Silkwood Essay Example for Free

Silkwood Essay Silkwood took a big risk when she decided to blow the whistle on Kerr-McGee in 1946 for health and safety violations. Silkwood was concerned about her and her coworkers’ health and safety as she witnessed various health and safety violation acts that management ignored. Whistle blowing can be very dangerous for the one that is blowing the whistle as witnessed by the mysterious death of Karen Silkwood on the night of November 13th. Up until her job with Kerr – McGee, Silkwood lived a normal life and didn’t do anything in her life to make her stand out. It wasn’t until her investigation began, that Silkwood was starting to become more noticeable. According to friends that were close to her, Silkwood became more and more involved in the investigation and wouldn’t let the investigation go until all evidence and facts had been reported. However, Silkwood’s evidence and findings never did make it to the appropriate people due to the mysterious car crash that led to her death. Officers and scene investigators never did find the manila envelope containing the evidence, but Silkwood’s death brought to light the seriousness of the investigation and eventually, the closing of the Kerr-McGee Cimarron plant where Silkwood was last employed. While there are many rewards to whistle blowing, there are also many risks to whistle blowing as well. One of the rewards of whistle blowing is that the laws or acts being violated will be corrected by the correct regulation agencies. Whistleblowers are even able to submit a confidential report online through National Whistleblowers Center website where attorneys review the information and give advice on the best ways to proceed with the investigation. There are also information and additional resources available for those who are thinking about blowing the whistle on their company. A risk of whistleblowing on the company can lead to alienation between the whistleblower and their employer, boss, and co-workers. Some may fear retaliation if seen helping those gain evidence against the company or organization practicing unethical practices. They may also lose their job by blowing the whistle and family and friends may also be affected by the act as well because of their relationship to the whistleblower. As employees, it is our responsibility to protect the company or organization values while at the same time, also following our own moral values as well. Every company and organization has their own morals and values that they established, but if an employee witnesses or comes across evidence that does not uphold those values, than the employee has a responsibility to report those unethical practices. Employees also have their own person moral values that they usually use as standards when finding a company or organization to work for. When dealing with unethical practices, an employee bases their decision to report the company against their own personal moral values. It is than the employee’s responsibility to make that tough decision on reporting their company’s unethical practices and risking everything or leaving it up to someone else to make that decision. References Karen Silkwood. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 05:47, Apr 28, 2013, from http://www. biography. com/people/karen-silkwood-9542402.

Why Did North America Win the Civil War?

Why Did North America Win the Civil War? Reasons for the North’s victory in the American Civil War are manifold, and it is unwise for the historian to attribute total decisiveness to any one reason. Abraham Lincoln’s inspirational leadership; greater industrial wealth and manpower; superior military strategy; the possession of a powerful Navy; the introduction of black soldiers into their ranks; the decision of European nations not to recognize the Confederate’s secession: all of these reasons and many others are argued to have been decisive for the North’s victory. The wise historian seeks to view the effect of these reasons in combination rather than as separate influences. To take one instance, the North’s naval blockade of Confederate ports was crucial for suffocating the export power and economy of the South, but this tactic was greatly strengthened by the decision of Britain not to break to blockade. Or to take another example: from the outset the North had far greater manpower than the South, but this advantage was consolidated by the incorporation of black slaves into that pool of manpower and by conscription policies that drew upon this manpower more effectively than those of the South. This essay then measures these various reasons in toto, asking how each affected the other and how ultimately they combined to prove decisive. * * * * * Historians on all sides agree that President Lincoln’s leadership during the American Civil War was a dominant reason for the Union’s ultimate victory. Lincoln’s political acumen and diplomatic skill, his knowledge of military strategy, his judgment on all fronts, and above all his moral authority and vigor made him indispensable to the Union’s cause. What is more, there was something unique in Lincoln’s dedication to the Union. In a certain sense he was the Union or at least a powerful symbol for it. Lincoln’s famous phrase ‘My paramount objective is to save the Union’[1] could be a motif that resonated throughout the North, and his unique commitment to the office of the President, to the Constitution and to the principle of democracy were of inestimable benefit to the continued conviction and morale of the North’s troops and civilians and to their various successes. None of Lincoln’s wartime acts was