The Split Capital Investment Trust Crisis Essay

The Split Capital Investment Trust Crisis - Essay Example The objective in this differentiation in the financial products is to make available risk, income and tax preference options based on the required of potential investors. These offerings are designed such that they can be wound up at a future date normally extending to seven or ten years (Adams, 2004). The norm in split investment trust companies was traditional splits consisting of income shares and capital shares and quasi splits that had an added zero-dividend preference shares. Income shares had a low risk and high income and were a suitable investment for elderly people, while capital shares offered high income with an element of risk involved. The zero-dividend shares received no income and so attracted no income tax and had the added benefit of being paid off first at the time of liquidation of the trust. The high risk for the capital shares came from their being the last in terms of settlement at the time of the liquidation of trust (Adams, 2004). Spurred by the buoyant financial markets in the 1990s and the pursuit of fees by the fund management firms and their broker/advisors, who were invested with the day-to-day management of the investment trust products led to a the aggressive combination of the traditional splits and quasi-splits wherein all income shares, capital shares and zero-dividend preference were combined in what came to be known as the barbell trusts (Adams, 2004). Barbell trusts as their name suggests consist of a growth portfolio at one end and an income portfolio at the other and nothing in between. The problem in this was that the growth portfolio invariably was invested in an area of growth that was popularly attractive at that period of time and carried a high risk potential. The barbells were however high yielding securities and found an easy market with investors, who had gone used to high returns

Health and Social Care Essay Example for Free

Health and Social Care Essay We acknowledge with sincere thanks the many people who gave generously of their time to help us with this work. We particularly appreciate the expertise and advice o? ered by Arnon Bentovim, Richard Velleman, Lorna Templeton, Carolyn Davies and Sheena Prentice. The work has been funded by the Department for Education and we thank sta? in the department, particularly Jenny Gray who supported us throughout the work with her interest and valuable comments. The work was assisted by an advisory group whose membership was: Isabella Craig and Jenny Gray (Department for Education); Christine Humphrey (Department of Health) and Sian Rees (NICE); Arnon Bentovim (consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the Tavistock Clinic); Marian Brandon (reader in social work, University of East Anglia); Carolyn Davies (research advisor, Institute of Education, University of London); Jo Fox (social work consultant, Child-Centred Practice); David Jones (consultant child and family psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry; University of Oxford); Sue McGaw (specialist in learning disabilities, Cornwall Partnership Trust); Sheena Prentice (specialist midwife in substance misuse, Nottingham City PCT); Wendy Rose (The Open University); Lorna Templeton (manager of the Alcohol, Drugs and the Family Research Programme, University of Bath); and Richard Velleman (University of Bath and director of development and research, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust). Introduction This second edition of Children’s Needs – Parenting Capacity provides an update on the impact of parental problems, such as substance misuse, domestic violence, learning disability and mental illness, on children’s welfare. Research, and in particular the biennial overview reports of serious case reviews (Brandon et al 2008; 2009; 2010), have continued to emphasise the importance of understanding and acting on concerns about children’s safety and welfare when living in households where these types of parental problems are present. Almost three quarters of the children in both this and the 2003-05 study had been living with past or current domestic violence and or parental mental ill health and or substance misuse – often in combination. (Brandon et al 2010, p. 112) These concerns were very similar to those that prompted the ? rst edition of this book, which was commissioned following the emergence of these themes from the Department of Health’s programme of child protection research studies (Department of Health 1995a). These studies had demonstrated that a high level of parental mental illness, problem alcohol and drug abuse and domestic violence were present in families of children who become involved in the child protection system. Research context The 2010 Government statistics for England demonstrate that, as in the 1990s, only a very small proportion of children referred to children’s social care become the subject of a child protection plan (Department for Education 2010b). However, the types of parental problems outlined above are not con? ned to families where a child is the subject of a child protection plan (Brandon et al. 2008, 2009, 2010; Rose and Barnes 2008). In many families children’s health and development are being a? ected by the di? culties their parents are experiencing. The ? ndings from research, however, suggest that services are not always forthcoming. Practically a quarter of referrals to children’s social care resulted in no action being taken (Cleaver and Walker with Meadows 2004). Lord Laming’s progress report (2009) also expressed concerns that referrals to children’s services from other professionals did not always lead to an initial assessment and that ‘much more needs to be done to ensure that the services are as e? ective as possible at working together to achieve positive outcomes for children’ (Lord Laming 2009, p. 9, paragraph 1. 1). Practitioners’ fear of failing to identify a child in need of protection is also a factor driving up the numbers of referrals to children’s social care services which result in no provision of help. ‘This is creating a skewed system that is paying so much attention to identifying cases of abuse 2 Children’s Needs – Parenting Capacity and neglect that it is draining time and resource away from families’ (Munro 2010, p. 6). Munro’s Interim Report (2011) draws attention once again to the highly traumatic experience for children and families who are drawn into the Child Protection system where maltreatment is not found, which leaves them with a fear of asking for help in the future. A ? nding which was identi? ed by earlier research on child protection (Cleaver and Freeman 1995). Evidence from the 1995 child protection research (Department of Health 1995a) indicated that when parents have problems of their own, these may adversely a? ect their capacity to respond to the needs of their children. For example, Cleaver and Freeman (1995) found in their study of suspected child abuse that in more than half of the cases, families were experiencing a number of problems including mental illness or learning disability, problem drinking and drug use, or domestic violence. A similar picture of the di? culties facing families who have been referred to children’s social care services emerges from more recent research (Cleaver and Walker with Meadows 2004). It is estimated that there are 120,000 families experiencing multiple problems, including poor mental health, alcohol and drug misuse, and domestic violence. ‘Over a third of these families have children subject to child protection procedures’ (Munro 2011, p. 30, paragraph 2. 30). Children’s services have the task of identifying children who may need additional services in order to improve their well-being as relating to their: (a) physical and mental health and emotional well-being; (b) protection from harm and neglect; (c) education, training and recreation; (d) the contribution made by them to society; and (e) social and economic well-being. (Section 10(2) of the Children Act 2004) The Common Assessment Framework (Children’s Workforce Development Council 2010) and the Assessment Framework (Department of Health et al. 2000) enable frontline professionals working with children to gain an holistic picture of the child’s world and identify more easily the di? culties children and families may be experiencing. Although research suggests that social workers (Cleaver et al. 2007) and health professionals are equipped to recognise and respond to indications that a child is being, or is likely to be, abused or neglected, there is less evidence in relation to teachers and the police (Daniel et al. 2009). The identi? cation of children’s needs may have improved, but understanding how parental mental illness, learning disabilities, substance misuse and domestic violence a? ect children and families still requires more attention. For example, a small in-depth study found less than half (46%) of the managers in children’s social care, health and the police rated as ‘good’ their understanding of the impact on children of parental substance misuse, although this rose to 61% in relation to the impact of domestic violence (Cleaver et al. 2007). The need for more training on assessing the likelihood of harm to children of parental drug and alcohol misuse Introduction 3 was also highlighted by a survey of 248 newly quali? ed social workers (Galvani and Forrester 2009). A call for more high-quality training on child protection across social care, health and police was also made by Lord Laming (2009). Munro’s review of child protection in exploring ‘why previous well-intentioned reforms have not resulted in the expected level of improvements’ (p. 3) highlighted the ‘unintended consequences of restrictive rules and guidance’, which have left social workers feeling that ‘their professional judgement is not seen as a signi? cant aspect of the social work task; it is no longer an activity which is valued, developed or rewarded’ (Munro 2010, p. 30, paragraph 2. 16). The experience of professionals providing specialist services for adults can support assessments of children in need living with parental mental illness, learning disability, substance misuse or domestic violence. Research, however, shows that in such cases collaboration between adults’ and children’s services at the assessment stage rarely happens (Cleaver et al. 2007; Cleaver and Nicholson 2007) and a lack of relevant information may negatively a? ect the quality of decision making (Bell 2001). An agreed consensus of one another’s roles and responsibilities is essential for agencies to work collaboratively. The evidence provided to the Munro review (2011) found ‘mixed experiences and absence of consensus about how well professionals are understanding one another’s roles and working together’ and argues for ‘thoughtfully designed local agreements between professionals about how best to communicate with each other about their work with a family ’ (Munro 2011, p. 28, paragraph 2. 23). Although research shows that the development of joint protocols and informationsharing procedures support collaborative working between children’s and adults’ services (Cleaver et al. 2007), a survey of 50 English local authorities found only 12% had clear family-focused policies or joint protocols (Community Care 2009).

Laos: Iu-Mein Culture and Ceremonies :: Asia Asian

Laos: Iu-Mein Culture and Ceremonies What is Iu-Mein? Not many people have heard of the ethnicity Iu-Mein. It is a dialect from Laos. One of the traditions that Iu-Mein's have are ceremonies. Ceremonies are done with the sacrificing of a pig or chicken. Certain people may call it weird, and animal rights folks would call it animal cruelty, but in our culture, it is for healing and to pay our respects to our ancestors. The ceremonies are very sacred and are done by a shaman. A shaman in our culture is someone who can speak to spirits like a witch doctor. A pig or chicken is sacrificed depending on whether the ceremony performed is large or small. The shaman sets up the table with incense, paper made with circle imprints (money for the spirits), and a tea set filled with blessed water. After the pig or chicken is cleaned, it is set on the table and the shaman starts chanting or calling down the spirit. With a chicken, the ceremony usually takes about thirty minutes to an hour; with a pig, it can take an hour to an hour and a half. Ceremonies in the Iu-Mein culture are part of our lives. They are done as often as they are needed, but at least once a year. There are different kinds of ceremonies done for healing when someone is sick, for good luck for the year, weddings, and for death. Iu-Mein's believe in both good and bad spirits. Whenever someone is sick, we believe it is due to a hungry spirit. Our ceremony with the pig or chicken is meant to please the spirit by feeding them, paying them by burning paper "money," and by giving them water. There are all kinds of spirits that can touch a person to make them sick, like parents, grandparents, or any relatives who have passed away. There is not much about Iu-Mein culture in our history books, but books have been written about the Iu-Mein people.

