Research Agenda in Cloud Computing Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Agenda in Cloud Computing - Research Proposal Example This study will require a survey of the available information or literature by the use of a methodical and principled approach; all the major databases of research for computer science will be searched, and these include the ACM Digital Library, the Google Scholar, the IEEE Xplore, the ScienceDirect together with the SpringerLink, for the key words such as cloud computing, Service Infrastructure, elastic computing, Service Software, utility computing, Service Platforms, the IaaS, Service Everything, the XaaS as well as the PaaS. Nevertheless, the range of information of data for this search will be limited from the year 2009 to the month of April 2013. This range of date is picked because the research is initiated in the month of April 2013. In addition, it is the best range because it is fairly long after the launching of all public clouds in the year 2005, thus there is adequate or sufficient data required for the survey to be accurate.For instance, the EC2 was first launched by Am azon in the month of August 2006, while the App Engine was launched by Google in April 2008. The term cloud computing, according to the Google Trends, began to become well known in the year 2007. After searching from the targeted five databases, we will find out the total number of papers returned. The paper’s abstracts together with titles will also be read, and for the purposes of quality, only peer-reviewed papers will be used for the review. However, only a very small number of the articles that are non peer-reviewed can be used.

Issue facing texas Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Issue facing texas - Research Paper Example A part from education, there are some other issues that must also be addressed in Texas. These issues involve poverty, budget and tax payment. These issues have been there for long time but there are current reforms that have been put in place in orders to control these challenges. Education policy (university & colleges) There have been many challenges that are affecting the education sector in Texas. Some have been there for long while others have been caused by the current legislation and the type of education system that have been put in place. One of the major issues facing Texas colleges and university education is the lack of funds for both the students and the schools. The cost of colleges and universities are very high in Texas. This blocks many students from pursuing there postsecondary schools courses. In the past, the cost of colleges was average. Many parents were able to take their children for high education. This dream has been erased by the rise of school fees. Recen tly, college costs have risen at a very high rate. This rise has even exceeded the rate at which inflation goes up. Parents and students now feel they are being exploited by the government due to the rise in school fees. Some cannot afford to pay all the fees and their children are forced to drop out of college. This rise of education fees has been caused by Texas failure to pay taxes. There has been a big hole in Texas budget that has forced the tax payers’ lot money in trying to reduce the budget deficits ("Challenges Facing Career and Technical Education"). This issue of rise in school fees has been dealt with to some extent. There are some policies that have been put in place in order to reduce the rise in school fees. These measures also help parents and students raise enough money for high education. One of the measures that have been put in place includes giving financial aids to the students who are studying in colleges and universities. This aid is made effective by giving loans to the students. These loans are given through private financial institutions or federal government. These institutions include education tax credits, state loans, work-study programs and federal grants. These loans help many students in colleges. Those who are in the two-year community colleges can also benefit from the loans. They will be able to give back to the society after completing college. The loan is also available for those who are going for five years in their high education. Most of the students who are going for four years have high chances of getting these loans as compared to those who are going for two years. This is because the four-year courses are known to cost more money than the two-year courses ("Challenges Facing Career and Technical Education"). From my opinion, this policy of giving financial aid to students is very important. It helps many students whose dreams were to study in colleges and universities. It is also very essential for students who come from poor families. When these students complete their education, they will be able to help the other members of their families. This means that the financial aid important will help the whole society. K-12 Education There many issues that is associated with K-12 education in Texas. Some of the issues are caused by larger number of students in the lower grade schools. This large population in

Scientology Definition Essay Example for Free

