2- Religion Does Not Cause Wars

Religion Causes War. † So often is this sentiment heard in the best sellers from Richard Dawkins to Sam Harris that it has almost become a proverb. It is said so often that people believe it without question. But, in fact, religion does not cause war. If you are an atheist, I ask for your intellectual honesty in evaluating this question. You have every right to believe what you will, but we should all be honest and not sling mud where it is not warranted. Laying war at the feet of religion is just not honest, warranted, fair or accurate. War is people (usually men) fighting, usually for a bit of territory or desired resource.One party wants something another party has. The leader of the first party will use whatever he can to galvanize his entire party, usually connecting to any group identity he can think of, which includes but is not limited to ideology, nationality, ethnicity, class and yes, religion. War is two groups (of any definition, but of which the group designation i s incidental) fighting over something one has and the other wants. Blaming only religion is as incorrect as blaming only ethnic groups, ideologues, persons identifying with a certain country or class struggle.The two most destructive wars in history, World Wars I and II both had nothing to do with religion. WWI was the unfortunate culmination of dangerous levels of Nationalism. In WWII Hitler used nationality and ethnicity to galvanize his group to take what he wanted that others had: the whole of Europe. The millions who died under Communism were under a specifically atheistic ideology that explicitly proscribed religion and decried it as a delusion. All wars in American history from the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, and the World Wars all had absolutely nothing at all to do with religion.Ah, but the major one cited by atheists is the Crusades. Once again though, one group (this time, yes the Christians) galvanized under that group bec ause they wanted something someone else, the Muslims, had. It is important to keep mind two things though 1) that the Christians had been in possession of the land until the Muslims seized in the 700s AD and thought they were just taking it back and 2) that it was not just Christians versus Muslims. Neither Christian nor Muslim leadership was united. It was different bands of Christians versus different Muslim cities and leaders.Several times during the fighting actually, Muslims would ally with Christians against their own Muslim enemies and vice versa. It was not straight Christianity vs. Islam. But regardless, the point is that it was one group wanting something another group had. Yes religion was the galvanizing factor in this case, but it could have easily been something else, like Europeans versus Arabs, and in the actually fighting those identities broke down as people allied with whomever would be most helpful in achieving their ends. Clearly, religion was not the only thing motivating those who fought.Eliminating religion would do nothing to eliminate war. There are so many other group identities which may be/are equally, if not more so, abused that the elimination of one, if even possible, would have no effect on the amount of fighting in this world whatsoever. This whole thing is not to say that group identities are bad, just that they, like anything existing, may be abused. I would not advocate an attempt to dissolve all group ties simply because they are not inherently bad in the least and I do not believe it possible to destroy them at all.They are true, not made up or purely subjective. They are natural, are usually very good and are part of the human condition. We desire to associate, as Aristotle and so many others have acknowledged, we are social creatures. â€Å"Man is a political animal. † Forming groups and identities is just what we do. And those communities become true expressions of self, a group self that has just as much potent ial for affirming true ideas as philosophy or science.Some may say that Europe, particularly France have effectively done away with public religious sentiment, but does not France identity as secular just as strongly as another country identifies as religious? Secularism too is an identity that has just as much potential to encourage war as religion or any other identity. Communism is an all too perfect example of that. In conclusion, there is a distorted story of history floating around in which religion causes everything. This is actually far from the truth.So in closing, here is just a brief list of examples of wars not caused by religion. 1. World War I 2. World War II 3. The Cold War 4. The American Civil War 5. The American Revolution 6. The Hundred Years War in Europe between England and France from 1337 to 1453. It was over a claim to the French throne 7. The Napoleonic Wars 8. The Rwandan Genocide (ethnic) 9. The Peloponnesian Wars between Athens and Sparta in Ancient Greec e (over territory and power) 10. Every Roman battle ever, such as the Punic Wars against Carthage Image Source

Jerusalem A City of Three Faiths

Jerusalem, the city of the three faiths. Jerusalem founded in between 4500-3500 BCC has become a center of the three major monotheistic faiths in the world, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Rising from a proto-Cantle village to a city that has had crusades and Jihads launched In Its name has truly been an amazing turn of events. How did It happen? Why Is It Important? Why here and not elsewhere? What makes people so driven to capture Jerusalem? Why has It been captured and recaptured no less than forty four times? Questions that have great difficulty to be answered often times yield the most interesting answers.Jerusalem has been beckoning those of the three major monotheistic faiths to come and seek her since all three faiths inceptions, The City of David, The City of Jesus and the place where the prophet Muhammad ascended to Heaven can be seen as truly a focal point of the World's religions, though it is in a relatively isolated area in the Eleven. Jerusalem has been a center of r eligious fervor almost since it's inception, it has perhaps been this way due to its almost geocentric position in accordance with the empires of the world. At first glance, Jerusalem on a geographic level seems to have very little owing for It.In a region of relatively little rainfall and with an elevation of approximately 2500 feet It Is difficult to move water Into the city. The forests that were once around Jerusalem have been devastated by wars. Overall, It does seem to indeed have very little actually going for it in the geographic sense. The majority of Jerusalem allure might be seen to have come from the location and the centrality in world politics that it has had. Perhaps the main reason that it has been such a religious center since its inception is not due to the geography of the region at all but it's location. Jerusalem is located in the center of the Eleven.The Eleven is located at a prime position to be a part of quite a few empires. The Babylonians, Persians, Eclect ics, Romans, and the Ptolemaic peoples laid claim toastmaster at some point during the Biblical time frame. The Byzantine, Muslim, Turk, French and British empires have also led claim to it since then as well. Jerusalem has been fought over so many times that It has been fully destroyed and rebuilt twice. Being In a prime location has surely helped Jerusalem be a city of all three major monotheistic faiths, f one looks at the original monotheistic faith, one might see this in practice.With the Jewish faith, one sees a people that came from the legendary figure Abraham who purportedly gave a figure named Milkweed a tithing of his possessions. Moses, another patriarchal figure of the Jewish faith desired to lead his followers into the promise land. This promise land was none other than Canaan, the land in which Jerusalem is located. After the conquest of Jerusalem, David made it his capital and following the building of the Temple by Solomon, it became the capital of the Jewish Faith. With being the Political capital, there surely was some incentive to be the religious capital as well. When It comes to the Christian faith, It Is one of the two holiest clues In Christianity. Rome and Jerusalem are these two holiest cycles in the Christian faith. Jerusalem was the orally of the Christian faith and has always been the epicenter of protestant faith. Catholicism associates Rome as Its faiths epicenter. Other cities also exhibit importance in various churches as well. Jerusalem journeys of Jesus are centered around Jerusalem.With all of this writing based round Jerusalem, there was absolutely no reason for it not to be one of the primary centers of the Christian faith. When it comes to Jerusalem and the Muslim faith, it is the third holiest city of their faith behind Mecca and Medina. Jerusalem is the location where the prophet Muhammad allegedly ascended to Heaven. The Dome of the Rock is located on top of where the prophet Muhammad allegedly ascended to Heaven. Due t o this fact, several Jihads have been launched in the name of reclaiming Jerusalem for Islam. Jerusalem is definitely a holy city by any measure of the word.The three major monotheistic faiths have claimed Jerusalem among their holy cities since each of their inceptions. The reasons that they have claimed it originally were not strictly and completely religious. Some of the claims over Jerusalem have been due to its central location. Because of this central location, the propensity for historical events to occur there has greatly increased. One could also argue that from a religious perspective, like the formerly pagan Pantheon, that some cultures find sites that do have something truly special about them and other cultures come and build upon this belief.

