The setting of a Christmas carol Essay Example

The setting of a Christmas carol Paper How does Dickens set the scene for the appearance in Jacob Maryles Ghost in stave 1 of a Christmas carol? Dickens immediately sets the scene by writing a forceful, yet mysterious beginning to the first scene. Marley was dead to begin with The effect of this opening is startling and also shocking. This is a very unusual way to open a story. Also this is a question to his death, so he is dead but could come into the story later. Dickens exaggerates this point of that Marley is dead and is very repetitive in this manor. So this makes the reader ask themselves why the writer is doing this and repeating such a bold point. But then dickens puts the reader back into reality Old Marley was as dead as a doornail. So this reassures the reader that Marley is dead and also dickens has used a simile with alliteration. The use of alliteration emphasises the meanings of words so that the word compared to the object is bolder. Introduction. Charles Dickens was born in 1812. His father worked for the navy pay office. So Dickens s early life gave him plenty of chances to see life on and around the Thames. He attended a small school until he was eleven, when he and his family decided to move to London. We will write a custom essay sample on The setting of a Christmas carol specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The setting of a Christmas carol specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The setting of a Christmas carol specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer His family contained himself, five other children and his mother and father. His father wasnt bringing enough money so his mother thought she could get a job but this was not meant to be. The family had to sell all the books they had collected and other valuable household items to a pawnshop. When Charles turned twelve so his parents where leased to find Charles a job at a blacking factory. This would be a very dirty un hygienic place to work but this was life. This was a big warehouse, which was decaying and full of rats. Paragraph 2. In the next scene of the book, dickens uses his second technique, which describes Scrooge by his physical features. Dickens describes scrooge so bad that he intends it for us to dislike scrooge, the type of description is so inhumane that we think of him as a creature. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivels his cheek, stiffened his gait, made his eyes red and made his thin lips blue. This helps the reader picture a disgusting and strange looking man who is incredible ungiving. Dickens describes Scrooge by writing what Scrooges action are. Scrooge never painted out old Marleys name therefor this could show that Scrooge is so stubborn to buy and paint the board outside of his business. Dickens also describes scrooge in a different way, which is when he uses a verb chain. This also describes scrooge in a bolder way so it portrays him in a meaner way. This is effective because this is exaggerated to the extreme, so that scrooge is discovered to be how mean he is. Scrooge is compared to an oyster and this is such a good comparison. This is because oysters have very hard ugly shells but they have a pearl, which is pretty inside. This could mean that scrooge has a outer shell which means hes argent, horrible and stubborn, but inside he could have a better giving side to him. Also the theme of redemption is introduced here because at Christmas people look back on the year and try to change the bad ways they have done, so the reader may be thinking of this. Paragraph 3 A further method by which Dickens prepares us for the ghostly vision of Marleys face on Scooges door is how he describes the setting outside Scrooges counting house. In the next scene dickens describes the setting of a Christmas carol. Dickens uses the fact that Marley is dead and describes the setting in an unusual way. First dickens describes the setting as dark, damp and gloomy. This is a very different contrast to a normal Christmas, which is light, snowy and sunny. The reader wonders why dickens does this, because this is totally opposite to what Christmas is really like. Another technique that dickens uses is personification It was cold, bleak, biting weather. This doesnt really happen because the cold isnt really biting scrooge its that it is so cold it feels as if you are being bitten.