Micro and Macro Management Essay

Macro Management In a simple definition management is the person or persons who control or direct a business or other enterprise. However, management is much larger than just one person or small group of people. Management is also the practice of handling, supervision, direction, and control (www. dictionary. com). It is much larger than one person, or even a small group of people; management is everywhere. We use management in all aspects of our daily lives, whether it is organizing an event, or handling a purchase order. Management must be arranged through multiple levels in order to be successful, beginning with micro management, eventually its way up the ladder to macro management. Micro and macro components are the core make up of every business, each possessing different qualities and characteristics that form the overall building blocks to success. During the training of a new employee, most businesses use the micro-management process to provide the guidance and tools the employee needs to become successful with that business. Micro management is used my supervisors to observe and control the work of their employees. It involves giving employee smaller tasks, while they monitor and assess the work being done (www. dictionary. com). Micro management is often used in the beginning of any business or establishment; basically, you need to start somewhere. In the opening of a new business, guidance will always need to be offered from cooperate offices to ensure a clean transition in the opening process. Once a business is established, management will in turn micro manage their employees; guiding them through the procedures and responsibilities the company requires. Because micro managing involves supervisors overlooking the tasks their employees are undertaking, often times it is thought of as an unenthusiastic tactic. Through the eyes of an associate, micro managing can be de motivating, in turn creating doubt and lack of confidence in the workplace. Even though micro managing is used as an introductory tool, it can be drawn out for a longer duration of time. Distrust, skepticism, and uncertainty are typical feelings an employee may experience if their supervisor is abusing the method of micro managing. The role of manager is an important position of supervision in any organization. The supervisor/manager plays a key function, in the day to day needs of the organization, by finding a balance of work efficiency and managing personnel. This balance becomes even more prevalent when assigning projects or interacting with subordinates. This paper will analyze several aspects or pitfalls, managers could find themselves involved in; and will identify methods used to overcome these situations when supervising subordinates. The position of manager holds many responsibilities in an organization; those responsibilities range from dealing with requests from upper management and servicing employee’s needs, and while seeing to theses responsibilities, the manager still has to supervise the overall direction of his or her department. The multiple tasks a manager must operate within, requires the manager to be flexible and†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦

Allegorical on the Bell Jar Essay

Just as all roads lead back to home, the protagonist exhibits that everyone will eventually become manifestations of the society it is born within. In this excerpt, the author uses the strong allegory of the protagonist plummeting down the slopes and skiing towards the inevitable end of conforming towards mankind and society. Although the protagonist’s gender isn’t explicit, we can assume that it’s a girl due to its unambiguous sub theme of feminine repression. The author presents the protagonists struggle in two distinct parts: the struggle to conform and the inevitable realization and acceptance of her fate. The author is able to do skilfully do so with a myriad of literary devices and extremely significant allegories. In the beginning, the protagonist is still struggling against the implications of society and is unwilling to accept her fate. The monotony of her â€Å"pale† life is emphasized by the repetition alliteration of â€Å"hill after†¦hill† and â€Å"great grey eye†. This shows the boring reoccurrence in the protagonist’s life and is constantly being overshadowed and judged by the watchful eye of society. Additionally, the protagonist is having an internal battle with doing what she innately feels is right against becoming what she knows everyone else wants her to transform into. Therefore, she has an â€Å"interior voice† that is persistently â€Å"nagging† her â€Å"not to be a fool† and conform and lose herself and â€Å"save [her] skin†. Obviously, she has fought hard to persist as her authentic self and is bitter about giving up who she really is. She feels like she has lost her sense of self and is no longer an individual, but merely â€Å"camouflaged† amongst everyone else as a product of society. The long sentence structure in the second paragraph of the excerpt displays that there was a very long and meticulous thought process about her present situation. She is â€Å"bordering† on the edge of a life changing decision. She has to decide – should she â€Å"kill [her true] self†, or should she resist the temptations of society? She is representing man’s struggle against oneself – the hardest battle to. However, she finally overcomes her inner battles and comes to realize that it is in her best interest to abide to society’s expectations. Henceforth, she tries to â€Å"measure the distance† and calculate how much of herself she will have to lose in the process. Buddy is a representation of society and the word is also slang for friend. â€Å"His†¦folded† â€Å"arms† signifying his lack of approval and his natural masculine instinct to repress femininity. As a result, we can understand the extent upon which female repression has been engrained into society and social stigma. Such is the product of a society filled with conformists and a lack of individuality – â€Å"numb, brown†¦ inconsequential† and boring beings. The next paragraph accentuates her defeatist attitude as the excerpt inches to the climax of the plot and has resolved to finally conform to the ‘American dream’ and fit into the mould society cast for her. Inevitably, she â€Å"aim[s] straight down† as she realizes that despite her best efforts at resistance, it is all to no avail. Once again, the short sentence structure is the implicit sign of the distinct change of internal character into one that has finally decided to join and become a part of society. Subsequent to the protagonist’s â€Å"descen[t]† into society, she â€Å"plummet[s]† herself straight into the heart of the situation. Nevertheless, even though she has physically committed herself he is still mentally â€Å"suspended† and trapped between what she wants and who she is. As a result, she represses those thoughts from â€Å"r[ising] higher†. This is the pivotal point upon which she consigns herself to follow society’s expectations because she understands that without social rules and stigma, â€Å"the world would not exist† and be able to function properly. Her â€Å"answering point in†¦[her] body† instinctually gravitates â€Å"towards† following social norms because despite the struggle against it, everyone will eventually cave to the expectations of others. She has become â€Å"inflate[d]† by the â€Å"inrush† of the external pressures of being part of a society . She realizes that she is finally experiencing the typical emotions, even though she feels removed from the â€Å"smiles† and â€Å"what it is [supposed to feel like] to be happy†. In spite of that, she feels â€Å"doubleness† as if it is not really herself going through the motions – she doesn’t feel true to herself and who she really is but simply sees a reflection of her figure that she can no longer recognise. On her way â€Å"hurtling† down, she has flashes of her â€Å"own past† that â€Å"recede[s]† and she has to make a decision between the light of the â€Å"white sun† and the darkness of an endless â€Å"dark tunnel†. Ultimately, she focuses on the â€Å"bright point at the end† of the tunnel and becomes a small â€Å"pebble† in the â€Å"bottom of [a big] well†, which is an analogy to her small and insignificant self in a world filled with billions of people. Her metamorphosis is paralleled to that of a rebirth into her new life. She has chosen the light and she is being christened into her new life as an innocent â€Å"sweet baby† that is being reborn again from â€Å"it’s mother’s belly†. All throughout this process â€Å"Buddy† and the â€Å"other faces† of society watchfully gaze and â€Å"h[a]ng over† her to ensure complete control. Gradually, she is transformed by the â€Å"strokes of [a] grandmother’s wand† creating a fairytale element to her change. The â€Å"familiar voice† of her conscience reminds her that she was doing â€Å"fine† by herself until â€Å"man[kind] stepped into her path† and created the platonic change within her. Society has already taken it upon themselves to â€Å"unfasten [her] bindings† of her previous ‘life’ and releasing her of her previous sins of not conforming. The â€Å"lodge fence† that blocks her way is a symbol of the white picket fence, which is a representation of the American Dream. She is finally being trapped into society’s expectations of what she should become. Yet she is still treated as an outsider and isn’t trusted and treated like an enemy with a â€Å"concealed weapon†. In the end, the light triumphs the dark and society overcomes her. The rising of the white sun shining in the sky displays her birth and final decision to conform to society. Even though she tries to challenge and return to her old self, she is unable to escape. Not only is she restricted by society itself but herself as well. She is â€Å"stuck† as society now has full reign over her. Thus, society and lack of freedom prevail and it’s triumph is evident in the â€Å"final smile†. In conclusion, the excerpt uses skiing as an allegory for mankind’s eventual and inevitable decline into conformity towards the American dream. There is no place in society for people who do not follow social rules and expectations. The protagonist is assumed to be a woman due to the stigma of females repressed role in society. She begins with the struggle between light and dark and the battle between being true to oneself and taking the easier path and following the well-worn road that society has taken. Later on, she understands and realizes that it is inevitable and ultimately conforms. Not matter how hard we may try to contend society, it will always prevail and have the power to manipulate us.