Selection of Sustainable Construction Materials

The faculty of human cognition often finds it difficult in making decisions concerning systems that are extensive and complex such as in the management of organizational operations, investment portfolios, military command and control situations and control of nuclear facilities. Even though one may fully comprehend the individual interactions amongst a system’s variables, it is usually very difficult to predict how a system will react to new stimuli as a result of a decision taken.Under such circumstances, the results of many researches have indicated that the judgment and decision making capabilities of human beings could well fall short of the optimal. Stress and complexities acts negatively on the human cognition system, making it even harder to make what could be termed as the most optimal decision. The decision to be taken can nevertheless be very crucial, and a wrong decision could lead to catastrophe.It therefore becomes essential to find some way to aid and help a huma n being in taking crucial decisions on complex systems not only in atmospheres of stress and pressure but also in normal situations. Science has strived to device such decision-making aids through out history. Operations research, statistics and economics have developed various methods for making rational choices. The advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and its dramatic developments in the last two-and-a-half decades has made it possible apply ICT in integrating various disciplines in aiding decision making in complex situations.As a result, information science, artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology and the neurosciences have come together to develop a variety of decision making aids. These decision-making aids are practically implemented as computer applications deployed either as stand-alone tools in individual systems or are installed to cover entire working networks. Such decision-making tools and integrated computing environments are together known as Decision Support Systems (DSSs), which is a very broad term incorporating a multitude of methodologies, tools, techniques, approaches and technologies.Druzdzel & Flynn (2002) takes all existing DSSs into consideration when they attempt to define them empirically as computer-based interactive systems that help users in making decisions. DSSs are sometimes also referred to as knowledge-based systems because they basically try to structure domain knowledge into a form on which mechanical decision making is possible. Decision Support Systems integrate information from various sources, allow intelligent access to the information sources that are relevant, and help in the process of organizing decisions to help human beings overcome their cognitive deficiencies.Decision Support Systems strengthen the conventional tasks of accessing and retrieving information with reasoning support based on a model and model building approach. Framing, modeling and problem solving are supported by DSSs. They are usually used for strategic and tactical decisions to be made by planners and senior levels in the management. Such decisions have a reasonably low frequency but their consequences have very high potential. Therefore the time and investment taken in using DSSs to aid in taking such decisions are paid off in the long run.Decision Support Systems not only define the alternative decision choices, but can help in picking out the most logical and optical choice amongst the alternatives adhering to and adopting elements from disciplines such as engineering economics, operations research, statistics and decision theory. Artificial Intelligence is used by Decision Support Systems to tackle problems in a heuristic manner in situations in which the problems are not amenable to formal conventional techniques.Decision Support Systems have grown in popularity because it has been found that when decision-making systems are used appropriately they tend to increase efficiency and output pr oviding appreciable competitive edge over rival businesses. This happens because organizations and businesses employing DSSs make sound choices in the deployment of technology, and in planning business operations, logistics and operations. Components of DSSs There are three fundamental components f Decision Support Systems are essentially made up of three basic elements: i. Data Base Management System (DBMS): The DBMS is the databank for the DSS.The DBMS is a storehouse for the huge volumes of data that the DSS has to deal with in providing solution for the type of problem for which it has been designed. Unlike in other databases which provide physical data structure, the DMBS works on logical data structures which the users can interact with. In a good DBMS, the physical database structure and the way the data is actually process remains hidden from the user. The user only knows the different types of data that are available and how best to access this data to aid in decision makin g. ii. Model-Based Management System (MBMS): The MBMS plays a similar role to that of the DBMS.The main task of an MBMS is to provide a mechanism whereby the applications that use a particular DSS are independent of the particular models that are used in the DSS. By doing so, the MBMS actually converts data available in the DBMS into information that helps in decision making. Users of a DSS usually have to handle unstructured problems. The MBMS is therefore required to help the users with building models. iii. Dialog Generation and Management system (DGMS): People use a DSS to comprehend a system in its entirety. The primary task of the DSS is therefore to provide insight.The interfaces that a DSS uses needs to be highly user friendly as many people who use them specialize in planning and managerial decision making and may not be very well acquainted or oriented towards computing systems. The interfaces not only need to assist in building the models bit also need to provide adequate interactions with the models so that the users are able to gain insight and extract recommendations from the DSS. The DGMS is therefore primarily tasked with providing easy access and meaningful access to the DSS. DSS for Selection of Construction Materials, its relevanceThis paper attempts to describe a Decision Support System to assist in making decisions to select construction materials based on a sustainability criterion. For every given construction job, there is a huge variety of construction materials to choose from. Economic factors and technology criteria have been traditionally the primary basis of selection of construction materials. Construction materials were selected against the requirements a desired life span, and a program of requirements and codes based on the characteristics of the material concerned such strength, viscosity, elasticity, bending moment, etc.Rapid depletion of natural resources required for construction materials has however forced a change in per spectives. The focus has now shifted to ecological, health and ethical considerations. Making a selection decision based only on human judgment and past experience, taking all added aspects into consideration, becomes almost an impossible task. According to (Pearce, et. al. , 2001) it was essential that some new mechanism of assessing the available construction materials for the highest utility of the specific project was required.The mechanism would have to evaluate the alternatives on the basis of their technical properties and cost parameters but also on the basis of the status of their availability in the ecosystem in the long-term context and from the perspective of natural resources. Such a holistic method could be implemented only through a Decision Support System. The DSS will have to provide all necessary information to enable the decision maker to take the most optimal decision keeping not only the technical and economical parameters under consideration, but also balancing the right degree of emphasis on the environment and sustainability aspect.To achieve such an objective in the design of a Decision Support System the following development steps will have to be undertaken: 1. Sustainability will have to be defined for the selection of construction material. 2. Based on the definition of sustainability developed, a methodology has to be developed for selection and comparison of the alternative construction materials that are available. 3. The methodology for selection will have to be automated by development of a Develop a conceptual framework for a Sustainability Decision Support System (SDSS). Defining SustainabilityThe United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development defines sustainable development as development keeping the concerns of the future in sight. Sustainable development is that development that meets the requirements of the present generation without in any way endangering or compromising the scope for development of futu re generations. (WCED, 1987). Sustainability is therefore the concept of meeting present requirements in such a manner that the resources that go to fulfill the present requirement can also be utilized to meet similar requirements in the long run.In other words, it is handling the present with an eye on the future. This concept of sustainability works on the inherent principle that human development is a going process that has to sustained at a pace at which the finite resources available in the world can easily cope with. A fine but much simplified example could be that of utilization of timber in the making of any civil construction. The decision maker will not only have to select the timber the quality of which is suitable for the construction in terms of strength, expected durability, etc.but will also have to ensure that the made is a type of timber that is not endangered or on the verge of being extinct, a type that is easily available in the area of the construction with no t hreat to its future. The next question that could face the decision maker is whether timber, considering the depletion rate of natural resources, should be used at all. And if timber is not used then what are the other available alternatives that could be used in the place of timber?The Decision Support System will have to be able to assist the decision maker in making these crucial decisions by providing structured and easy access to all relevant information. Sustainability is therefore a system with stability at its core. Changes to the system are not unrestrained but constrained so that a stable continuance of the system is maintained in the long run. Sustainability is very important for the construction industry because constructions have a very high impact on the ecology and the environment.The people who make decisions in the construction industry literally hold fate in their hands in the sense that considered and logical decisions based on sustainability go a long way in prot ecting and preserving the environment that in turn sustains human kind. Decision makers at different levels in the construction industry therefore have to make judicious selection of construction material in order fulfill the present requirements without negatively affecting the requirements of others or putting at stake the very existence of the human race on this earth.The main goals that a DSS has to meet in selecting of construction materials based on sustainability are to improve the selection process of the construction material during the conceptual stage itself and to promote the use of innovative materials which could have more sustainable properties than the traditional materials that are currently in use. Sustainability factor in Construction Materials With regards to construction materials, adoption of sustainable selection criteria would imply the following: i. Matter and energy consumption should be minimized ii.Minimum level of human satisfaction should be maintained. iii. There should be minimum negative environmental effects. Any effort to minimize the consumption of matter and energy has to target minimizing entropy gain and intergenerational of equity objectives. It has to be kept in mind that the process of consumption increases the entropy of materials and energy making them unsuaitable for use in the future (Roberts, 1994; Rees, 1990). The basic tenet of sustainability and sustainable material selection would therefore be maximizing utilization and minimizing consumption of matter and energy.In laymen’s language this translates into ‘doing more with less’. Doing more with less however has to be balanced with maximizing human satisfaction with the less of matter and energy that is being consumed in the process. Unless the satisfaction of people is achieved, sustainability would run into a dead end. People and users will not accept changes necessary to make the world a better place to live in unless they are satisfied by the results of those measures. Ensuring the satisfaction of people therefore becomes an integral part of sustainability.A part that is closely connected with economics as, in our economy-driven society, people are satisfied only when there is assurance that their economic interests will not only be safeguarded but also enhanced appreciably. Minimization of costs, maximization of comfort and safety and edification of the human spirit should be the ideal objectives in the process of selection of construction materials (Day, 1990). It all boils down to the sustainability of the human race which in turn makes it essential to ensure the sustainability and preservation of the ecosystem.The sustainability of the ecosystem is ensured when emphasis is put on maintaining biodiversity, species habitat is left undisturbed and environmental deterioration and pollution are brought under control. The design objective of any DSS for selection of construction materials on