more consequential than when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1863. By declaring the freedom of all the slaves of the Confederacy, Lincoln transformed the American Civil War from what was originally a contest to maintain the Union into a struggle for freedom and democracy. This united the North in a moral purpose and gave solidity and resilience to the Union. Whilst Lincoln’s military decisions were often shrewd and decisive, it was his courageous legislative and constitutional decisions that contributed most to the North’s victory. Lincoln had campaigned for his presidency with the promise of pursuing democracy and legitimate government; yet the circumstances of the war forced him to threaten these beloved principles for the duration of the war. Lincoln put into abeyance habeas corpus, called-up the militia, manipulated the press, made declarations of martial law where it could not strictly be justified milita rily, allocated finance before congressional approval, suppressed draft riots with soldiers, and issued many other measures like these. Lincoln’s made extraordinary use of these executive powers and yet was not seduced by them. Thus he had a perhaps unique resistance to the temptations of personal power and this shone out to his soldiers and citizens who viewed him as a noble commander for whom they would willingly fight and die. By this strong and vigorous leadership President Lincoln stood for many people as an emblem of the Union itself. Lincoln also had a genius to peer beyond the implications of the Civil War for the Union alone. He detected in the conflict as few men could the larger future issue of democracy in the civilized world. Lincoln understood that the Union represented to many Europeans and others a symbol of democratic expectation and promise: the defeat of the Union in America would threaten the growth of democracy elsewhere in the world. He wrote: ‘T his is essentially a people’s contest †¦ to demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly carry out an election can suppress a rebellion; and ballots are the rightful successors to bullets’[2] and this conviction sustained his leadership through many crises. It is of course a conviction whose widest implications were known only to Lincoln himself. The effect of Lincoln’s leadership upon the war was strengthened by the quality of his generals and their superior military strategy. Pre-eminent amongst his generals was one man: Ulysses S. Grant. The outcome of the contest between General Grant and General Robert E. Lee was decisive for the North’s final victory. At the outset of the war Grant captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, won the battle of Battle of Shiloh and saved the surrounded Union forces at Chattanooga. These early victories led President Abraham Lincoln to appoint General Grant as lieutenant general or commander-in-chief of all Union forces – a rank specially created by Congress or him. General Grant’s military strategy was characterized by the distribution of his troops over wide areas and their coordinated attack upon several Confederate positions simultaneously. This theme emerged most strongly in Grant’s famous Overland Campaign against General Lee’s forces which commen ced in May 1864. Grant’s cleverly diverse strategies were difficult for the Confederate forces to predict: Grant his attacks between direct assaults, prolonged sieges and rapid counter-attacks. Grant’s military style was described as ‘that of a bull dog’ because he forever pressed forward, refusing to submit until the enemy had been defeated or surrendered. This tactic led to the slaughter of tens of thousands of General Grant’s men and to him being called ‘the butcher’; historians agree however that General Grant’s use of these tactics – and President Lincoln’s indulgence of them – were essential for breaking down the Confederate forces and for finally overcoming them. Moreover, General Grant was perhaps the first general in American history to glimpse the concept of ‘total warfare’ whereby it was necessary to destroy an enemy’s economic foundations – factories, farmlands, industri es etc., as well as to defeat them in battle. The strategies employed by General Grant in the Overland Campaign finally proved decisive when he fought to a draw at the Battle of the Wilderness and the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, before finally forcing General Lee’s surrender at the Appomattox Court House April 9, 1865. * * * * The superior natural resources and manpower of the North meant from the outset that they were likely – if there was no foreign intervention – to win the war rapidly and with relatively light casualties. In 1860 the twenty-two states that would later continue in the Union had a total population of 22 million; the eleven states of the Confederacy had a population of 9 million (4 million of whom were slaves). In simple military terms this meant that the North had a far larger reservoir of manpower from which to draw either volunteer or conscript soldiers. Moreover, the North boosted its numbers by assimilating large numbers of black slaves who escaped from the southern states. The North had the further advantage of a superior railway system which allowed them to swiftly transfer troops from one battlefield to another. Moreover, the South made serious errors in its policies of conscription. At the beginning of the war the Confederate made the decision to rely upon volunteer soldiers for its armies. One historian wrote of the consequences of this decision that ‘Conscription would have been less odious if it had been made the excusive policy of raising armies at the outset †¦ It might have been regarded as a scientific way of allocating the man power of the country and distributing fairly the burdens of war’ (Moore, 1963). When the South belatedly turned to conscription men felt bitter and acrimonious about the policy; yet had it been issued at the outset it might have been received more favorably. The North was fortunate in its policy of conscription. They too had the eloquent appeals of President Lincoln with which to recruit new soldiers. In February 1861 Lincoln declared If all do not join now to save the good old ship of the Union this voyage nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another voyage.