Scientology Definition Essay Scientology by many people is viewed as a cult and has no religious backing but according to Faith, Religion Theology (FRT) a religion constitutes as people (being able) to recognize that what matters most in life is or includes a level of reality that transcends, or goes beyond, what normally understands as human or finite meaning an ultimate mystery or Divine (Knitter 166). FRT also states that religion deals with ethical reasons how to behave and beliefs along with a creed, code, and ceremonies (Knitter 163). So according to FRT scientology would be a religion because it does believe in the higher being that is talked about in the first quote. Scientology also has a set ethical code that determines how people should behave inside their religion. The question that comes from this is where does Scientology get their creed, code, and ceremonies? Scientology began in the 1950s based on the findings of L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard is known as the father of Scientology (Church). A formed the religion of Scientology after studying the human mind and life known as Dianectics (Church). So as Hubbards research expanded, so did the ideas of Scientology until it incorporated all the ideas from all of Hubbards publications. All this being said their creed, also written by Hubbard, is like most creeds a basis of what everyone in the religion believes in. Hubbard also wrote the 4 codes that Scientology is based around; The Auditors code, The Code of Scientology, The Code of Honor, and a code called The Way of Happiness. All of these codes play a key role in the scientologists life and what they believe in (Church). They believe in a God but they leave the image of God to the individuals. That leaves the ceremonies performed in Scientology. They perform a lot of ceremonies common to Christianity such as weddings, Sunday services, naming services, counseling, and funeral services Although they have the same ceremonies they are viewed in different perspectives because they have different beliefs than any other religion. With this different view they still show the connection between their ceremonies and their beliefs. This is apparent throughout what they do during their services and the layout of the church and chapel. Sundays services are headed by a minister whose main job is auditing or tutoring, because services are not a main focus of the religion, although they are offered (Beliefnet). The service is more a meeting place to get everyone on the same page and let people know they have fellow people on this journey with them. Most Scientologist still attend these services because it is another chance to take a step towards the eighth dynamic, which is the ultimate goal of scientology, and will be explained in a later paragraph. The service starts with the Creed of the Church of Scientology, Sermon, L. Ron Hubbard Lecture, group auditing, Announcements, and ends with the Prayer for Total Freedom. The opening of the service is an obvious showing of the overlapping of creed and ceremony (Church). It is difficult to tell when the sermon ends and the lecture begins since they usually have the same idea and lesson. They usually have the same idea and lesson. The goal of these lessons is for the people to take them and apply them to the real life situations. They believe that helping others is the only way to improve their lives. Next is the group auditing, considered the most important part of the service, which is led by the minister (Church). The minister also gives a few instructions to help the listener free themselves from the material world and make them more spiritually aware and open to improving their life. The announcements are the next part of mass and this is a chance for the minister to let followers know what is going on around the community. This plays into the role of scientologists always wanting to better mankind. Finally service closes with the Pray for Total Freedom. In this prayer the people ask the author of the universe to make their goals possible and to help all those that are in need (Church). After attending these two ceremonies I realized I still did not understand Scientologys view on God. This is when I met the man who would answer that and so much more. Ajax approached me after service and told me he would explain Scientology to me. He started with the layout of the chapel. From the doorway it looked like a normal worship room, but once inside there are posters going the distance of the room showing different aspects of the church. I will try and explain as well as Ajax explained to me. He started with the creed of Scientology. Ajax explained that you have to look deeper than the creed he then continued to talk about how this creed is more as a guide for you to find your own God as you want to picture him, but none of us can picture him until we have reached infinity (Ajax). I hope this confuses you as much as it confused me. He then had me watch a video on the eight dynamics which showed the different dynamics that humans have to go through before finding God. The seven dynamics go as follow: self, creativity, group survival, species, life forms, physical universe, and spiritual dynamic. A man has to reach the perfection of the first 6 dynamics before finishing the 7th. They say this because you have to have respect for everything in your life before you can be spiritually strong. Once the 7th dynamic is