American Dream Essay Essay

Does American still provide access to the American Dream? Yes, America still provides access to the American Dream because it is â€Å"the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American.† It provides America access because it doesn’t matter what goes on or what happens in your life. It doesn’t matter your cultural background, life experiences, or the language you speak. All people are given the equal right and opportunities to become self-sufficient, independent, successful and prosperous. Education plays a great part in one achieving his/her goals with adequate preparation and application of knowledge. America still provides access because it gives you the opportunity to vote, speak, and have freedom. For example, to vote means that you can go and vote as you please, to speak means to say what you want to say when you want to say it, and freedom means you have the opportunity to go to school, graduate, get a college degree, and land a job in your career. I feel that America still provides access because you have the right to vote. However, you can determine which candidate campaigning for office you want to vote for. When choosing the person you think is best for the office it’s a hard choice because one person will have different views from the other. When it comes down to choosing you have to weigh your pros and cons. Voting is only a right and you should exercise the right to go and vote in order to have a voice or opinion about candidates. Although not everyone votes, every vote counts. Your verbal vote is not what counts. The American Dream does give you the opportunity to speak because you have the right to say what you want to say if you see something that you disagree with. When disagreeing with something that someone is doing, it has to be something that you don’t like or something that isn’t going the way you think it should be going. The pros and cons of speaking are saying the wrong thing at the wrong time or place and saying the right thing at the appropriate time. For example, when having a discussion about the American Dream and you have a negative statement about it keep it to yourself because you may offend someone just by what you stated. When discussing cigarettes or drugs, and you have a positive statement about it let it be heard because  you may change someone’s life about smoking again. America gives you the freedom to get an education. By getting an education it means you have the opportunity to become a successful and productive citizen as well as becoming a positive asset to society. It takes dedication, perseverance, and determination to be what you want to be in life. You must be honest, beginning with self and then with others. You must also be respectful to oneself and others. By the same token you must demand respect from others. The American Dream is bringing to reality the ideals of ambitious individuals who respect and expect to be respected while in pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.

The Necessity Of Computer Security

When the first electronic computers emerged from university and military laboratories in the late 1940s and early 1950s, visionaries proclaimed them the harbingers of a second industrial revolution that would transform business, government and industry. But few laymen, even if they were aware of the machines, could see the connection. Experts too, were sceptical. Not only were computers huge, expensive, one-of-a-kind devices designed for performing abstruse scientific and military calculations, such as cracking codes and calculations missile trajectories, they were also extremely difficult to handle. Now, it is clear that computers are not only here to stay, but they have a profound effect on society as well. As John McCarthy, Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, speculated in 1966: â€Å"The computer gives signs of becoming the contemporary counterpart of the steam engine that brought on the industrial revolution – one that is still gathering momentum and whose true nature had yet to be seen. † Today’s applications of computers are vast. They are used to run ordinary household appliances such as televisions and microwaves, to being tools in the workplaces through word processing, spreadsheets, and graphics software, to unning monumental tasks such as being the heart and soul of the nations tax processing department, and managing the project timetables of the Space Shuttle. It is obvious that the computer is now and always will be inexorably linked to our lives, and we have no choice but to accept this technology and learn how to harness its total potential. With any progressing technology, an unauthorized application can almost be found for it. A computer could and has been used for theft and fraud – for example, as a database and manager of illegal activities such as drug trafficking and pornography. However, we must not just consider the harmful applications of the computer, but also take into account the good that they have caused. When society embraced the computer technology, we have to treat this as an extension of what we already have at hand. This means that some problems that we had before the computer era may also arise now, in the form where computers are an accessory to a crime. One of the problems that society has faced ever since the dawn of civilization is privacy. The issue of privacy on the Internet has risen many arguments for and against having it. The issue of privacy has gotten to the oint where the government of the United States has placed a bill promoting a single chip to encrypt all private material on the Internet. Why is privacy so important? Hiding confidential material from intruders does not necessarily mean that what we keep secret it illegal. Since ancient times, people have trusted couriers to carry their messages. We seal out messages in a envelope when sending mail through the postal service. Using computer and encrypting programs to transfer electronic messages securely is not different from sending a letter the old-fashioned way. This paper will examine he modern methods of encrypting messages and analyse why Phil Zimmerman created an extremely powerful civilian encipherment program, called the PGP, for â€Å"Pretty Good Privacy. In particular, by focusing on cryptography, which was originally intended for military use, this paper will examine just how easy it is to conclude why giving civilians a military-grade encrypting program such as the PGP may be dangerous to national security. Therefore, with any type of new technology, this paper will argue that the application of cryptography for civilian purposes is not just a right, but is also a necessity. Increasingly in today’s era of computer technology, not only banks but also businesses and government agencies are turning to encryption. Computer security experts consider it best and most practical way to protect computer data from unauthorized disclosure when transmitted and even when stored on a disk, tape, of the magnetic strip of a credit card. Two encryption systems have led the way in the modern era. One is the single-key system, in which data is both encrypted and decrypted with the same key, a sequence of eight numbers, each between 0 and 127. The other is a 2-key ystem; in this approach to cryptography, a pair of mathematically complementary keys, each containing as many as 200 digits, are used for encryptions and decryption. In contrast with ciphers of earlier generations, where security depended in part on concealing the algorithm, confidentiality of a computer encrypted message hinges solely on the secrecy of the keys. Each system is thought to encrypt a message so inscrutably that the step-by-step mathematical algorithms can be made public without compromising security. The single key system, named the Data Encryption Standard – DES for short — as designed in 1977 as the official method for protecting unclassified computer data in agencies of the American Federal government. Its evolution began in 1973 when the US National Bureau of Standards, responding to public concern about the confidentiality of computerized information outside military and diplomatic channels, invited the submission of data-encryption techniques as the first step towards an encryption scheme intended for public use. The method selected by the bureau as the DES was developed by IBM researchers. During encryption, the DES algorithm divides a message into blocks f eight characters, then enciphers them one after another. Under control of the key, the letters and numbers of each block are scrambled no fewer than 16 times, resulting in eight characters of ciphertext. As good as the DES is, obsolescence will almost certainly overtake it. The life span of encryption systems tends to be short; the older and more widely used a cipher is, the higher the potential payoff if it is cracked, and the greater the likelihood that someone has succeeded. An entirely different approach to encryption, called the 2-key or public- key system, simplifies the problem of key distribution and management. The approach to cryptography eliminates the need for subscribers to share keys that must be kept confidential. In a public-key system, each subscriber has a pair of keys. One of them is the so-called public key, which is freely available to anyone who wishes to communicate with its owner. The other is a secret key, known only to its owner. Though either key can be used to encipher or to decipher data encrypted with its mate, in most instances, the public key is employed for encoding, and the private key for decoding. Thus, anyone can send a secret message to anyone else by using the addressee’s public key to encrypt ts contents. But only the recipient of the message can make sense of it, since only that person has the private key. A public key cryptosystem is called the PGP, for Pretty Good Privacy. Designed by Phil Zimmerman, this program is freely distributed for the purpose of giving the public the knowledge that whatever communications they pass, they can be sure that it is practically unbreakable. PGP generates a public and private key for the user using the RSA technique. The data is then encrypted and decrypted with the IDEA algorithm – which is similar to the DES, but the work factor to decode the encrypted message by brute orce is much higher than what the DES could provide. The reason why the RSA is used only when generating the keys is that the RSA takes a very long time to encrypt an entire document, where using the RSA on the keys takes a mere fraction of the time. At this time, Zimmerman is bing charged by the US government for his effort in developing the PGP. The government considers encryption as a weapon, and they have established regulations controlling or prohibiting the export of munitions. Since the PGP is a powerful encryption program, it is considered and can be used as a powerful weapon and may be a threat to national security. On the Internet, it is clear that many people all over the world are against the US government’s effort on limiting the PGP’s encryption capabilities, and their reason is that the ban infringes on the people’s right to privacy. The PGP must not be treated only as a weapon, for it contains analogies that are not used in wartime. One of them is authentication. The two-key cryptosystem is designed with authentication in mind: Using someone’s public key to encrypt enables only the owner of the private key to decrypt the same message. In the real world, we use our own signature to prove out identity in signing heques or contracts. There exists retina scanners that check the blood vessels in out eyes, as well as fingerprint analysis devices. These use our physical characteristics to prove our identity. A digital signature generated by a public key cryptosystem is much harder to counterfeit because of the mathematics of factoring – which is an advantage over conventional methods of tests for out identity. Another analogy the PGP has with the real world is the need for security. Banks and corporations employ a trusted courier – in the form of an armoured truck or a guard – to transfer sensitive documents or valuables. However, this is expensive for civilian purposes, and the PGP provides the same or better security when securing civilian information. While many argue that limiting the PGP’s abilities are against the people’s right to privacy, the PGP must also be seen as a necessity as we enter the Information Age. There is currently little or no practical and inexpensive way to secure digital information for civilians, and the PGP is an answer to this problem. Computer privacy must not be treated differently than any other method to make private any documents. Rather, we must consider the computer as a tool and se it as an extension of society’s evolution. Clearly the techniques we employ for computer privacy such as encryption, secure transfers and authentication closely mirrors past efforts at privacy and non-criminal efforts. The government is putting more pressure against the distribution of PGP outside of the United States. One of their main reasons was that since it is freely distributed and thus can be modified in such a way that even the vast computational resources of the US government cannot break the PGP’s secured message. The government could now reason that the PGP can provide criminal rganizations a means of secure communications and storage of their activities, and thus make the law enforcement’s job much harder in tracking criminals down and proving them guilty. Also, we must never forget one of out basic human rights – one that many laid their lives for, is freedom. We have the freedom to do anything we wish that is within the law. The government is now attempting to pass a bill promoting a single algorithm to encrypt and decrypt all data that belongs to its citizens. A multitude of people around the world are opposed to this concept, arguing that it is against their freedom and their privacy.