the basis of sustainabilit y will thus have to make these three global presumptions – less consumption of energy and matter, high human satisfaction and minimal negative effect on the environment.A set of metrics of sustainability based on the definition of sustainability has to be developed for the construction materials. The metrics would then have to be adapted into an approach for comparing alternative materials to help in the selection process. Classification of Sustainability Attributes The next step in designing a Decision Support System for sustainable selection of construction materials would be take the attributes of sustainability and develop a system or taxonomy for classifying them into the categories of technology, ecology, economics and ethics.Since technology is utilized to build construction facilities, it is imperative that sustainable technologies are applied. Carpenter (1994) defines sustainable technologies as technologies that do not harm the environment in any way and are based o n the concept of renewing, reusing and recycling materials. Materials have to contribute to sustainability by building up suitable technologies. For a specific use, the measure of a material’s adaptability to sustainable technology is obtained by the extent to which the material is able to meet the required technical performance.Span, reliability, ability to recycle and resistance to decay and damage are other technology-related indicators. Ecological sustainability can be achieved through material selection if the objective of material selection is to minimize environmental damage and degradation over the entire lifecycle of the material right from the stage in which the raw material is extracted to the final stage of either disposing the material or adopting it for reuse through the process of recycling.Of particular importance in the consideration of sustainability is the way the material will affect the ecology. The domain of all human activities comprises the natural eco logical systems which provide all the raw materials to meet the varied requirements of human beings (Norton 1994). Thus, integrity of the systems has to be maintained in order to ensure the continues availability of raw materials in the form of ecological resources. The search of feasible alternatives for limited natural resources leads us to the realm of economic sustainability.Alternative resources that can be developed at minimal cost to the society have to be maintained and identified by the Decision Support System. The total life cycle cost of a project depends on the life cycle costs of the constituent construction materials. Selection of construction materials based on the lowest life cycle cost ultimately brings down the life cycle cost of the entire construction project. Manufacturing, transportation, assembly, maintenance and disposal or recycling costs determine the lifecycle cost of a construction material.These lifecycle costs in turn determine the economic sustainabili ty of a construction material. The moot point of sustainability is adopting a futuristic view. The concern is not only with meeting the needs of the present generation but at the same time ensuring that resource utilization is done in such a way that it is possible to retain, invest and convert them in such a way that there is no scarcity to meet the requirements of the future generations (Daly & Cobb 1994). This is the principle behind the ethics of sustainability.The attributes of ethical sustainability are the extent of depletion of natural resources that utilization of the material could represent, extent to use the material can be reused and to which nonrenewable resources the material can be used as a substitute (Norton, 1994). The Decision Support System therefore has to base its classification of sustainability attributes on the taxonomy of technology utilized, maintenance of ecological balance, economic feasibility and ethical concerns for the future of human kind.The vast scope and complexity of such a DSS can be appreciated when we take all these factors into consideration. Determining the Indicators of Sustainability The DSS for construction materials selection has to consider indicators of sustainability of construction materials with respect to the three global objectives of sustainable development – resource consumption, human satisfaction and environmental impact. The more exhaustive the list of indicators, the more the DSS will tend towards perfection.Indicators could be as varied and wide ranging as the scale on which the harvesting is done, whether infrastructure for harvesting is available, how accessible the raw materials are, the extent of processing the material has to be out through, how renewable the materials, maintainability, toxicity, market pricing of comparable resources, etc. Each indicator has to be correlated with the sustainability of the material, and the correlation determined through sensitivity analysis and indexed and rated so that comparison of the materials is possible to the minutest details.Selection of indicators of sustainability of the materials therefore assumes great importance in any DSS. Database or knowledge base development in this respect has to systematic and incremental throughout the development cycle. Consideration of the context of use also holds equal importance in the determination of sustainability of any construction material. Contextual indicators could be as apparent as the availability and use of ice blocks in the poles and sand in the deserts. But these indicators could also be user specific, condition specific or site characteristic specific.Context modifiers therefore have to be built into any DSS. It is the context modifiers that make the sustainability ratings of construction materials for each project unique. Decision makers set threshold values in heuristics databases which enable them to specify the values that they want to be calculated. Edwards et al. (1994 ) and Greene (1994) give examples of techniques in transportation systems in which the energy required to transport a particular material from one place to another for various modes of transport can be calculated for different modes or types of transport. Materials Selection adopting the Rational Actor ApproachThe Rational Actor Approach is centered on the principal assumption that if human decision makers are provided with complete information on the possible results and options in the choices that they have to make, they would choose the optimal alternative, or the option with the maximum possibility of turning out to be the outcome that is most wanted or desired. This being true, the goal of the DSS is to enable the decision maker to select construction materials as per their sustainability so that the vast majority of the materials selected for construction are sustainable materials.The rational actor model has three phases (Simon, 1983): Phase 1: Determining all choices that ar e possible. Phase 2: Analyzing every choice for the consequences that it they may lead to. Phase 3: Finally choosing an alternative that is rated as the best based on considerations of utility and the most probable consequence or output.. In the DSS, the Rational Actor Model can be further fine tuned by the adoption of a few modifications. First, the material alternatives that are obviously not suitable for the project element could be pruned off the database based on classification of materials according to some given standards.The software will therefore prune materials such as ceramic tiles when considering the construction of a foundation footing column. This eliminates the possibility of users ignoring feasible but unfamiliar materials. A second modification could be the introduction of user weightings for each sustainability attribute. The weightings are a way of personalizing or customizing the system. Input of the weightings accord the methodology adopted in the system highe r acceptability for the user who provides the weightings. The weightings also enable customization of the sustainability of the final design product.(Pearce, et. al. , 2001). The ordered stages of the methodology adopted with modifications can now be defined for the Decision Support System. In its first step, the methodology generates the alternatives that would be available for making the selection. This is a comprehensive set of alternatives that could include all the materials available in the market. In its second stage, the clearly infeasible alternatives are pruned from the list of available alternatives through the application of some technical performance thresholds or other heuristics.This would result in a set of alternations that are all feasible for the application under consideration. The crucial third step consists of the Decision Support System ranking the alternatives based on the sustainability and utility of the material for the use that it is intended for. At this juncture, the decision maker feeds in his weights for each attribute of sustainability as per the priority that particular attribute holds for the decision maker.Manufacturer information and other sources determine the values for the sustainability attributes of each material, and a normalized value is worked out for each value of the attributes. The weights and normalized values for the sustainability attributes of each material are then multiplied and added together to produce the index of subjective utility for that material. A ranking of the alternatives is developed by sorting their utility values. The Decision Support System then outputs the alternative with the highest utility value to the user.The decision maker is at liberty to choose the highest ranked alternative for the particular application or any other alternative as he or she may deem suitable from the point of view of cognitive abilities and professional experience. The DSS then moves on to take up other design ele ments for consideration. From the Decision Maker’s Point of View From the decision maker’s or user’s point of view, the decision maker has to first feed in a list of the design components that have been conceptualized for the construction.Values for relevant parameters that describe the conceptual design and the decision making have to be fed in. The DSS uses these values to generate a list of feasible materials for each design element from the materials database of the DSS utilizing heuristics for material selection from the internal logic or knowledge base of the DSS. After the DSS generates a list of feasible materials for each element, it queries the decision maker for the personalized weightings for the sustainability attributes.The Sustainability Index Calculator calculates the values of the sustainability attributes for each feasible material. An Amalgamator Module of the DSS amalgamates the weightings of the decision maker with the sustainability attribu te values for each material that could be utilized and sorts the materials according to their individual rankings. The DSS recommends the material with the highest rating to the decision maker who is free to either accept the recommendation of the Decision Support System or to opt for an alternative from the list of alternatives provided by the DSS.Conclusions The Decision Support System for the selection of construction materials on the basis of sustainability therefore analyzes the feasible materials for each element of a construction from a wide range of perspectives. The factors that influence the ultimate output of the Decision Support System incorporate the technologies and economies of construction processes, the characteristics of the applicable materials, ecological and environmental concerns, sustainability aspects, and most important of all, the professional and personal preferences of the user or the decision maker.Each of these factors by themselves could constitute ind ividual expert systems. The complexity and sophistication of such decision support systems can thus be appreciated along with their great utility in helping decision makers to make crucial decisions. References -01 Carpenter, S. , 1994, Sustainable Communities. School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. Daly, H. , E. , and Cobb, J. , B. , Jr. , 1994, For the Common Good, 2nd ed. Beacon Press, Boston.Day, C. , 1990, Places of the Soul. Aquarian Press, San Francisco, CA. Druzdzel, Marek, J. , & Flynn, Roger, R. , 2002, Decision Support Systems, Decision Systems Laboratory, School of Information Sciences and Intelligent Systems Program, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Edwards, P. ,J. , Stewart, P. ,J, Eilenberg, I. , M. , and Anton, S. , 1994, Evaluating Embodied Energy Impacts in Buildings: Some Research Outcomes and Issues, in Kibert, C. , ed. Sustainable Construction. CIB TG 16, Tampa, FL, Nov. 6-9, pp. 173-182. Greene, D. , L. , 1994, Transportation an d Energy, Transportation Quarterly, v. 48, n. 1, Norton, B, G. , 1994, Sustainability: Two Competing Paradigms.Texas A&M Conference. School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. Pearce, Annie, R. , Hastak, M. , Vanegas, Jorge, A. , 2001, A Decision Support System for Construction Materials Selection using Sustainability as a Criterion, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta.Rees, W. , E. , 1990, The Ecology of Sustainable Development, The Ecologist, v. 20, n. 1. Roberts, D. V. , 1994, Sustainable Development – A Challenge for the Engineering Profession, in Ellis, M. , D. , ed. The Role of Engineering in Sustainable Development. American Association of Engineering Societies, Washington, DC. Sage, Andrew, P. , 1991, Decision Support Systems Engineering. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. , New York. WCED – United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development. ,1987, Our Common Future. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