fulfilled only then will the eight dynamic appear to man. This dynamic is known as God or the creator by most religions, but the correct term for Scientology is infinity (Scientology). According to Hubbard Infinity is the allness of all (Church). This is where ones true vision of God will show itself and until then no one knows what their God truly looks like. This is why Scientology does not push one Dogma onto their followers (Scientology). Ajax proceeded to give me specifics on how other aspects of scientology works; such as auditing and classes. After the tour was over, I asked him What makes Scientology the right path to finding God and how does the services help this process of finding our God? Ajax took a deep breath and then proceeded to give me the following response Well, Seth have you ever had a doubt in your religion? I already know the answer it is yes, you know why I know this? because most religions are based on faith. Scientology is not like that. It is based on proven facts. I can tell you how people are going to act to certain events just because of who they are and how they carry themselves. The reason I know these is Scientology. This carries over to God. I came to America from Pakistan for college. I was brought up as a Muslim and firmly believed in Allah which I still do but I was brought into this religion and it just made sense to me, as it should for you too. I just view Allah in a different view now as being infinity and something I cannot picture till I fulfill everything else. I started studying Scientology, yes studying because Scientology does what a religion should be about, which is doing not believing which is how most religions are based on. So by doing these things we find ourselves and by doing that we find God. So that is what makes Scientology the right choice over other religions (Ajax) this round about answer was the thing that made everything about this religion finally click. The idea is that they believe in a God, but it is different for every follower since this belief system is their idea of the way of reaching Nirvana, Heaven, or in their case Infinity (Beliefnet). The best way to put it is how it is put on their offical website which says Scientology is not a dogmatic religion in which one is asked to accept anything on faith alone. On the contrary, one discovers for oneself that the principles of Scientology are true by applying its principles and observing or experiencing the results (Church). Scientology bases everything on experiences and through my experience there I learned that Scientology is a whole new idea that seems like a far cry from a religion, but after experiencing all that, I can see why people put everything they want into Scientology. Do I buy into it? Some things yes, but not the whole religion, although it helped me find more concrete reasons why I believe in my own religion. Work CIted Ajax. Tour of the Church. Personal interview. 28 Oct. 2012. Ajax gave me a in-depth tour of every aspect of the church and everything they do and through this tour I learned more than i could have ever imagined about Scientology. Beliefnet. What Do Scientologists Believe? Beliefnet.com. What Do Scientologists Believe? Beliefnet.com. Beliefnet, 01 Oct. 2011. Web. 30 Sept. 2012. http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Scientology/What-Do-Scientologists-Believe.aspx. This website shows a general outline of what people who follow Scientology believe. It also describes how their religion works and in little detail how the world works through their eyes. The author is not told but their intended audience is someone who is curious about Scientology and they do a great job of making it simple and easy to understand for someone who is just starting to look into it. Church of Scientology International. Church of Scientology: Religion Beliefs-What Is Scientology?, L. Ron Hubbard. Church of Scientology: Religion Beliefs-What Is Scientology?, L. Ron Hubbard, News. Church of Scientology International, 2012. Web. 30 Sept. 2012. http://www.scientology.org/. This is the offical website for Scientology. It is very detailed in every aspect of the religion that is Scientology. Everything from who created Scientology to beliefs and practices. It also gives examples of multiple places of worship. The website was made by the international Scientology organization. Their goal of this page is to inform people on what they are doing at churches and how they work and how people in this religion are. Besides the obvious talking up of the religion the site seems very accurate and reliable. Knitter, Paul, and William Madges. Chapter Six Religion: What Is It? Faith, Religion Theology. By Brennan R. Hill. Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 1997. 161-90. Print. This chapter focuses on what a religion is and what makes up a religion. It bases it on the knowing of something that is farther than humans. Then explains that code, creed, and ceremony is basis of behavior and beliefs. This source is targeted for students and is very reliable since it is used in a college course. Scienctology. Prod. OrgSync. Church of Scientology, 2010. DVD. Ajax gave me 8 hours of supplemental videos that went into farther depth of each of the topics he explained to me. Everything from their service projects to the 8 dynamics.