Organisational Change Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Organisational Change Management - Case Study Example The organization is also likely to face stiff competition from its competitors in the market some of who may be so aggressive thus the need to encourage innovativeness as a way to realizing the much needed change as some consider rebranding with the sole aim in mind. Effectiveness is of the essence owing to its ability to better place the organization far beyond its competitors. In order to attain high projections it’s wise to be more conversant on how the market may be faring at any one time and could be facilitated when a good feedback system is adopted (Berger, Sikora & Berger, 1994). In order to bring about change, change ought to begin at an individual level before it can be marketed. Staffs are thus expected to embrace a good attitude while going about their duties. This is due to its ability to increase productivity as most staffs are more motivated when this is achieved. A number of considerations are thus looked at both at internal and external levels due to their sig nificance to this process. Such factors are able to affect the entire process in both direct and indirect way. In order to achieve much one ought to use his skills and knowledge appropriately while implementing change in line with upgrading current systems to match up with the changing world as (Managing Change, 2003). While championing change one is likely to realize that this if well managed could be used as an effective tool thus making it possible to overcome existing barriers which in a more efficient way. Factors triggering the need for Change   Change management is a transformation process championed in an organization while striving at maintaining its relevancy in the industry. It could be adopted while trying to solve noted problem or rather trying to take advantage of an opportunity in a more ambitious way before other players capitalize on it. A number of common features are stated below and could give us a clue on what may cause it. 1. A new system is likely to be acqu ired by the organization and thus could be working on modalities geared at its implementation (Nickols, 2000). Factors leading to such change could be externally or internally derived. 2. In some situations organizations may be forced to adhere to change owing to a change in legislation based on the laws of certain countries, social issues as well as competition (Nickols, 2000). During such events rarely does it have a say regarding such issues. How does Change Management work several procedures are followed while going about the change process. At the top of the list change trigger are noted and good strategies initiated till the entire process is implemented as illustrated; Figure 1: The Change Management Model (L. A. Berger et al., 1994) Change Management Value A lot can be derived from this process basically because it motivates them towards realizing the much needed change while limiting barriers in existence at the organizational environment level. It is thus important to reco gnize the present need for change before taking any meaningful step to actualizing anything. When such problems are handled well organizations are more likely to derive much from such situation and could be because they could present an opportunity to them (Nickols, 2000). Table 1  - Examples of Change Management   Barriers/Drivers Example Motivation  - lack of value or confidence; don't care or understand the benefits Motivation

Analysis of Heraldic Shield Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of Heraldic Shield - Essay Example While designing, this heraldic shield I have thought on various dimensions of human personality. A heraldic shield usually represent, differ rent aspect of human personality like courage, honesty, beauty, grace and charisma. So, in order o reflect all these qualities, I chose couple of birds, animals, plant, tree, colors and a motto. I understand that every shield should represent rich message to people who view it. A heraldic shield is represents the vigor and pride of an organization, military unit or any other professional institution. Symbols and its interpretation First symbol on the shield is lion and it is an animal known as the king of the jungle and is popularly known for its royal status. Here the shield is held by lion because it is depicting the strength and royalty one needs to imbibe in their personality to build a good future. Lion is always bold in its attitude and every person must have the eagerness to learn from the lion to be bold in every facets of life. Lion als o portrays pride, protective nature and braveness. Seeing these qualities in Lion, one should learn to look up to lion and transform oneself into brave personality. In the same manner, other animal which is holding the shield is unicorn . First and foremost the white color of unicorn is a sign of chastity, purity and virginity. This gives a message to people that one need to be pure and virgin in thoughts . According to (Martin,2010)â€Å"To encounter a Unicorn, a person must find a place of true love in their heart. Unicorns have many traits and characteristics, and they mean many things to different people†. . In mythology, unicorn is a symbol of chivalry and it’s portrays the qualities of proud, untamable nature and unique status. Moreover the horn of unicorn resembles the weapon of Christ and one who has faith in Christianity. A unicorns also resembles a girls’ virginity and hence a girl should always maintain her purity Another beautiful symbol which is pro jected in the heraldic shield is Swan a heavenly bird. Swan is a bird which is said to be heavenly and popular for its beauty and elegance. This elegant nature of Swan conveys the message to the people to be elegant and gracious. The swan spread a symbolic message of love, grace and beauty to the people in total. A swan means appealing beauty, attractiveness and romance. Swan gives an idea to the people that one should always try to remain beautiful in and out and gracious like them. Swan has the strength of beautifying any environment it is in and this attribute of swan communicate to the people to remain calm and serene in any environment they are in. Another gracious bird which decorates the shield is peacock. It's a well-known fact that the peacock is the most beautiful bird on earth and it is known for its colorful and shiny feathers and dancing quality. When a peacock dances, everybody sways in the festive mood of the bird. As per (Augustine, 2012)â€Å"The characteristics of a peacock are extravagant, making it easy to differentiate between him, his female counterpart and other types of birds†. Here the peacock refers to the symbol of vanity and fanciness. It represents the core attribute of women, who is always craving for vanity and glamour. When it comes to the charm of my heraldic shield, it is enhanced by the inclusion of rose. Rose is one of the most beautiful plants in whole of earth because of its beauty and mesmerizing fragrance. Throughout the human history, very few flowers had the luck to be in the hearts of people forever. Rose is often connected to romance, heart, love and passion. A rose symbolizes the passion and desire a man have towards his love interest.  Ã‚  

The Presence of Family History and the Development of Type 2 Diabetes Research Paper

The Presence of Family History and the Development of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Risk Factors in Rural Children - Research Paper Example The existence of several risk factors in the samples reporting a positive family history of diabetes Vs those with no history on diabetes was not statistically significant (Richard, 2010). According to the results, other factors apart from family history can also influence the development of this kind of diabetes in rural school going children. Purpose, problem and statement and sampling of the study The study sought to find the effect of the selected risks and how they lead to the development of the type 2 DM in rural children. The problem and purpose of the study clearly states the association between the variables used in the study. The focused population of the study is the children from rural areas and the study clearly indicates that on the problem statement. The objectives of the author were obtainable due to the inclusion of adequate information that will help achieve the purpose and hence will aid the solutions to the problem (Ogundipe, 2005). Hypothesis The study used both the combination of the null and research hypothesis. The prevalence of diabetes is related to genetic factors among the rural children There is a relationship between rural children type diabetes and family history Type 2 diabetes is prevalent among children from rural areas The study does not stop there or rather utilizes, for efficiency, the directional hypothesis. The hypotheses are having a strong base from the purpose of the study and their statements are clear and focused in the study. The hypotheses are appropriately tested using the t-statistics. Variables Independent Variable Type 2 DM Dependent Variable The family history. From the results 13.7 percent of 1255 participants recorded BMI which was greater than 27. And among the 13 percent, 46.5% reported a history of DM on their family. The independent variable is family history while the dependent variable Type 2 DM. these variables are consistent with the hypothesis, purpose and the questions of the study. However, these v ariables lack adequate conceptual and operational definition. Data collection methods The method of data collection employed was qualitative and qualitative techniques. For instance, open ended questionnaires were used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Data collection instruments The study utilizes appropriate data collection methods and instruments by applying the use of the questionnaires to collect data. Data Analysis The samples were subjected to BMI and the results analyzed statistically. These instruments represent the validity of the results hence the general validity of the study. However, I suppose more data collection and instruments such as in self-reports, medical records and observation and also the sample size would have been increased so as to increase the representation of the target of the population. Methodologies The study uses a more advanced correlation research design. The study aims at screening about 4000 rural nursery school kids through 12t h grade children from families who has history of DM children from families with no history in DM, and then determines the frequency of preferred risk factors. Screen is a good method for this kind of analysis; however, a better analysis such as Body Mass Index has

EU Enlargement to Eastern Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

EU Enlargement to Eastern Europe - Essay Example Following the launch of the euro as EU's common currency, the EU found it necessary to shift its attention to the East. The decision to enlarge EU membership to Eastern European countries was finalized in 2002 and its first phase would have been carried out between 2004 and 2006. Here, EU negotiates what analysts perceive as a bumpy road. belonged to the former communist bloc which just emerged from half a century of Soviet domination. Throughout this long period, they operated on a planned economy and it is only now that they are moving in unison towards a market economy. As a lingering effect of a less efficient economic system, their incomes are much lower than those of existing EU members. This poses a problem to the process of harmonizing the entry of these countries into EU. EU enlargement to Eastern Europe will boost the European common market from 320 million people to about 470 million. Unlike Switzerland, Norway and Iceland which joined only EU's free trade area, the Eastern European countries need to be full EU members or they will not enjoy the promised benefits. This entails huge costs on the part of the new members. Eastern Europe is a low-income region of about 100 million people whose combined income will raise the GDP of EU by a mere 5 per cent. This is very much less than the result of previous EU expansions to the North and South. It is not only their low income levels that may bring deleterious effects to EU but also the fact that these countries are in the middle of a transition phase from a centrally planned to a market economy. In addition, the new members will have to cope with more EU regulations than before because of the recent creation of the Single European Market concept. Although many of the former communist bloc countries are convinced of the superiority of the free market, some have retained their faith in the socialist system and in the role of government in steering economic growth. Thus, many of them continue to bring up the rear on the list of world's freest economies. In the 2003 Economic Freedom of the World Report, only Estonia made it to the16th rung. Hungary was 35th, Czech 39th and Latvia 51st. At the bottom of the list were Bulgaria at 103rd place, Russia 112th, Romania 116th and Ukraine 117th. (Tupy, L., 2003) Initially, liberalization of these economies pushed output down, but they gradually recovered. By 2002, their separate GDPs grew as foreign investment started to come in. During that year, the World Bank reported that Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Sloavakia led the pack with an average 2.3 per cent growth. Poland is the largest of these former communist bloc countries and may prove to be of strategic importance to EU since it is the gateway of Western Europe into the large Eastern European countries of Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. (Mind Your Business, 2004) The other big countries in the East that are slated to join EU are Russia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia. Poland's Problems Signs that Poland is a possible problem child for EU became evident as soon as the homeland of the beloved Pope John Paul II took the first step of joining the union in May 2004. Polish

LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORKS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORKS - Essay Example The reasonable man test1 has been used to establish the duty of care in most cases. In Adeels Palace Pty Ltd v Bou Najem, the court established that the owner of licensed premises owes a duty of care to all patrons of the premises to prevent them from harmful acts of other patrons. The defendant should have breached the duty of care owed to the plaintiff for liability in negligence to arise. The defendant is in breach of the duty where he fails to exercise reasonable care while fulfilling the duty. Establishing breach is a question of fact in most cases.2 In Doubleday v Kelly, the court established that failing to supervise a child who would probably engage in s harmful activity amounted to a breach of the duty of care. The defendant’s action should have been the proximate cause of the injuries suffered by the plaintiff. The defendant becomes responsible for those injuries that he could have foreseen under the circumstances of his actions.3 Otherwise, the plaintiff cannot prove that the actions of the defendant were the proximate cause of the injuries suffered. In Imbeere v McNeilly, the court established the standard of a learner driver, stating that the supervisor should take reasonable care to avoid causation of accidents. The harm or injury caused t o the plaintiff must be legally recognized. The harm should be physical to a person or the person’s property. The damages must be actual4 to the person owed a duty of care. Driving on public lanes and roads means that the driver has a legal duty to all other drivers, motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians. Phil, therefore, owed a duty of care to Collins as a cyclist on the road. Phil failed to exercise reasonable care in fulfilling his duty as a driver. Before taking a move, he should have looked at the persons beside, in front, and behind him to ensure no accident occurred. This breach is the proximate cause