Diversity in an organization

Diversity in an organization Diversity is being considered as a dream for capitalist. This is because they are not fully aware of the best and appropriate time to implement the program in business. Many still wonder if it will be appropriate to implement it today or in future. However, Diversity Program leaders should first comprehend their evolutionary practice to be able to obtain success.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Diversity in an organization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More They should also understand that there is no limit in attaining diversity due to dynamic changes in communication, mobility and diversity itself (Cramer 1). Nevertheless, the most advantageous time to implement diversity in the organization is now. This is because organizational effectiveness will be at risk if the managers do not possess efficient diversity management skills. Diversity is the greatest asset in an organization; it should be acquired and cultivated b efore it is applied. There are numerous advantages and disadvantages of implementing diversity program in business. For example, leaders who possess excellent knowledge in managing large group of employees are capable of promoting productivity, stimulating employee morale and are able to avail and access new sectors in the marketplace. Some of the problems that diverse organizations face include communication issues, racism and discrimination. This paper summarizes the key business arguments for and against diversity as illustrated in the two articles. Increase in revenue is one of the major advantages of diversity in business. This is because diversity in business promotes innovation and creativity which results in increased revenue. Organizations that have diverse workforce have a great experience in solving issues and problems. They also have ease in implementing decisions since the entire workforce contribute in the decision making process creating understanding and corporation when it comes to work. Those companies that have committed themselves in using Diversity Programs experience strategic advantage (Cramer 1).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Such organizations are able to understand and respond to cultural consequences experienced when the organization sets its strategies and also during sales process. According to the report of a study conducted by researchers, high productivity will be the result obtained for accurately administering and training diverse organizational employees. The report also indicated that diverse teams record higher productivity. Workers can learn and benefit from each other in a diverse environment. This will enhance effectiveness, creativity, improvement and increase performance among the workers. One of the disadvantages of diverse organization is high turnover where you find that the turnover for one grou p of consumers is higher than the other. For instance, a car dealer in Japan is likely to get that a huge number of his customers are mainly women who are not citizens of Japan. Chinese people make a quarter of the world’s population and this means that consumer-goods industry is flooded with Chinese people (Hubbard 1). Therefore the organization will miss many market opportunities of reaching potentially profitable consumers. Many cases of discrimination, racism and biasness will crop up when an organization has one line of target group. The organization will only be focused on the target group while ignoring others. If diversity is not effectively used in an organization, it can bring serious problems that will generally led to lower production from the workforce. In conclusion, diversity is the greatest asset in an organization; it should therefore be acquired and cultivated before it is applied. The time to implement diversity in organizations is now. Corporations should therefore take the initiative of acquiring and cultivation their Diversity Programs for them to achieve effectiveness. Corporate leaders should redefine their own diverse efforts to obtain maturity and success in the long run. They should however be fully aware of advantages and disadvantages of Diversity Programs and look for a way of dealing with its shortcomings.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Diversity in an organization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Cramer, Vincent. Diversity: A Capitalist’s Dream. Boston: Convergence Media, Inc, 2003. Hubbard, Edward. The Business Case for Diversity. California: Hubbard Hubbard Inc, 2009.

Foursquare ads Essay

Foursquare ads Essay Foursquare ads Essay Forsquare self-service add platform became available for all small businesses. Beta testing started in July which involved a particular group of participants, was successfully finished and now it is open to 1,5 million business registered. Forsquare Ads is a new service that gives merchants an opportunity to create an ad and track the user activity connected to this ad (number of clicks and visits to the merchant's location). Forsquare seems to be very excited about new product and the idea that the actual user activity could be measured, the company wrote in a blog post: "We're moving past the days when business owners have to figure out if a "like" or a "click" has any meaning in the real world; now they can tell if someone who saw their ad actually walks into their store." However the appearance of advertising in Forsquare was predictable, because of company's financial situation. $112.4 million has been received by Forsquare from investors. The reported revenue for the last year is just $2 million. The main objective for creators of social media is making money from the site, app, blog, etc. Monetization of a product could be done in different ways, but always should be well planned to be effective, any mistakes could lead into decrease in user's attraction to the product and even in lost of existing and potential users. In case of Foursquare there recenly was a persistent belief, that the company just does not know how to make money. Foursquare took $41 million in debt earlier this year. Taking into account that the company reported revenue was just $2 million last year, the future didnt seem to be very promising. The only way for the company to stay afloat was to find out a new way of generating a revenue. I guess the new advertising method announced by Forsquare is a great start and potentially a chance to be independent. With the launching of new service, Foursquare is going make between $10 million and $15 million this year, according to Business Insider businessinsider.com/foursquare-pulling-in-1-million-ad-deals-2013-8 The new self service ad solution was created in a very smart and convenient way. First of all it is easy to use by merchants. There is no requirement for technical integration or negotiation with sales representatives. Everything is simple and could be done in just 1 click. The amount of payment is small and could be paid by credit card. Second, it gives a lot of information to merchants, now they can pay not for advertising by itself, but for user activity (only when user clicks on ads or redeems the offer), tracking the effectiveness of a particular promotion. Moreover, now merchants dont have to find the potential customers, foursquare does it for them. The company claims that it has enough data about users activity to understand which places to offer and whom to offer. "I think we have a really good idea of who the best customers are for businesses because we're in the business of making recommendations," Noah Weiss, Foursquare's director of product, told CNET. ( http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57607309-93/hungry-for-money-foursquare-dishes-out-self-serve-ad-tool ) Now the idea of foursquare ads is to give a right recommendation to right people. That means, that as a foursquare user you will see the promotions from local places that supposed to be interesting for you. Sounds interesting as far as foursquare could really determine the relevant offer. Taking into account that it was a decrease in foursquare popularity in recent time, many foursquare users stopped to check-in in every place they visit, some of them check-in only in new places in order to save them in the activity list. That means the data is not so accurate as it supposed to be. So there is a

How to Install Ruby on the Linux Operating System

How to Install Ruby on the Linux Operating System Ruby is installed on most Linux distributions by default. However, you can follow the steps below to determine if Ruby is installed and, if not,  install the Ruby interpreter on your Linux computer. How to Install Ruby on Linux For an Ubuntu-based distribution, follow the following procedure to verify whether you have Ruby installed, and if not, to install it. Open a terminal window. One way open the terminal window (sometimes called a shell or bash shell) is to select Applications Accessories Terminal.Run the command which ruby.  If you see a path such as /usr/bin/ruby, Ruby is installed. If you dont see any response or get an error message, Ruby is not installed.To verify that you have a current version of Ruby, run the command ruby -v.Compare the version number returned with the version number on the Ruby download page.These numbers dont have to be exact, but if you are running a version thats too old, some of the features may not work correctly.Install appropriate Ruby packages.  This process differs between distributions, but on Ubuntu run the following command:sudo apt-get install ruby-full Verify That Ruby Works Correctly Open a text editor and save the following as test.rb. #!/usr/bin/env ruby puts Hello world! In the terminal window, change directory to the directory where you saved test.rb.  Run the command chmod x test.rb, then run the command ./test.rb. You should see the message Hello world! displayed if Ruby is installed correctly. Tips: Every distribution is different. Refer to your distributions documentation and community forums for help installing Ruby on distributions other than Ubuntu or its variants.For distributions other than Ubuntu, if your distribution doesnt provide a tool like apt-get then you can use a site such as RPMFind to find Ruby packages. Look for the irb, ri and rdoc packages as well, but depending on how the RPM package was built, it may already include these programs.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Embryonic Stem Cell Research - Essay Example The essay "Embryonic Stem Cell Research" talks about the embryonic stem cells which have two unique properties including their ability to grow and differentiate as well as to replicate infinitely. The ability of ES cells to self-renew indefinitely is the main reason why it is used in treatments for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement after either an injury or disease. Other than its curative essence, the ES cell is beneficial in studying early developments in human as an in vitro technique in toxicology testing.Varying conviction between religion and science in regards to Human life’s inception has yielded to uncalled for controversy more so in embryonic stem cell research. Hence, prompting some contended the controversy is about annihilating human embryos for it is by far from ES cell research. Even the staunch dissenters have shown some support and approval towards other stem cells research methods like in vitro fertilization clinics and adult stem cell. Some also s ay that creating and destroying embryos for curing diseases through IVF clinics is not justifiable than the ES cell research. Modern scientific technologies have pushed beyond the domains of morality and this has led to the dilemma in the bodies governing the implementation and policymaking. This controversy reminds us of recombinant DNA and in vitro fertilization. Christianity includes various Orthodox, Catholicism, and Protestant churches which lack a unanimous definitive statement on when life begins and when an embryo becomes a person.

End of World War Two and Collapse of Soviet Communism Essay

End of World War Two and Collapse of Soviet Communism - Essay Example It is said or believed that world war two came to an end due to the surrender of the axis powers of which consisted of Germany and other countries that also fell on that bracket. The allies used all the possible means of ensuring that the war came to an end. The allies managed to outthink the Axis power because they were many and received support from other countries that were economically stable and powerful. Though the Axis power was very much power, the allies managed to out through their power due to the large masses or number of people that they could not manage to control. They also found support from other states that managed to support them by giving them the superior Weapons. There are those powerful countries that had been dormant for several years due to certain restrictions such as the doctrine that governed their states. It is therefore through the broken silence of these countries that the allies got privileged because all these countries turned against the Axis powers and gave the necessary support to the allies. The end of communism dint happen abruptly, it is something that happened slowly and gradually .it took some time and slowly but surely more people in East Europe started hating it and its oppressive nature.The very first cases of the rejection of communism begun in east-central Europe and one by one all those countries from that said region came out of the soviet union. More countries looked at the new set up that Gorbachev had put in place and they didn't like it.Gorbachev didn't want to use force anymore lest people criticized him and looked down at what he had achieved.No attempts of bringing back sanity among those countries of central and Eastern Europe happened since they were in charge of their own countries.Gorbachev had no power nor moral authority.