The Morgan Report 1991: Crime prevention strategies

The Morgan Report 1991: Crime prevention strategies The Morgan report of 1991 identified the local authority as being central to the delivery of crime prevention strategy. How successful have local authorities in fact proved to be in implementing this strategy? There can be little doubt that crime and crime prevention strategies are two of the most socio-political important issues facing Britain in the contemporary era. The crime prevention strategies that were in place for the vast majority of the twentieth century were established to deal with nineteenth century social and political problems pertaining to urban expansion – itself a direct cause of industrialisation and the expansion of technology in the Victorian era (Elmsley, 2003:66-84). Yet the social and political problems facing late twentieth century and early twenty first century pose new logistical problems that old and outmoded crime prevention strategies have proved unable to solve. Globalisation, migration and the triumph of liberal political ideology have all conspired to radically alter the concept not only of policing but also of human rights. This, in turn, has had a major effect upon the implementation of crime prevention strategies – most notably with regard s to the de-centralisation of policing. It is the aim of the following essay to analyse the consequences of this shift from central to local control with regards to the delivery of crime prevention strategies in modern Britain. Before we can commence our analysis, though, we need to look at the specific policy context in order to establish a conceptual framework for the remainder of the discussion. Although the de-centralisation of policing was officially enshrined in the Crime and Disorder Act of 1998, the impetus behind this reform was located in the Morgan Report of 1991, which was set up by the Home Office to look at the delivery of local crime prevention strategies. The subsequent report made two recommendations that have since formed the backbone of the central government’s anti-crime and disorder approach. Firstly, the report recommended the implementation of â€Å"the two concepts of community safety and (increasingly) crime and disorder reduction to signify a comprehensive and targeted local approach to crime control† (Hughes and Edwards, 2005:19). Secondly, the report recommended that the state establish a clear statutory responsibility for local authorities – constituting the genesis of the multi-agency, ‘partnership’ approach to crime prevention. This, then, is the birth of the de-centralisation of policing and crime prevention with local authorities being charged with taking a more ‘hands-on’ role with regards to policing in the context of less high-risk crime such as youth crime and social disorder with the state remaining responsible for the policing of more high-risk crimes such as the contemporary ‘war’ against terrorism. As Anthony Giddens (the chief social policy advisor to the Blair government after New Labour first came to power in 1997) duly notes, â€Å"professional policing involves mainly concentrating on serious issues† (Giddens, 1998:88). Thus, although the kind of policing envisaged for local authorities remained very professional in focus after 1998, we should also be aware that the local authority was expected to deal with the less serious issues facing contemporary crime. As such while we should interpret local authorities as indeed being central to crime prevention we shoul d take care to understand the nature of the crimes that these authorities were expected to assist preventing. It should also be noted that this development did not constitute a United States style federal or quasi-federal approach to crime prevention in modern day Britain. Rather, the Home Office and the Home Secretary remain the key centres of arbitrary legal and political power with regards to the implementation of crime prevention strategies in the UK and decisions taken by these centralised bodies remain the definitive ruling in all criminal proceedings. This is an important point to remember when attempting to deduce the ultimate success or failure of local authorities in reducing crime and social disorder. As is the case with education and health care, the New Labour government can be seen to have presided over a situation best characterised as ‘policy overkill’ – creating conflicting spheres of interest and influence with regards to social policy without necessarily offering anything substantial or ‘new’ (Fulbrook, 2001:243-259). It is essential, therefore, to understand that the increased relevance that has been attached to statutory local authorities is part of the government’s broader strategy of initiating multi-agency partnerships between public sector services (such as local authorities), private enterprises and public initiatives (such as community watch or neighbourhood management). In theory, these multi-agency partnerships should involve a free exchange of ideas between each of the public, private and voluntary sectors, mirroring the democratic environment in which they have all been conceived. In this way, it is hoped crime can be tackled