Difficulties of HR in managing multicultural workforce Essay

Difficulties of HR in managing multicultural workforce - Essay Example Team cohesiveness and task identity were predictors of collaborative problem solving and productivity for R & D teams (Dailey, 1978). Cooperation and collaboration is essential for team success.† Paraphrasing The author suggests that the negative aspects of a culturally diverse team can be reduced by ensuring that team members are not frequently changed. If team members stay together for an elongated period of time then they begin to understand each others’ style of working and know what to expect from the other individual. Team members tend to start cooperating with each other (irrespective of their cultural differences) if they stay together in the same team. The authors stated that team cooperation and collaboration are important elements for any team’s success. Commentary This paragraph is important for the chosen research topic as it highlights an important technique that can be useful to make teams more productive and successful. Many organizations do not fo llow this approach and have no awareness about the importance of keeping team members in the same team structure. This approach can reduce many difficulties for the HR department since instances of lack of coordination between team members can be significantly reduced with this approach. Source: Tilker, Lutz. â€Å"Managing diversity†, SpencerStuart, 2004. ... Diversity management helps to recruit and retain staff because companies take account of the different circumstances of current and potential employees. It strengthens innovation because diversity produces more creativity. And it improves the corporate image because diversity reflects important social values. Paraphrasing The author explains that effective cultural diversity management can prove to increase revenues and corporate value for the company. The improvement in business is due to the provision of better customer service and meeting their requirements in a fitting manner. The author quoted a research of another researcher, who stated that companies with better diversity management techniques are known to be more successful. Such companies are able to understand the problems of existing and new employees therefore they are able to retain more employees than other companies. The author also agreed that diversity promotes creativity in the business processes of the organization and it also helps to attain a positive image for the company. Commentary This paragraph is important for the research since it points out the benefits of embracing multicultural workforces in organizations. Some of the appealing benefits are increased profits, better image of the company and promotion of creativity. This research finding will support the benefits in the research study. Source: Chartered Institute of Personnel and development, â€Å"Managing diversity measuring success†, Change Agenda, 2005. For a multinational corporation, having workforce diversity may help it to be better at dealing with the diverse cultures it operates in and to design and implement strategies to improve market penetration and product differentiation through greater

History of Informatics and Areas of Practice - Entity Ranking Term Paper

History of Informatics and Areas of Practice - Entity Ranking - Term Paper Example I will proceed to describe each group and give required reasoning as to why each is important to me. Discussion 1. AMIA The first to me is the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA, 2012). One of its missions is to provide information on the electronic health records, compliance and reimbursement. Rather recent in its development (1989), formed due to the merger of three older groups, the organization concentrates on the holistic study of informatics, with concentration on five specific areas. Translational Bioinformatics is basically that which deals with analyzing and finding new ways of storing medical data. Clinical Research Informatics involves the management of trials and discoveries related to health maintenance and disease prevention. Clinical Informatics is concerned with the application of information technology in the treatment arena. Other healthcare professionals, such as dentists and veterinarians, could also apply it in their work. Consumer Health Informatics is the branch concerned with the public information and education and also is responsible for EMR. Public Health Informatics is where the CDC would be involved, as it is mainly concerned with such things as infectious diseases and bioterrorism (AMIA, 2012). Therefore it can be seen that the AMIA is involved in all areas of informatics and, as it states in its own bylaws â€Å"AMIA aims to lead the way in transforming health care through trusted science, education, and the practice of informatics.† The core of their beliefs is the science of informatics, which in a nutshell is enhancing the health of the patients while providing the best in quality and safety of care through the use of information technology. As it is a nonprofit organization, most of its money can, therefore, be dedicated to promoting informatics. The AMIA also has its own journal, appropriately named the JAMIA. It should come as a little surprise that the American Medical Association (AMA) has coordinated wi th the AMIA to come up with a new specialty, Clinical Informatics (Dolan, 2011). Therefore, considering the arguments I have provided, I feel the AMIA should be recognized as first and foremost in importance of all informatics groups and the specific disciplines each represents. 2. HIMSS The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS, 2012) like the AMIA is a non-profit organization â€Å"exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare† (HIMSS, 2012). It specializes in the betterment of such areas as Home Health, as it is found patients respond much better in a comfortable environment such as the home. Clinical Business Intelligence uses informatics in the modernization and development of the medical practice, utilizing available statistical data to ensure better patient care. HIMSS is also heavily involved in the Electronic Medical Record conversion process in order for doctors and clinics to comply with federal law and simplify the healthcare professionals’ job. Other areas of concern for HIMSS are pharmaceutical informatics, medical banking (the business part of the medical business), and billing and paying. HIMSS is also

Australia Fast Food Industry Analysis (Hungry Jack) Essay

Australia Fast Food Industry Analysis (Hungry Jack) - Essay Example IBIS has reported that the fast food industry of Australia will grow at a rate of 3.7% per annum for next few years while there is a possibility dwindling spending capacity of consumers caused by economic recession might decrease the projected growth rate (IBIS World, 2012). Low entry of barrier is an important characteristic of Australian fast food industry. IBIS (2012) has reported that new entrants need to invest capital in the range of $90,000 up to $300,000 to set up fast food outlet in Australia. The analysis will try to determine the dynamics of the industry in terms of external environment, industry forces, competitor analysis and critical success factors. Major aim of the study is to analyze the Australian fast-food industry in terms of both internal and external environment. Major findings of the study can be explained in the following manner. Entry barrier for fast food industry in Australia is low. Companies need to launch low calorie fast foods to keep pace with changing consumer preference. Major recommendation for companies planning to enter fast food business in Australia are 1- use market development strategy in order to increase penetration and 2- use focus strategy to decrease risk factors. First section of the study will discuss brief introduction of fast foods industry in Australia, second portion of the study will analyze the fast-food industry in Australia in terms of PESTLE analysis, porter five force analyses & contingency theory and critical success factors. Third section of the study will provide suitable recommendation to companies planning to enter in fast food business in Australia. B. Industry Analysis A snapshot of the fast food industry of Australian can be used in order to understand the underlying opportunities in the business environment of the country. Market Value Market Value Forecast Market Volume Market Volume Forecast Category Segmentation Market Competition Total market value of fast food industry in the country is mor e than $5,000 million. The market value will increase at growth rate of 2.5% and it will touch the mark $6,000 million within 2016. Total transaction recorded for the industry is recorded as $1,160.1 million for the year 2012. Market volume will decrease at a rate of 3% and it will touch the mark $1,130.1 million transactions within 2016. Restaurant business contributes 66% of total market value of the industry. 45% of market share is dominated by four big players such as Domino's Pizza, McDonald's, Hungry Jacks and Yum! Brands. (Source: Market Line, 2011) Market volume of Australian fast food industry has decreased by significant level in last two years. Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of the industry has decreased by 4.2% in last five years. PESTLE Analysis Henry (2008) has stated that PESTLE analysis is an important tool to analyse the macro environment of any country. Political Australian government has implemented carbon tax on companies operating in the country. High carbon tax rate imposed by government can increase the operating cost of fast food companies. Australian government also increased restriction on advertising for children hence fast-food companies need to be careful while designing advertisement for

Ballard Integrated Managed Services Essay Example for Free

Ballard Integrated Managed Services Essay When Barbara Tucker, General Manager for Ballard Integrated Managed Services, Inc., realized that her employee’s attitudes and behaviors were on a declining course, Barbara knew she must act promptly. Barbara oversees 452 workers divided into three divisions, each including its own management team; these divisions are food service, hospitality and maintenance. In order to fix the problems with employees, Barbara had to identify the problem first; with the help of coworkers, Barbara was able to create a plan. The plan identified and stated the problem, purpose, research questions and hypothesis for the research; Barbara also had to decide which instrument to use for data collection. Barbaras research plan identified how the data would be collected and identified measurements for the variables involved in her study. Once the study was completed, the data was analyzed by eliminating the data input errors. In the end, a conclusion must be made about the appropriateness and applicability of the data to meet the ultimate purpose of the study. A closer look into the research and the execution of the plan will give management the answers to their questions about employee morale. BIMS management has noticed negative changes within the company over the past 4 months. The turnover rate for the company has increased by close to 9%, the use of sick time has increased, management is noticing a large amount of employees killing time throughout their work day instead of working, and the quality of work has declined as well, creating complaints from the Douglas Medical Center administration, which contracts BIMS. Unfortunately for Barbara and her team of managers, employees leaving the company have not left any clues as to why these things are happening when exit interviews were conducted, leaving this management team to explore on their own in hopes of finding solutions. Barbara and the managers  involved in finding solutions to the obvious problems decide to use an employee survey instrument in order to collect data which is thought to be relevant; HR manager Debbie Horner was put in charge of creating the employee survey since she completed her MBA and based her thesis on employee motivation. Debbie created a survey with ten questions asking workers to express their view about working conditions, shift hours, quality of training, and level of compensation, fair treatment, internal company communications, and job security. The employees were asked to answer the following questions on a scale from one to five, with five being very positive; 1. How well do you enjoy working for BIMS? 2. You enjoy your assigned shift. 3. Your request for your desired shift was fulfilled. 4. How many times have you called in sick in the last month? 5. You are well trained for your work. 6. You are paid fairly for the work you do. 7. Your supervisor treats you fairly. 8. Your supervisor’s boss treats your division fairly. 9. The company is good at communicating. 10. You do not fear that you will lose your job. A few demographics were also included so that Debbie could separate responses by division; Debbie included demographics because she wanted to compute descriptive and frequency techniques, and then further study the data for possible correlations. The Quantitative research done in this case was created as an employee survey in order to get a glimpse at employee’s thoughts and feelings about their job and to decipher whether employees feel they are being treated fairly. This survey was distributed with payroll checks originally and a reminder message was sent out with the following payroll checks. The instrument to be used is a survey based on the questions that were asked of the employees, the type of statistical questionnaire was inferential statistics it was based on questions asked of the employees and was given to a sample size of estimated 449 employees; however, the way the survey was administered was not effective for the 449 employees to complete and only 78 employees completed the survey. The variable is quantitative and coded with discrete information, which is conducive to the type of survey used, and clearly shows gaps between values, however it is not representative to concluding a finding due to the sample size being smaller then what the survey was designed and planned for. Unfortunately, the General Manager was not successful at administering the survey that resulted in a 17% response rate, which does not show a good  sample size nor does it generate the results intended to make concrete improvements and changes to the company. Reference Descriptive vs. Inferential Statistics Whats the Difference. (December 1, 2011). Retrieved from http://www.mymarketresearchmethods.com/descriptive-inferential-statistics-difference/