Figurative Language versus Literal Language Essay - 4

Figurative Language versus Literal Language - Essay Example Below are some of the most commonly used figurative expressions: Idioms, analogy, metaphor, simile, clichà ©, amphiboly, flame word, hyperbole, euphemism, and colloquialism. All are figurative expressions that may cause confusion and even misunderstanding to the ones that aren’t familiar with them. An idiom is a group of words or phrase that means something else differently from what it says literally. Idioms can actually be considered oral literature. They are passed down from generation to generation as part of culture. Example is â€Å"kick the bucket†, as in Mr. Jones kicked the bucket just yesterday! It would be senseless if a man just kicked a bucket. But kicking the bucket, idiomatically, means to die. It should be avoided in formal correspondences to avoid misunderstanding as idioms are generally geographic in nature. Analogy is another figurative expression that can be confusing. Analogy can be confusing if you do not know the references that the speaker uses in a sentence, especially if the speaker uses pop culture references (I will be a Marshall to your Lily. – in reference to the couple in the TV show How I Met Your Mother). But generally, it is quite useful in simplifying complicated ideas. For example, The CPU of the computer is like the brain; it is the commanding center. For students learning computer, it would be easy to remember: CPU = brain, but the elements used in idioms should be universally known to prevent misunderstandings. A metaphor, on the other hand, is similar to analogy but it does not compare two things directly. In a metaphor, the comparison is asserted to an otherwise unrelated object although one can argue that a metaphor is a type of analogy. A famous metaphor by Shakespeare goes: All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, from As You Like

Discussion GMOs in Producing Food, Bioaccumulation, Green Revolution Assignment

Discussion GMOs in Producing Food, Bioaccumulation, Green Revolution and Slow Food Movement - Assignment Example The role of genetically engineered foods in alleviating the world’s food insecurity is, without a doubt, extremely controversial. Indeed, while the potential benefits of the new biological techniques in food production may be exciting in the short term, the truth of the matter is that the long term effects on biodiversity, people’s health and the wider ecosystem are rather obscure. More fundamentally, questions linger on who in particular stands to benefit from this technology; is it the wealthy in search of more wealth or the people in need? Advocates have pointed to the potential benefits that include the elimination of pesticides in crop production, the development of disease/cold/drought resistant crops, elimination of malnutrition due to over-reliance on certain crops [rice], as well as a cost-effective way of vaccines produced in grown crops (Whitman par 5-10). Nonetheless, non-conclusive reports suggest that GM crops may actually transfer the modified genes to no n-target species [weeds], and thus reduce the foregoing effectiveness. There are also mounting fears of unexpected allergic reactions by consumers in addition to unknown health consequences (Whitman par 16-18). Though highly debatable currently, a research conducted on the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton, grown by small-scale farmers in Asia and other developing nations, indicates that the plant has extensive environmental has rm than the original pest control intention (Losey, Rayor and Carter 214). This debate is just but a sideshow away from the real looming crisis-global warming and impending dire consequences. The benefits notwithstanding, the money-profit perspective may the real driver into the GM foods and not food security. Part B 3. What does the acronym HIPPO describe? What does each letter stand for?  

Outsorcing and Exchange Traded Funds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Outsorcing and Exchange Traded Funds - Essay Example These reasons have been adduced as the causes of outsourcing by United States. It has therefore become a trend for developed economies to outsource their processes to emerging markets. Emerging economies are those economies with relatively cheap cost of labor. As a result of outsourcing their processes, multinational companies have to exchange their home currencies in the foreign exchange market in order to acquire the currencies in the countries of operations. Exchange rate is the price of one currency in terms of problems. In this paper, the US dollar has been compared with Brazilian currency, the realm, over the last five years (Lydon, 2005). Business process outsourcing has been made in the information technology sector, financial sector, telecommunication sector and other after sales services. Brazil has become a preferred country for outsourcing since this has become one of the government strategies to create more employment opportunities and increase the gross domestic product . As a matter of fact, Brazil has become a preferred calling center. The rate of exchange in the years has kept on varying depending on the forces of demand and supply in the various countries. The country is rated next to Mexico and Europe irrespective of the proximity of these states. The preference of Brazil has been favored by the time zone, strong government support, conformity of culture high rates of fluency and growing technology (Stouffer, 2011). With the increasing outsourcing in Brazil, 25000 direct jobs and 75000 indirect jobs have been created. One of the major sectors that have actually grown is the IT section where the country’s size is the 8th in the world. The pooled skilled labor has enabled outsourcing in this country a preference. Outsourcing in the banking industry and the information providing areas has made Brazil increase it’s outsource capacity. The question that many ask is whether the fluctuating Brazil currency could be a hindrance to outsou rcing in Brazil. When companies establish their operations in a foreign country, the challenge that must be met is the competition with the home companies (Casale, 2008). The history of the US dollar against the realm from 2006 is as follows. In 2006 the realm per US dollar was 2.27 and 1.9 in the year 2007. As from the information, the realm gained against the US dollar and therefore any US firm that outsourced in Brazil had to incur additional cost for labor purposes (Lydon, 2005). In the year 2008 the exchange rate per US dollar was 1.63 and 1.95 kin the year 2009. The steadiness of the realm against the dollar therefore reduces the risk that is associated with operations in foreign countries. In the year 2010, the dollar was traded at 1.82. In as much as the rate has varied in the 5 years, it is worth realizing that the variation in the cost of the dollar has promoted the outsourcing to Brazil. Indeed, Brazil may be ranked the second after the giant outsourcer which is India. Th e decreasing value of the realm compared to the dollar could be a reason as to why Brazil could be the second option for countries to outsource. A stable currency is necessary in instances that outsourcing decisions are to be determined. The real against the dollar has remained stable between 1.7 and 1.9 to the dollar and this has made the United States be a desired place to outsource. There are several strategies that any firm with off shore outsourcing must do to ensure that

Discussion GMOs in Producing Food, Bioaccumulation, Green Revolution Assignment

Discussion GMOs in Producing Food, Bioaccumulation, Green Revolution and Slow Food Movement - Assignment Example The role of genetically engineered foods in alleviating the world’s food insecurity is, without a doubt, extremely controversial. Indeed, while the potential benefits of the new biological techniques in food production may be exciting in the short term, the truth of the matter is that the long term effects on biodiversity, people’s health and the wider ecosystem are rather obscure. More fundamentally, questions linger on who in particular stands to benefit from this technology; is it the wealthy in search of more wealth or the people in need? Advocates have pointed to the potential benefits that include the elimination of pesticides in crop production, the development of disease/cold/drought resistant crops, elimination of malnutrition due to over-reliance on certain crops [rice], as well as a cost-effective way of vaccines produced in grown crops (Whitman par 5-10). Nonetheless, non-conclusive reports suggest that GM crops may actually transfer the modified genes to no n-target species [weeds], and thus reduce the foregoing effectiveness. There are also mounting fears of unexpected allergic reactions by consumers in addition to unknown health consequences (Whitman par 16-18). Though highly debatable currently, a research conducted on the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton, grown by small-scale farmers in Asia and other developing nations, indicates that the plant has extensive environmental has rm than the original pest control intention (Losey, Rayor and Carter 214). This debate is just but a sideshow away from the real looming crisis-global warming and impending dire consequences. The benefits notwithstanding, the money-profit perspective may the real driver into the GM foods and not food security. Part B 3. What does the acronym HIPPO describe? What does each letter stand for?  

The HR Director - about JAL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

The HR Director - about JAL - Essay Example I would appreciate if the JAL and IASCO workers could come up to me and share with me what they feel about the entire working regime in place and how they can contribute towards a changing climate. This would put an end to the acrimony which has arisen within the JAL umbrella and which needs to be taken care of at the very earliest (Tomei 2003). The organizational fabric is getting hurt and this cannot be tolerated at all. So it is in the best interest of the organization to keep away those factors which are creating some form of nuisance and find a way to deal with him in a very strict and harsh way. On the same token, all out efforts would be made to ensure that there are no problems left at the end, so that the JAL employees and the IASCO workers could take a sigh of relief. The tension thus existent could be thwarted if I am steadfast in my approach to resolve all disputes and if I am geared to meet these problems in a head on manner, which I shall promise to do with all my faith and conviction. I believe the business is going wrong because there is no set philosophy of the work as such. The employees are uncertain about their jobs and some of them think of the other clan as the inferiority group, which is abysmal to state the least. I would take notice of this in a very strict way because at the end of the day, each employee there is meant to attend work so that they can give their best, and not to indulge in petty issues and fights. My aim is to address these matters because these mean a lot for the sake of the organization and which is in essence hurting the cause of JAL as a single unit. The business is also going wrong because no one is paying attention at the moment, and much care has to be brought in within the related equation. At the beginning of my term, I would make it clear that discipline would rule the roost because it is the only thing that unifies the organization as a single entity. If the employees are disciplined enough to understand that their organizational basis depends on their courteous behaviors and actions, the organization shall return the favor to them as well.  