[3] This was an ominous warning that boosted recruitment significantly. Anticipating a rapid victory the North conscripted its soldier s for a three-month period only; whereas the South demanded one year’s service. Neither three-months nor one year were of course adequate to meet the needs of either army, but whereas southern fighters became disillusioned with the length of their conscription, the Union’s soldiers often gladly signed to fight again after their initial short period of conscription. This had a tremendous effect upon morale. In July 1861 after the first Bull Run the Union’s forces had suffered heavy defeats and the Union’s soldiers feared that their lives and properties would be threatened if they chose not to re-enlist. This necessity supplied President Lincoln with 500,000 extra troops at the vital moment. The South however convinced by the Bull Run that it was assured victory delayed for the whole summer and autumn the introduction of a policy of re-enlistment; thus when conscription was implemented through force in November Confederate soldiers were thoroughly demoraliz ed by being called to fight again. The Confederate Provisional Congress introduced the inept and foolish ‘bounty and furlough act’ in Dec. 11 1861 which gave generous but confusing freedoms to soldiers who chose to re-enlist. This incompetent decision disrupted the organization of the Confederate armies at a dangerous moment and weakened them considerably. The Confederate however weakened its potential manpower base by prohibiting the incorporation of its 4 million black slaves into its ranks for most of the war. The North was also highly industrialized in comparison to the South, and this allowed the North to produce munitions and military equipment that should have sustained and proved decisive against the largely agricultural economy of the South. To many historians it seems remarkable that the American Civil War lasted four years given the economic and manpower supremacy of the North. The Confederate however had the vital advantage that it needed only to protect its territory to assure victory (it could declare independence if the North remitted); the North however needed to attack. This attack consumed far greater resources that those needed for the defence of the southern states, and this is the principal reason why the conflict was so protracted. Eventually the superior supplies, industry and manpower of the North proved decisive. * * * * * ‘I never saw such fighting as was done by the Negro regiment †¦ The question that the negroes will fight is settled; besides they make much better soldiers in every respect than any other troops I have ever had under my command’ (Union General Blunt)[4] A principal reason for North’s victory in the American Civil War was their early realization that by incorporating black soldiers into their forces they would gain a vital manpower advantage over the South. In contrast, the Confederate’s slothful and belated realization of the need to enlist black soldiers was a strong contribution to their defeat. Historians estimate that as many as 180,000 black soldiers, in 163 units, were assimilated into the Union ranks during the American Civil War (McPherson, 1982) – and numerous others joined the Union Navy. This number represents as much as 10% of the Union’s total armed forces. The participation and influence of black forces in the war was enabled on July17, 1862, when Congress initiated two Acts permitting the enrollment of black soldiers in the armed forces; though official enlistment began in September of that year after the issue of the Emancipation Proclamation. The Union forces swiftly comprehended the importance of this decision and began to enlist black soldiers and sailors in large numbers. This enlistment was hindered however by the Union’s (and Confederate’s) prejudiced assumption that blacks would not be courageous and valiant soldiers. As General Blunt’s words tell, this assumption was quickly overturned amongst Union generals when black regiments were involved in a series of victorious battles against Confederate forces. The 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers were a powerful example of the influence that black soldiers could have upon the outcome of the war: contributing greatly to the success of the Battle of Island Mound, the Battle of Port Hudson, the battle of Honey Springs and many others. Perhaps the most significant single contribution of black soldiers to the war was when on July 17, 1863, they led the assault of the 54th Massachusetts against Fort Wagner. The desire of black soldiers to enlist in the Union forces was enhanced when Confederate forces committed atrocities against black such as the one at Fort Pillow. Events such as these, coupled with the existing idea amongst black slaves that the Union was fighting partly for their emancipation, led far greater numbers of black soldiers to join the Union than the Confederate. In sharp