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Pendulum and Spring - Lab Report Example The motion moves up and down between two extremes. The maximum displacement is called the amplitude. When a spring is hanging vertically with no mass, it has a given length. When the mass was added the length changed. Every spring also has a spring constant. The periodic time also reduces as the as the length of the rod of the pendulum was reduced. This exactly shows how the length of the rod varies directly with periodic time. The periodic time also reduces as the mass was being added on the rod. There were some errors that occurred when carrying out the experiment, this lead to the inaccuracy of the various values and graphs drawn. The pendulum may not have been mounted in the same position as the gravity; it may not be pointing directly to the center of the earth. The pendulum surface may also not be aero-dynamic to avoid lift and drag by air. Mistakes could also be from measuring the length of the pendulum causing inaccurate

Juvenile Criminal Responsibility, Liability to the Death Penalty and Essay

Juvenile Criminal Responsibility, Liability to the Death Penalty and the age of majority in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example Moreover the research also looks into debates for and against capital punishments along withy voices from human rights organizations. Capital punishment to juveniles is deplorable because according to social activists and psychologists, juveniles are not in a frame of mind to understand properly the seriousness of crime during the time of its occurrence therefore; giving capital punishment is not justified. Juvenile delinquency is a broad based term that is given to juveniles who commit crimes. In many legal systems, the term juveniles are defined by different legal systems around the world in relation to age. However the age to attain majority is different in different countries. For major crimes the court may decide whether the person should be treated as an adult or a child (Christensen .2010). Saudi Arabia has the distinction of having a tough law irrespective of child or adult. It has also a dubious record of executing juveniles. In the international arena, juvenile death penalt y is prohibited. Moreover the convention of the rights of the child, in which Saudi Arabia is a member, prohibits capital punishment to individuals under the age of eighteen. In Saudi Arabia, there is no codified penal law establishing the acts that constitutes criminal offences. It also does not have published official information’s and interpretations of shariya law. Judges enjoy the discretion to decide and interpret shariya percepts in criminal cases. Moreover the court has also discretionary power to impose death penalty as a discretionary punishment for other acts as well if it feels to be criminal. In November 2008, the shura council which is an appointed authority in the parliament passed a measure to increase the general age of attaining majority from fifteen to eighteen. This measure was undertaken due to opposition from various quarters including international human rights groups. (Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan: End Juvenile Death Penalty. 2010). Death penalty to j uveniles was in the hot seat of debate for some time now. Although juveniles are executed in few countries including US major opposition comes from US itself (Reaves.2001). Human rights group argue that death penalty to juveniles is a barbaric affair. They argue that juveniles are too young to understand the seriousness of a crime (Trying children as adults. 2010). Moreover some juvenile offenders are themselves victims of crimes including physical and sexual child abuse. However persons who support capital punishment is of the view that person who is old enough to kill is old enough to die for it (Saudi Arabia executed at least two juvenile offenders in 2009.2010). Saudi Arabia is a party to the convention on the rights of a child which prohibits capital punishment to children. However the officials still claim that they strictly follow the guidelines of the convention. Most of the trial proceedings in Saudi Arabia take place inside closed doors without adequate legal representatio n. Both children and adults are often convicted on the basis of confessions that are obtained under duress, which includes torture as well as other ill treatments during detention (Amnesty International Press Release. 2009). Despite serious international intervention and pressure exerted on Saudi Arabia, it has not seriously thought of banning juvenile executions conclusively (Saudi Arabia:

Self esteem development in the classroom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Self esteem development in the classroom - Essay Example Initially acknowledged by James (1890), self-esteem is defined as a ‘belief and self-confidence in your own ability and value.† Thus, self-esteem is increasingly becoming better described and might be understood as an evaluative process by which individuals assess the differences between self-image (how we are) and, the ideal-self (how we want to be). Figure 1 The Structure of Self-Esteem Defining Self-Esteem Coppersmith (1967) considers self-esteem to be "the evaluation that the individual makes and customarily maintains with regard to him/herself. It expresses an attitude of approval or disapproval and indicates the extent to which the individual believes him/herself to be capable, significant and worthy". The definitions described above illustrate that an individual's level of self-esteem is determined mainly by the feedback received from the social environment, including home and school. It is important to note that all the beliefs and images which individuals possess as an essential part of their self-concept are not an innate element of an individual's self concept. Individuals are all born with certain observable physical attributes and untouched capability, but no one was born with completely developed understandings that s/he is gifted or stupid, ugly or good looking, extrovert or introvert. Most of the images and beliefs which one possesses about oneself as adults are acquired before adulthood. The source of an individual’s self-concept starts from how others treat them and what they tell them about the individuals. Newborns develop an overall impression in relation to whether they are cherished or not based on the extent to which they are treated. In early childhood, the development of children's self-concept is effected to a large extent by non-verbal communication. In adolescence, when the language skills are developed, they begin to decipher those general expressions into words and expressions (O’Toole, 1995). Childrenâ⠂¬â„¢s self-concept is further formed when they enter school. At this level children become alert of the fact whether they are approved by others and are included in activities or because they are disliked and are often left alone. Children also become conscious of their talents and limitations from the feedback they get from teachers and fellow students (O’Toole, 1995). Two psychological processes deal with the evaluation of social feedback that includes self-evaluation and self-worth. For each person, the real-self and the ideal-self are different because the ideal-self includes what a person would like to turn into. This difference is vital, however, because without some level of goal, children and adults become inadequately adjusted. It is normal, and in far praiseworthy, for a person to be constantly working hard. Yet, the smaller the difference between the real-self and the ideal-self, the greater confidence the individual will have, and the greater will be his/her abil ity to attain a high level of self-esteem. On the other hand, when there is a huge difference between the real-self and ideal-self, the individual is more prone to have a low self-esteem (O’Toole, 1995). Global Self-Esteem Global Self-Esteem Academic Non-Academic English Math Science Other Social Physical Parents Others Appearance Skill Figure 2 The Self-Esteem Hierarchy Global self-esteem is a person’s total feeling of self-esteem which becomes steady as the child grows (Marsh et al., 1984). Tasks that do not

Current Situation in Diversity Management in the Workplace Essay

Current Situation in Diversity Management in the Workplace - Essay Example Thus, diversity in management is essential in the current state of economic affairs. Diversity in workplace helps the organizations to attract businesses, corporations and government talents from almost all the directions. It also helps the companies to tap emerging new markets and enjoy the fruits of efficient government policies (Cook, 24). Managing diversity in the firms involves observing legal and policy requirements in a very simple manner. In the current epoch diversity in workplaces helps companies to promote community and comfort with differences (Williams 17). Finally diversity in the workplaces helps firms to achieve successful growth in the long run. Workplace diversity provides immense benefits to an organization. The business firms can expand their thoughts outside-the-box and enjoy efficient teamwork with diversity in managements. A cordial atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect is enjoyed by the workers in an organization that diversifies its workplace.  "A company’s performance is always linked to its ability to recruit the right people. People want to work for companies that demonstrate that diversity matters. There needs to be a sustained culture assault down the supply chain that business must encourage.† (Shakhray 6). ... In order to compete in the growing economy, it is important for the business organizations to select the brightest talent in their agencies. This is easily executed in the current era with diversification of management of the workplaces. More innovative and creative solutions are formulized nowadays by the business firms by diversifying in terms of experiences and skills. Significant improvement in both workplace productivity and work performance can be enjoyed by the firms in the current economy with the help of diversification of bureau. Briefly, diversity of work is the actual key that is responsible to foster the economic growth of the current period. Case Study: Workforce Diversity in U.S. U.S. is a highly developed country in the world both in terms of social and economical development. The rate of urbanization in the country is above 80%. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as GDP per Capita is improving significantly in U.S. with time. About 79.7% of the total population in U.S. is engaged in the service sector. The service sector of the country is highly diverse in terms of skill, race, gender etc. Approximately 155,163,000 was the labor force of U.S. in July 2012. This strength included the workers who were actively employed as well as those who were seeking employments. Figure 1: Workforce diversity in US (Source: American Progress, â€Å"The State of Diversity in Today’s Workforce†) The graph above enumerates the current workforce diversity in the U.S. market in 2011 in the employment sector. It is visualized from the above graph that 16.49% of the total workforce works in the state owned public sectors in U.S. 10.58% and 3.8% are the proportions of the people working in

