of comprehensive and collaborative national strategies for delivery of local strategies by all government departments involved in safety of children. The report calls upon Directors of Children Services, senior service managers, police area commanders and chief executives of PCTs to frequently review referrals in cases concerning the safety of children and ensure a sound approach in terms of multi-agency working, risk assessment, onward referral and decision making. DCSs without direct experience in protecting children are required to appoint senior managers with required skills and experience. The Laming Report further calls for effective leadership at the national, regional and local level in involved public agencies in order to provide the support or expertise required for adequate child protection. It places great emphasis on the role of the Directors of Children Services in protecting children and places the onus of responsibility squarely on their shoulders. The time is long past when the most junior employee should carry the heaviest burden of accountability. The performance and effectiveness of the most senior managers in each of these services should be assessed against the quality of the outcomes for the most vulnerable children and young people. (Laming, 2009) Managers, the report says, need to lead from the front and take personal interest in delivery of frontline services. They need to ensure that the stipulations regarding referral and assessment in working together to safeguard children are being adhered to comprehensively. Managers are also called upon to ensure that communication, information sharing and decision making between the local services and within each local service are capable of keeping children safe, even in times of pressure. They should value and support frontline managers, ensure rigorous management control of decision making and improve and shorten communication lines between senior managers and child protection staff. Management and Decision Making Issues in Public Service Agencies Study and analysis of the material available in serious case reviews reveals a number of issues of concern. At one level the concerns of policy makers, individual experts and monitoring agencies like Ofsted are very obvious. Such concerns have led to the enactment of child protection law and to the introduction of nationwide policies within the overall ambit of the Every Child Matters programme; which work towards ensuring the safety of children through the combined multidisciplinary efforts of the education, health, police and social services. Changes in attitudes towards increasing the effectiveness of working of government agencies have resulted in the introduction of managerialism and much stronger accountability among the executives and staff of these agencies. Structures have been put in place and procedures introduced to ensure better coordination and closer involvement between different agencies in delivery of services in various areas related to child protection. Members of the NHS, individual GPs, managements of schools, and members of the social services have repeatedly been tol d about and are aware of their need to work together, and take proactive steps on their own, without waiting for instructions or approval in any circumstance where the safety of a child has come or can come under threat. The extent of media discussion and public outrage that followed the deaths of James Bulger, Victoria Climbie and Baby P indicates the expectations of the nation from these services, with regard to protection of children and vulnerable young adults. The continuance of brutality and abuse towards children, resulting in injury and death, despite the introduction and implementation of numerous multi-dimensional and holistic measures, whilst being a matter of concern, primarily points to ineffective management and decision making at the level of service delivery in these various organisations. The key learning that emerges from the serious case reviews relates to (a) basic lack of understanding in agencies regarding the signs and symptoms of child abuse, (b) under establishment of meaningful contact with the children at threat, (c) credence to the views expressed by parents, (d) inability to counter the engineered hostility of parents, (e) poor quality assessments, (e) inadequate coordination between critical services like the police, the NHS, and schools with social services, (f) a high degree of management oversight, (g) the tendency of managers to ignore the larger picture and react to specific situations, (h) poor assessment and planning, (i) lack of alertness to the possibility of unintentional collusion by professionals in the continuance of abuse on children and (j) absence of decisive action in the presence of evidence relating to abuse of children. Lord Laming, in his comprehensive report also takes up the issue of management at the agency level very strongly. His comments indicate (a) the need for recruitment and retention of workers engaged in child protection, (b) undue emphasis on targets and processes, (c) bureaucratic, lengthy, and over complicated tick-box methods for assessment, (d) lack of coordination between different agencies responsible for child protection, (e) inadequate training and support for frontline workers in the police, social services and health care, (f) poor staff morale, (g) inadequate and low quality supervision, (h) high workloads and (i) the need for some resource augmentation, both in the police and in the social services. Such circumstances are exceedingly common in poorly managed organisations in the private sector, and are also reflective of many adequately resourced but inefficiently managed public sector organisations. Whilst sustained poor management in private business firms mostly leads to economic losses and organisational closure, similar situations in publicly funded government enterprises or agencies lead to continued inefficiency and poor product and service quality. Such situations in public service organisations entrusted with vitally important responsibilities can have literally tragic consequences; as is seen by the continuance of episodes of child brutality and child deaths. The continuance of such a situation is also absolutely unacceptable. Lord Laming, in a candid aside, remarks that he has often been tempted to tell managers of ineffective agencies to just do it, even whilst realising that such impatience was unlikely to lead to any constructive results. Laming The essence of management, both in the private and public sector lies in the making and in the quality of decisions by organisational managers. Managers in the course of their work are continuously required to assess alternatives and take decisions, on a broad range of issues, which can have both long and short term implications. Strategy, Proctor Extant management literature is awash with different decision making styles, which range from immediate and instinctive reactions to the use of complex statistical models and decision trees. Whilst decision making involves consideration of numerous factors, it is also subject to the influence of different obvious and latent forces. It involves both quantitative and qualitative analysis, even as it is affected by rational (objective) judgement and non-rational (subjective) factors like organisational environment and culture. Numerous subjective issues like the personality of decision makers, relationships of decision makers with other organisational members, peer pressure, expectations of seniors and juniors and personal agendas of decision makers influence decisions. Individuals engaged in social services are additionally bound to act in accordance with clear and strong codes of ethics and against oppression and discrimination. Professionals in other services that are associated with child protection, like schools, health services and the police are also influenced and controlled by their particular codes of conduct, their professional ethics, and their organisational norms. Decision making in such environments, which are likely to be chaotic rather than stable is essentially a complex issue and obviously subject to various degrees of success. Sources on Decision Making Whilst the possibility of decisions being wrong is normal in all human situations, the possibility of extremely unfortunate consequences of wrong decisions in areas of child safety make the institutionalisation of sound, rational and essentially ethical decision making processes in concerned necessary. Peter Drucker identifies eight decision making practices followed by successful executives Ask What needs to be done? Ask What is right for the enterprise? Develop action plans Take responsibility for decisions Take responsibility for communicating Focus on opportunities rather than problems Run productive meetings Think and say we rather than I (Decisionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 2010) Drucker Druckers suggestions go to the heart of the decision making process with fundamental questions on the need for the decision, followed by creation of focus on areas of improvement, rather than on problems, the development of collective action, and finally the need for responsibility and communication. Ralph Keeney (1998), states that decision making failures often occur because of decision makers tending to consider too few alternatives in their decision making process. Decision makers, Keeney states, need to assess their problems carefully and decide upon objectives by questioning goals, objectives, aspirations, interests and fears. They also need to carefully assess the consequences of different alternatives before choosing routes of action. Modern day managers are told to devise different alternatives through imagining of different options and use of brainstorming techniques. Limitations in Decision Making Practices of Managers of PSOs Managers in business settings tend to look at issues differently from those engaged in public service organisations. They have