Importance in the novel Essay Example for Free

Importance in the novel Essay Explore the portrayal of Serena Joy and the Commander in the early part of the novel. Also estimate their characters importance in the novel. Serena Joy is portrayed as a frustrated, hostile and rude woman who is full of hate; which in some respects you could say she is, but her character runs much more deeply than is first apparent to the reader. This is portrayed through her characters words, actions and pursuits in many different ways. An example of this is her frustration at the little amount of freedom she is allowed. Although when compared to a character like, Offred she has a lot of freedom, she feels she doesnt, It is a little thing, but in this household little things mean a lot. , Many of the wives have such gardens, its something for them to order and maintain and care for. By having a garden like this, and being allowed to take charge of it, and look after it, she feels this gives her some importance in the community. It is a distraction, a place of escape for her from the life that she leads, which is boring and she is not happy with. This is the only freedom she is allowed in the life she leads now, which although it doesnt mean a lot to her, it should be treasured because in Gilead to have freedom like that is unthinkable to most; this portrays Serena Joy to be a women who takes things and her status in the elite, for granted. The tulips are red, a darker crimson towards the stem; as if they had been cut and are beginning to heal there. The garden to Serena Joy is also something she can take her frustration out on, as she is not supposed to harm Offred. An aspect portrayed to us immensely about her character is her great longing for children; this is shown in many of the domestic pursuits she carries out, i. e. gardening and knitting, They arent scarves for grown men but for children. Although these are scarves supposed to be made for the Angels who are grown men, she makes the scarves in children sizes. This shows the reader how she is always thinking about children, and how she longs to have children of her own. Her garden also portrays these feelings she has about children of her own, Many of the wives have such gardens, it is something for them to order and maintain and care for. She treats her garden, like you would expect her to treat a child, by caring for it lovingly with great affection. She is rude and hostile towards Offred, because she hates the fact that she is there because she cant have children of her own, also it must be a humiliating experience for her, the thought of her husband making love to another woman, So, youre the new one, she said. She didnt step aside to let me in, she just stood there in the door way, blocking the entrance. She wanted me to feel that I could not come into the house unless she said so. This is where the reader, feels a little compassion for Serena Joy, as she is portrayed as an awful women, who really has bought this predicament on herself; but it must be humiliating for her. Her husband is sleeping with another women, and as far as she is concerned it is because she cannot have children. She also knows that this life that she has helped to promote, is awful and she hates the way in which she has to live now. Her name is also trying to portray an image of serenity and joy, which once she as a young woman had portrayed, but now with a new way of living, her nature has come to contradict her name, The woman sitting in front of me was Serena Joy. Or had once been. So it was worse than I thought. The Commander is portrayed as a man who will use his power and authority to get what he wants. He rebels against his own way of life that he has fought to promote, which portrays to us that he too is unhappy with the way he has to live his life, he isnt supposed to be here, He is violating custom. I feel that as we read further into the novel, the way he uses his power to get what he wants will be even more strongly portrayed as part of his character to the reader. We dont get vivid descriptions of the Commander at first. He is a character which you know is there but we dont get to meet or see at the beginning of the novel. This portrays him as a slightly mysterious, and you never quite know when to expect him to turn up, The commander stops, gets into the car, disappears, and Nick shuts the door. His clothes also gives an awe of uncertainty and mystery as he has to dress all in black, which is the colour closely associated to death. Hes a character of great importance in the society of Gilead, and we see this at the Ceremony. We see at the ceremony that he is a highly influential character too, We watch him: every inch, every flicker. Everyone watches him and wants to be him, which shows he is influential, this though is just because of the power, importance and freedom he has, which all the other characters can only dream about. The first description we get of the Commander portrays him as a very ordinary looking man, When you get down as far as the chin he looks like a vodka ad, in a glossy magazine, of times gone by. He looks like a friendly approachable man, which slightly contradicts the mysterious feel he has portrayed at the very beginning of the novel. As they are both characters of great power within the society, I feel they are very important in the novel as a whole, and as the book goes on their importance will increase. They are both very strong characters, and both feel that they are hard done by compared to how they used to live but they arent when compared to characters like Offred. This is also true of many people in the world today. They are two characters in the novel who care only for themselves and nobody else, even though they are very lucky with what they have.

Poor communities relocation to Braamfischerville

Poor communities relocation to Braamfischerville Chapter 1: Introducing the study area Introduction â€Å"There is a crisis in housing in the third world. Large increases in the urban population of third world countries have dramatically increased the demand for housing. ‘traditional values, and increases in urban population have resulted in the deterioration of housing conditions in larger cities† (Aldrich and Sandhu, 1995). As quoted above, housing has really been a problem in third world countries, of which South Africa is considered to be, as much as population increases has been emphasized South Africa has another distinctive and very effective factor that affected housing and development, namely apartheid, prior 1994 apartheid laws restricted the non-white population of South Africa from residing where-ever and whenever they wanted. The influx laws that controlled the movement of the non-white population were further emphasized by limited amounts of money put forth for the development of black communities. De Loor (1995:158) as cited by Oosthuizen (2002) points out that from an initial amount of R402 million that was transferred to the Department of housing during 1990/1991 for national housing developments only R4 million was used the black communities development and revolving fund, this amount only constitutes about 1% of the total amount. It is as a result of this that there were an increased nu mber of informal settlements in South Africa. After being elected as president after the first democratic elections in 1994 then President Nelson Mandela promised the South African citizens a better life for all (RDP white paper, 1994:1), a better life for all includes better living standards such as better housing, clean water, electricity, safety and better health care and etc. With the aim of achieving the goals put forth by President Nelson Mandela the Reconstruction and Development Program (RDP) was initiated early 1994. This program was mainly aimed at developing South Africa to a better country socially and economical especially the poor. The question at hand currently is whether this has been achieved thus far, Sowman and Urquhart (1998) as cited by Moolla (2008) points out that informal settlements consisting of self-built squatter camps made from a variety of materials such as corrugated iron, plastic, tin cans, wood, and cardboard are still prevalent in South African cities, this also implies that living conditions ar e difficult and very unhealthy. There are many localities in South Africa where such informal settlements are found so, with still the aim of improving the lives of South Africans the government continued the RDP and built low-cost houses for the poor. These areas where theses RDP house are being built became of much interest to academics and they became good research areas. In 2008 Raheesa Moolla of the Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg conducted a study on one of these newly developed areas namely, Braamfischerville, her research was aimed at understanding whether the residence of Braamfischerville where satisfied with their new homes. This research showed much dissatisfaction by the community, it shows an increase in dissatisfaction levels from 37.3% in 2002 to 44.5% in 2008 (Moolla, 2008), this is just general dissatisfaction including factors such as housing qualities and sanitation. The results from the above mentioned research stimulates an interest as to whether Braamfischerville is different from where most this people come from or not? It is important to understand this so more effective solutions can be found to put these people out of their misery. Research Questions and aims This research is aimed at understanding what new changes, if any, that the move to Braamfischerville has brought to its community, whether their satisfaction level has changed for the better or worse. The research further more aims at answering the following questions: What is the cause to such increases in dissatisfaction levels by the community? What is the communitys perception on Braamfischerville as compared to where they come from? What improvements can be made to Braamfischerville in order to make it a better place? With great considerations, this research can contribute to the governments goal to providing a better life for all by drawing attention to what the people really need i.e. what they want the government to do in order to improve their lives. Study area: Location and History Braamfischerville is located on the outskirts of Soweto, south west Johannesburg, some few kilometers away from Dobsonville (see figure 1) thus forming one of the 87 townships (Wikipedia contributors, 2009) found in Soweto characterized by formal and informal settlements, squatter settlements and shanty towns. Braamfischerville is predominantly composed of RDP houses, 30m2 on a 250m2 plot, consisting of an open plan, bedroom, lounge and kitchen, and a separate toilet (Moolla, 2008). In total Braamfischerville is made up of four phases (namely phase 1, 2, 3 4) with only main roads having been tarred since the beginning of this development in 1996. On this report only phase 1 will be investigated. Phase 1 is composed of approximately 3000 houses (Moolla, 2009; Personal communication) predominantly RDP houses, bond houses and squatter settlements. Though the governments aim with these developments was to provide basic services, such as shelter, running water, sewerage and electricity, and amenities, such as schools and clinics, in the Sowetan newspaper as cited by Moolla (2008), Mohlale (2002) reported that many of these services are still absent in this area after six years of development. Methodology In 2008 the University of Johannesburg conducted a questionnaire survey on housing satisfaction amongst the Braamfischerville residents, this survey was a revalidation of a survey of the same kind that was conducted by the former Vista University (Now known as University of Johannesburg Soweto campus) both these studies used the same survey. As this is a small scale report and posses just small differences the questionnaire from 2008 was just used as a guideline and thus some minor modifications where done. Out of the four phases that make up Braamfischerville only one phase was chosen as the target for this research, namely Phase 1. A random sample of 30 questionnaires was conducted to achieve the objective of this study. The questionnaires where answered by means of interviewing residents of RDP homes, squatter settlements and bond houses of Braamfischerville Phase 1. The questionnaire looked at demographics; socio-economical and number of years these residents resided at Braamfischerville furthermore it also aimed at understanding where most of the residents resided before Braamfischerville, the main aim of the survey was to compare Braamfischerville to where most of these residents come from thus, to achieve that, the questionnaire also looked at availability of services and accessibility of basic amenities to the residents and, as a result the comparison was scaled on a scale of 3 (where 1 is worse; 2 the same and; 3 better) and thus conclusion was drawn based on this comparison between Braamfischerville and where most residents resided before. The results of the questionnaire were captured using Microsoft excel and thus statistical analysis were conducted which resulted in graphs presented in this report. The 2008 report was used as guideline for comparative purposes. As completion of report, as will be seen in the next part, literature review was done on what has been written in regards to housing the poor, and the progress thereof. The rest of the report will be based on results from site visitation and validation, if any, of literature based on the topic of study. Chapter 2: Low cost housing defined and explained Radikeledi (2007) cites Meng et al. (2004:88) as they define low cost housing, the define it as â€Å"a type of low profit commodity housing with government subsidies and policy support aimed at providing a large number of decent homes for middle and lower-middle income house holds.† RDPs function and continuation â€Å"The RDP endorses the principle that all South Africans have a right to a secure place in which to live in peace and dignity.One of the RDPs first priorities is to provide for the homeless† (Bond, 2008). Furthermore Bond (2008) mentions key things that RDP housing must provide as follows: Protection from weather; A durable structure; Reasonable living space and privacy; Sanitary facilities; Storm-water drainage systems; Electricity and; Convenient access to clean water. To ensure that these goals are achieved the Johannesburg City council in the financial year 2007/2008 allocated a budget to the different departments. RDPs progress in Johannesburg Knight (2001:1) as cited by Radikeledi (2007) states the goal that was set by the African National Congress (ANC) after winning the election in 1994 that they will ensure that with RDP 200 000 houses will be built annually until all South African citizens are fully accommodated, especially the previously disadvantaged. In contrast, the delivery of RDP homes has been heavily criticized, not only in Johannesburg but all over South Africa. 14 years into democracy still, a variety of self made informal settlements are still prevalent in South African cities (Moolla, 2008). One of the major criticisms against the delivery of RDP homes has been the procedures followed in order for one to obtain such a house. Marx and Royston (2007) identifiers three ways in which people find opportunities to access land: Through legal procedures involving local authorities, councilor and municipal officials. Family and friendship network. Information and assistance provided by the committee members through community meetings. Ndaba (2003) as cited by Moolla (2008) found that allocation of low cost homes in South Africa was undermined by corruption and malpractice from the officials. Furthermore Moolla (2008) cites The Star newspaper (Radler, 2008) which reveals that some 830 000 people have been on the waiting list since 1994 and are still waiting for their homes. Living conditions in RDP homes ‘Matchbox House is it may be known to many, RDP homes are generally a 30m2 house on a 250m2 plot (Moolla, 2008). As cited by Moolla (2008), Haggard (2006) states that a typical RDP house consists of a toilet, open lounge, two bedrooms, kitchen and dining area (Haggard, 2006). However, Moolla (2008) states that not all RDP houses are constructed in this layout but are rather made up of an open lounge, kitchen and single bedroom with no dividing walls, and a separate toilet. Furthermore, Dangor (1998) compares the RDP houses to the old apartheid matchbox houses and in this comparison no difference was found as far as standard is concerned but much difference in size as matchbox houses are rather slightly bigger than the RDP houses was noted. Part of the objective of the RDP was the availability and accessibility of basic services and amenities respectively. Amenities include schools, clinics and transport however, Moolla (2008) states that many of these services are still absent in these areas. It is due to the absence of basic services and poor infrastructure that dissatisfaction levels regarding the area has increased by 7.2% within a period of six years i.e. 2002 2008. Chapter 3: Demographics and socio-economical characteristics of inhabitants This chapter will present findings on demographics and socio-economic characteristic of the inhabitants, also to be looked will be proximity from basic amenities and delivery of services to the residents. Research shows that migration into phase one has been trending since 1996 this can indicate the unavailability of houses in the years of low migration. Demographic and socio economic characteristics. In this regard, to be looked at is the number of people occupying per household, dominating gender and employment status of these residents. Furthermore to be looked will be where the employed portion of the residents got employed i.e. in Braamfischerville or before the got to Braamfischerville. Braamfischerville Phase 1 is dominantly composed of households consisting of 3 4 people per house, and rather astonishingly it is dominated by females. Also evident from table 3.1 is that most these residents are aged between 31 and 40, educational qualifications show that most these people, especially the dominant age group, have at least a grade 12/matric qualification but yet employment levels are really low and thus most of the population is self employed by means of small businesses such as spaza shops and other retail services. A rather fascinating finding is that, as much as the governments aim with the RDP is to empower the poor statistics show that 27% of residents in phase 1 are renting the property they live on from owners who do not even live in the neighborhood. This puts much emphasis and reasoning to the criticisms mentioned in the previous chapter as far as RDP housing distribution is concerned. Proximity to basic services and amenities Braamfischerville appears to be rather dominated by Spaza shops with one large Spar supermarket for formal groceries. There was no clinic, police station or pension pay out point seen in phase 1, residents complain that to get these services they are forced to go to Dobsonville which is located just e few kilometers from their homes. Overall delivery of services is rather poor in this area as the most important services are located very far from residents and they have to pay transport to get to them. Living in Braamfischerville Having to have looked at demographics, socio-economic characteristics as well as proximity from basic services residents where asked to compare Braamfischerville to where they resided before. The majority of residents prefer to have rather remained where they come from. Reasons for such dissatisfaction from residents include that stated by Moolla (2008) of poor infrastructure, houses are leaking, poor service by municipality, absence of police for security reasons, no tarred road, unemployment, poor sanitation, no library and recreational facilities and unreliable transport systems. These results are of much surprise as the government intentions with areas such as Braamfischerville is to make sure everyones needs are satisfied. A large number of Braamfischerville residents come from areas such as Meadowlands and Alexandra; these areas are perceived to be of rather unhealthy, unsafe and just poor living conditions thus, to understand these results literature review was conducted about the most prominent area where these people come from. An overview on Alexandra Established in 1905, Alexandra is thus the oldest township in Gauteng but also one of the poorest of the province. Alexandra is located north east of Johannesburg some 3kms away from Sandton. It is characterized by lack of infrastructure, overcrowding and high rates of crime. The lunchbox fund (2008) highlights that this overcrowding has put much pressure on service delivery thus most shacks have no electricity and only 65% of household have access to piped water. Alexandra is made up of three different regions separated by the Jukskei River. To the west of the river one encounters the Old Alexandra predominantly composed of informal dwellings, three hostels and a block of flats, just to the east of the river lies East Bank which is predominantly middle class households. The Far East Bank which was developed recently is composed mainly of RDP houses (Wilson, 2008). Unlike other townships, Alexandra is rather very small, extending over approximately 800 hectares of land and ironically is home to about 350 000 people (Dlamini, 2008). Wilson (2008) reveals that of the 350 000 people, 70 % of them where young people aged below 15 and 35 years with a 1:1.22 ratio between male (60%) and female (61%). Former President Thabo Mbeki allocated a budget of R1.3 billion to the development of Alexandra in February 2001 (Dlamini, 2008). This budget was to be spread over seven years but when 2008 came was extended by two more years. This budget gave rise to the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP) which then initiated the project by building about 90 000 RDP structures and also renewed the hostels and built a clinic. The ARP is still active and is renewing Alexandra to a suitable place for all. â€Å"The de-densification process has been highly successful. The relocation exercise since 2001 to new developments in Dieplsloot, Braamfischerville and Far East Bank extensions provided approximately 11 000 families with new homes. The ARP Housing strategy envisage the further relocation of 15 000 families out of Alexandra† (Dlamini, 2008). Conclusions As a result of poor services and unavailability of basic amenities, 63% of Braamfischerville residents are very dissatisfied with their new homes and prefer to have stayed where the resided before Braamfischerville or be relocated to a better area. The overview on Alexandra has shown that there is much progress in the development of the township, further more, all amenities that are absent in Braamfischerville are present in Alexandra, the only advantage Braamfischerville has over Alexandra would be that if these people had remained in Alexandra they would possible still be living in shacks and other informal dwellings not that they would complain much as research has shown that 44.5% of the population is not satisfied with the houses in general either way. This dissatisfaction levels will continue to grow until the government intervenes and start targeting areas of low satisfaction levels and attend to all basic needs, this will result in RDP houses being homes where people live with pride in and not show the clear distinction between the poor and the wealthy.