Manifestations of Sexism Across Languages

Manifestations of Sexism Across Languages Social Sexism Language Abstract There is no denying that communication is one of the keys to success for individuals in a rapidly changing world. Why do mere words carry too much power? First of all, language can develop one’s consciousness from infancy. Children learning the language are likely to absorb the cultural assumptions, myths and prejudice underlying language use. Social inequity reflected in language, thus, can powerfully shapes children’s later behaviors and attitudes. In this way, language affects socialization of the community where it belongs. The aim of this paper is to develop human perspectives on sexism in language, its manifestations and its negative impacts on women. From theory to practice, the paper, furthermore, equips its readers with relevant guidelines to stay away from unwittingly using sexist language and apply the gender-neutral language. Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1. Discrimination against women Sexism or gender discrimination means treating people differently on the grounds of their genders, which they were born to be. In a popular old feminist slogan, which goes â€Å"You start by sinking into his arms and end up with your arms in his sink†, the prevalence of sexism is beyond question. For years, men have held the dominant position of power and ruled the world while women have been considered inferior and useless. Even in our modern times, millions of women across the world are living in inequality, in injustice: their basic human rights are severely infringed due to no other reasons than their gender. Discrimination against women is manifested in numerous aspects of life such as education, work, enjoyment of benefits, freedom, power, etc. Take education as an example. Women, who make up 66% of the world’s illiterate adults, may account for 55% of college students but even after they successfully completed the same course of education or training, their equal work opportunities, and equal treatment in their career life are not guaranteed. Sex Discrimination in the Workplace According to Women’s World Summit Foundation, globally, women perform 66% of the world’s work, but receive only 11% of the world’s income, and own only 1% of the world’s land. Also, a report released in August 2007 by the US Census Statistics showed that womens earnings in 2006 were 76.9% of mens,  leaving the wage gap statistically  unchanged from  last year Unequal payment against women The manifestation of sexism can be found almost everywhere on earth, from most developed countries to developing countries and under-developed ones in Asia and Africa. In parts of the world, like China, India and Vietnam, parents may terminate the foetus or put the baby up to adoption on the basis that it is a girl. Abuses against women are social epidemics throughout the world. More often than not, men in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, South Africa, and Peru, etc. beat their wives and daughters at home at an astounding rate. In Ukraine, Nigeria, and Thailand, women are bought and sold, trafficked and forced to work as prostitutes. In the meantime, women in Morocco, Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia tackle with discrimination that renders them unequal before the law. Even in the US, where freedom is believed to reach the extreme, breaking news and articles on polygamy keep showing up frequently in daily newspaper, radio and television. Recently, a huge scandal over a polygamist broke on the front page of all the papers. Warren Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Texas, was convicted after he forced a 14-year-old girl to marry her cousin. That unfortunate girl is not the only case. Hundreds of other girls and women there suffer from the same ill-treatment. Members in the sect led by Jeffs believe that a man must marry at least three wives in order to ascend to heaven. Women are meanwhile taught that their path to heaven depends on being subservient to their husbands. 1.2. Gender Equality Thanks to the dawn of civilization, the vital roles of women have been recognized and gender equality has received major attention. Since the 1960s, feminism movements began and have blossomed all over the world. People’s attitude and ways of thinking toward women have been changing positively. In many countries, girls have the opportunity to go to school and enjoy the same rights as their male classmates. The number of female employees in the workplace has risen up dramatically. A peak in social changes is the adoption of Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women by the United Nations General Assembly on December, 18th, 1979. It came into full force as an international treaty after the twentieth country ratified it on September, 3rd, 1981. In its approach, the Convention covers three dimensions of the situation of women. Civil rights and the legal status of women are dealt with in great detail. In addition, the Convention, unlike other human rights treaties, is also concerned with the dimension of human reproduction as well as with the impact of cultural factors on gender relations. The implementation of the Convention is monitored by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Committees mandate and the administration of the treaty are defined in the Articles 17 to 30 of the Convention. The Committee is composed of 23 experts nominated by their Governments and elected by the States parties as individuals of high moral standing and competence in the field covered by the Convention. At least every four years, the States parties are expected to submit a national report to the Committee, indicating the measures they have adopted to give effect to the provisions of the Convention. During its annual session, the Committee members discuss these reports with the Government representatives and explore with them areas for further action by the specific country. The Committee also makes general recommendations to the States parties on matters concerning the elimination of discrimination against women. 1.3. Language as the reflector of society Language is not merely a means of communication; rather, it connects people to each other in social relationships and allows them to participate in a variety of activities in daily life. There is a reciprocal relationship between language and the society in which the society dominates the kind of language spoken in its community. And in return, people’s thought is strongly affected by their languages. Every little change in the thought takes language’s influence to the extreme, transcending the whole society. Consequently, under the canopy of sexism world, language in general or English in particular is greatly influenced and turns out to be sexist, creating Sexism in Language. For example, in the Western countries, the manifestation of sexist language emerged on the very early days in the Bible. This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and he blessed them and he named them Man in the day when they were created. (Genesis 5:1, 2) When Neil Armstrong, the legendary American astronaut, made his very first step on the moon, he uttered a memorable sentence: Thats one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. If he had landed on the moon in the mid-90s, he would definitely have said a much more politically correct sentence: Thats one small step for a person, one giant leap for humankind.† which is less poetic but certainly more literally representative of the whole of the human race. In the progressive, civilized world today, women and men are to be recognized equal. In the same vein, sexist language should not be welcomed and that is the reason why neutral-gender language is preferred to the sexist one by many people. 1.4. Aims and objectives There is a long way to go until the deep-rooted concept of sexism vanishes completely though a lot of changes have come in subtle ways through our actions, our movements, our laws,. As one more step towards this end, important things like the usage of words should be taken into consideration. If children are exposed to sexist words used by their parents, relatives since their childhood, they will take it for granted that sexism is not a matter, that language is language and that we just swim with the tide. Clearly, language may shape human thought. Therefore, in this paper, my overall aim and objectives are: To raise public awareness in using language. To help English learners to improve their understanding in sexist language. To provide information that, to some extent, shows English learners to the right track of language usage so as not to unwittingly offend or hurt anyone. To describe how discrimination against women appears in spoken and written language and explain what sexist language is and what meaning lies behind it. To manifest sexism in Vietnamese roughly and sexism in English in more details. Last but not least, to provide English users with some practical tips to avoid sexist language. Chapter 2 Review Of The Related Literature The relationship between language and gender has long been of interest within sociolinguistics and related disciplines. The possibility of eliminating sexism from language originally stems from the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which states that language is not only shaped by society, but society by its language. Since the early 1900s, Edward Sapir first identified a new concept, which is language determinism. In his perspectives, language defines the way a person behaves and thinks. He believed that language and the thoughts that we have are somehow interwoven, and that all people are equally being affected by the confines of their language. Later, Benjamin Whorf, Sapir’s student, picked up on the idea of linguistic determinism and really made it his own. Whorf coined the so-called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which is more properly referred to as the Whorf hypothesis. Under this hypothesis, language is believed to be more than a way of voicing ideas, but the element which shapes those ideas. One cannot think outside the confines of their language. Whorf put his whole trust in linguistic determinism; that what one thinks is fully determined by its language. He also supported linguistic relativity, which means that the differences in language reflect the different views of different people. For example, Whorf conducted a study on the Hopi language. He did research on a Hopi speaker who lived in New York City near the place he lived. He concluded that Hopi speakers do not include tense in their sentences, and therefore must have a different sense of time than other groups of people. On a parting note, the strong form of the hypothesis is not now widely believed. After all, speakers of one language can explain and understand the conceptual systems of another language. And grammatical categories do not thoroughly explain cultural systems. Indo-European languages put gender into a grammatical category, and their speakers may be sexist but speakers of Turkish or Chinese, languages without grammatical gender, are not notably less sexist. A weak form of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, that language influences without determining our categories of thought still seems justifiable, and is even backed up by some psychological experiments like the finding of Kay Kempton which depicts, in distinguishing colour triads, a pair distinguished by colour names can seem more distinct than a pair with the same name which are actually more divergent optically. As a field, prompted by the blossoming Western Women’s Movement, language and gender really took off in the 1970s with particular interest from feminist researchers, in the potential for male dominance of mixed-gender talk such as men interrupting women more often than the reverse case or in the clarification of distinction between female and male speaking styles and in sexism, or sexist bias, in language. The year 1975 can be regarded as a milestone in the study of language and gender in the West. In that year three important books were published. They are Robin Lakoff’s work Language and Women’s Place, Thorne and Henley’s co-edited collection named Language and Sex: Difference and Dominance, and Key’s book about Male /Female Language. With a closer look at Lakoff’s book, he focuses especially on female use of woman talk in society and the problems women must overcome to be seen as effective, strong thinkers and speakers. The author uses classroom observations and examples to convey the idea that children are taught to speak politely and to accept peoples ideas. Ridicule from older boys causes boys around the age of five to stop using woman talk and adopt a masculine language. Girls sustain their old language and are discouraged from using masculine language. As for adults, a problem arises when women has to handle both business and personal relationships. They use neutral language for business but mostly feminine language when talking to friends. If they refuse to talk like ladies, they are ridiculed for being masculine, but they are also ridiculed when they use feminine language because they are seen as unable to speak forcefully. Basically, women are damned if they do and damned if they dont. Men, from childhood on, have taken control over the society and speech by using strong expressions while women have had to adapt their language to variations, no matter business or personal. For instance, a woman may say an idea is terrific in a board meeting, but when she is talking to her female friend she may utter that the idea is divine. The adjectives used vary with a womans environment. Because women have to make adjustments in their speech, Lakoff observes, most women never really master either language or feel comfortable using both. Therefore, the overall effect of womans talk is to engage a womans personal identity and her ideas, erasing the chance to take power. Thanks to observations, the author notes that women outnumbered men in utilizing more tag questions (questions that dont commit the speaker to an idea either way) because they want reassurance that their statement is correct. Lakoff concludes that womens speech is devised by society and taught to girls through socialization to prevent the expression of ideas that may increase womens status. A writer and administrator at Arizona State University, Nelsin P.A (1977) carried out a study of the dictionary prescribing sexism in English. Using richly detailed historical evidence, she disclosed how often English expresses sexist assumptions among males and females. In her study, she read a desk dictionary and jotted down note cards on every entry that seemed to refer to male and female. Her collection of note cards brought to her mind the association of English with the society. As for her, â€Å"Language and society are intertwined as a chicken and an egg†. The values and beliefs of a culture can be revealed through its language. A language may change fast as new words can be easily introduced but it also takes a whale of time for old words and usages to disappear. Based on Nilsen’s note cards, she found out three main points about the comparison between men and women: â€Å"Women are sexy and Men are successful†, â€Å"Women are passive and Men are active† and â€Å"Women are connected with Negative Connotations; Men with Positive Connotations.