by utilising the logistical resources of the state, the financial resources of business and the knowledge-based resources of local communities. However, as Gordon Hughes (1998:76) observes, the reality has tended to be less a reflection of democratic ideals and more a manifestation of corporate ethos with the concept of both ‘multi-agency’ and the ‘community’ lost within the broader parameters of the de-centralisation of policing and anti-crime powers. â€Å"This slippage between the terms ‘multi-agency’ and ‘community’ is somewhat problematic. It glosses over the key feature of multi-agency crime prevention which is that it is chiefly a ‘top-down’, neo-corporatist strategy from both central and local state regimes. In this strategy situational crime prevention techniques predominate and there is minimal ‘bottom-up’ communal participation and minimal popular democratic ownership.† This is an important point to remember and one that has a direct impact upon the limitations of local authorities with regards to effectively delivering crime prevention measures. Because of the two-tier structure of the multi-agency partnerships – whereby the capital of private enterprise and the political capital of the public sector are elevated over and above the ‘grass roots’ advice of community leaders and neighbourhood managers – local authorities are frequently unable to formulate local policies that are devised to combat crime within any one specific local authority. Dialogue between the agencies is in many cases limited. This clearly impacts upon the ability of local authorities with regards to fighting crime as the impetus behind crime prevention strategies remains rooted in the top tier of decision and policy making, located at central government and think-tank level. Moreover, where there is dialogue between the often competing agencies involve d within the multi-agency framework, the language is shrouded in protocol characterised by excessive paperwork, red tape and bureaucracy. The Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRP) initiative, for instance, dedicates little attention to implementing crime prevention strategies, preferring to donate more time to analysing and developing ‘strategic assessments’ to use as theoretical ‘toolkits’ in the fight against crime and social disorder (Home Office, 2007). We should consequently note the way in which the existence of the partnership strategies themselves, coupled with the policy overkill of the New Labour government, has directly contributed to excessive red tape and bureaucracy at the exact moment when greater initiative needs to be taken at a grass roots level. Until this underlying chasm between theory and practice has been bridged, we ought to expect local authorities to continue to deliver crime prevention strategies that are wholly out of synch with the social realities of policing everyday life in a diverse, multicultural society (Clements, 2008). None of this, we should note, is to conclusively state that the decentralisation of crime prevention strategies has been a failure throughout Britain. Rather, the point being highlighted above has been that the partnership scheme comes with inherent structural weaknesses that cannot help but hinder the broader initiative of tackling crime. However, measuring in real terms the ultimate success or failure of local authorities’ drives to reduce crime is also an inherently difficult task. Not only are facts and figures manipulated by both the local authorities themselves, the mass media’s intense interest in crime and social disorder as a mainstream journalistic story means that facts and figures are similarly manipulated by the media in order to sensationalise a story (Jewkes, 2004). The mass media’s over-riding commercial desire to ‘sell’ a story completely negates any sense of unbiased, impartial journalistic integrity. Thus, much in the same way as t he neo-corporatist undercurrent pervades through the two-tier structure of multi-agency partnerships in the community so the same corporatist, capitalist dimension affects the measurement of success or failure with regards to crime prevention strategies. We must also take note of the way in which statistics can trick the spectator outside of the ideological parameters of political engineering and outside of the sphere of influence of the global mass media. For instance, the statistics for ‘all crime’ committed in England and Wales appears to show a clear reduction in the number of crimes being committed per one thousand persons with the figure falling from 26.4 per one thousand people between April and June 2005 to 24.9 per one thousand people between January and March 2006 (Home Office Website; first accessed 10.06.08). These crimes, though, cover the entire spectrum of criminality with many of these crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the Home Office and the Home Secretary. Specific target groups such as young offenders, on the other hand, have witnessed vast increases in the numbers of crimes being committed since the Morgan Report and the implementation of the Crime and Disorder Act. The UK charity TheSite.org (first accessed 11.06.08) notes how the number of fifteen