buy custom The Battle of New Orleans essay

buy custom The Battle of New Orleans essay The battle of New Orleans took place on 8th January 1815. The battle was the greatest final battle of the war of 1812(Howell 1886). In this battle, the United States side won against the British. This battle is the greatest American land victory of a war. This paper will discuss the circumstances that led to this battle, its proceeding and how it finally ended. The war started in 1812; and still continued in 1814. The parties to war were the Great Britain and the U.S. At this point the British decides to take the Americans from a three-front. The first part of the British attack involved attacking the main cities along the Atlantic Ocean coast. They were Baltimore, Maryland; Savannah, Georgia; Washington, Washington D.C; and South Carolina. August, 1814 the British soldiers attacked Washington, DC setting main buildings of the U.S government on fire and were immensely successful because the American military soldiers expected the attack to be in Baltimore hence not defending Washington well. The American forces successfully defended Baltimore from the British September 1814 attack. The second part of the British plan was to come into New York State; by crossing Lake Champlain from Canada with the aim of isolating New England states. This plan failed because the Americans successfully drove off the British forces back to Canada on the 31st August 1814. The last plan was to overpower the port city of New Orleans, Louisiana with the aim to stop commerce in the southern states and territories west of the River Mississippi and by December, 1814 the British flotilla was set to progress on New Orleans (Remini 1999). The U.S reserves were nearly penniless; the president needed additional troops for the war. Men were not registering in the military; the war was taking a toll on the US. Preident Madison needed an army of sixty thousand soldiers but only had half the number. American General Andrew Jackson also called Old Hickory arrived in New Orleans on December 1, 1814 and identified strategic locations that needed to be defended and set about strengthening defenses. He recruited the Louisiana militia, African Americans, Creoles, French and Spanish heritage local frontiersmen, local Choctaw Indians and accepted help of pirates under the command of Jean Laffit. On December 12, the British fleet, with their leader, Sir Alex Cochrane accompanied by a number exceeding eight thousand soldiers and several sailors aboard surged forward. They sailed further in the Gulf of Mexico; they approached Lake Borgne and Lake Pontchartrain. Other leaders that accompanied Sir Alex on this side were; Sir Edward Pake nham, John Lambert and John Keane. On the opposing side, the Americans prevented the access to these lakes, under the leadership of Andrew Jackson, John Coffee, William Carroll and Jean Lafitte. December 14 Royal marines under Captain Nicholas Lockayer and over 1000 British sailors attacked Catesby force, capturing Catesbys vessels in an engagement called Battle of Lake Borgne.6 Americans died, 35 wounded and 86 captured while 77 British sailors wounded and 17 killed. December 23,2500 volunteers from Vennesse also called dirty shirts by the British arrived. The Americans gained psychological victory over the British by a surprise attack in the night ordered by Old Hickory. The Americans then began to construct artillery batteries to protect their earth works, they installed eight batteries (32-pound guns, three 12-pounders, one 18-pounder, three 24-pounders, one 6 inch howitzer). Men went to man 24-pounders and two 12-pounders west bank of the Mississippi from the grounded warship Louisiana by Jackson (Remini 1999). Bothh parties were ready for war on Christmas day 1814, but the first attack was on January 1, 1815 when the British fired cannons on the American defenses. They exchanged fire; after three hours of battle, the British retreated. The Americans earthworks damaged during this attack where many guns destroyed including a 24-pounder, a12 pounder and the 32-pounder. On 8th January 1815, the British troops were on the battle ground and commanding general Pakenham ordered two attacks on the American defenses. The main attack was directly against the earthworks manned by the majority of American troops. They launched in two columns along the swamp line led by Major General Samuel Gibbs and along the river led by Kaene. When the attacks began it was dark, and there was heavy fog. Thomas Mullins had forgotten the ladders and fascines to be used for crossing the canal and to scale the Americans earthworks causing confusion for the British in the dark. This caused many of them to be killed including Colonel Rennie who was leading the detachment of light companies of the 43rd, 93rd and 7th left of the river and General Gibbs who was leading the main attack column on the right comprising the 21st, 5th,4th, and the 44th West India Regiments. It was evident that the British was losing the war, having lost 291, 2,042 casualties, 1267 wounded while 484 were either captured or missing (Smith 2010). The Americans had only 13 dead, 71 casualties, 39 wounded while 19 were missing. This prompted the British General Lambert to order the withdrawal of his army. This marked the victory for the Americans. Later, a messenger came from Europe with a message that the American and British representatives signed a peace agreement in Belgium on 24th December 1814. However, this mess age delayed since there was no quick means of communication. This marked the end of the New Orleans war. Buy custom The Battle of New Orleans essay

Case Study on Merger of Two Competing Hospitals

On Merger of Two Competing Hospitals - Case Study Example It is argued that, consolidated hospitals have significance performances benefits compared to independent hospitals. Managerial and medical benefits are realized via various means. This are such as, care comprehensiveness, quality, economies, administrative and accessibility power (Hsieh et al., 2011). Thus, the consolidation of Banner Regional Medical Center and Porter Regional Medical Center would be of advantage to the community people. The board at fore most needs to advertise the posts for new executives. Individuals competent for the post need to email their resumes. The next step is for the board to hire a consulting firm for purposes of reviewing the resumes and performances of the applicants. Finally, the qualified applicants get the position and become part of the consolidation. Given the embedded diversity cultures of the merged organizations, the management team needs to do the following in order to enhance the new organization working culture. Employees should be made to understand that, attacking of diversity issues with powerful force is not ethical. Those who do that, think its imperative to take a strategic action. In addition to that, understanding of diversity at work force does not trigger any changes that are major in practices of management. Therefore, for the success of the merged organizations, each and everyone should be considered in decision making. In that case, policy designing, decision making and management procedures should not be left to corporate officers. On the contrary, all the organization shareholders should take part in the development of organization missions, objectives, rules and regulations (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2011). In the moments of consolidation, the companies’ physical structures should either be renovated or sold to get funds to build new and modernized facilities. The old and dilapidated