† More recently, Marlis Hellinger and Madumod Bussman (2002) (as cited in Ansary and Babaii 2005), two German linguists published their work â€Å"Gender across Languages – Linguistic representation of women and men†. They have managed a long time of intensive preparation to create an outstanding project gathering linguists to present research on gender representation across 30 countries, namely China, Norway, Spain, Finland, Holland, Vietnam, etc. The project provides an incredible huge amount of new insights into the topic of linguistic representation of gender in different languages. Various pieces of linguistic research from different countries have been collected in three volumes. Each of the three volumes is introduced by an identical article of the editors giving some general information about the project, the topics to be discussed for the different languages in the volumes and the terminology used. Take Vietnamese research as an example. Ms. Hoa Pham manages to show in her very informative article in Vietnamese the role, social status and traditional values play for person reference forms. She focuses in her study on terms women and men use in various relationships in urban settings among young and/or educated people. Her study therefore emphasizes the role concrete communicational situations play in person reference. Vietnamese as a classifier language expresses gender mainly by special morphemes used as modifiers. The role gender specific reference takes and the way it is expressed is dependent on the communicational context including the relative status and age of the people addressed, speaking and referred to. Nevertheless, social changes play an important role here as well. Terms of address, self-reference and reference have changed in the last few decades with the change of womens roles in society. Chapter 3 Sexist Language 3.1 Background Definition Research on sex roles conducted by Swim, Mallett and Stangor (2004) indicates that sexism comes out in many forms, which are blatant, covert and subtle sexism. Both blatant sexism and covert sexism are defined as intended but differ from each other in the visibility. Blatant sexism which means unjust and discriminatory treatment of women relative to men is showed up obviously while covert sexism inclines to invisible ill-treatment of women. Compared to those two kinds, subtle sexism represents unfair treatment to women, which is hardly recognized for it is perceived as normative and conventional. Similar to covert sexism, subtle sexism is hidden away but it is not unintentionally harmful. In fact, subtle sexism is of particular interest of researchers due to its wide prevalence and adverse impacts on its victims. Sexist language is part and parcel of subtle sexism. It is the â€Å"language which devalues members of one sex, almost invariably women, and thus foster gender inequality†. In other words, sexist language consists of speeches and utterances that strengthens, perpetuates gender stereotypes and status differences between women and men. In a human life chart, sexist language may appear in the very first lines. Kids learn it from their parents, siblings, neighbors and as time passes by, it mutates and evolves into a linguistic habit. People may use sexist language for a handful of reasons. It may be owing to the tradition, the norm ingrained in current written and spoken language and hard to change. Some people lack the knowledge about what makes up sexist language. Some do not believe that such language is sexist. Others may attempt to uphold the hierarchism in their societies. 3.2 Sexism in English Is English sexist? There is nothing denying it. English, one of the world’s most spoken languages indeed proves to be sexist through its historical and current use. It has been a norm in the past to refer to individuals in general terms as being male as in the sentence: â€Å"When an average British goes out in the rain, he takes an umbrella with him.† To the ear of most of English speakers, the use of â€Å"she† and â€Å"her† in that context would sound a little strange. In deed, the word â€Å"woman† in English is defined in terms of â€Å"man†. From the Old English, the word â€Å"man† means â€Å"person† while â€Å"woman† clings to the view of â€Å"wife of a person†. In his translation of the Book of Genesis, which explained Eva was formed by a â€Å"spare rib† of Adam and Adam made his declaration: â€Å"This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.† And the fact remains till today that â€Å"woman† derives from â€Å"man† as Winston Churchill put it: â€Å"In grammar, as in love, the male embraces the female† when he was asked by a feminist on this point. Ambiguities may occur when using only one word â€Å"man† for both sexes like in the following examples: Eg 1: Like other animals, man nourishes his baby with milk. Hearing such sentence could make people roll on the floor laugh because it sounds contradictory to the common sense. Eg 2: The Company only employs experienced men with good English command. The sentence could make listeners confused since they do not know what the exact sex that the Company wants to employ. Can experienced women with good English command or with much better qualities get a job in the Company? â€Å" 3.3 Sexism in Vietnamese Under a thousands-of-years feudal regime, especially the prolonged domination of China, patriarchal ideology was adopted, nurtured and practiced by the whole Vietnamese society. Such ideology dominated the Vietnamese culture for quite a long time, breeding malicious disregard and contempt of women. Though Vietnam has endeavored to develop a country of gender equality, sexism still exists in many parts of the country, especially in rural areas. This is, to some extent, reflected through the society’s conceptions of women in general and the sexist language people used when it comes to women in particular. â€Å"Nhà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¥t nam vià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿t hà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¯u, thà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ­p nà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¯ vià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿t và ´Ã¢â‚¬  The above sentence can be read literally â€Å"One boy child, write â€Å"yes†, ten girl children, write â€Å"no†. Right at birth, a gender discrimination barrier was set up between a male and a female. The saying affirms the dominant role of the male the family clan and yet if the baby turns out to be a daughter, her existence would mean nothing: her name will not be registered in the family tree. This perspective of the Vietnamese older generations, unfortunately lingers on. In reality, it is common in Vietnam that a poor couple may already have a dozen of daughters but still wish for more until they have a son who will be considered the only heir to the family’s property and tradition. The concept of â€Å"Tam tà ²ng† adopted from Confucius philosophy has been spread out widely from generation to generation in Vietnamese families. Tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡i gia tà ²ng phà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¥, xuà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¥t già ¡ tà ²ng phu, phu tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ­ tà ²ng tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ­ means a girl, since her birth, is a belonging of her father; after she gets married, she becomes a property of her husband and even when her husband passes away, she belongs to their son. In all the stages of her life, the woman has never lived, even for a minute, as an independent human being but an item passed over from one man to another. She cannot make a decision for her own life. Vietnamese literature contains a staggering amount of sexist proverbs and folk- songs where men are deemed to be superior to women. Phà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ­n gà ¡i cà ³ hai bà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿n sà ´ng, Bà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿n Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¥c thà ¬ chà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¹u, bà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿n trong thà ¬ nhà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚  . The two sentences in the folk-song describe the unpredictable fate of women. They have to accept and unconditionally obey the decision made by her parents whether it is right or wrong one. If , for example, a woman was fortunate enough to marry a good man, she could live a happy life. Otherwise, she would have to endure all the hardships, misery or even sufferings for the rest of her life. The unpredictability of a woman’s life in the past can be found in many other folk-songs and old poems such as: â€Å"Thà ¢n em nhÆ ° hà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡t mÆ °a xa Hà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡t rÆ ¡i xuà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœng già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿ng hà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡t và  o vÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ n hoa.† Thà ¢n em trà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¯ng phà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ­n em trà ²n Bay nà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¢i ba chà ¬m và ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºi nÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºc non Rà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¯n nà ¡t mà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ·c Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ ºu tay kà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ » nà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ·n.. Not only Vietnamese women lost their freedom, did they also suffer from the disrespect for their intelligence and education. â€Å"Ä Ãƒ  n à ´ng nà ´ng nà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¢i già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿ng khÆ ¡i. Ä Ãƒ  n bà   sà ¢u sà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¯c nhÆ ° cÆ ¡i Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ±ng trà ¡Ã‚ ºu.† Literally translated, a man may act hastily but his thought is likened to a deep well whereas a woman may think deeply but her thought is just as narrow as the platter of betel. These two sentences implied a gross underestimate of women’s mind in comparison with men. In the old days, women had almost no access to education and very few opportunities to communicate with the outside world. For this reason, women at that time were not as knowledgeable as men who were granted a preference to pursue their study. Women can also mean misfortune or bad luck, which is clearly expressed in the following tip-of-the-tongue saying: â€Å"Ra ngà µ gà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ·p gà ¡i.† This expression says when you go out in the morning, if the first person you meet is a female, you are deemed to fail to gain what you planned to do or you may face with some trouble or even with an accident. A lot of Vietnamese, especially old and rural people, remain sexist in their language usage. They now often say, for example, â€Å"Ä Ãƒ  n bà   thà ¬ là  m Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £c gà ¬!†, which covers the idea that women are worthless and women are never able to do anything serious or important. The word â€Å"gà ¡i† which used to refer to the prime time of a female now comes to be used in many contexts as a derogatory term, for example: gà ¡i Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¥y (that’s a whore.), gà ¡i gà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ i Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¥y (that’s a call girl), Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Å" gà ¡i gà ³a (that’s a stuff of widow), Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Å" gà ¡i Ä‘Ä © (that’s a promiscuous stuff), etc. Those judgements, nevertheless, no longer holds water in the 21st century Vietnam society, in which women enjoy the same right to go to school and interact socially with others. It is a society where men and women are equal in all aspects: a great number of women are now members of Parliament, senior officials in the government, leaders in a number of industries, honoured professors and doctors. Chapter 4 Sexist English Its Manifestations Language can be likened to a social phenomenon, closely related to social attitudes. What happens in our daily life is partly reflected in our language. The existence of sexist language depicts in the pervasion of sexism in our day-by-day conversations, in our messages, and in our thoughts. In the past, women were supposed to stay at home, remaining powerless and generally subordinates to men whereas men were the focus, the centre of the family and even the whole society. Women have been looked down on as â€Å"the weaker sex† and should be dependent on men. Language simply reflects social facts. 4.1. Ways of addressing Addressing practices for men and women are asymmetric. Inequality is implied when different endearments â€Å"Mrs.† and â€Å"Miss† are used for women in different situations while men are associated with only one endearment â€Å"Mr.† Choosing a title for women depends on their marital status. If a woman is still single, she will be called â€Å"Miss† but after she gets married (or was married as with widow), the title will be changed into â€Å"Mrs.† Thereby, when noticing how a woman is addressed, people can tell that woman has made a wedding vow or not. Using title â€Å"Mr.† before the name of a person, on the other hand, merely shows that the person is a male adult. The term â€Å"Mr.†, used for both single and married men, has perfectly masked the marital status of a man. This linguistic distinction implies that it is more important for woman than man to show whether one is married. However, in a modern and civilized society, a woman’s avowed commitment to another human being which characterizes a marriage is a personal and private matter that bears no relevance in the public sphere. Hence, women should be able to enjoy the same status with the male counterparts who do not need to define themselves in terms of marriage. 4.2. Terms ending in â€Å"man† refer to functions performed by both sexes In English, there is a huge amount of male-oriented words (those contain the element â€Å"–man†) that can in fact apply to both sexes. In deed, when referring to students newly joined a university, the word â€Å"freshmen† is used as if all new students were male. For example:chairman  congressman  councilman newsman  foreman  freshman policeman  salesman  mailman Occupational nouns and job titles ending in -man obscure the presence of women in such professions and positions. For a long period of time, women are deserted from power and the right to voice their opinion in such fields as politics. Hence, it is common sense to view jobs like â€Å"congressman† as for male only, discounting the fact that the number of women making contribution to the political arena is skyrocketing. 4.3. Sex-linked modifiers While male-oriented words are used for both sexes, some other words, especially name of some professions which can be applied for both sexes, are habitually associated with male only. In order to refer to female of those professions, we have to add a modifier such as â€Å"woman†, â€Å"lady† or â€Å"girl† before each name of profession albeit those names of common gender. Common Gender Female Doctor  Woman doctor Professor  Woman professor Engineer  Woman engineer Lawyer  Lady lawyer Reporter  Girl reporter The addition of modifier is a piece of evidence for discrimination against women as it reflects the perspective that women are appendages of men. 4.4. Bound morpheme used for a feminine form of a noun Gender discrimination in language also shows in the fact that a feminine noun of some words can only be obtained by adding a bound morpheme. For example: MALE  FEMALE  MALE  FEMALE Man  Woman  Manager  Manageress Prince  Princess  God  Goddess Author  Authoress  Mayor  Mayoress Count  Countess  Shepherd  Shepherdess Host  Hostess  Steward  Stewardess Poet  Poetess  Usher  Usherette Heir  Heiress  Sailor  Sailorette Hero  Heroine  Conductor  Conductette 4.5. Words that point to Marriage issue In a wedding ceremony, after the couple exchange their rings, the priest will utter his last words: â€Å"I pronounce you man and wife† to officially recognise the connection between two human beings. In the priest’s sentence, there is a lack of parallelism in â€Å"man and wife†. After marriage, the man remains the status of a â€Å"man† while the woman shifts her status into the â€Å"wife of a man†. In a traditional Christian wedding, the official asked â€Å"Who gives the bride away†. And the father would reply â€Å"I do† or â€Å"Her mother and I do† but there in the question lied an inherent problem. The idea that the bride is something to be handed over from one man to another conjures up images of the day when wife and children of a man were considered his properties and establishes the woman in the subservient role of wife. More interestingly, there is much linguistic evidence depicting that weddings are more important to women than to men. A woman cherishes the wedding and is considered a bride for a whole year, but a man is referred to as a groom only on the wedding day. The word â€Å"bride† appears in â€Å"bridal attendant†, â€Å"bridal gown†, â€Å"bridesmaid†, â€Å"bridal shower†, and even â€Å"bridegroom†. The word â€Å"groom† comes from the Middle English word â€Å"grom†, meaning â€Å"man† and in the sense is seldom used outside of the wedding. With most pairs of male/female words, people habitually put the masculine word first, Mr. and Mrs., his and hers, boys and girls, men and women, kings  and queens, brothers and sisters, guys and dolls, and host and hostess, but it is the â€Å"bride and groom† who are talked about, not the â€Å"groom and bride†. The importance of marriage to a woman is also shown by the fact that when a  marriage ends in death, the woman gets the title of â€Å"widow†. A man gets the derived  title of â€Å"widower†, which is not used in other phrases or contexts, but widow is seen  in â€Å"widowhood†, â€Å"widows peak†, and â€Å"widows walk†. A â€Å"widow† in a card game is an