Herman Melville: A Biography And Analysis Essays -- essays research pa

Herman Melville: A Biography And Analysis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout American history, very few authors have earned the right to be called â€Å"great.† Herman Melville is one of these few. His novels and poems have been enjoyed world wide for over a century, and he has earned his reputation as one of the finest American writers of all time. A man of towering talent, with intellectual and artistic brilliance, and a mind of deep insight into human motives and behavior, it is certainly a disgrace that his true greatness was not recognized until nearly a generation after his death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Born in the city of New York on August 1, 1819, Melville was the third child and second son of Allan Melvill(it wasn't until Allan's death in 1832 that the â€Å"e† at the end of Melville was added, in order to make a more obvious connection with the Scottish Melville clan), a wholesale merchant and importer then living in comfortable economic circumstances, and of Maria Gansevoort Melvill, only daughter of â€Å"the richest man in Albany,† the respected and wealthy General Peter Gansevoort, hero of the defense of Fort Stanwix during the American Revolution. In total, Allan and Maria had eight children. On his father' s side, his ancestry, though not so prosperous as on his mother's, was equally distinguished. Major Thomas Melvill, his grandfather, was one of the â€Å"Indians† in the Boston Tea Party during the events leading to the war and who had then served his country creditably throughout the hostilities. The Melvill family kept on their mantelpiece a bottle of tea drained out of Major Melvill's clothes after the Tea Party as a momento of this occasion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Herman attended the New York Male High School from about the age of seven until 1830. By that time, Allan Melvill's business had begun to fail, due to his credit being overextended. After futile attempts to re-establish himself, he eventually found it necessary to accept the management of a New York fur company back in Albany. The family moved there in the autumn of 1830, and during that time Herman attended, along with his brothers Gansevoort and Allan, the Albany Academy. Just as luck seemed to again be favoring the Melvills, Allan's business affairs again suffered a setback. Excessive worry and overwork finally took their toll upon his health. By January, 1832, he was b... ...an left behind in a tin box after his death. It was here Billy Bud was first discovered and later published, which introduced a whole new generation to Melville's work. Soon critics, students, and the general public were reading his novels and stories, and greeting some of them as masterpieces. In 1927, American novelist William Faulkner declared that Moby Dick was the book he most wished he had written.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Knowing the quality of his work, one can not help but feel sympathetic to Melville's passing. He died on September 28, 1891 in his home in New York City, still unknown by the general public. If any writer deserved to be recognized and praised during their lives, Melville is that writer. Although unfortunate that his passing went almost unnoticed by the public, he is now and justly so, an immortal in the annals of American literature, and his work will be looked upon with both admiration and envy for many years to come. APPENDICES Any appendices should appear after the text of your term paper. BIBLIOGRAPHY Use the Bibliography TaskWizard to help you quickly and easily create a bibliography for your paper. Pick the same style as your footnote style.