Payroll Tax Software Evaluation-Intuit Quickbooks & Kronos Workforce Assignment

Payroll Tax Software Evaluation-Intuit Quickbooks & Kronos Workforce Central - Assignment Example The features of QuickBooks Payroll program include basic reports, data import/export and online customer services. Correspondingly, some of the characteristics of Kronos Workforce Central comprise of payroll, appraisal performance, timesheet, HR management and multiple pay rates to name a few (IT Media Ltd, 2015). Both the products are downloadable online and are available in the market. QuickBooks Payroll is available in two versions that include Basic Payroll and Enhanced Payroll. The latest version of Kronos Workforce Central is the Workforce Central 7. In QuickBooks Payroll, the price of the Basic version is $20 while the enhanced version priced at $28 for each employee on a monthly basis. The function of the software is to provide businesses with accounting management solutions that include accounting, employee management, taxation and payroll management (ITQlick, 2015). The price of Kronos Workforce Central is identified to be based on the deployment option. The function of the software is to manage payroll, absence and time as well as attendance of the employees at workplace (ITQlick, 2015). Cloud computing is identified as a mechanism through which computing resources are stored with the use of internet (Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, 2010). In QuickBooks Payroll, the employers and the IT experts have access to store and retrieve data on the internet while for Kronos Workforce Central both employers and employees can store and retrieve data over the internet through computers and mobile devices (IT Media Ltd, 2015). It can be concluded that with the use of QuickBooks Payroll and Kronos Workforce Central, organizations are able to manage data and calculate payroll taxes effectively. Both the products are identified to be similar or different in certain features as well as

AIDS In The Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

AIDS In The Workplace - Essay Example For the past two centuries, countless citizens in these United States, from every race, background and persuasion, have reposed their faith on these words to secure for them the basic rights they are entitled to. Even while this statement calls the truth of men’s equality â€Å"self-evident,† succeeding generations of racial minorities and economic classes have had to struggle to lay claim this right. The significance and interpretation of the very phrase â€Å"all men are created equal† has repeatedly been called into question – apparently, it was not as â€Å"self-evident† as the founding Fathers had initially envisioned it to be. For instance, more than one and a half centuries after the Declaration of Independence, people of color were taken to be less than and even property of the white man, and new immigrants were regarded with disdain compared to native-born Americans, although the privileged native-born Americans were understood not to include native indigeneous Americans. This is not to mention the stereotypes attached to the male and female genders, the religious faithful, and levels of education – particularly those reared in private or iv y-league schools as against the public schools. But these were the first two centuries of American nationhood. In the twenty-first century, it seems such issues have been repeatedly put to the test by judicial pronouncements and legal statutes. There is a special case, however, wherein discrimination is still a stinging issue. These are in the matter of persons with physical disabilities in the workplace. Those with genetic and natural disabilities already contend with the prejudice that they could not perform as well as able-bodied individuals, which, to be frank, may be true in some occupations. The chicken-and-egg dilemma of disabilities in the workplace is that if disabled people are considered equal, it means they should enjoy no special favors, else it is the able-bodied who are discriminated

Write a letter of Introduction to Medgar Evers Essay

Write a letter of Introduction to Medgar Evers - Essay Example But there are still problems among us that you would feel it was necessary to confront, and I believe you could give us some guidance on what we should be doing to remain true to your legacy. Without money, the hard-won right to education remains elusive. So many young Americans today are prevented from achieving their full potential educationally as their families do not have the financial resources to ensure their tertiary – and sometimes even their secondary – education. The pressure to enter employment for the children of families who live in poverty is huge. Children need to be earning dollars to contribute to the survival of the family. And in a kind of vicious circle, the only jobs available to baseline educated people are low-earning, and low-status, without many prospects for advancement and future success. So, many of our children are drawn into, for example, the drug industry and organized crime syndicates take full advantage of the desperation of our children and families. It seems that the great contribution you made to human rights for all of us is being undercut by a kind of economic segregation, which continues to exist for certain communities. As people live in disadvantaged communities, they are forced into situations where the stereotypical perceptions of those communities are able to continue. I believe that you would feel great disappointment and sadness if you were to see this unfair and seemingly unstoppable situation in the country you loved so, and fought for in foreign countries. Politically, we have benefited; socially and economically we have a long way to go. We have to, like you did, recognize and identify the reality of our situation, and begin to act as you did to change it. With community efforts, supported by Federal Government, we can make it possible for parents to get out of the cycle of poverty, and be assisted in providing their children with

To explore the ways aspects of power are shown in the poem Essay Example for Free

To explore the ways aspects of power are shown in the poem Essay This poem is a dramatic monologue about a woman whose lover is cheating on her with his mistress ‘Pauline’. The woman who is speaking talks about her feelings of hatred and betrayal, so she decides to show her lover how much she is hurt by poisoning his mistress and making him watch her die slowly. Robert Browning’s poem was set in the ancient regime when women were thought of as incapable and a lower class because of their gender. She feels that she deserves power and therefore wants control of everything she does this is portrayed by the language that he uses. The language in the laboratory is very effective. Robert Browning uses techniques such as alliteration to emphasise different moods in the poem such as ‘moisten, mash up thy powder’; the alliteration in this case is effective because it sounds angry and gives the poem a more venomous feel. This relates to the poem because it reminds us that a poison is being made. The structure of the laboratory reminds the reader of a list. This is also evident in some of the language. The line ‘A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree basket’ portrays that she has thought things and shows her determination to kill. It is also very logical which make the reader question her sanity. I believe that Robert Browning structured the poem like this to make sure that we don’t feel sympathy for her as she is shown as a cold killer. Robert Browning uses a technique called enjambment in the lines ‘with her head/ and her breast and her arms and her hands should drop dead. ’ This technique is an effective form of structure because it forces the reader to read it quickly which in effect speeds up the pace of the poem. Robert browning used this technique to make the poem more dramatic and also enables the reader to get to the end of the poem when Pauline will be killed. The poet uses repetition throughout the poem to create the image of insanity and paranoia. ‘While they laugh-laugh at me’ is used to make the reader believe that she is insane from the thought of her lover cheating on her. The word ‘laugh’ is effective because it indicates to the reader that she is beyond feeling heartache and her rage has blinded her into paranoia. The punctuation has a wide job role in the Laboratory. It is used for pace as the commas are slowing the pace down in contrast to the language and poetic techniques which are speeding it up. The role of the punctuation is particularly illustrated in the lines ‘Quickis it finished? The colours too grim! / Why not soft like the phials, enticing and dim? ’. This quote shows that the language picked was cleverly thought out as it makes the reader want to read faster, and the punctuation slows the reader again and slows the pace to make it more dramatic and tense. Throughout the poem the narrator talks about how she want to kill Pauline and how she will feel when she does it, but in this quote near the end of the poem it says: ‘Let it brighten her drink, let her turn it and stir, /And try it and taste, ere she fix and prefer! ’ this suggests that Pauline would not realise that the poison is in her glass and would taste it and stir the drink more to make it taste better and subsequently mix the poison in her glass therefore leading to her own death. In conclusion, I believe that Robert Browning uses all these techniques to engage the reader and make them feel the pain of the narrator. Through this poem I have learnt that power can go to peoples head if they use it wrongly. Throughout the essay I have been writing about Robert Browning’s unique way of putting the reader into the writing. He also uses techniques to put emotion and life into the poem. Life in the 1800s was all about power and money; the more money you had the more power and influence you had. It was hard for women to be noticed as an equal because in those times women were known as the lesser species so had no power and were property to their father until marriage when they would be transferred to the husband. Women had no say in social matters or had any influence in the community. I believe Robert Browning was trying to say that women still have emotions and are equally strong physically and mentally which is shown in the well planned out murder in the poem.