to seventeen year olds currently being held in custody has doubled in the last ten years. All of these figures are easy to manipulate and rather than offering conclusive evidence as to the success or failure of the multi-agency initiative, these figures only serve to further cloud the reality of devolution of crime prevention strategies in contemporary Britain. Conclusion The recommendations contained with the Morgan Report, in addition to the Crime and Disorder Act in which these recommendations were encapsulated, were correct in citing the need to expand the concept of crime prevention to incorporate local authorities. Furthermore, because of the nature of power in a social democracy in the contemporary era, this shift from voluntary to statutory status, incorporating a multi-agency approach, was also a necessary move (Phillips, 2001:163-181). However, as we have seen, this multi-agency approach has predominantly conspired to further cloud what were already murky issues with regards to responsibility, accountability and the implementation of the broader anti-crime strategy. Not only has bureaucratic procedure hampered the process of cooperation and conciliation between the private, pubic and voluntary sectors that make up these multi-agencies, there has also been a lack of foresight with regards to the arbitration of political and judicial power. For instance, where the local authorities are expected to initiate measures to tackle such measures as anti-social behaviour, it is the centralised state that continues to set the quotas with regards to immigration figures, housing as well as setting the budget which decides the amount of policemen that are able to patrol the streets. The recent strike over police pay highlights the extent to which local authorities’ hands are tied when it comes to tackling crime at a regio nal level. Furthermore, the lack of communication recently exposed with regards to the police and hospitals over the release of the number of victims being admitted with stab wounds further underscores the ground that needs to be made up before we can say that the local authorities are truly in charge of tackling crime in contemporary, decentralised Britain. Consequently, we need to acknowledge first and foremost the structural weaknesses inherent in the multi-agency approach to crime prevention. Furthermore, we need to acknowledge the rapidly changing nature not only of crime but also of society in the twenty first century and the impact that this is bound to continue to have upon contemporary policing methods. It is, in the final analysis, much too soon to attempt proclaim the ultimate success or failure of a project that should still be understood as being in its embryonic stage. References All Crime Statistics for England and Wales, April 2005 to March 2006, in, Home Office Website; http://www.crimestatistics.org.uk/tool/ Clements, P. (2008) Policing a Diverse Society: Second Edition Oxford: Oxford University Press Developing a Strategic Assessment: An Effective Practice Toolkit for Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships and Community Safety Partnerships (2007) London: The Home Office Elmsley, C. (2003) The Birth and Development of the Police, in, Newburn, T. (Ed.) A Handbook of Policing Uffculme: Willan Publishing Fulbrook, J. (2001) New Labour’s Welfare Reforms: Anything New? , in, The Modern Law Review, Volume 64, Number 2, 243-259 Giddens, A. (1998) The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy Cambridge: Polity Press Hughes, G. (1998) Understanding Crime Prevention: Social Control, Risk and Late Modernity Maidenhead: The Open University Press Hughes, G. and Edwards, A. (2005) Crime Prevention in Context, in, Tilly, N. (Ed.) A Handbook of Crime Prevention and Community Safety Uffculme: Willan Publishing Jewkes, Y. (2004) Media and Crime: A Critical Introduction London and New York: Sage Phillips, C. (2001) From Voluntary to Statutory Status: Reflecting on the Experience of Three Partnerships Established under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, in, Hughes, G., McLaughlin, E. and Muncie, J. (Eds.) Crime Prevention and Community Safety: New Directions London and New York: Sage Young Offenders, in, The Site.Org Website; http://www.thesite.org/homelawandmoney/law/introuble/youngoffenders

Sophocles’ Antigone Essay -- Plays Literature Ancient Greece Papers

Sophocles’ Antigone The character of Antigone in Sophocles’ play, Antigone, is one of the most controversial tragic characters in classic literature. The war in her city has torn her family apart, caused the death of both her brothers, and created a reason for her to fight against the King, her uncle. Her uncle, Creon, makes a ruling that her brother, Polynices, is not to be buried because he is a traitor, but according to her religion, her brother’s soul will not go to the afterlife until he is buried. In defense of her brother, she buries his body illegally and is subsequently sentenced to death. With her complex patterns of thought, bold actions, and the end she encounters, the character of Antigone causes debate among critics as to whether or not Antigone is in fact a tragic heroine. She can be perceived