The Host Chapter 14: Disputed

It was too much for both of us, seeing him here, now, after already accepting that we'd never see him again, after believing that we'd lost him forever. It froze me solid, made me unable to react. I wanted to look at Uncle Jeb, to understand his heartbreaking answer in the desert, but I couldn't move my eyes. I stared at Jared's face, uncomprehending. Melanie reacted differently. â€Å"Jared,† she cried; through my damaged throat the sound was just a croak. She jerked me forward, much the same way as she had in the desert, assuming control of my frozen body. The only difference was that this time, it was by force. I wasn't able to stop her fast enough. She lurched forward, raising my arms to reach out for him. I screamed a warning at her in my head, but she wasn't listening to me. She was barely aware that I was even there. No one tried to stop her as she staggered toward him. No one but me. She was within inches of touching him, and still she didn't see what I saw. She didn't see how his face had changed in the long months of separation, how it had hardened, how the lines pulled in different directions now. She didn't see that the unconscious smile she remembered would not physically fit on this new face. Only once had she seen his face turn dark and dangerous, and that expression was nothing to the one he wore now. She didn't see, or maybe she didn't care. His reach was longer than mine. Before Melanie could make my fingers touch him, his arm shot out and the back of his hand smashed into the side of my face. The blow was so hard that my feet left the ground before my head slammed into the rock floor. I heard the rest of my body hit the floor with dull thumps, but I didn't feel it. My eyes rolled back in my head, and a ringing sound shimmered in my ears. I fought the dizziness that threatened to spin me unconscious. Stupid, stupid, I whimpered at her. I told you not to do that! Jared's here, Jared's alive, Jared's here. She was incoherent, chanting the words like they were lyrics to a song. I tried to focus my eyes, but the strange ceiling was blinding. I twisted my head away from the light and then swallowed a sob as the motion sent daggers of agony through the side of my face. I could barely handle the pain of this one spontaneous blow. What hope did I have of enduring an intensive, calculated onslaught? There was a shuffle of feet beside me; my eyes moved instinctively to find the threat, and I saw Uncle Jeb standing over me. He had one hand half stretched out toward me, but he hesitated, looking away. I raised my head an inch, stifling another moan, to see what he saw. Jared was walking toward us, and his face was the same as those of the barbarians in the desert-only it was beautiful rather than frightening in its fury. My heart faltered and then beat unevenly, and I wanted to laugh at myself. Did it matter that he was beautiful, that I loved him, when he was going to kill me? I stared at the murder in his expression and tried to hope that rage would win out over expediency, but a true death wish evaded me. Jeb and Jared locked eyes for a long moment. Jared's jaw clenched and unclenched, but Jeb's face was calm. The silent confrontation ended when Jared suddenly exhaled in an angry gust and took a step back. Jeb reached down for my hand and put his other arm around my back to pull me up. My head whirled and ached; my stomach heaved. If it hadn't been empty for days, I might have thrown up. It was like my feet weren't touching the ground. I wobbled and pitched forward. Jeb steadied me and then gripped my elbow to keep me standing. Jared watched all this with a teeth-baring grimace. Like an idiot, Melanie struggled to move toward him again. But I was over the shock of seeing him here and less stupid than she was now. She wouldn't break through again. I locked her away behind every bar I could create in my head. Just be quiet. Can't you see how he loathes me? Anything you say will make it worse. We're dead. But Jared's alive, Jared's here, she crooned. The quiet in the cavern dissolved; whispers came from every side, all at the same time, as if I'd missed some cue. I couldn't make out any meanings in the hissing murmurs. My eyes darted around the mob of humans-every one of them an adult, no smaller, younger figure among them. My heart ached at the absence, and Melanie fought to voice the question. I hushed her firmly. There wasn't anything to see here, nothing but anger and hatred on strangers' faces, or the anger and hatred on Jared's face. Until another man pushed his way through the whispering throng. He was built slim and tall, his skeletal structure more obvious under his skin than most. His hair was washed out, either pale brown or a dark, nondescript blond. Like his bland hair and his long body, his features were mild and thin. There was no anger in his face, which was why it held my eye. The others made way for this apparently unassuming man as if he had some status among them. Only Jared didn't defer to him; he held his ground, staring only at me. The tall man stepped around him, not seeming to notice the obstacle in his path any more than he would a pile of rock. â€Å"Okay, okay,† he said in an oddly cheery voice as he circled Jared and came to face me. â€Å"I'm here. What have we got?† It was Aunt Maggie who answered him, appearing at his elbow. â€Å"Jeb found it in the desert. Used to be our niece Melanie. It seemed to be following the directions he gave her.† She flashed a dirty look at Jeb. â€Å"Mm-hm,† the tall, bony man murmured, his eyes appraising me curiously. It was strange, that appraisal. He looked as if he liked what he saw. I couldn't fathom why he would. My gaze shied away from his, to another woman-a young woman who peered around his side, her hand resting on his arm-my eyes drawn by her vivid hair. Sharon! Melanie cried. Melanie's cousin saw the recognition in my eyes, and her face hardened. I pushed Melanie roughly to the back of my head. Shhh! â€Å"Mm-hm,† the tall man said again, nodding. He reached one hand out to my face and seemed surprised when I recoiled from it, flinching into Jeb's side. â€Å"It's okay,† the tall man said, smiling a little in encouragement. â€Å"I won't hurt you.† He reached toward my face again. I shrunk into Jeb's side like before, but Jeb flexed his arm and nudged me forward. The tall man touched my jaw below my ear, his fingers gentler than I expected, and turned my face away. I felt his finger trace a line on the back of my neck, and I realized that he was examining the scar from my insertion. I watched Jared's face from the corner of my eye. What this man was doing clearly upset him, and I thought I knew why-how he must have hated that slender pink line on my neck. Jared frowned, but I was surprised that some of the anger had drained from his expression. His eyebrows pulled together. It made him look confused. The tall man dropped his hands and stepped away from me. His lips were pursed, his eyes alight with some challenge. â€Å"She looks healthy enough, aside from some recent exhaustion, dehydration, and malnourishment. I think you've put enough water back into her so that the dehydration won't interfere. Okay, then.† He made an odd, unconscious motion with his hands, as if he were washing them. â€Å"Let's get started.† Then his words and his brief examination fit together and I understood-this gentle-seeming man who had just promised not to hurt me was the doctor. Uncle Jeb sighed heavily and closed his eyes. The doctor held a hand out to me, inviting me to put mine in his. I clenched my hands into fists behind my back. He looked at me carefully again, appraising the terror in my eyes. His mouth turned down, but it was not a frown. He was considering how to proceed. â€Å"Kyle, Ian?† he called, craning his neck to search the assembly for the ones he summoned. My knees wobbled when the two big black-haired brothers pressed their way forward. â€Å"I think I need some help. Maybe if you were to carry -† the doctor, who did not look quite so tall standing beside Kyle, began to say. â€Å"No.† Everyone turned to see where the dissent had come from. I didn't need to look, because I recognized the voice. I looked at him anyway. Jared's eyebrows pressed down hard over his eyes; his mouth was twisted into a strange grimace. So many emotions ran across his face, it was hard to pin one down. Anger, defiance, confusion, hatred, fear†¦ pain. The doctor blinked, his face going slack with surprise. â€Å"Jared? Is there a problem?† â€Å"Yes.† Everyone waited. Beside me, Jeb was holding the corners of his lips down as if they were trying to lift into a grin. If that was the case, then the old man had an odd sense of humor. â€Å"And it is?† the doctor asked. Jared answered through his teeth. â€Å"I'll tell you the problem, Doc. What's the difference between letting you have it or Jeb putting a bullet in its head?† I trembled. Jeb patted my arm. The doctor blinked again. â€Å"Well† was all he said. Jared answered his own question. â€Å"The difference is, if Jeb kills it, at least it dies cleanly.† â€Å"Jared.† The doctor's voice was soothing, the same tone he'd used on me. â€Å"We learn so much each time. Maybe this will be the time -â€Å" â€Å"Hah!† Jared snorted. â€Å"I don't see much progress being made, Doc.† Jared will protect us, Melanie thought faintly. It was hard to concentrate enough to form words. Not us, just your body. Close enough†¦ Her voice seemed to come from some distance, from outside my pounding head. Sharon took a step forward so that she stood half in front of the doctor. It was a strangely protective stance. â€Å"There's no point in wasting an opportunity,† she said fiercely. â€Å"We all realize that this is hard for you, Jared, but in the end it's not your decision to make. We have to consider what's best for the majority.† Jared glowered at her. â€Å"No.† The word was a snarl. I could tell he had not whispered the word, yet it was very quiet in my ears. In fact, everything was suddenly quiet. Sharon's lips moved, her finger jabbed at Jared viciously, but all I heard was a soft hissing. Neither one of them took a step, but they seemed to be drifting away from me. I saw the dark-haired brothers step toward Jared with angry faces. I felt my hand try to rise in protest, but it only twitched limply. Jared's face turned red when his lips parted, and the tendons in his neck strained like he was shouting, but I heard nothing. Jeb let go of my arm, and I saw the dull gray of the rifle's barrel swing up beside me. I cringed away from the weapon, though it was not pointed in my direction. This upset my balance, and I watched the room tip very slowly to one side. â€Å"Jamie,† I sighed as the light swirled away from my eyes. Jared's face was suddenly very close, leaning over me with a fierce expression. â€Å"Jamie?† I breathed again, this time a question. â€Å"Jamie?† Jeb's gruff voice answered from somewhere far away. â€Å"The kid is fine. Jared brought him here.† I looked at Jared's tormented face, fast disappearing into the dark mist that covered my eyes. â€Å"Thank you,† I whispered. And then I was lost in the darkness.