Reducing Inequalities in Healthcare

Reducing Inequalities in Healthcare Background Equity in health and reducing inequalities are considered as the main goals of all health systems (1) which is the absence of systematic disparities in health or in the social determinants of health between social groups with different levels of social advantage(2). Health inequalities are structural and systematic differences in health status between and within social groups in society. There is a difference between the inequality and inequity in health so that inequity is regarded as avoidable inequalities (3). The term health inequity has been recognized as a root cause affecting health and is closely related to social determinants of health (SDH)† including place of residence, race/ethnicity/culture/language, occupation, gender/sex, religion, education, socioeconomic status, and social capital requirements. Inequity in health is more important than other inequities because the health is the first prerequisite to achieve other capacities(4,5). Studies, for example, show that the richer individuals are healthier than the poorer ones(6). However inequalities do exist in health care (notably in access to care), they should not be considered as the principal cause of inequity in health status(7). In response to growing concern over the continuation and expansion of these inequalities, the World Health Organization Commission on Social Determinants of Health was established and made recommendations to develop and systematically monitor the equity in health and social determinants of health at the local, national and international levels. They may lead to design appropriate interventions and facilitate evidence-informed policy-making process(8). Monitoring health inequalities through producing appropriate evidence can promote accountability and continuously improve equity-oriented health plans including moving toward universal health coverage(9). Given the importance of the issue, various countries have initiated the development of such surveillance systems(10). Health equity surveillance systems include the analysis of groups in terms of socio-economic status, age, gender, race, ethnicity, residence and other key factors determining socio-economic advantages or disadvantages (11) The above list of factors identified may not include the underlying causal factors and pathways of health inequality from the developing countries perspective. As there are differences from country to country, addressing health inequalities may need country-specific indicators. Identifying causal factors at country level is essential for prioritizing policy interventions (12). The accurate selection of appropriate indicators can affect the proper and reliable measurement of inequality rate. General important considerations for selection the indicators include the cost of data collection, data quality issues, availability of data for monitoring at proper time intervals, cultural appropriateness, sensitivity to the policy interventions and the required technical capacity for the analysis(13, 14). Some countries use the World Health Organization health equity indicators. In Iran, the basis for development of health equity indicators was the Urban HEART (urban health equity assessment and response tool) indicators. Urban HEART, developed by WHO, is a simple tool and guide to identify health inequity in urban areas which was tested in some countries including Tehran (Iran)(15,16). In this regard, In Iran the responsibility of the development of health equity indicators was delegated to the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. To develop these indicators, several expert meetings were held and 52 indicators were determined using the Urban HEART and after several refinements. Some of these indicators are international and some other are based on the local circumstances of Iran. The indicators have been determined in five domains including health (20 indicators), human and social development (17 indicators), economic development (4 indicators), physical environment and infrastructures (7 indicators) and governance (4 indicators). In addition, appropriate practical classification variables to calculate were determined for each indicator. Data associated with 12 indicators will be collected using survey studies while data related to 40 other indicators will be gathered through the routine data recording system(14). To ensure the enforcement of the health equity indicators, they were announced to the relevant organizations after its approval. In order to plan for reducing inequalities, stakeholders should have sufficient knowledge and awareness of the issue of the equity in health and its indicators and reach a consensus about the system for monitoring these factors. It is necessary to clarify challenges and consequently relevant scientific and practical solutions can be applied using the international, national and local evidence. Objectives Given the importance of awareness of the health equity indicators and its implementation challenges and lack of study in this area in the country, this study aimed to investigate stakeholders perspective on equity in health and its 52 indicators in Iran. The results of the study can help policy makers to better understand the issue in order to effectively plan and implement the health equity indicators. Materials and Methods In this qualitative study, data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and the review and analysis of relevant documents including meetings minutes, working plans and working progress reports. The interviews were conducted using a topic guide developed according to a literature review and expert opinion. It was pilot tested using interviews with three policy makers and executives and based on their comments it was revised and finalized. The participants were given the information sheet and consent form prior to the interviews. After research ethics committee approval, interviews conducted in-person on a one-to-one basis after consent was provided by the research director and two trained colleagues. All interviews were recorded and later transcribed verbatim. A framework analytical approach was used for data analysis. Participants were selected using purposive sampling method and were policy makers involved in developing the indicators and executives responsible for implementing and calculating the indicators. A total of 23 individuals were invited, 8 of whom refused to take part in the study for various work-related reasons or the lack of willingness to participate. There were five policy makers and 10 executives. Among the executives, two were governors of major cities. Interviews continued until data saturation was reached and no new code was found. The focus of the policy makers’ interview questions was primarily on the process of indicators development and participation and interaction of various sectors in this process the developing indicators as well as steps of indicators development process. Executives answered questions mainly regarding their perception of the health equity and related indicators’ calculation and implementation processes. The member check strategy was used and the comments were incorporated in the final analysis. It helped to ensure that the findings were congruent with participants perceptions, beliefs and opinions. All the stages in the study were recorded to make it possible to track of each stage and clarify the procedures. Discussion The equity and equity in health are not only the issue of international interest but also have been considered in Iran development plans. Furthermore, committee on social determinants of health in the final report from the World Health Organization (2008) titled closing the gap in a generation emphasized on national and global health equity surveillance systems for routine monitoring of health inequity(8). The issue of stewardship in health equity is a matter of great importance. Health system need to lead by taking a stewardship role in supporting a cross-government approach that focuses on the social determinants of health and performing as catalysts to all society. The Health in All Policies programs of the European Unionand South Australia promote inter-sectoral collaborations to health equity (17). The establishment of a common language for health sector and other agencies is considered as an important challenge in its leadership. Gopalan et al. suggested that a lack of awareness among stakeholders restricted the inter-sectoral convergence on combating health inequities(18). In Iran, the Ministry of Health is the steward of health equity goals and it is suggested that a secretariat or an independent office be established for health equity. According to the definitions of equity concepts provided by the stakeholders, the difference between viewpoints is obvious and their perceptions on the main concepts of equity in health are different from each other. This study showed that many executives and some policy makers disagreed on key concepts of equity in health and the executives had insufficient information about the concept of equity in health as desired by the policy makers. In general, many executives considered the equity in health mainly as fair access to and distribution of health system resources. Also, Low study showed that access to health services alone is not sufficient to achieve equity in health(19). However city governors and medical science universities are executives responsible for implementing the indicators in the region, they lack sufficient attitudes and awareness towards the issue of equity in health. It seems that orientation programs by the Ministry of Health should be more comprehensive and with an aim of emphasizing a higher priority of the issue for executives. The establishment of these indicators requires capacity building, training and shifting the attitudes of the executives implementing this program. So training and improving the awareness of the key actors are main effective steps for the establishment of health equity indicators. Training and improving the awareness of executives are facilitated by providing regulatory requirements helping the decision-making. Beheshtian et al suggested that the Consensus-Oriented Decision-Making (COMD) model for more intersectoral collaboration and consensus among other areas can be used in Iran (14). After the development of the indicators and in the establishment step, interaction between politicians, policy makers and regulatory authorities is essential in order to establish these indicators. There are some challenges regarding the calculation of the health equity indicators in the country. However 40 out of 52 health equity Indicators are collected through routine system, investigation and survey are needed for remaining 12 indicators. The routine system itself needs to be reformed and improved including hardware and software improvements. Furthermore, the preparation and participation of organizations to change their statistics and reporting systems are also required. Therefore, gaining a wide intra and intersectoral participation is needed to collect data for the indicators and change statistical forms. This participation should be established at levels of policy makers and high authority officials. In addition to the above mentioned issues, creating the infrastructure for electronic data recording and defining access level may help to the establishment of the indicators. The establishment of indicators requires financing, training and empowerment of organizations employees, legal requirements, and finally a clear action plan. A report from the Pan American Health Network on the development of health equity indicators in Canada also cited the similar challenges such as the need for financial resources, being time consuming as well as limitation of sources of information (20). As the establishment of the indicators is in its the primary steps, so the executives responsible for implementing the indicators have not had the possibility for complete and necessary adaptation to ministry of health instructions and gaining more support for the executives, training them as well as laying the proper groundwork for calculation these indicators are obviously necessary. It is debatable whether these indicators show the extent of the health equity in the country. Many policymakers stated that the World Health Organization and international indicators provided the basis for the country indicators but some changes were made in them according to cultural and social conditions of the country. In this regard, an important point mentioned by the policy makers is that as these indicators had not previously been identified, so the development of them can be considered as a positive step and they will be revised in the future according to feedbacks from universities and other organizations. Braveman in his study argued that data utilization to develop interventions is far more important than data collection itself(2). The results of this study are in consistent with those of current study, because many policy makers argued that the establishment of these indicators can be helpful if appropriate interventions are developed based on information they provide. It is, therefore, necessary to specify solutions for using the indicators in decision making. Policy making for reducing inequity in health is too difficult because it is an intersectoral policy making requiring various areas and organizations involvement and this, in turn, demands the specification of common goals, integrated accountability and increased organizational responsibilities (14). Overall, the results of the study showed the inadequate awareness of stakeholders on equity in health, lack of proper infrastructure and insufficient support from stakeholders are the important challenges regarding the establishment of the indicators; these findings are consistent with those of a study by Gopalan et al(18). Limited access to some policy makers and executives was a limitation. A small number of the governors and executives were interviewed while there were more policy makers and stakeholders participating in the development of the indicators. Conclusion: As the establishment of the indicators is in its the primary steps, so the executives responsible for implementing the indicators have not had the possibility for complete and necessary adaptation to ministry of health instructions and gaining more support for the executives, training them as well as laying the proper groundwork for calculation these indicators are obviously necessary. The development of the indicators requires a shared understanding among policy makers and executives. As the attention has been focused recently on the issue, in addition to knowledge improvement, proper solutions with intersectional collaboration approach in order to tackle challenges should be considered. References: 1. Murray CJ, Frenk JA. Framework for assessing the performance of health systems. Bull World Health Organ 2000; 78(6):717-31. 2. Braveman P, Gruskin S. Defining equity in health. J Epidemiol Community Health 2003; 517:254-8. 3. Whitehead M. Whitehead M. The concepts and principles of equity and health. Int J Health Serv 1992;22(3):429-45. 4. Marmot, M. Achieving health equity: from root causes to fair outcomes. The Lancet 2007;370(9593): 1153-63. 5. ONeill J, Tabish H, Welch V, Petticrew M, Pottie K, Clarke M, et al. Applying an equity lens to interventions: using PROGRESS ensures consideration of socially stratifying factors to illuminate inequities in health.J Clin Epidemiol 2014;67(1):56-64. 6. Exworthy M, Blane D, Marmot M. Tackling health inequalities in the United Kingdom: the progress and pitfalls of policy. Health Serv Res 2003; 38(6 Pt 2): 1905–22. 7. Davidson R, Kitzinger J, Hunt K. The wealthy get healthy, the poor get poorly? Lay perceptions of health inequalities. Soc Sci Med 2006; 62(9):2171-82. 8. Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity through Action on the Social Determinants of Health. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2008 .Available at: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2008/9789241563703_eng.pdf 9. Hosseinpoor AR, Victora CG, Bergen N, Barros AJ, Boerma, T. Towards universal health coverage: the role of within-country wealth-related inequality in 28 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Bull World Health Organ 2011; 89(12): 881-889. 10. Cristina C, Caroline C. Can we build on existing information systems to monitor health inequities and the social determinants of health in the EU? Brussels: Euro Health Net, 2010. 11. Kelly PM, A. Bonnefoy J, Butt J, Bergman V. The social determinants of health: developing an evidence base for political action. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2007. 12. Eshetu, EB, Woldesenbet SA. Are there particular social determinants of health for the world’s poorest countries?.Afr Health Sci. Mar 2011; 11(1): 108–115 13. Wirth M, Delamonica E, Sacks E, Balk D, Storeygard A, Minujin A. Monitoring health equity in the MDGs: a practical guide. Center for International Earth Science Information Network, 2006. 14. Beheshtian M, Manesh AO, Bonakdar SH, Afzali HM, Larijani B, Hosseini L, et al. Intersectoral Collaboration to Develop Health Equity Indicators in Iran. . Iran J Public Health 2013;42(1):31-5. 15. Asadi-Lari M, Vaez-Mahdavi MR, Faghihzadeh S, Montazeri A, Farshad AA, Kalantari N, et al. The application of urban health equity assessment and response tool (Urban HEART) in Tehran; concepts and framework Med J Islam Repub Iran 2010;24(3):175-85. 16. Asadi-Lari M, Vaez-Mahdavi MR, Faghihzadeh S, Cherghian B, Esteghamati A, Farshad A. Response-oriented measuring inequalities in Tehran: second round of Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (Urban HEART-2), concepts and framework. Med J Islam Repub Iran 2013;27(4): 236-48. 17. Baum F.E, Bà ©gin M, Houweling T.A, Taylor S. Changes not for the fainthearted: reorienting health care systems toward health equity through action on the social determinants of health. Am J Public Health. 2009; 99(11): 1967–74. 18. Gopalan SS, Mohanty S, Das A. Challenges and opportunities for policy decisions to address health equity in developing health systems: case study of the policy processes in the Indian state of Orissa. Int J Equity Health 2011; 10(1):55. 19. Low A, Ithindi T, Low A. A step too far? Making health equity interventions in Namibia more sufficient. Int J Equity Health 2003; 2(1):5. 20. Pan-Canadian Public Health Network. Indicators of Health Inequalities. Pan-Canadian Public Health Network. Pan-Canadian Public Health Network. [cited 2014 Sep 24]; Available from: URL: http://www.phn-rsp.ca/pubs/ihi-idps/pdf/Indicators-of-Health-Inequalities-Report-PHPEG-Feb-2010-EN.pdf Acknowledgements The authors would thank people who participated in this study and Iran University of Medical Sciences for financial support. Financial Disclosure There is not any conflict of interests. Funding/Support This work was supported by Iran University of Medical sciences [IUMS/SHMIS-15748]. Authors’ Contributions Ravaghi and Oliyaee Manesh jointly designed the study. Arabloo and Goshtaei collected the data. Ravaghi, Goshtaei and Oliyaee Manesh contributed to data analysis and interpretation of the results. Arabloo, Goshtaei and Abolhassani prepared the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Barclays PEST Analysis and Strategy