Organizations draw specific and directive plans that are aligned to Essay

Organizations draw specific and directive plans that are aligned to specific and strategic objectives and goals - Essay Example An overall organizational analysis will yield substantial information that will help in understanding the strategies and their effectiveness in deriving the desired results. Hence, an analysis and evaluation of these strategies at various levels will be conducted. These would include an industry analysis, analysis of competitors and competition, analysis of strategic capabilities including resources, skills abilities etc, an analysis of Starbucks market position and its products’ success rates. These analyses will be carried out on the basis of established tools and techniques. Industry perspective: Despite its immense success and rigorous growth, Starbucks is experiencing increased pressure from various external forces. Through PESTEL analysis, the impact of these external forces namely, political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legislative entities can be assessed. Competition perspective: Competition always remains a rapidly growing threat for any busine ss. Hence, business owners need to be aware of the nature of these threats in order to remain sustainable in the market. Porter’s five force model helps in assessing the nature of competition. This model considers five forces namely, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of entry of new competitors and degree of rivalry between existing competitors. An analysis based on this model will give a comprehensive idea of the position of Starbucks and the direction and/or steps it needs to take in order to remain competitive. Capabilities perspective To sustain competitive position and grow, businesses require certain prerequisite attributes in their resources that are valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable. These attributes together are referred to as the VRIN, and provide value-creating strategies. An assessment of the resources and capabilities of Starbucks on this model will provide a clear picture of its strengths and weaknesses. Market perspective: An organization that produces diversified products and services needs to be constantly assessed and evaluated for its products and services in comparison with the market. Such an analysis can be accomplished using the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix in which businesses/product lines are categorized into four categories namely, question mark, star, cash cow, and dog. This tool shows products’ performance in terms of market share and market growth; thereby, it assists in managing specific business components in a manner that minimizes loss and maximizes profits. Recommendations and conclusions: Based on the analysis, recommendations for products/services that should be offered by Starbucks and the markets they should target will be proposed. Probable References Porter, M.E. 1979. How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy. Harvard Business Review. Hill, C and Jones, G. 2009. Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach. 9th ed. OH: Cengage Learning. Kotler, P and Armstrong, G. 2003. Principles of Marketing. London: Prentice Hall. Silver, D. 2009. The Social Network Business Plan: 18 Strategies That Will Create Great Wealth. NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Zhang, W-B. 2010. Economic Growth and Gender Division of Labour with Creativity, Knowledge Utilization, and Capital Accumulation. In Rodrigues, S.

ADVANCED AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY; CASE STUDY ON ALLERGY Essay

ADVANCED AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY; CASE STUDY ON ALLERGY - Essay Example However, the most common protein causing milk allergy is alpha S1-casein. Others may me caseins and whey. In case of egg allergy, the most common allergen is ovomucoid while others present in egg white are ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, and lysozyme. The egg yolk also contains some allergens that start an antibody reaction and among the most common are apovitillin, livetin and vosvetin. In case of peanut allergy the mostly common allergen found is a Lupine which is a legume and causes severe allergy in patients sensitive to it. 4. Th-2 like cells can be identified in the peripheral blood and lesions of atopic-dermatitis patients producing IL-4, 5, 13 and also IL-17 from Th17 cells. Explain the role(s) of these cytokines in allergy (10 Marks). The Th2 response is characterized by the release of several interleukins that ultimately goes through a chain of responses that leads to ‘humoral immunity’ by neutralizinge the non-cytolytic antibodies. The Th2-type cytokines include Interleukins 4, 5 and 13. IL 4, 5 and 13 are linked with the support of IgE and eosinophilic response in atopy. Other than this IL-17 has more of anti-inflammatory effect. Therefore, Th2 finds to be counteracting the Th1 medicated microbial action and thus produces a well balanced response to an immune attack (BMJ 2000). At homeostasis, Mast cells are the important cells that are present not only in skin but also in mucosal tissues. Both mast cells and quantity of eosinophils in mucosa are related to hyperactivity of lungs. There are several studies that suggest a correlation between mast cells and eosinophills that at some extent related to Eosinophil Cationic protein release. On stimulation, mast cells release IL-5 and PAF to enhance Eosinophil Cationic Protein (ECP) release from eosinophils. Since the number of mast cells is elevated in Asthmatic patients thus this assay is quite helpful in finding the allergic reaction. Hygiene Hypothesis suggests that the