Third Gender

In society, the biological difference between men and women is used as a justification for aligning them with different social roles which restrict and mold their attitudes and behavior. Merriam-Webster defines gender as the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex. Narrow minded society of today is not satisfied with the natural difference of sex, but each insist on adding a cultural difference of gender to it. The unsophisticated, ideal physical facts always become associated with the complex psychological qualities (Holter).It is not enough for a male to be a man; he must also be masculine. A woman, in addition to being a female, must be feminine (Magner). In a more evolved and accepting society, men and women will not be judged based on physical attributes and passing judgement on those whose beliefs and physical and mental make up do not agree with that of their own. This new age society will redefine gender thus creating three genders, fem ale, male, and androgynous. As previously stated, gender is defined as the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex (Volume Information).Gender has a major impact on how our identity is developed through many interactions such as with parents, media, and peers. How people are raised in society reflects how they act and mature. Our society changes our attitudes and views on life more than our biological make-up. By establishing a new society, one where people are more accepting, will create peace amongst the sexes. Gender is a combination of what is seen, as well as how people think, feel, act and react to various situations.This blend of biological, psychological, and sociological features is developed based on how an individual is raised and influenced by the society in which they live and are apart of (Holter). Gender has a major impact on every aspect of a person's life. It has a strong impact on the way people set goals, how they feel about themselves, and making work related decisions. It also has major impact on they way people dress, religion, relationships, and how they express feelings and emotions. Gender roles determine and directly affect how an individual thinks, speaks, and interacts within society (Guastello, 665).Gender schemas are deeply embedded cognitive frameworks regarding what define masculine and feminine (Guastello, 665). Social agents such as parents, teachers, peers, television, music, and books, demonstrate and reinforce gender roles throughout the lifespan of a person (Woodhill, 17). By developing a new society, the distorted definition of manhood and womanhood will be changed and seen in a more philosophical way. What is the role of the â€Å"female† in society? From decade to decade raising children and doing all the household chores belong to the female domain.Currently women are perceived as more communal (selfless and concerned with others) than men (Magner). These beliefs were hypo thesized to stem from perceivers' observations of women and men in differing social roles: (a) Women are more likely than men to hold positions of lower status and authority, and (b) women are more likely than men to be homemakers and are less likely to be employed in the paid work force. This newly developed definition of gender will re-construct the image of the ideal woman. Women will be liberated and will have the ability to do multiple tasks without judgement by men being passed upon them.The newly liberated woman will have a positive impact on society by showing that gender does not determine success. Women will be accepted and will defeat inequality. The male and androgynous perception of women will not create a sense of oppression by means of exploitation. It is also imperative to ask what is the role of the male in society? Society uses masculinity to define a man. In â€Å"Society and Sex Roles† by Ernestine Friedl, Friedl supports the the idea that suggests that â €  although the degree of masculine authority may very from one group to the next, males always have more power† (261).The traditional roles of a man was established to ensure the power of the head of household. From a historical stand point, it was always assumed that the head of the household was always the male. Today's society have groomed people to believe and expect a man to be brave, industrious and domineering, whereas a woman is suppose to be submissive and nurturing (263). Men have also been raised to believe that their feelings and emotions are suppose to be hidden from others and should be dealt with internally.With creating this society, men will be able to express themselves without ridicule. Men will be able to continue to provide for their families, as well as maintaining a clean image without being labeled as â€Å"queer. † Men will have an overall promising and positive impact on society by creating a community where children will have positive male figure in their lives. This new type of man, one who is sensitive, caring and not afraid to vent his feelings will still be able to carry the burden of taking care of the household and the children in the event there is absence of the mother.The female and androgynous perception of a man will eliminate the dominance of a male's ego. Androgyny is a word made up of two Greek roots. â€Å"Andro† which means males; whereas, â€Å"gyn† means female (Woodhill, 18). Androgyny is the state or condition of having a high degree of both feminine and masculine traits (18). Under these circumstances, human beings have loosely defined impulses and are free to express nontraditional values. Androgyny is not synonymous with any biological distinctions. According to D. D Guastello, sexual behavior or preference has nothing to do with gender identity (663).Androgyny, viewed as a balance between positive feminine and positive masculine traits, it blends the virtues of the male and femal e. There are two definitions for androgyny: physical (intersexual) – born with both male and female genitals; and psychological – combining both masculinity and femininity as traits of a unified gender that defies social roles and psychological attributes(664). The common usage of the term androgyny in society refers to the latter description (665). As to the sexual orientation, an androgynous person can be heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual.Androgynous individuals tend to behave in ways that counteract conventional gender stereotyping. With the constant change of American culture, the resiliency of androgynous individuals helps society deal with societal pressures. Individuals do not adhere to the same standards that gender-typed individuals do. As a result, they exude higher levels of self-esteem and psychological well-being (665). With creating this third gender, androgynous individuals will be able to live a life without ridicule from men and women who are differ ent from them.Androgynous individuals have dealt with bullying, scolding, and ridicule and are not accepted because of what has been taught through one's life. This new society will encourage androgynous individuals to feel more comfortable and live a healthy and satisfying life without being categorized as different. Today's society does not embrace the idea of androgyny. These individuals will be the quintessential form of existence. They are an all encompassing gender which will make these individuals the ideal mate. These individuals will be able to contribute to the successes of the work place as well as domestically.An androgynous person will also be given the opportunity to hold political positions and well as lead congregations in worship services. The appeal of accepting the idea of adding androgynous gender to society will transcend and eliminate judgement based on physical attributes. It has been proven that gender roles in society have changed over the past decade and wi ll continue to change as the next approaches (holter). Although these roles are ever changing, there are still entirely too many stereotypes and boundaries placed on each gender which cause a rift in relationships.These boundaries keep males and females from exploring their full capacity, completely accepting the idea of androgyny, and evolving into a society of equals across the board. This goes to show that people are easily manipulated through various sources into commonality. Society does not embrace individuality or differences, however; constantly being defined by sex, color, and race through gender prevents unity amongst the masses. Those stereotypical groups are also assigned attitudes, intelligence as well as work ethics.Currently, should people run across someone who doesn't conform to their beliefs and ideas, the likelihood of them being congenial is substantially reduced. Furthermore, men and women have the same emotions but their gender behaviors are conditioned by soci al norms varying from culture to culture. By discarding the imposed restrictions and inhibitions, one would discover the natural androgynous self and learn to accept individuals for who and what they aspire to be. Citation: Citation: please fix the citations i did them off the top of my head don't have ]many internet resources APPLE blocks a lot of stuff. eel free to add what needs to be added more of your opinion that will support your stand on this issue. also cite the article u gave me that you found as well Holter, H. (1970), Sex Roles and Social Structure (Oslo: Universitet for Laget). Magner, Lois N. â€Å"Nineteenth-Century Views of the Female Body and Their Impact on Women in Society. † 2005. Web. â€Å"Volume Information. † Journal of Marriage and Family 47. 4 (1985): 1082-100. Print. Guastello, D. D. & Guastello, S. J. (2003). Androgyny, gender role behavior, and emotional intelligence among college students and their parents. Sex Roles, 49(11), 663-673.

Human factors and ergonometric Essay

Injuries and as well as illnesses are usual things in the workplace and back injuries is said to be about 20% of it. Around 20 to 50 billion dollars are also estimated to be lost because of back injuries per year. Due to the seriousness of the problem and its economic costs, companies are implementing different ways such as the use of back belts in order to reduce if not totally eliminate back injury cases. Today, most workers are depending on back belts, also known as back support in order to protect themselves from back injuries that may happen in the workplace. There had been some claims that the use of back belts reduces the force on the spine and increase intra-abdominal pressure that counters the force exerted on the spine. It is also said that back belts also stiffen the spine and restrict bending motion. It also helps in reminding the wearer to lift properly and thus, reduces injuries specifically back injuries in the workplace. However, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and health or NIOSH, these claims lack scientific support and the validity and truthfulness of these claims cannot be proven. Studies done by the NIOSH also asserts that the difference in back injury incidence between those who use back belts and those who do not have no statistical significance. NIOSH also added that the strongest risk factor is the history of back injury and that the rate of having back injury of those who have history of having back injury is almost twice as the rate of workers without back injury history. Results of the study also shows that through comparing the injury claims and as well as self-reported cases failed to show any significant difference that is associated with the use of back belts even for employees who does the most strenuous type of jobs. Thus, NIOSH does recommend the use of back belts in order to reduce the cases of back injuries in the workplace. Still, although the use of back belts lack scientific evidences that it lessen the cases or the risk of having back injuries there is also no concreter evidence that will totally prove that using back belt have no effect in the performance and safety of the workers and so I will still recommend the use of back belts in the work place to reduce such cases. It would be better than using nothing at all and it may also improve the performance of the workers because they will that the company does care for their needs and safety. In order to guard the safety of the workers against back injuries any gadget is not enough. The best way to really reduce if not totally get away with back injuries is through ergonomics program that will help the workers not just to ensure their safety but as well to maximize their capabilities. Such program may include the assessment of all work activities. This is to make sure the every task in the company can be done without exceeding the worker’s physical capabilities. It is also important to provide a surveillance program that will identify any musculoskeletal problems that are potentially work related cases. Knowing those problems that may occur in the workplace will help the workers to really be cautious in certain types of works wherein the problems may originate. A medical management program is also needed as well as to monitor the workers condition and health to ensure that the workers are in good condition and to prevent not just back injury cases but other injuries and illnesses as well. Preventing the case before it is even able to develop is still the best way to eliminate such cases. Another important step that must be taken is to have a comprehensive training for all workers regarding lifting mechanics and as well techniques not just to be able to do the job better but also to do the job in a safely manner. This is not just for those who are newly hired by the company but also for those who had been working in the company for a long time. The proper ways and techniques especially in lifting are very important to prevent cases of back injuries. The use of back may not have sufficient scientific basis for its effectiveness is reducing back injury cases but there is also no concrete evidence that will disprove the claims. Also, using back belts may not just help the company regarding the issue of back injuries but it may be able to help the company in other ways. Through the use of back belts and right practice, the cases of back injuries in the work place can surely be avoided. References CCOHS. (10, November 2005). Back belt. Retrieved January 11, 2008 from http://www. ccohs. ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/back_blt. html NIOSH. (10, June 1997). Back belts do they prevent injury? Retrieved January 11, 2008 from http://www. cdc. gov/Niosh/backbelt. html NIOSH. (February 2001). Back belts. Retrieved January 11, 2008 from http://www. cdc. gov/niosh/backfs. html.