Barclays PEST Analysis and Strategy Jump to: Barclays PEST Analysis Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail and commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services, with an extensive international presence in Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs over 150,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for over 42 million customers and clients worldwide (www.barclays.com). Barclays Group strategy overview Barclays ambition is to become one of the handfuls of universal banks leading the global financial services industry. This means offering a full range of retail and wholesale services to customers and clients throughout the world. These services include: retail, business and private banking, credit cards, investment banking, investment management and wealth management. The banks strategy follows a simple premise: anticipate the needs of their customers and clients, then serve them by helping them achieve their goals (www.barclays.com). Introduction of the External Marketing Environment No business operates with out rules and regulations any business is surrounded by laws and liabilities, pressure groups and public bodies, customers and competitors. These are part of the marketing environment that the organisation works within, and since marketing is the interface between the organisation and the outside world, dealing with this environment is a major part of marketers work (Jim Blythe 2008) The external marketing environment analysis is the first stage of auditing process. It creates the information and analysis necessary for an organisation to begin to identify the key issues it will need to address in order to develop successful strategy. As environment of business has never been the so complex as it is today you need a grasp of the big picture, the role of organisation and yourself within it. System theory makes clear that every organisation operates within an industry setting that in turn interacts with a societal environment that is itself influenced by a global marketplace. The global market environment appears very distant to marketers operating on a regional or even national scale, but with the information technologies shrinking distances, these multinational operation are extending into every corner of the market place (Mike Oldroyd 2006, Graeme Drummond, John Ensor, Ruth Ashford 2008). Therefore the marketing environment is The external forces that directly or indirectly influence an organizations acquisition of inputs and generation of outputs, comprising six categories of forces: political, legal, regulatory, societal/green, technological, and economic/competitive (Dibb et al, 2006: 68). Within any society, all businesses face a common political, economic, social and technological environment, although any one element will often impact differently according to the size and situation of the firm (Mike Oldroyd 2006). Whether a market fluctuates rapidly or slowly, environmental forces are always dynamic. Changing in the marketing environment can create uncertainty, threats and opportunities for the marketers. Although the future is not very predictable, marketers can estimate what will happen, although some fail to do so, thus negatively affecting the performance of their businesses. It can be stated with certainty that marketers will continue to modify their market ing strategies in response to the dynamic environment. Furthermore, marketing managers who fail to recognise changes in environmental forces leave their firms unprepared to capitalize on marketing opportunities or to cope with the changes created in the marketing environment (Dibb et al, 2006: 68) Research Methodology Using PEST analysis to understand your environment PEST analysis is designed to provide a focused framework to assist you in establishing your objectives. It will take the result of your marketing audit and place them in a logical format to ensure that you have considered all of the factors that could affect your market (Phil Stone 2001) Barclays PEST Analysis Political Environment In every country there are rules and regulations that all businesses need to follow in order to operate legally. Government at both national and local levels can affect companies not only on a day-day basis through law, policies and authority but also a strategic level by creating opportunities and threats. Specifically, these arise because at competitive level the government can determine industry structure via monopoly and restrictive trade practices legislations further. Legislations will encourage competition so that customers can have more options (Dale Littler and Dominic Wilson 1995). So there is a range of political organisations that have to be considered when looking at the influences in this area of the audit. The structure of a political system defines the centres of political influence. A state with a federal political structure will differ from a unitary political system. In the UK there is a parliament for Scotland and an assembly for Wales. However some of the responsibilities are still the responsibility of Westminster parliament. There is also string of decisions taking place both politically and legally within the framework of European Union. Political groups such Greenpeace can also effect the political agenda. Therefore when considering these area of the environment a much wider view has to be taken than just the domestic national government or legal process (reference). Banks are fighting for survival because the current situation in the world economy the UK government is giving support to banks by intervening. The government has pledged to spend up to  £37bn to buy stakes in three banks Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and HBOS. The Bank of England has lent further billions of pounds to the wider banking sector (bbc.co.uk). The UK Treasury has announced a financial lifeline, which could ultimately be worth up to  £500bn, to try and stabilise the UK banking sector. Opposition parties broadly backed the plans, which could see the government inject up to  £50bn in capital essentially taxpayers money into leading banks and building societies. As fears of a prolonged global recession rise, the Bank of England, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank each announced an emergency 0.5% cut in interest rates. But this unprecedented move has had only a limited impact on the turbulent stock markets. Despite recovering slightly, the FTSE 100 was still down 2% in London by mid-afternoon while markets in Germany and France were down by more than 3%. But in the US, the Dow Jones rallied in early trading after the sharp falls of recent days. In another key development, the UK government moved to protect deposit holders in UK offshoots of Icelandic banks, threatening legal action against Iceland to rec over money from one collapsed bank (bbc.co.uk) However Barclays did not seek help from the UK government in the current economic crisis instead they raised cash from Middle Eastern investors (www.telegraph.co.uk). Economic Environment The economy is closely linked with political environment, it consists the current and future state of key economic variables used to describe the wealth, purchasing power, savings and consumption together with the government economic policies deployed to effect those variable. These include the effect of inflation, interest rates and exchange rates and will have impact on the cost, prices, competitiveness and profitability of the business. In terms of strategic marketing tasks, of prime importance as part of the strategic planning process is the identification, monitoring and forecasting of those economic variables to which the companys market effort is most sensitive. So understanding of the key economic indicators provides the necessary information for anticipating developments in the market place. Economic uncertainties impact negatively on business and consumer confidence so the key marketing task is to attempt to realize the relationships between movements in the economy and cha nges in the market place. Social Environment This is perhaps the most difficult for the marketer to identify evaluate and respond to it. It is a complex of demographics it includes changes in population characteristics educational standards, culture, lifestyle attitudes and beliefs. The way we think, we live and behave is the outcome of complex cultural conditioning by family, friends, schools, work and various media. It conditions who decides what we buy, where and when we buy it, and whether we credit or cash for example 45 percent of consumers agreed that they give into temptation and buy things because they like them and not because they need them. This was up from 30 percent 20 years ago. So businesses need to consider the changing demographic trends in their business and the changing social climate in different parts of the world (Dale Littler and Dominic Wilson 1995, Phil Stone 2001 and Mike Oldroyd 2006). Peoples lifestyle are changing because in todays world expectations are higher as people have become more wealthy, they have come to expect more. In twenty first century Britain, few people would consider living with out a telephone, television, refrigerator, car, bank account or credit cards. In 1960s all these products were examples of things owned by only a minority of the population so the marketer will be concerned with all the influences affecting the customers choice (Jim Blythe 2008 and Mike Oldroyd 2006) Barclays Financial Planning has launched two new pensions products to rival stakeholder pensions. According to the bank, customers can choose either a basic investment solution, comparable to a stakeholder product, or to diversify their pension assets, including the option of a select choice fund proposition. Barclays director of investment advice and products David Stuart says the new pensions offer everyday pensions investors something much more flexible than a stakeholder plan but without the more complicated structure or cost implications of a full Sipp. (www.moneymarketing.co.uk) Technological Environment Technology has become one of the most important factors affecting businesses over the last decade. The development of information technology has impacted in the way business is conducted. For example the use of faxes and e-mail and opportunities created by the internet (Phil Stone 2001). For many businesses the use of internet as marketing tool is little understood and certainly not appreciated internet can be very efficient marketing tool creating world-wide opportunities for even smaller one employee businesses style. Barclays must consider the use of latest available technology (Phil Stone 2001) in order to stay competitive with other banks E.G. HSBC because few serious marketers would consider not having a corporate website. Yet only ten years ago such websites were rare, and were often merely presence sites which directed visitors to a telephone number or address (Jim Blythe 2008). New technologies create new markets and opportunities (Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong2004) Conclusion A company will not have strategic marketing planning process with out taking into consideration in to the external marketing environment as this vital in the company ability to operate as business. Because any organisation is surrounded by laws and liabilities, pressures groups and public bodies, customers and competitors. These liabilities are part of the marketing environment that the organisation works within. And since marketing is at the interface between organisation and the outside world, dealing with this environment is a major part of marketers work (stone Phil 2001). Barclays external environment is undertaken in order to discover the opportunities and threats that are evolving and that need to be addressed by the company (Graeme Drummond, John Ensor, Ruth Ashford 2008). External environmental analysis will provide Barclays with a wider perspective on the future marketing objectives of the business. It concentrates on the future of the business. PEST analysis must be forward looking based on existing knowledge. It is in this way that you can establish objectives that will either counter the threats that you will face in the market or exploit the opportunities that you will find. Barclays need to act socially responsible because this can give them competitive advantage through good media feedback and this will reflect on the way customers see the Barclays so reputation is important. A successful marketing plan is all about gaining competitive advantage. It is therefore virtually important you do assess all of your options carefully (Stone Phil 2001) References Stone, Phil. (2001) Develop a winning marketing plan, Oldroyd, Mike 2006 Marketing environment Drummond, G. Ensor, J. Ashford, R. 2008. Strategic Marketing : planning and control. 3rd edition. Amsterdam ; London: Butterworth-Heinemann Blythe, J. 2008 Essentials of Marketing 4th edition. Kotler, P. Armstrong, G. 2004 Principles of Marketing 10th edition. International edition. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7747608.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7658518.stm http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/3539562/RBS-six-month-repossession-delay-pledge-will-have-limited-impact-say-analysts.html http://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=177908d=340h=341f=342 http://www.aboutbarclays.com/content/detail.asp?NewsAreaID=111 http://www.aboutbarclays.com/