SWOT Analysis of the Fashion Industry

SWOT Analysis of the Fashion Industry Conducting a SWOT analysis, that is, reviewing the strengths of an organization, its weaknesses, opportunities it can capitalize on for maximum profits, and the threats to achieving its full potential provides very invaluable information to the organization about the market and understanding the industry, as well. The analysis is used to define both the unfavorable and favorable factors and their impacts on goals of the business. The fashion industry, which is very volatile, is not an exception, it too has its own share of strengths and opportunities which once utilized by an organization can help it grow substantially and weaknesses and threats which the organization must strive to minimize to the lowest possible levels. One of the strengths of Oakley as a company in the fashion industry is the growing income levels. The growth in individual incomes increases the amount of disposable income and hence many people are able to purchase their products. Growth of sports through funding by international sponsors is also a major strength as it has led to a significant increase in the number of sportspersons who are the highest consumers of Oakley Inc products like prescription eyewear, watches, shoes and electronics. Despite the downturns, the fashion industry has continued to grow over time and is one of those industries that are far away from reaching their peak. This can be partly attributed to the ever growing population and the increase in the propensity of people to don fashion attire. With efficient management, Oakley Inc has the potential to be the leading multi-national company in the distribution of apparel, sunglasses and footwear. Oakley Inc has built a reputation and a name for itself as being a producer of high quality products and the owner of about 575 patents a figure of about 1100 trademarks. It has successfully worked on creating a large customer base and trade connections. It also has in its possession a large talent of labor which has led to the production of high quality products. This has established it as a market leader enjoying many industrial advantages over its competitors guaranteeing a higher volume of sales compared to other companies in the industry. One of the greatest weaknesses facing the company is the development of some products which do not command a large following. This leads to these products staying in the distribution outlets for a long time leading to stagnation of capital. Losses are incurred as the limited sales made are not able to meet the production costs of the product. To avert this, the company should produce a limited number of products in each line and test its appeal in the market by monitoring the quantity of sales made per unit time and then deciding whether the product is viable to the company. Another weakness in the fashion industry is infrastructural development. The development of infrastructure has been very slow thus unable to keep up the pace of growth of the sector. It is therefore, a bottleneck in the industry as it hinders efficient distribution of company products to some areas. Curving out a niche for itself in the fashion industry has not been an easy ride for Oakley Inc. Building a reputation for itself has been a major weakness as a lot of investment has had to be done in advertisements and market research to determine the best market places and consumer needs. The company has also had a hard time competing with other companies in the same industry due to the low prices attached on these companies ¿Ã‚ ½ products. To survive this, the company has had to lower its prices while ensuring that they are in balance with the returns to avoid losses. Extensive advertising campaigns on quality have also given it an edge over those companies offering their products at lower prices. Oakley, Inc has had to maintain a huge and expensive work force which is spread over an outsized ecological area and which requires constant communication and monitoring. For this to work to its advantage, extensive evaluation of the personnel is required to ensure competence and also the ability of the workers to work under minimum supervision (Montgomery pp.1-2). There are many opportunities that the company can capitalize on to reap maximum profits. Expected investment is one of the opportunities that can benefit the company. The fashion industry is ever growing, and there is an increasing number of stakeholders in the industry willing to invest fashion. The company can take this opportunity to increase its capital base so as to be able to enjoy large economies of scale. The company should monitor international barriers to trade and make a move into new areas once these barriers come down. Abolition of these barriers can also help the company acquire high quality and less costly fabrics. Development of new products and services can lead to a remarkable growth on the profits of the company. Continued introduction of new products and various designs to the market can help ensure a growth in sales. Introducing special price packages for regular buyers of Oakley products would help in retaining these customers and increasing the appeal of the business to customers. Technological advancement and investment in information technology is an opportunity that can greatly help the company to minimize its operation cost. Oakley, Inc can rely on information technology to offer more customers friendly services like informing regular customers of a new design or product. Relying on e-commerce to sell its products online can help grow its geographical market area to cover the entire globe hence higher sales. The Company should evaluate end user response to its services to gain information on what areas of its services to improve. This would go a long way in helping the organization acquire new customers as well as retain its old ones who are satisfied with the services being offered (Johnson pp.D1). The organization should also take the opportunity to expand and cover a larger geographical area. It should grow into the untapped markets and offer its products and services in these regions. Having a large customer base would increase its profits. Acquiring better supply deals, for example, a less expensive textiles supplier would greatly minimize the operation cost of the company. The company can also retain its suppliers but negotiate for better deals with the aim of increasing its profit margin. Linking up with other companies in the industry is an opportunity that should not be ruled out. Linking up with another fashion company would increase the customer volume greatly. There are many threats facing organizations in the fashion industry. Shopping for products like expensive sunglasses and footwear is greatly impacted by the global economy. A downturn in the global economy means that less people are likely to purchase these products. This leads to low income to the company during this period. To minimize the effect of this, the company should devise a mechanism of lowering its operation cost to the minimum possible levels to avert possible losses due to its operating costs exceeding income. Trade barriers are a threat to the company as it has been unable to venture into some markets due to strict market regulations. It has also hindered the company from acquiring low cost raw materials for manufacture of its products which would have increased its profit margin. Shifting trends is also a major threat to the company. A change in the fashion trend may render some of the company products useless and obsolete. The company therefore has to ensure continued development of new products to maintain its sales. Some government legislation can also be a major threat to investors in the fashion industry. Intervention by the government can come with it rules which are very costly to adhere to and also competition from unexpected quarters, for example, from multi-national fashion companies due to liberalization of the market (Leibowitz pp.22). The international sports calendar has a huge impact on the sale of Oakley products which are mainly composed of athletics products. The company should devise a mechanism of maintaining the sales even in off peak seasons. This can be achieved through having a line of brands which are not sports related. Over the next few years, huge investments are expected to be made in the fashion industry. New companies are likely to crop up and this will lead to a strain on the available labor force. This will be a limiting factor to the continued growth of the company. To prevent this, the company should start training its own fashion staff. This would in future give it an advantage over the other companies which would be experiencing a shortage of the same. The company can therefore, transform this threat into an opportunity by selling some of its staff to the other businesses for a profit. The organization also faces the threat of being vulnerable to attacks by its major competitors. It should therefore, have all the mechanisms of counteracting this in standby so that it does not fall to accusations from other fashion companies. The rising fuel prices have become a major hurdle for almost every business in the world. A huge upward surge in fuel prices can destabilize an investment. To counter this, the company should ensure that it has its own fuel reserve so that it is not immediately affected by the changes in fuel prices as it will have time to adjust while relying on its fuel reserves. With its own reserve, it can benefit from this threat by providing that much needed resource to its competitors at a large profit margin.