George the 3rds Reign: Public Perceptions

George the 3rds Reign: Public Perceptions Discuss the public perception of George III in the first half of his reign. The sixty year reign of George III from 1760 to 1820 is the second longest of any British monarch save Victoria, his granddaughter. It endured the as yet unrivalled Gordon Riots of 1780, in which 10,000 troops were deployed and some  £100,000 of damage caused, the independence of America after years of expensive war and witnessed the French Revolution of 1789 and the horrors and war that followed. When George III died in 1820 he was well mourned: 30,000 people attended the supposedly private funeral, despite the fact that the king had been out of the public eye since 1810; shops were shut and laudatory sermons penned (Colley 1984, 94). Yet the public perception of George in the first half of his reign is somewhat more ambiguous and controversial: Samuel Romilly wrote that ‘from the beginning of his reign to the close of the American War, he was one of the most unpopular princes that ever sat on he throne’ (quoted in Colley 2005, 208). Picard (2000, 288), on the other hand, notes that the accession of George III was greeted by the people with ‘delirious enthusiasm’. On his coronation at the age of 22, George may indeed have seemed an attractive prospect, in particular because, unlike his two predecessors on the throne, he had been born and educated in England and spoke English as his first language. The stigma of being foreign did not apply to him and his attachment to Hanover, regularly preferred by George II, was not great, in fact he described it as that ‘horrid electorate’ (Ditchfield 2002, 23). In his first speech before parliament, George emphasised this, ‘born and educated in this country, I glory in the name of Britain’ (Shapiro 1972, 30). As for his character, Horace Walpole noted, the king seemed good-natured, walking about and talking to everybody as well as occupying the throne with dignity and grace and answering addresses well (Long 1962, 67). Even so, Colley has noted that while the new king may have been better received than the previous Georges, he received less public acclaim than William Pitt the Elder, whom he had rebuffed upon the death of George II (Colley 2005, 401 n.28; Colley 1984, 94; Long 1962, 64-65). Despite what might have been an optimistic beginning, the popularity of George seems to have waned, at least in certain quarters, during the 1760s. Early cartoons undermine him, showing him under the control of his mother and Lord Bute (Colley 2005, 209). A cartoon of 1770 vividly compares the reception of the king in 1760 and 1770 (Clarke 1972, 75). In contrast to the crowded street of celebrants in 1760, in 1770 the king’s procession proceeds alone through London as the driver comments ‘we are no longer plagued with the acclamation of the people’. Clarke (1972, 74) comments that this visible discontent was caused by rising population and deteriorating living standards. Other prints from the late 1760s show George as a blind, pliable child, in 1773 and 1780 he was portrayed as a drain on Britannia, in 1779 and 1784 he was shown as an oriental tyrant and (Colley 1984, 102). Perhaps due to his friendship with members of the Catholic elite and his sponsorship of the sons of Catholic ‘gentlemen of reputable character’ as well as his support for measured Catholic relief and suppression of the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots of 1780, he was even represented as a closet Catholic (Ditchfield 2002, 100-101, 106). It was during the early 1760s that John Wilkes rose to public prominence and popularity, often at the expense of the king and Bute. Wilkes, an English MP, had begun to publish a paper, The North Briton, in opposition to the Scottish Bute’s paper The Briton, which supported peace with France, (Shapiro 1972, 37). Wilkes was, amongst other things, anti-Scottish and pro-English, a womaniser and a member of the Hell Fire club (Colley 2005, 106). As such, he stood in stark contrast to the king, and seems to have been a more popular figure with the public. In response to George’s speech proposing peace with France, he published number 45 of The North Briton, in which he notoriously criticised the king and his new minister Grenville, causing his arrest under a general warrant (Clarke 1972, 42). He then capitalised on the unpopular use of general warrants, presenting himself as a champion of liberty against tyranny, and they were later declared illegal (Shapiro 1972, 47). George’s early unpopularity seems to have been due to his break with the Whigs and his promotion of his former tutor and relative political outsider Bute and their policy of peace with France (Clarke 1972, 38). He was suspected of trying to increase royal power and acting unconstitutionally, leading to accusations of tyranny, although it is only natural that Whigs and the excluded would respond in such a way after their years of prominence. His early proclamation of Britishness, while inclusive in spirit, rankled with sections of the majority English, as did his choice of the Scottish Bute, a Stuart, who was also reputedly the lover of the king’s mother and a Tory (Shapiro 1972, 32-33). His unpopularity may also have owed something to the king’s perceived dullness and ordinariness and a lack of ceremony and majesty to promote the royal image (Colley 2005, 202). For example, the royal couple were brought to their coronation in sedan chairs and Samuel Johnson comme nted that the crown was too often ‘worn out of sight of the people’ (Colley 2005, 203). In the 1770s and early 1780s, with Lord North as his minister, it was the loss of the American colonies and defeat by them that became a real public humiliation for George, as well as a political crisis (Cannon 2004). In 1775, John Wesley commented that most people ‘heartily despise his majesty, and hate him with a perfect hatred’ (quoted in Colley 2005, 208). Even so, public opinion on the war was ‘seriously fractured’ on both sides and Colley notes that the experience of this particular war, against a colony perceived as the mirror of Britain and without allies in Europe, ‘seems actually to have resolved some of the uncertainties and divisions of the 1760s and early 1770s’, although North was forced to resign in 1782 (Colley 2005, 137, 143). Indeed, North absorbed much of the responsibility and images of George himself tend to become more positive, often portraying him as St George, John Bull or later as the guardian of the nation (Colley 1984 , 102). This is especially the case following the king’s illness in 1788, which showed his vulnerability and aroused great pity (Colley 2005, 212). A more conscious fostering of royalism and its link with nationalism in second half of George’s reign inevitably casts a shadow back over his public perception in the first half. For example, the first royal jubilee was held on 25 Oct 1809 and celebrated around the empire as well as in 650 locations around England (Colley 2005, 218). While George’s famed domesticity may have been unexciting in a young king, his morality and example perhaps influenced the shifting virtues of the late eighteenth century towards an idea of the family and sensitivity and away from indecency, especially popular amongst the developing middle classes (Porter 1990, 305-307). There was also an increasing sentimental female attachment to royalty (Colley 2005, 218-19). Through his long life he became a symbol of continuity and stability in Britain against the anarchy that had overtaken much of Europe (Colley 2005, 223-24). Public ceremony and pomp also was taken more seriously with some 27,000 vol unteers displaying in Hyde Park in 1803 (Colley 2005, 225). Inevitably, the public perception of George III varied from person to person and it is imprudent to overgeneralise; there is evidence for both popularity and approval and their opposites and there is undoubtedly much that is partisan in popular publications (Colley 2005, 208, 228). However, the increasing popularity of George in the latter half of his reign does seem to highlight his more ambiguous public status in the first half, but should be taken in the context of increasing concern for fostering the royal image. Insofar as it is possible to gauge public perceptions, he was viewed in the first half of his reign with a mixture of optimism, suspicion, ridicule, love and hatred. He may have offended Wilkes, the Whigs and the old elite and seemed weak and under the control of his mother and Bute, but his loyalty to his country, delight in family, home and farm and sheer longevity eventually offered a unifying factor in a changing country and a changed world. Through the loss of Ameri ca, and his very public illness and confinement, George, rather than becoming less popular, could be seen to embody a more national feeling, and indeed this changing image, rather than power, of royalty has been developed by monarchs ever since. Thus Colley (2005, 401 n.28) observes that it was from the 1780s that there was a sustainable rise in his popularity and patriotic significance. Bibliography: Cannon, J. 2004. George III and History’s Poisoned Well. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/monarchs_leaders/george_iii_poisoned_well_01.shtml (22/10/5) Clarke, J. 1972. The Life and Times of George III. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Colley, L. 1984. The Apotheosis of George III: Loyalty, Royalty and the British Nation 1760-1820. Past and Present 102 (February), 94-129. Colley, L. 2005. Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Ditchfield, G.M. 2002. George III: An Essay in Monarchy. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Long, J.C. 1962. George III: A Biography. London: Macmillan. Picard, L. 2000. Dr Johnson’s London: Everyday Life in London 1740-1770. London: Phoenix. Porter, R. 1990. English Society in the Eighteenth Century. Revised edition. London: Penguin. Shapiro, H. 1972. John Wilkes and Parliament. London: Longman. GIS Basics: Spatial Data Structure and Module GIS Basics: Spatial Data Structure and Module GIS Basics: Spatial Data Structure and Module Introduction The forth chapter of the book, GIS Basics, deals with spatial data structures and models. The author organizes this chapter in a way that gives a breakdown of different elements that comprise the topic and creates the relationship between them, thus forming a background with which to understand the differences between data structures and models as well as their application in geography. The essence behind such elaborate explanations is to allow for entry and application of various data types and information into computer applications and programs that allow the utilization of the same in the form of useful information. Spatial data comprises data mostly applicable in the field of geography concerning physical elements and features from the earth and human interaction and relation to such features and structures. Data and information There exists several differences between data and information. The main difference between the two is that data serves as a source of information, but information does not necessarily entail data. The presumption in this statement is that data is an ingredient of information. Data undergoes processing to create a transformation that results in a form with more meaning to the recipient, especially in terms of understanding the various aspects that prove important in making a decision. The usefulness of data in creating useful information depends on the application of such information after the conversion process. In establishing the usefulness of information, several principles apply. These principles include relevance, reliability, timeliness, intelligibility, consistency, completeness, and convenience among others. The relevance of useful information depends on the intention of such information and the appropriate level of detail. Reliability means that the user of the information h as to ensure that it is accurate and it emanates from a verifiable source, which is often acquirable via independent means. The principle of timeliness requires information to remain useful depending on the purpose for the conversion of the data. The principle of consistency incorporates the need to check with other sources while convenience means that information should be easy to handle for the