comparison, the Confederate army reacted viscously to the idea that black soldiers could play a decisive role in the outcome of the war. Although sixty to ninety-three thousand (Glathaar, 1996) blacks were involved in the Confederate in some form or another, the overwhelming majority of these were in non-fighting positions – musicians, cooks, cleaners and so on. Only at the end of the war did the Confederate wake up to the huge pool of manpower that they had thus far ignored. Indeed, for most of the war the participation of black soldiers in Confederation forces was legally prohibited. President Jefferson Davis made a serious and costly error when in 1864 he refused the suggestion of General Patrick Cleburne that the Confederate employ black troops in its forces in return for their freedom if they survived the war. Only in January 1865 after a further recommendation by General Lee to the Confederate Congress to permit the enlistment of black soldiers was a document si gned (Order 14) allowing this to happen. The lateness of this decision meant that that war was almost over before considerable black enlistment by Confederate forces could begin. Consequently, this failure of the Confederate was one of the most serious of the entire war and expedited their defeat. * * * * * The Union’s victory in the Civil War was much aided by the failure of European nations to give diplomatic recognition to the cause of the Confederacy. European recognition of the independence of the Confederacy would have enabled the southern states to call upon European nations to intervene in the civil war to uphold the Confederation’s right to independence. It was vital therefore for the North that this did not happen; fighting European forces as well as the Confederation armies would have seriously injured their chances of success. The decision of European nations to recognize the Confederacy has been attributed to several factors. Firstly, the North’s own diplomats proved highly successful in presenting their case to the European powers. This diplomacy was often forceful; W. H. Steward, Secretary of State, for instance instructed C. F. Adams, Minister to England, to warn the British to avoid ‘fraternizing with our domestic enemy’ lest they risked an Anglo-American war. A key diplomatic strategy of the North was then to present the South as rebels who had no legitimate rights to independence. Historians argue further that widespread sympathy amongst Europeans for black slaves meant that they were further disinclined to interfere in the civil war (Roberts, 1987). Unseen and unpredicted factors too such as crises in Denmark and Poland distracted the attention of Europe away from the American conflict. The continued failure of the Confederate forces to win consecutive battles meant that they co uld not convince European nations that the south could maintain its independence if granted – and European nations were never likely to militarily or economically back an unsuccessful war. The failure of the Confederate states to win European diplomatic recognition had much to do with the failures of their own diplomatic strategies. At the outset of the war the South predicted that since Britain depended heavily upon exports of southern cotton to sustain their own economy, that when the Union’s navy blockaded the export of this cotton Britain would be forced to intervene in the war. This intervention would ensure victory for the South and supply them with international recognition for their independence. Despite these predictions however Britain failed to enter the conflict and instead declared its neutrality in light of the blockade, as later did all other European nations. Britain had extended to the Confederation ‘belligerent status’ whereby it could draw international loans and trade internationally, but this fell far short of the military intervention and declaration of independence that the South had expected (Crook, 1975). What is more, Brita in had by its decision not to interfere militarily effectively condoned the blockade of the southern states by the North. Thus the effects of the British and European decision not to intervene were twofold for the Confederation. In practical terms, the South now had to confront the North alone and on an immensely more difficult single front. Psychologically, the morale and legitimacy of the secession had been bruised and damaged, and international approval effectively granted to the North. * * * * * This essay must end with the point with which it began: no single reason was totally decisive for the North’s victory in the American Civil War. That said, President Lincoln’s unique leadership and the superior industrial resources and manpower of the North were finally the most dominant reasons. In the aftermath of the first Bull Run in 1861 the Union’s forces were disillusioned and there was a danger that they would disintegrate because they had failed to seize the fast and easy victory that many had predicted they would. It required a man of President Lincoln’s personality, stamina, skill and vision to solidify the Union forces and to foster their perseverance through the long war which he knew was ahead. Lincoln himself was this unifying force: he was an emblem for the Presidency for the Constitution and for democracy. The supremacy of the North’s resources and manpower had been checked at the outset of the war by the need to attack the Confeder ate strongholds whereby the North consumed resources far faster than the South; yet despite this initial failure to make the advantage tell, these resources did finally overwhelm the Confederate defenders. Serious political and tactical errors by the Confederate during the Civil War meant that any slim chance of victory they had at the outset was washed away soon after the conflict began. The prohibition of black slaves from serving in Confederate forces and the delayed and ineffective introduction of conscription cost the South its opportunity to compensate for the North’s superior man power. Likewise, the political assumption that Britain and other European powers would move to break the Union naval blockade and so proclaim the legitimate independence of the South backfired disastrously. Once these errors had been committed and the North’s advantages handled effectively by Lincoln victory was assured. BIBLIOGRAPHY Belz, H. (1998). Abraham Lincoln, Constitutionalism and Equal Rights During the Civil War Era.  