The Effects of Global Warming on Wetlands :: Geology

The Effects of Global Warming on Wetlands Introduction Wetlands are highly productive ecosystems. Wetlands include marshes, estuaries, bogs, fens, swamps, deltas, shallow seas, and floodplains. Wetland habitats support a vast range of plant and animal life, and serve a variety of important functions, which include water regime regulation, flood control, erosion control, nursery areas for fishes, fish production, recreation, plant production, aesthetic enjoyment, and wildlife habitat. Wetlands account for about 6% of the global land area and are among the most valuable environmental resources. The Problem The potential impacts of climate change on wetlands are of great concern. Increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released by human activities are generally expected to warm the Earth a few degrees (C) in the next century by a mechanism known as the "greenhouse effect." Such warming could raise sea level by expanding ocean water, melting mountain glaciers, and eventually causing polar ice sheets to side into the oceans. Among the coastal areas of greatest risk in the United States are those low-lying coastal habitats that are easily eroded and which occur along the northern Gulf of Mexico and southern Atlantic coasts of the U.S. These coastal wetlands are especially vulnerable to direct, large-scale impacts of climate change, primarily because of their sensitivity to sea-level rise. Observational records indicate that sea level has already risen between 10 and 25 cm globally over the past 100 years. In addition, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has projected a sea-level rise of 15-95 cm as a consequence of global warming. Sea-level rise will also increase the depth of coastal waters and increase inland and upstream salinity intrusion, both of which affect fresh and brackish water wetlands. Sea-level rise has the potential for increasing the severity of storm surges, particularly in areas where coastal habitats and barrier shorelines are rapidly deteriorating. These direct consequences of global- and regional-scale changes will increase the vulnerability of coastal wetlands which are already heavily impacted by human activities. Analysis of sites in five coastal states indicate that many marshes and mangrove ecosystems receive adequate mineral sediments to produce enough organic sediment and root material to remain above sea level at the present rate of sea-level rise (1-2 mm per year globally). However, three of the twelve wetlands studied were not keeping pace with the current rate of sea-level rise. If sea-level rise accelerates, some additional sites would also begin to slowly deteriorate and submerge. The Effects of Global Warming on Wetlands :: Geology The Effects of Global Warming on Wetlands Introduction Wetlands are highly productive ecosystems. Wetlands include marshes, estuaries, bogs, fens, swamps, deltas, shallow seas, and floodplains. Wetland habitats support a vast range of plant and animal life, and serve a variety of important functions, which include water regime regulation, flood control, erosion control, nursery areas for fishes, fish production, recreation, plant production, aesthetic enjoyment, and wildlife habitat. Wetlands account for about 6% of the global land area and are among the most valuable environmental resources. The Problem The potential impacts of climate change on wetlands are of great concern. Increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released by human activities are generally expected to warm the Earth a few degrees (C) in the next century by a mechanism known as the "greenhouse effect." Such warming could raise sea level by expanding ocean water, melting mountain glaciers, and eventually causing polar ice sheets to side into the oceans. Among the coastal areas of greatest risk in the United States are those low-lying coastal habitats that are easily eroded and which occur along the northern Gulf of Mexico and southern Atlantic coasts of the U.S. These coastal wetlands are especially vulnerable to direct, large-scale impacts of climate change, primarily because of their sensitivity to sea-level rise. Observational records indicate that sea level has already risen between 10 and 25 cm globally over the past 100 years. In addition, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has projected a sea-level rise of 15-95 cm as a consequence of global warming. Sea-level rise will also increase the depth of coastal waters and increase inland and upstream salinity intrusion, both of which affect fresh and brackish water wetlands. Sea-level rise has the potential for increasing the severity of storm surges, particularly in areas where coastal habitats and barrier shorelines are rapidly deteriorating. These direct consequences of global- and regional-scale changes will increase the vulnerability of coastal wetlands which are already heavily impacted by human activities. Analysis of sites in five coastal states indicate that many marshes and mangrove ecosystems receive adequate mineral sediments to produce enough organic sediment and root material to remain above sea level at the present rate of sea-level rise (1-2 mm per year globally). However, three of the twelve wetlands studied were not keeping pace with the current rate of sea-level rise. If sea-level rise accelerates, some additional sites would also begin to slowly deteriorate and submerge.