user and obtain protection form malware and unsupervised access. An information system changes data into information through various processes. The first process, viz. conversion, involves the transformation of data from one format, unit of measurement, or feature of classification to another in order to match the usage. Organization of data forms the second process, which often involves arrangement of data according to database management rules and procedure for easy access and use. Structuring means that data has to undergo formatting or reformatting so that it is acceptable to a certain software application. On the other hand, modeling involves the inclusion of spatial analysis and visualization of data so that it is useful to the user in terms of understanding and decision-making. Organization and structuring are elements of crucial importance to the proper functioning of information systems as their absence makes turning data to information impossible. Information organization The data perspective of information organization People understand information organization from four main perspectives, viz. data, relationship, operating system, and application architecture. In the data perspective, people consider the organization of data in terms of their descriptive and graphical elements. Therefore, the two elements possess distinctive features necessitating different storage requirements as well as storage options. A person thus needs to understand the correct sequence in which entities occur and build up until they eventually form a data file. A data item that falls under descriptive data is one of the most basic elements in the organization of information. It is the smallest unit of storage in a database and it goes by the term ‘stored field’ in the database terminology. It may appear in the form of a number, date, an expression, or character string. A group of related data items forms a record and often appears in the form of different characteristics pertaining to the same entity. A set of related record forms a data file. The element of relation often occurs in terms of different occurrences of the same type or class of entities, regardless of whether the said entities are people, things, events, or phenomena. A collection of data items of the same type and size goes by the term ‘array’ and it can occur either in one dimension or two. When the organization of data takes the form or arrangement of entries in rows and columns, the final product is a table, which often applies to relational databases. A list, on the other hand, is a finite sequence of data items and it may follow a specific arrangement or lack any sort of order. A tree constitutes yet another form of data arrangement that falls under relational data in which each data item has an attachment to one or more data items and often takes the shape of an inverted tree. The concept of a database is one that has developed due to the introduction of computers as media for data storage. Essentially, a database and a data file contain very similar information with slight differences. The main differences that set the two apart are the type of information and medium of storage they demand. A data file contains records with the same data type and format description. A database, on the other hand, contains a group of related records organized in one or more data files with similar or different data types or formats. The type of storage for a data file is flexible enough to be manual or digital while that of the database relies strictly on computers. These differences occur due to the capacity of a computer to process more information at a time than a person does, the ability to process different data files, create a relationship between them, and store the data files within the shortest time possible. The creation of data files often occurs manually, thus limiting the amount of processing that is applicable to a particular data type or format description at any one time. Secondly, the aim for data file processing usually touches on the creation of a particular solution and often stops after the establishment of the solution. Database processing often aims at a myriad of solutions for the different data files, the creation of relations between such data files and sometimes the formulation of predictable variables that aid organizations in the decision-making process. Thirdly, a database often complies with the central control of data in order to ease the redistribution of the same within different departments in an organization. Through computer networking, this characteristic ensures that different departments within an organization receive the same information, depending on the need for such information. Databases are classifiable into relational table like, network have pointers linking them to associated files, hierarchical data tree like relationship, and object-oriented data, which are associated with specific objects. Graphical data, which is the second organization of information in the data perspective, has its most basic element known as basic graphical element. There exist three basic graphical elements, viz. point, line, and polygon or area. These elements can be employed to represent geographical features as single entities or collectively to form complex geographical features. The use of these basic graphical elements to represent geographical data yields vector data. The vector data is conventionally organized into layers of related themes, which yield entities such as base maps, vegetation, soil, and political boundaries among many others. Several themes of vector data about a specific geographical region constitute the spatial component of a geographical database. This method of representation is based on the object view of the real world. Graphical data yielded by imaging devices gives another form of graphical data known as raster data. This form of data comes from the representation of geographical data in the form of picture elements (pixels). Thus, raster pixels capture a generalized representation of a given area. This form of data can also be arranged into themes, which eventually give information such as vegetation cover and land use among others. This method of representation is based on the field view of the real world. The relationship perspective of information organization Relationships are important in information organization and they can be either categorical or spatial based on what they describe. Categorical relationships are concerned with how individual features in a classification system are linked. Classification follows the concept of scales of measurement of which there are four distinct types, viz. the nominal scale (qualitative, non-ranking, non-numerical), ordinal scale (nominal, with ranking), interval scale (ordinal, with ranking, numerical values based on arbitrary data), and ratio scale (interval scale with numerical values based on absolute data). Categorical relationships that use measurement scales, which involve ranking, have their data sorted into varying levels of detail. At the highest level of classification, data is broadly classified, but this aspect changes down the classification hierarchy. Descriptive data follows this system of classification. On the other hand, spatial relationships are concerned with how different features in space are linked to one another. In graphical data, one can effortlessly make out spatial relationships, but transferring these graphical spatial relationships into a database remains a challenge. Implicitly capturing spatial relationships into databases is characterized by the need for large storage and slow data computation. Yet spatial relationships are very important in geographical data handling. Thus, the aim of information organization and data structure in this context is to establish ways of handling spatial relationships with the least possible storage or computation thresholds. Operating system perspective of information organization In this perspective, information is arranged in the form of directories, which are special computer files that arrange other files into a hierarchy. With reference to systems that employ graphical user interfaces, directories are also known as folders. Directories fall into different levels such as root directories (top most), sub-directory (under another), and parent directory (above another). Usually, files of similar characteristics are placed in one directory such that the path that leads to a file comprises the directory name and the file name. Geographical information systems borrow the same concept, but they refer to it as the workspace. This aspect implies that in geographical information system terms, a workspace is a directory that contains files relating to a given project. The application architecture perspective of information organization Today, computer software replicates a client/server system in their architecture. This system denotes a relationship among computers on telecommunication network, or several processes within a single computer. A client thus denotes a process that seeks services from one or many servers simultaneously. A server, on the other hand, is a process that provides the requested services to one or many computers at once. Information systems have many ways by which they can replicate the client/server. However, there are five commonly used ways, viz. database, file, web, groupware, and transaction servers. The aim of information organization from this perspective is to come up with means of easing the transfer of resources between clients and servers. This goal is achievable by ensuring that data is strategically placed at the appropriate location alongside similar data to ease access to the data. Data Fundamental concepts Data conventionally refers to facts. Some are meaningful the users while others are not. The data that users consider as important is protected in arrangements known as databases. Data can be spatial or non-spatial. Spatial data is concerned with location, orientation, size, and shape. The relationship between these elements leads to spatial relationships, which is typical of spatial data. Non-spatial data, on the other hand, is conventionally linear and autonomous. The difference between spatial and non-spatial data is so pronounced that their storage and management differs. The complex nature of spatial data and its numerous relationships necessitated the development of databases. Databases underscore the information itself, not the storage medium that holds the information. GIS is in a position to be developed and managed due to databases for they form the building blocks for GIS. This aspect is made possible by the concept of database management systems (DBMS). A larger system of information organization and management is the repository. A repository is an arrangement developed with the aim of storing and protecting data. It could consist of several databases, which possibly contain related information or sometimes the databases can be completely unrelated. A repository is developed such that it supports the addition, retrieval, and deletion of the information contained therein. Some allow the changing or updating of data. Repositories are comparable to bank vaults since their primary purpose is to protect their content from theft or destruction. Repositories are known for two key features, viz. security and robustness. Mostly, there is a need for a password in order to access the contents of a repository. The robustness feature also ensures that accidental destruction of data in a repository is minimized. This goal is achieved through the transactional mechanism, whereby a series of database manipulations are designed such that incase of a ny interruption, the database restores itself to the pre-transactional state. Database management systems (DBMS) This system is a type of repository, which allows for the manipulation of a database and whose user interface allows for the administration of the database. A phonebook is the best example of a DBMS. While a repository was likened to a bank vault, a DBMS can be liked to a full-fledged bank with all its services. Thus, they provide comprehensive database manipulation functionalities. Discussion Points The distinction between data and information evades many people. They often find themselves using these two terms interchangeably, that is, one