Fordham University Press, New York. Crook, D. P. (1975). Diplomacy During the American Civil War. Wiley, London. Curt, J. McLaughlin, M. (1977). Battles of the American Civil War. Sampson Low,  Maidenhead. Fuller, J.F.C. (1941). Conscription entry in Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol.6, p.282-6. London. Fuller, J. F. C. (1956). Decisive Battles of the Western World and Their Influence Upon History/From the American Civil War to the End of the Second World War. Cassel Co, London. Gallagher, G, W. (1997). The Confederate War. Harvard University Press, Massachusetts. Gienapp, W. E. (2003). Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America. Oxford University Press,  Oxford. Glatthaar, J. T. (1996). The Civil War’s Black Soldiers. Eastern National Park and Monument  Association, Conshohocken. Hattaway, H. (1983). How the North Won: A Military History of the Civil War. Urbana, Illinois. McPherson, J. (1998). Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War. Oxford  University Press, Oxford. McPherson, J. (1982). The Negro’s Civil War: How Negroes Felt and Acted During the War for   the Union. Urbana, University of Illinois Press. McPherson, J. (1984). Lincoln and the Strategy of Unconditional Surrender. Gettysburg  College, Gettysburg.   Moore, A, B. (1963) Conscription and the Conflict in the Confederacy. University of South  Carolina Press. Roberts, J, M. (1987) The Penguin History of the World. Harmondsworth, Penguin. Tripp, C.A. (2005) The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln. Free Press, London. Tulloch, H. (1999). The Debate on the American Civil War Era. Manchester University Press,  Manchester. Westwood, H, C. (1992). Black Troops, White Commanders, and Freedom During the Civil War;   (With a Forward by John Y. Simon). Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. Footnotes [1] The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. 5. Letter to Horace Greely, p388. [2] Words spoken by President Lincoln after the surrender at Fort Sumter April 14th, 1861. [3] The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume IV, Speech at Cleveland, Ohio  (February 15, 1861), p. 216. [4] General Blunt after the defeat of General Douglas Cooper at Honey Springs July 17th, 1863.

Bronze and the Shang Dynasty :: Chinese China History

Bronze and the Shang Dynasty A societies use of the materials surrounding them is imperative to their success as a prominent civilization. The reign of the Shang dynasty roughly began around c1600- c1050bc, during this time the middle class artisans devoted much of their time to perfecting bronze work for ritualistic purposes as well as military basis; while the Shang kings and nobles held positions of high power and prestige over the common day labourer. The kings were thought as having a special connection with the ancestors of the past and were highly respected. The common Shang dynasty labourer lived a very hard and tedious life, like the common Egyptian, everything was done to please the king. Unfortunately, the Shang kings were very harsh on the people and some even referred to the Shang dynasty as 'the Slave dynasty' because the nobility had so much control over the common day workers, they had no shame in sacrificing other humans for ritualistic practices. As well, the Shang people were also occupied wit h every day tasks such as hunting for food and an early form of farming. Evidence of the Shang peoples everyday life were found at An yang, the Shang capital city, inscribed oracle bones presented a picture of constant bickering with other groups around and even war. Modern day archaeologists have come to the conclusion that the bronze work of the Shang was very well crafted and elite at its time, thousands of Shang bronzes survives today. The influence of bronze on the Shang people's everyday life, weaponry and art established a reputation of leadership among this group of people. The Shang people's everyday life was very religious and trying. The rulers had a great amount of power over the people and controlled much of what they did in their day-to-day chores. The Shang elites and artisans devoted much of their time to perfecting bronze work. The elites "organization was apparent because Shang rulers had to mobilize men and material to mine, transport, and refine the ores, to manufacture and tool the clay models, cores and moulds used in the casting process and to run the foundries." (Buckley 129) The mining of ore used to make bronze was done by the poorer classes and looked after by the noble class. The Shang people were able to organize themselves and get to the resources that they needed. Through study, it is evident that the lower class of the Shang people worked very hard "mining required labourers on hands and knees to drag their heavy ore sleds out through cramped and unventilated tunnels.