Current topics

A Wag Whenever one sits down to write on the mess that one finds in the arena of higher education, one is struck by a sense of d ©J ¤ vu as well as a sense of inability to say nything new. Pawan Agarwal's comprehensive paper that he wrote for ‘CRIER, the excellent report by National Knowledge Commission (headed by the irrepressible Sam Pitroda) are Just two of the many articles that easily come to mind. The first one mentioned, has exhaustive data at a fairly disaggregated level so that this aspect need not detain us here.The issues and challenges in this context -that are fairly well understood – are diverse not typical. Thus, the challenge is not epistemological but one of political will and at a more mundane level of implementation. In India, it oes not take a genius to point out the problems in any sphere, least of all in the higher educational sector. The point however is (ought to be) to identify workable solutions. In this article I will concentrate on the cap acity, flexibility and quality issues that beset the higher educational sector in India and suggest some steps that need to be taken to remedy the situation.Rest assured, there will be no magic wand and no single solution. Help and initiative from whatever quarter must be sought and grabbed by both hands. A bouquet approach will alone be realistic, driven by ragmatism rather than ideology. Whilst finance is undoubtedly important, I argue that governance is the key. The essentials of the story are easily told: Despite tremendous expansion in the sector, there is inadequate capacity and hence access; after all we have 350 universities with huge enrollment (one of the largest in the world).The system is characterized by rigidity with absolutely no flexibility; we have degrees being offered in a rigid framework with very little choice for the students (who should matter the most) and the regulations are archaic with peculiar unresponsiveness to the current context. Thanks to the pervers e hiring policies and protracted procedures (not to mention politics: with and without state interference) the quality of faculty is in a state of rapid decline. The reasons and solutions are well known and yet some of them bear repetition.Having made a first cut let us revisit the issues in some detail, but first some preliminaries. India is at cross roads. It has all the pretensions of emerging as a knowledge economy and yet the time is running out for it to catch the bus. Surely, we don't require Thomas Friedman to point out the gravity of the situation. After all, what we o today – by way of investment – will have a decisive influence fifteen years from now. For that is how long (even in these fast paced times) it takes for changes in educational system to fructify.It is no secret that a genuine knowledge has a prerequisite of solid foundation provided by educational institutions characterized by relevance and excellence in training and research. This then must pro vide us with the parametric environment for what follows. The long queues in front of the colleges as well as the screaming headlines in the newspapers, starkly present the scarcity of capacity in the higher educational sector. The premium that the seats in better colleges for almost all the courses attract is common knowledge.Whilst there are supervisory mechanisms in place (de Jure) we know that supervision many a time means additional side payments. As an aside, the only solution lies in self enforcing system design which in this case would clearly imply removal of striuctural and overall scarcities through increased capacities. The National Knowledge Commission (NKC) report talks of setting up 50 National Universities (over a period) with augmented resources leading to capacity enhancement.There is the private universities' bill which should help too. There is a scope for great enhancement of capacity in the PPP mode, for which the regulation has to be more welcoming if not frie ndly. Whilst there is a need to think out of box, there is no denying the fact that the traditional state funding mode will however continue to be of importance for at least some time to come. We must once and for all put an end to view that improvements are possible witn Just non-monetary means.This implies a self binding commitment on the part of governments at all levels to provide the necessary financial resources. The urrent spending on higher education that is pegged at around 0. 7% of GDP must be doubled. This will require a serious lobbying effort. In this context, it may be noted that there is much that can be done by the institutions on their own in terms of raising resources. Alumni represent a huge potential source, so also setting up of off shore campuses and attracting foreign students are other obvious sources.However, this will require some amendments in the existing provisions of the ‘Act', also, experience suggests that such efforts are ‘rewarded' by cu t back in aid, instead of matching incentive grants being proffered. Such efforts in the past have been – post facto – subjected by the government, to severe restrictions on the use of monies so collected. Clearly there is a governance issue involved here. This apart, the required enabling (through regulatory changes) of private sector is a must for the purposes of raising supplementary resources.The private endowments which at one time were significant, have to be restored through incentive based legislation. At the same time the interference – as distinct from engagement – of the State in all aspects of education has to be significantly reduced, especially in the ‘operations' and rocedural aspects. This has been a major cause that led to the Universities being converted into patron saints of mediocrity! The state must truly practice private enablement with ‘oversight from a distance'. Of course, the processes involved in the setting up in th e national universities (or even investing in old ones! are so long drawn and convoluted that with the given absorption capacity of the institutions it will be some time before the plan becomes a reality. Also, and more importantly, the paucity with regard to the attendant requirement of quality faculty (which we shall ook at later) is so great that even with physical infrastructure the delivery will not be assured. This requires some bold and innovative thinking and application which requires a key governance initiative. The external agencies like the corporations and industries will have to play (be enabled to do so) a major role.In the interim, I would suggest that IT enabled distance learning mode as well as the platform for e-learning have to be exploited to the fullest extent. This will require huge organization and collaborative effort of the best minds. It is especially required to mention this here ecause these avenues (particularly the first mentioned) are pretty much have received step treatment and have been left to the whims and fancies of the second raters. This has created sections of milch cows that fraudulently extract money from the hapless students and give nothing in return.