Creating Financial Security for College Students/Graduates Essay

Creating Financial Security for College Students/Graduates   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the biggest problems facing students today, is the fact that there is no real financial security after earning a degree. Many students find that the little amount of financial aid available, is not satisfactory to provide a stable source of payment for tuition. This is exaggerated by an exorbitant cost of the ever rising education costs. The facts are, it is expensive to get a higher education, and there is little alternative to receiving a degree. Students who manage to finance their college education through government, or private loans, enter a whole new set of problems upon graduation. Student loans are difficult to pay back. Loans generally have high interest rates, and long term effects. Many graduates end up paying for loans decades after their commencement. To these unfortunates, retirement may have to be prolonged, and is still not assured to be stable, as well as payments on cars, houses, and other goods purchased. A call for action i s required among students to invest for the future. Many need the money that could be rewarded with a wise investment in the mutual fund market. There are many jobs today which require a college degree for consideration of employment. Some jobs require the skills obtained in earning a degree while others are attempting to "weed" out a number of job seekers. This increase in the number of jobs demanding degrees is causing more people to continue their education to a higher level. The law of demand states "other things remaining the same, the higher the price of a good, the smaller is the quantity demanded"(Parkin, 69). The good in this case is the job, whereas the price is the education or what it is going to take... ...ture. Now we have happy secure students that have one less thing to worry about. Works Cited Carnes, W. Stansbury, and Stephen D. Slifer. The Atlas of Economic Indicators. New York: HarperCollins Publishing, 1991. Dalton, John M. How the Stock Market Works. New York: New York Institution of Finance, 1993. Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin Group, 1987. Lynch, Peter. One Up on Wall Street. New York: Penguin Group, 1989. Malkiel, Burton G. A Random Walk Down Wall Street. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1990. Parkin, Michael. Microeconomics. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1996. Schwager, Jack D. The New Market Wizards. New York: HarperCollins Publishing, 1992. Train, John. The Money Masters. New York: Harper & Row, 1980. Train, John. The New Money Masters. New York: HarperCollins Publishing, 1989.

Comets Essay -- Astronomy Essays Space Outer

Comets   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Have you ever looked up in the sky and seen a little ball creeping by? If so, did you wonder what it was? That little ball is called a comet. Comets are small, fragile, and irregularly shaped. Most are composed of frozen gas. However, some are composed of frozen gas and non-volatile grains. They usually follow very strict paths around the sun. Comets become most visible when they cross the sun. This also applies to people who view comets with telescopes. When a comet gets near the sun it becomes very visible because the sun's radiation starts to sublime its volatile gases, which, in turn, blow away small bits of the little solid material the comet has.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another feature of a comet is a long tail. This is caused by materials breaking off and expanding. They expand into an enormous escaping atmosphere called the coma. This becomes at least the size of our planet. With the comet going so fast, these materials are forced behind the comet, forming a long tail of dust and gas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Comets are cold bodies. We see them only because the gases they are composed of glow in the sunlight. All comets are regular family members of the solar system family. They are bound by gravity to a strict path around the solar system. Scientists believe that all comets were formed of material, originally in the outer part of the solar system, which did not become incorporated into planets. This material is from when the planets just started forming. This makes comets an extremely interesting topic to scientists who are studying the history of the solar system.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In comparison to planets, comets are very small. They can be anywhere from 750 meters (or less) to 20 kilometers in diameter. However, lately, scientists have been finding proof that there are comets 300 kilometers in diameter or greater.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Comets are still compared to the planets, though. Planets usually follow the shape of a sphere. Most planets are fat at the equator. Comets come in all different shapes and sizes. Most evidence that science has revealed says that comets are extremely fragile. A comet is so poorly structured that it is like a loose snowball--it can be pulled apart with one's own bare hands.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Comets have very awkward rotation periods. They are very oblong. When comets reach their aphelion they are usually near Jupiter or even sometimes Ne... ... is expected to reach its closed point to the sun. At this time it will also be most visible because the sun reflects off the tail of the comet.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It will come .914 astronomical units from the sun. This is not all that close to the sun considering the fact that some comets have run into the sun and others have skimmed the surface of it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although the comet will be closest to the sun on April 1, it will be closest to the earth on March 23, 1997. Some people have been saying that the comet will hit earth and cause human extinction, just like the dinosaurs. The fact is, however, THE COMET WILL NOT HIT EARTH. The closest it will come is 120 million miles away from the earth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some people are saying that the comet is going to Be huge, and others say it will be small. We will never know though because we can not see the nucleus of a comet. The part of the comet we see is the tail. The tail of a comet can be over 10,000 kilometers long.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In all, comets, the history of comets, and comets waiting to be discovered is very interesting. I think that one day we will get to see the nucleus of a comet, and be able to watch comets form in the Oort Cloud.