Uses of ICT in Theatres :: ICT Essays

Uses of ICT in theatres Databases may contain information regarding: * Props - & people who make them * Costumes - * Actors * Producers * Directors * Regular visitors * Scenery - makers, painters * Make-up people * Rehearsal times * Staff rotas Publicity: * Programmes * Filters * Press releases * Posters * List of contacts Smoke/fire alarms Emergency lighting A theatre may use ICT for a wide number of tasks: Ticket-booking systems (both on- and off-line) Internet site Staff rotas Promotional materials Cash flow Automatic lighting systems Central management system Accounts Scheduling User interfaces Alarms Data Protection Act -relates to any personal data (relating to living individuals who can be identified from that data) that may be stored. - Hence, general data collected from point of sale terminals and websites are not usually affected. - Requirements of Act also cover many categories of manually held data. - Rome types of data that must be registered under the Act: -- Public and internal directories (e.g. of students, customers, staff) - Includes contact information. -- Staff/customer biographical information pages. -- Online forms (registration etc), include contact information. -- Online research surveys - includes data that identifies any individual response to a survey. -- E-mail list subscriptions (e.g. keep up with the latest results). -- Other ways, such as scripts that allow a user to personalise web pages, server-based cookie file systems, etc. Companies collecting any of the data outlined above must appoint a data controller and register with the Information Commissioner. Data Controllers must notify the IC, before processing personal data, of: - Their name and address - The data to be processed - The category(s) of data subject to which they relate - The purposes for which the data will be processed Companies are checked to ensure data security before being registered. The Act places a legal obligation on DCs to follow the data protection principles: - Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully - Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified lawful purposes - Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose/s for which it is to be used - Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date - Personal data processed for any purpose/s shall not be kept for longer than necessary - Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under the act - Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unlawful or unauthorised processing of personal data, and against loss, destruction or damage to personal data. - Personal data shall not be transferred to countries/territories

Effects of Restricting the Type and Amount of Video Game Use by Childre

Effects of Restricting the Type and Amount of Video Game Use by Children Popularity of Video Games Playing video games has become almost as popular as watching television. The vast majority of school children play video games; they are part of the daily routine of 65% of American households. Video games account for 30% of the US toy market and the annual earnings from video games approaches nine billion dollars, which is more than the gross sales from box office tickets for movies. This amount is 10 times the amount spent on production of children’s educational television programming (Walsh, 1999). Despite the popularity of video games, parents and teachers alike question whether or not this activity has any educational value. Moreover, as the quality and realism of video games improve with advances in technology, it is likely that children's interest in video games is going to increase, not decrease. For example, interactive video games, multimedia video games, and virtual reality video games are already on the market. It has been, and will continue to be difficult f or parents to keep their children from playing this new generation of video games. The purpose of this review is to explore the issue of whether or not parents should restrict the type of video game their children play and the amount of time their children play video games. Positive and Negative Aspects Clearly, there are several negative aspects to playing video games. Parents have little control over the types of games their children choose to play. Perhaps the only meaningful questions we can ask are "should they control the type of video game their child uses, e.g., traditional versus those with â€Å"proven therapeutic value?" (Parente, 1997). Sh... ...gy 2.1: 69-74. Parente, A. (1997). Does video games improve attention-concentration and hand-eye coordination: Short report? Cognitive Technology 2.2: 41-43. Phillips, C.A., Rolls, S., Rouse, A., & Griffiths, M.D. (1995). Home video game playing in schoolchildren: A study of incidence and patterns of play. Journal of Adolescence 18.6: 687-691. Scientific Research. Retrieved 16 September 2001. http://www.playattention.com/studies.htm. The Effects of Video Games on How Children Learn. Retrieved 5 June 2001. http://pluto.palomar.edu/renteria030/essay2.htm. Twum, M. (1994). Maximizing generalization of cognition and memory after traumatic brain injury. NeuroRehabilitation, 4.3: 157-167. Video Games: Harmfully Addictive or A Unique Educational Environment? Retrieved 5 June 2001. http://www.eeng.dcu.ie/~tcs/Articles/VideoGamesInterview.html.