A VINDICATED SLAYER essays

A VINDICATED SLAYER essays A VINDICATED SLAYER: A CLOSER LOOK AT GEORGE ORWELLS SHOOTING AN ELEPHANT The impact of removing an animal from its natural habitat by destruction seems demoralizing to some people. Nevertheless there are times when this course of action is required due to aggressive behavior from the animal. In George Orwells story Shooting an Elephant, he was assigned as a police officer in a small Burmese village in 1950. He had been called upon to take action against a belligerent elephant, whose uncontrollable rage also led to an excruciating and painful death of a defenseless villager. The protagonist was justified in his position in destroying the elephant based upon these facts. In order to validate that Orwells action were legal and justified one must first understand the responsibilities of a police officer, the uncontrolled state of the elephant, and the impact the elephants death had on the villagers. Officers of the law are not above scrutiny in their job, but duty is above conscience. It is the responsibility of a law enforcement officer to uphold the law, regardless of how insignificant or inhumane an incident might appear. It is not the local citizens who decide what is right and wrong, but rather the laws that are in place to not only protect its citizens, but to provide the governing forces a baseline of guidance. The moral obligation of an officer of the law is to uphold these laws. In the following passages, Orwell explains that his actions were legal. The look on the face of the mauled villager looked like ... and expression of unendurable agony (Orwell 6). It was evident that mauled villager had suffered a horrific death. The death of any human being is punishable under applicable laws of the country where they take place. It does not matter whether the taking of a human life was committed by an animal or another human being. It was apparent that the villagers ...

The Greek Culture And Oedipus The King Religion Essay Essay Example

The Greek Culture And Oedipus The King Religion Essay Essay Example The Greek Culture And Oedipus The King Religion Essay Paper The Greek Culture And Oedipus The King Religion Essay Paper I have chosen to speak about the Grecian civilization because I believe that our present civilization has many similarities to the Greek s civilization. Our civilization today is really surprisingly similar to that of the Greeks. Some of these similarities are instruction, authorities, and faith. One similarity that we have to the Greek s civilization is the Greek s devotedness to rational unity and their development of a system of schools. The Greeks understood how of import it is to hold a good instruction. I agree with them because I think it is really of import to hold at least a high school instruction and I besides think it is of import to hold a college instruction. I believe that with cognition comes power and holding cognition can take to good things. Today, most people fundamentally think like the Greeks did about rational unity and a development of a system of schools. We still see the importance of a good instruction today. Having a college grade in today s society holds more occupation chances than person who merely has a high school instruction. One of the chief ends of instruction in Greece was to fix a kid for grownup activities as a citizen which is something that our society still does today. Parents prepare their childs for maturity. Another similarity that we have compared to the Grecian civilization is at that place usage of a democracy system. The Greeks were really the 1s that created the first democracy. The definition of democracy is the regulation of the people. They understood how of import it is to include the people in the determinations that are made for a society. When authorization figures make determinations on a society without the people of that society s ideas on those determinations, I m certain that people tend to acquire reasonably upset. The United States still uses a democracy system of authorities today because, like the Greeks, we see how of import it is for the people to hold some input every bit good. The Greeks besides had a broad position toward instruction that was mostly responsible for the ruin of Classical Greek civilisation. There are many people that still have a broad point of position today. We have republicans every bit good but we still have those progressives. Not merely was their democracy of import, but the function that the people of their society played were really of import as good. In Grecian civilization, the adult female s occupation was to run the house and bear kids. In many households today, it is of import the adult female stays at place and takes attention of the house. Of class, it is still really of im port for adult females to bear kids besides. The work forces spent a great trade of clip off from place and when they were nt involved in political relations, they spent clip in the Fieldss with their harvests. We still see this today. A batch of work forces spend clip off from place because of their occupation. A batch of people still farm for a life today and those people, during the summer, spend a batch of clip off from place taking attention of their harvests. The last similarity between the Grecian civilization and our present society that I am traveling to speak about is faith. The Greeks were profoundly spiritual people that normally worshiped many Gods. Not merely did the Greeks write narratives about Gods and goddesses, they besides created a batch of art work such as pictures and sculptures that portrayed Greek Gods or goddesses. Most people today are still really spiritual. Almost every faith of today involves the worship of a God. The lone faith that I can believe of that does nt idolize a God is Atheism and I think that they do nt believe in Gods. I mean, most of us spiritual people still go to church, read the bible, and pray in order to idolize our God. Although the Greeks were really spiritual and thought it was really of import to idolize their Gods, they besides had an anthropocentric manner of thought. The definition of anthropocentric is fundamentally that adult male is the centre of everything and is most of import. In other words, the Greeks believed that they were the most of import and possibly even more of import than their Gods. Sadly, I believe that some or possibly a batch of people still think like this today. I think there are still those people that think that God is really of import but when it comes down to it, they think deep down that they may really be more of import and that they are really the centre of everything. I am non anthropocentric at all. I believe that God is most of import and that he is the centre of everything. Now I am traveling to speak about the Grecian work of literature Oedipus the King. In this narrative, Oedipus is the swayer of Thebes. Thebes is really a dying metropolis and Oedipus is profoundly concerned of why Thebes is deceasing. Oedipus is a individual that is urgently seeking the truth of things so he goes to a unsighted adult male named Tiresias and he tells Oedipus about all of these prognostications affecting Oedipus himself. Oedipus does non believe what Tiresias tells him but Oedipus finds out throughout the narrative that Tiresias prognostications are really true. The chief struggle in Oedipus the King is between belief and world. The belief is that intelligence makes humanity maestro of its ain destiny versus the world of humanity being helpless against some barbarous destiny. This sort of goes back to that anthropocentric manner of thought. For a individual to believe that he or she can command his or her ain destiny because of his or her intelligence seems like and anthropocentric manner of thought to me. I believe that whatever God has planned is what is traveling to go on no affair how smart person is. On page 617, lines 216-219, the chorus of the drama says: O aureate girl of God, send deliverance radiant as the kindness in your eyes! Drive him back! the febrility, the God of decease that ramping God of war. The chorus is praying that the girl of god send deliverance and drive back the God of decease from the metropolis of Thebes. This goes back to the Greek s being really spiritual people and idolizing Gods. All throughout Oedipus the King, the characters talk about some kind of god really frequently. Today, spiritual people still pray to their God for aid which is what is traveling on in these lines from Oedipus the King. I can associate to this because if I know person who is severely in demand of aid, I pray for him or her in hopes that he or she will have aid which is what the chorus of this narrative was making in these lines of the drama. The Grecian civilization had many similarities to our present society today. Some of these similarities are instruction, authorities, and faith. The drama of Oedipus the King shows features of the Grecian civilization throughout the drama. The Greeks made really of import developments and some of them are really apparent the present society of today.