in place of the other. However, it is apparent that the two terms denote very distinct concepts such that using one instead of the other is incorrect and misleading. In the light of this observation, what are the fundamental elements of information that clearly set it apart from data? In highlighting these elements, it is necessary to outline the relationship between the two concepts as well. The advent of computers has revolutionized every field of study including geography. It is now easier to manage data, files and databases because of the improved functionality provided by computer applications that have been developed to enhance these functionalities. In the field of geography, this improvement can be seen in the development of Geographical Information Systems (GIS). With this development in mind, what are the key additions that computers have brought to the field of geography, without which, they would be considered inconsequential to this field? In the current age, information access, sharing and transfer has become easy due technological advancement. This has led to this age being termed as the information explosion age. Thus, the development of information organization systems can be seen as an attempt at making meaningful use of the information at the disposal of humanity. The three information organization perspectives discussed in this chapter all have some relevance to geography. In your assessment, is there a particular information organization perspective that can be considered more appropriate to the field of geography? What evidence supports your answer? Balanced Scorecard Case Study: Tesco Balanced Scorecard Case Study: Tesco Competitive Environment of Tesco Tesco is the largest food retailer in the UK and one of the leading grocery retailers in the world. It supplies 30% of the food purchases made in the UK. More than 550,000 employees service the companys customers in nearly 5,000 locations spread across 14 countries in Europe, Asia and North America (Tesco plc, 2010, p 1-3). The companys operations in the British retailing space, coupled with its steady overseas expansion, have opened it to numerous competitive challenges and threats. In the UK, the company faces strong and increasing competition from its heavyweight rivals like ASDA-Walmart, Sainsburys and Morrison (Finch Wood, 2010, p 1-2). Each of these organisations is constantly trying to improve its market share through various customer focused and efficiency oriented strategies (Finch Wood, 2010, p 1-2). Whilst Tesco continues to lead in market share, sales and profitability in the UK, it remains under constant competitive pressure and any strategic or market place error could have adverse results (Finch Wood, 2010, p 1-2). The economic environment in the UK is possibly going through its worst turmoil since the 1980s. Increasing unemployment, thousands of job losses and a very slowly reviving economy have dampened the enthusiasm of supermarket shoppers and created difficult market conditions fo r market participants (Kollewe, 2010, p 1-2). Sharp reduction in government spending, the proposed elimination of thousands of public sector jobs by the present coalition government and the three-fold increase in academic fees have already led to widespread protests and are expected to affect the economic climate further (ABC Inc, 2010, p 1). Whilst the company is steadily increasing its global footprint, the UK continues to be its overwhelmingly large market and accounts for practically 67 % of its total sales and 71 % of its profits (Tesco plc, 2010, p 1-3). The economic and social turmoil in the country, along with increased competitive pressure from its main competitors will certainly intensify environmental and competitive challenges for the company intense in the coming years (Tesco plc, 2010, p 1-3). Tesco has in recent years been working at steadily expanding its global operations. Its global presence is however less than that of Walmart, Carrefour and Metro and its position in the global retail market, whilst strong and increasing, do not mirror its dominant position in the United Kingdom and it is the grocery leader in only two overseas markets, Malaysia and Thailand (Finch Wood, 2010, p 1-2). Tesco, like other major firms expanding strongly into international markets often faces different and difficult environmental and competitive conditions in its various operational regions. Much of the competition in its overseas markets comes from numerous local competitors who not only operate with far lesser overheads but also understand local tastes and preferences much better. Tesco is combating competition in its overseas markets and trying to establish its presence with the help of well established local firms and different store formats (Tesco plc, 2010, p 1-3). However the globa l experiences of various supermarket majors like Walmart and Carrefour reveal that global expansion is not easy and significant market failures can occur from incomplete understanding of market requirements and choice of market strategies (Sarkar, 2009, p 1-3). Tescos Corporate and Marketing Strategy Tescos rapid growth in recent decades has been driven by its carefully planned and sustained customer focused strategy. The company is possibly the only retailer to appeal to different market segments, upmarket, midrange and low price. It constantly focuses on improvement of customer value and services with focused action in areas like supply chain management, pricing, quality, product range and in-store as well as on-line customer convenience. The company initiated a major strategic change in the mid 1990s with the adoption and customisation of the balanced scorecard approach, soon after it was first advanced by Robert Kaplan and David Norton. Balanced Scorecard Approach The balanced scorecard approach was developed by Kaplan and Norton to provide businesses with a holistic tool for performance measurement in different critical areas of business firms. Whilst much of performance measurement in the past focused on the financial aspects of the business, the balanced scorecard approached performance measurement from four viewpoints, namely the financial perspective, the customer perspective , the business process perspective and the learning and growth perspective (Kaplan Norton, 1996, p 7-13). The balanced score card whilst originally constructed for measurement of performance is now used for formulation and implementation of strategy by business firms. Organisations adopting the balanced scorecard set objectives in each of these areas and thereafter formulate targets and initiatives for meeting such objectives, as well as measures to assess actual progress in meeting them (Kaplan Norton, 1996, p 7-13). Its use enables firms to clarify strategy in terms of the different dimensions outlined by the balanced scorecard tool, communicate strategic objectives in different areas, plan set targets and align strategic initiatives, and implement systems for achievement of feedback and engagement of double loop learning (Kaplan Norton, 1996, p 7-13). Adoption of Balanced Scorecard by Tesco Tesco adopted the balanced scorecard method in the mid 1990s to drive its strategy and operations. Tescos adoption of the balanced scorecard method led to the development of the famous Tesco Steering Wheel, which was originally divided into four quadrants, namely Customers, People, Operations and Financials (Kaplan, 2008, p 1-2). The Tesco Steering Wheel (TSW) originates from the companys core purpose and long term objective, namely the creation of value for customers in order to earn their constant loyalty. The company added a fifth dimension to the TSW in 2007, namely community, in order to encourage employees to become excellent citizens and improve their communities. A diagram of the new Tesco Steering Wheel with five quadrants is provided as under (Kaplan, 2008, p 1-2). (Source: Kaplan, 2008, p 1) Tescos steering wheel helps in ensuring that its 550,000 employees in multiple countries work towards delivering distinctive and unswerving buying experiences to consumers in each and every store. The concept of the TSW came about from the adoption of the balanced scorecard in the early 1990s when Tesco engaged in a process to elucidate its mission and strategy to ensure the realization of this objective. Tesco, (in the words of Sir Terry Leahy, CEO) doesnt want one leader. We want thousands of leaders who take initiative to execute the strategy. (Kaplan, 2008, p 1) Tesco used the steering wheel, a clear symbol for a tool to drive performance and assist employees find the way into the future, to communicate to its employees. The original TSW has had four equal arcs, representing the four areas of balance scorecard focus, namely financials, customers, operations, and employees. The company added another dimension, community, to the TSW in 2004 to encourage and support workers to participate in and help the communities where they work and live (Tesco plc, 2010, p 1-3). Tescos steering wheel is not easy to implement. Extensive efforts are required by way of consumer research, collection of data, and analytics to ensure that objectives and metrics continue to remain appropriate, even as consumer tastes and preferences change and competition intensifies (Kaplan, 2008, p 1-2). All Tesco stores get monthly updates on the steering wheel, summaries of metrics of the five arcs four arcs, so that Tesco employees in different regions and multiple formats get appropriate performance feedback. Tesco adds to the effectiveness of its steering wheel report with small lists that explain important strategic key elements simply so that employees can pursue in their routine functions. The TSW has assisted the company in focusing on its strategy during its rapid growth in the 1990s and the 2000s (Kaplan, 2008, p 1-2). Tescos Strategic Map in the Coming Years Tesco has an established and steady growth strategy that is based upon broadening business scope in order to achieve sustainable long-term growth by pursuing customers into large and growing markets at home and new markets overseas (Kaplan, 2008, p 1-2). The companys growth strategy has five main components, namely (a) to achieve success in international retailing, (b) to increase the core UK business, (c) to achieve equal strength in non-food businesses, (d) develop retailing services and (e) place the community at the centre of all operations. Tescos business strategy has been based on diversification during the last decade and the company intense to strengthen its various businesses across multiple countries and formats during the next two years (Kaplan, 2008, p 1-2). The companys strategic objectives for the coming two years are indicated in the BSC chart provided below. These objectives have been based essentially on increasing and maintaining the important thrust areas of the company. Financials Improve group sales by more than 10% Reduce start-up losses in the US and make US operations profitable Improve international sales by more than 25% Improve return on capital employee to 15% Improve UK market share by 1% Customers Focus on customers having to spend less in the UK Gove customers health choices Improve customer choice Improve range of clothing Improve range and quality of general merchandise Increase product range of Tesco bank Make FF a global fashion brand Processes Improve health and safety processes Improve capabilities of people Improve processes for product safety Improve controls for fraud and compliance People Create 20,000 new jobs each year Reward our employees for their work and support their development Develop leaders with greater intensity Improve the effectiveness of whistle blowing policy Improve diversity and inclusivity Improve employee retention to 95% Apart from the above quadrant, Tesco also has the following strategic objectives in Community Care. Tesco has undertaken numerous initiatives in labeling of products, reduction of carbon footprint, diverting store waste directly to landfill and reduction of carbon emission from stores and distribution centers. The strategic objectives for the next two years in this area have been formed on the basis of Tescos commitment in specific areas of community care. Reduce carbon emission from stores and distribution centers by 10% each year. Support causes in local communities. By and sell products responsive.