Commitment based performance: a case of primary education Essay

An emergency meeting was called by the CEO Mr. Khan. ZK, MK and HK immediately reported to the call by their father. Entering the board room all three children saw a tensed expression on their fathers face. On settling down in the board room all three children were presented a paper showing an increase in dropout rate of students, and two more resignation letters in the last one month of their well trained permanent staff. Mr.Khan had just come out from an informal post resignation interview, which was his usual practice, and told his children that despite being the pioneers in school systems in their region they are losing their student body and trained staff that they had invested in for training upon inception. Excellence teachers had no major reason to leave the job except for a Rs. 500-800 offered more at one of the major competitors, and that the workload was to much to handle for one teacher in a class. Mr. Khan transformed his vision onto a living reality on the ground- a living breathing functioning system- Excellence School System. He had put two of his children in the education field so that they could help him out in his dream project of converting his school system into a university. But with decreasing student enrollments and increasing teacher turnover he couldn’t see his child drown away and he does nothing. Background Mr and Mrs majeed, founder members of The Excellence School Systems started the school on self owned premises in 1952 with 23 students at initial enrolling and since then it has grown in size of its building, student and teacher population. In 1960 the school was up graded from primary level to middle level. The school was exempted from the nationalization reforms of 1972. And within a short time the administration was passed on into the hands of their daughter and son in law. Under their management the school expanded itself to incorporate the B. Ed and the M. Ed programs. At present the school has three branches in Bahawalpur, has three buildings in each compound. It also has grounds where children can play cricket, volley ball, football and basketball. There are three computer laboratories which have fifty computers in all. There are four libraries with about 10,000 books in all, and two science laboratories. Besides the scholastic work, the school appears to take pride in a variety of co-curricular activities such as, early morning assembly, sports, arts and crafts, wood work, debates, speech competitions and poetry competitions, magazine work, quiz competitions, educational trips, a yearly school fair, science and art exhibitions, and project days. Excellence School System. At the time of this research the school had a student population of 1000 boys and girls, with a total staff of 150 of which majority are female teachers. The students all belonged to a particular community and came from the locality in which the school was situated. The students entered school at age four to class Montessori and left at age 15 after completing class X. Recently with the increased competition being given to the school by the more schools added to the province catering to the increased population. The school faced a decrease in student enrollments, increase in dropout rate and a high turnover rate prevailing in the region itself. Bahawalpur has in total 2234 registered schools of which majority are 70 % government schools and 30% private school systems that offer o-level facility and the number has increased from 2000-2013. The school enrollments during the last 6 years have deteriorated and a lot of drop outs during 2000-2012, from 1500-1000 students currently enrolled. With increased competition the school was to change its matriculation system to O-levels. And for this it needed the infrastructure and funding (already available but left idle), curricula and above all trained teachers. What was lacking was the availability of permanent trained teacher, teachers’ workload, individual attention to each child and their teaching methodology. Teachers, relying on the textbook, normally gave lecture notes to students who are expected to memorize them with little or no attention given to understanding the content. Thus teachers have become textbook dependent and are overwhelmingly concerned to complete the syllabus so their students have at the least ‘covered’ the course content. In a rural area like Bahawalpur where the gross income of family is on average 15000 and any additional contribution is valued. Majority of the females in Bahawalpur prefer to teach after completion of their basic education. Women participation is regarded as a family decision, in which entry to and exit from the job market is not related directly to her. The importance of women participation in economic activities is evident from the fact that, there is a positive relationship between women productive work and the level of development achieved, the more they earn the more they are valued in the family, resulting in whenever they are offered a higher income from another school based in the same locality they shift immediately. The school earlier started Montessori to grade VI training facility to its existing teachers. The strategy used to train teachers was to involve them in workshops conducted during the annual vacation. Various local teacher training agencies and individual experts were invited to conducted workshops. Not surprisingly, it emerged that there was very little uptake of the training provided and no effect was evident in teachers’ classroom practices. Alongside the teacher development workshop program, school heads were required by the school management to guide teachers in the implementation of a number of changes in the teaching methodology, syllabus planning, conducting examinations, admission policy and communication strategies with management, colleagues, students, parents and community. The School itself was continuing to pay the teacher’s salary during the vacation training therefore not only investing in the development of the teacher but to take cognizance of the pressures on teachers to financially support their families Also to improve education in the school was the development of an English language improvement program. The school had begun a drive to work in the medium of english soon after denationalization. Nationalized schools had been required to use the national language, Urdu, as the medium of instruction along with the provincial language. Mathematics and science were the first to be taught in English. The English language improvement program was not sustained as teachers did not perceive its relevance to their teaching and the language workshops were considered an extra burden on teachers who were already overloaded with various tasks at