Love letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Love letter - Essay Example I did not want things to become awkward between us, so I have been keeping my feelings inside. However, due to the strength of our friendship, I feel that I would be insulting you and our friendship if I did not confide in you about how I feel. We have been through so much together, growing up together, and my feelings for you have only increased over the years. While I would love something more to come from our friendship, if you do not return my feelings, then I would like your help in figuring out what I should do about these feelings that I have been having. Your friendship means a lot to me as it is; I would rather have you as just a friend, rather than nothing, so I am willing to make this work in whatever way you feel comfortable with, and that we can further benefit our friendship. I do not want my feelings to get in the way of an already amazing friendship. If you are willing to, I would also be willing to give us a try without others knowing. We can try out something more than a friendship under the radar, just until we can know if we can work this out or not. We could keep this on the down low until we understand more of what we want to do, and if we want to further our relationship. Again, if you are unwilling to do this, then I am up to working out something else with you. I would like to take our friendship to the next level, yet I also want to protect what is already there between us; your feelings in regards to this are very important to me, and I do not want to hurt them, nor do anything that might damage the friendship that we already have. My friendship for you has grown into a deep love and respect that I could never have thought possible. I would like to see something come of this, yet I am also willing to settle on the wonderful friendship that we have always had. You will always mean a lot to me, regardless of what you are to me – a

Sap Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Sap - Essay Example Pan African Health Organization (PAHO) gave the process of vaccine and the types even the challenges of vaccine as a response to preventing the outbreak. CHARACTERISTICS: Cholera is an asymptomatic infection because by the time the symptoms appear, the disease is already widespread. It affects young children, older ones and even adults. Its characterized by watery diarrhea , creamps in the limbs and it leads to dehydration of the patient. Treatment: Vaccination is recommended to those at risk of being infected. Those infected should have continued eating speeds to recover the normal intestinal function. Its treated with Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT). ORT is the easiest and simplest way of treatment since its effective and safe. "http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=6362HYPERLINK "http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=6362&cat=field-news"&HYPERLINK "http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=6362&cat=field-news"cat=field-news" For Haitians, Cholera Remains a Major Public Health Problem, Medecins Sans Frontieres. PROBLEMS: Cholera in Haiti continues to be widespread due to reduced international funding which has slowed down the delivery of medical care and provision of clean water and sanitation services. Measures taken to prevent and treat cholera are not enough because its still far from being