Prejudice Essay -- Prejudging essays research papers

Missing Formatting In today’s world, there are many social issues, like poverty, vandalism and unemployment. However, prejudice has become the most dramatic one. Prejudging people for their appearance is a common practice that humans perform. People are not only ridiculed for their color, but also by their religion, sex or age. Therefore, I consider that racism, ageism and sexism are the three major problems in our society and we need to cease them immediately. Much of our world’s history were based upon racism. In the 1600’s, white men used Africans as slaves and treated them as they were not human. "Colored" people were not even allowed to use the same drinking fountains as white people. Fortunately, in the last three decades, race prejudice has taken a positive turn. Many rights progra...

White Fang :: White Fang Essays

White Fang The book White Fang by Jack London starts off when two men named Henry and Bill, are traveling through the snowy, below-zero weather to deliver the corpse of Lord Alfred to Fort McGurry. It is the time of famine and Henry and Bill are low on food and only have three rounds of ammunition left. One morning when they have woken up they find out that they only have two dogs of six left. The four that were missing had been eaten by the wolves. Bill decided to stay up the next night to try to kill the wolves, with whatever ammo he had left. When the night came so did the wolves. Bill chased the wolf pack, and killed three of the wolves. He tried to kill a fourth with his bare hands but it was to swift, and killed him in defence. Henry realizing what had happening lit a fire in a circle around him. Another group of people in the area saw the fire and came over and rescued Henry. After the famine ends the wolf pack splits up. The she-wolf and three male wolves travel together until one of the males named "One Eye" killed the other males in a battle for the she-wolf. One Eye and the she-wolf find a lair where the she-wolf can lie down to give birth to her cubs. Another famine comes upon the land when the cubs are still young and all of them die except for a small gray cub. The gray wolf was the strongest of his pack. His first lesson in life was the lesson of the wilderness, "Eat or be eaten, kill or be killed." The cub and it's mother leave One Eye and travel into an Indian village. The she-wolf is instantly recognized by an Indian named Gray Beaver. She answers to the name of "Kiche," and the little wolf is named White Fang. In the Indian village White Fang learns how to protect himself from other dogs. When White Fang's mother was taken from him he tried to follow hr but was beaten by Gray Beaver. The next day Gray Beaver went to sell furs at the nearest fort, and took White Fang with him.

The Affliction in the Middle Ages :: Diseases Medical Health Essays

The Affliction in the Middle Ages Disease and death are most often associated with the Middle Ages because of the widespread plagues and ignorance of medical knowledge during that time period. It is difficult, however, to ascertain the true nature of illness in the early Medieval Ages because in some written sources, the author’s standpoint distorts the presentation of the disease or cause of a person’s death so that the biological cause is skewed and unattainable. Gregory of Tours, for example, writes about two priests of Sidonius Apollinaris who rebelled against him. Both of these priests died very close to the same time of Sidonius’ death. The first priest died while in the lavatory and the second priest died while listening to a servant’s vision. For the causes of both deaths Gregory gives the credit to God, saying â€Å"the Lord passed this earthly judgement on those two unruly priests† (135). Details about the deaths are not given, but according to Gregory, they are irrelevant because the deaths were acts from God. For the first priest, he writes, â€Å"he went off to the lavatory and while he was occupied in emptying his bowels he lost his soul instead† (134). Moreover, he compared the death to that of Arius’, who was considered a heretic and â€Å"in the same way emptied out his entrails through his back passage in the lavatory,† which signifies that Gregory thinks both men died due to heresy ag ainst God (134). Gregory even says that â€Å"God in his clemency did not permit this insult to go long unpunished† (134). It is evident that the affliction, according to Gregory, is due to God’s hand. Gregory is writing from a Christian standpoint and is a bishop who greatly admired Sidonius, described here as â€Å"saintly† and an â€Å"angel†. Gregory’s agenda is such that he would want to publicize the sins of Sidonius’ enemies while also glorifying God. This may lead him to give transcendent causation for the deaths of these priests. Since the priests and Sidonius died at around the same time, one would think that there is a possibility that they could have died from the same kind of illness. Also, since Arius and the first priest both died while emptying their bowels, it is not entirely improbable that they had been suffering from some type of intestinal or digestive disease that may have been prevalent in the time period.