school and had social and family responsibilities outside of the school. However, many challenges confront the school where most children come from poor and difficult family backgrounds. For example, in each class there are widely different ability groups. Teachers continue to face the challenge of providing individual attention and equal learning opportunities for all students. There are several reasons that have been identified by the school that yields this high turnover rate: change of residence due to marriage; a heavy workload; use of holidays for teachers’ professional development activities; and better remuneration elsewhere. No doubt this has been disruptive to students, parents, and especially to the school who have had to keep training and inducting new teachers into the school’s improvement model. The consequence has been that less attention is then given to teaching and learning improvements in the classroom and from ongoing development work, discontinuation of the training programs but with the inculcation of the O-level stream they had to train their teachers to a level equal to the competing schools in the same area. Many of the key structures necessary for sound, sustainable, and effective teacher training are in place. However, they are not working as planned, and are risking being too great in quantity. The children were asked to leave their positions they were currently hired at and to join the school as head trainers and senior teachers. What was put forward to the CEO were a couple of options in order to start the O-level stream into the school system. A full in service training program to the existing teachers during the summer vacations conducted by their sons and daughter who are presently working in well reputed universities in Punjab. Pre-service training: The methodology of most of the trainings would be a lecture-based format, where teachers would observe a trainer teaching a class or showing techniques. This would also include student-teachers teaching in large, crowded single-classroom. These teachers would therefore gain the exposure to the practical realities that they would have to deal with once they begin teaching on their own. Would work towards how to design lessons, conduct classroom lectures, conducting class assignments, working towards individual assistance on child buildup and knowledge of child cognitive development and how children learn is important In-service training: Teachers would actually spent 2 of 3 days working in groups designing lessons, conducting model lessons to the group, and then receive constructive criticism. Content knowledge is important in order to teach subject matter to children well. Teachers need to have the opportunity for analysis and reflection on their teaching also peer networking would be are integral in addressing teacher motivation and improvement in teaching. Teachers would be sent to training institutions. They would be required to learn how to design class rooms. Alongside the training program offered pre-service and in-service, there has to be a way to retain the teachers to serve them after required training. A revision of remuneration has to be considered which has been a major factor in high turnover rate in the region. The approval letter had been received from the british council to incorporate O-level into their educational system, but with the level of employee turnover it was difficult to decide whether to start it or not or just continue with matriculation, for which the demand was deteriorating fast. Mr. Khan had already worked on the funding of the school for increased facilities and incorporation of the O-level system with increased investment in curricula. Competition raising on one end it was difficult to retain students and teachers in Excellence. He had to take a decision. |Alpina School | | |Government Girls High School | | |Dominican Convent High Secondary School | | |Government High School | | |Govt Girls High School | | |Govt Higher Seconday School | | |Islamic Model School | | |Jinnah Public School | | |New Pioneer High School | | |Noman Model School | | |Tameer-E-Nou Public School | | |SADIQ PUBLIC SCHOOL | | |Govt. Primary School 5-Marla Scheme | | |Govt. Masque School Aalam Rab Nawaz | | |Govt. Masque School Aali Wahan |2 branches | |Govt. High School Abbas Nagar | | |Govt. Masque School Aaqil Pur | | |Govt. Primary School Abbas Arbi |2 branches | |Govt. Primary School Abbas Pur | | |Govt. Masque School Abdul Ghaffar | | |Govt. Primary School Abdul Ghanni | | |Govt. Primary School Abdul Khaliq Farash | | |Govt. 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Stage Fright

Miguel Barvosa-Martinez ENGL 1301-192 Mooney Essay # 2 Final 2/22/13 Stage Fright I know, first hand, that being onstage about to perform in front of a big audience is not as many expect. I started doing stand-up comedy over two years ago. The first time ever being on stage, I felt nervous. I felt jittery my fingers were shaking, but it wasn't as bad as having my body paralyzed from nervosity. Fear can bring your body some unexpected responses. I had those butterflies in my stomach, like I was weightless, as if I were floating.After my first show I discovered stage fright wasn't a problem. I learned that stage fright will come with unpreparedness, and the lack of repetition. The longer I prepared and the more I practiced my material the better I was off with a successful show. For me to know and be comfortable with my material, I would go over it repeatedly, as if I were at the gym doing sets on the bench press. The more prepared I got myself, the more confident I felt. Performing my skit with my friends sitting in front of me as if they are the real audience helped my preparedness.Others listening to my material gave me a better feel for my jokes. I would have a list, the bad jokes I would cross out the good ones I would circle. I would ask my friends for feedback, I used it as a way to prepare for the real audiences reaction. My ways of preparing for the event were time consuming. The fact that my performance brought a lot of laughs to the audience, I felt like i was immune to nervosity. Additionally, experience tells me that I need to give myself time to gain confidence. I worked on my material, preparing for a long time, for a show that was months away.Its a long and frustrating process, but in the end I felt proud of myself. The confidence I felt when I first went up on stage was impressive. I felt powerful, like a star, making the audience laugh with well-revised and practiced material. Conclusively, preparation is key, as is practice. The more prepared I was, the more confident , and the more guided I was through the show. Stage fright is something that can happen to just about anyone, but from my experience it can be dodged. Just prepare, and practice.