as a martyred hero, dying for love and religion, or as a fanatic woman who lacks the ability to think rationally. The way in which Antigone’s role is interpreted can further hel p to interpret Sophocles’ view of women and politics. In taking the view that she is a hero who died for her beliefs, it shows that Sophocles was aiming to prove that women deserve to be treated as equals and as citizens of Greece. Sophocles, like Antigone, was born to a privileged family in 496 B. C. in Colonus, a small town near Athens. His life was full of war stories and heroism. When he was a young boy, the Athenians defeated the Persians at Marathon. Later on, he was subjected to watching the burning of his home and the Parthenon by the Persians as well as the building of a new Parthenon. During the last years of his life, the Peloponnesian War raged on full-scale. Sophocles was a general and war hero during some of this time, but also on t... .../sophocles.htm. 10 Dec 2004. Holland, Catherine A. â€Å"After Antigone: Women, the Past, and the Future of Feminist Political Thought.† American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 42, No. 4. October 1998. JSTOR. http://links.jstor.org/s. 8 Dec 2004. Saxonhouse, Arlene W. â€Å"From Tragedy to Hierarchy and Back Again: Women in Greek Political Thought.† The American Political Science Review: Vol. 80, No. 2. June 1986. JSTOR. http://links.jstor.org. 8 Dec 2004. Sophocles. Antigone. Ed. George Young. New York: Dover Publications, Inc, 1993. Sophocles. Antigone. Ed. R. C. Jebb. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/sophocles-antigone.txt 17 Dec 2004. Willner, Dorothy. â€Å"The Oeduipus Complex, Antigone, and Electra: The Woman as Hero and Victim.†American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 84, No. 1. (Mar., 1982), pp. 58-78. JSTOR. http://links.jstor.com 6 Dec 2004.

We Need Less Television and More Play Essay -- Media Entertainment Ess

We Need Less Television and More Play In today’s world, society’s focus is not getting out in the environment and enjoying nature. The focus is television, cell phones, the internet, and any other means of technology available. Our society needs to stop indulging in technology and start enjoying nature again because too many people are glued to the television several hours a day, planning their day around usage of a computer and/ or their television shows, health concerns are on the rise for these constant viewers who don’t participate in other activities, and all of this absorption of the information age is separating us from nature. We are indeed an information economy, which has many good aspects to it, but we should not be shutting out nature from our lives. The average child watches approximately 3-5 hours of television per day (Department of Education, University of Maine). Our two year olds are watching approximately 3 hours of television pre day! Why are they watching so much? What ever happened to going to the park, playing red rover- red rover, hopscotch, or even TV- tag? The answer lies in the parents of these children. There was a study done to show the reasons why parents do not limit the amount of television their children watch. The most commonly mentioned reasons for which parents are not limiting television are because they need to get work done, they do not want their children to get bored, and that television never hurt their brain so why would it hurt their child’s. The truth is, if television is watched enough it does hurt your child’s brain, impacting neurological development. Thinking skills, imagination, attention span, reading abilities, and speaking skills in a child decrease the more they wa... ...on the brain. Going out in nature, playing games, and going places will allow our future children to develop and will give them the opportunities that they will not have if they spend their lives in front of the television. WORKS CITED: Anderson, Chris and Runciman, Lex. (1995). A forest of voices. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Company. Willow Computing (2000). LimiTV, Inc [Electronic version]. Retrieved March 29, 2004, from http://www.limitv.org/ Wellsource Incorporated (2003). Health plus: Watching too much television? [Electronic version]. Retrieved March 30, 2004 from http://vanderbiltowc.wellsource.com/dh/Content.asp?ID=907 American Psychological Association (2004). Public Affairs: Violence on television- What do children learn, what can parents do? [Electronic version]. Retrieved May 5, 2004 from http://www.apa.org/pubinfo/violence.html

Hostile is outsourcing: The story of Manufact Essay

This case study is concerned with issues of Hostile IS Outsourcing. It describes the situation which developed in May 1996 as problems with communication and careful planning within the organisation, resulted in a key department being outsourced. This had many implications which had a negative â€Å"knock-on† effect throughout the company. I am going to highlight these and look at issues which may minimise the risks in taking such important decisions. The ManuFact Company is a mid-sized (SME) European company in the kitchen hardware industry. (The company consists of 3500 employees of which 39 of them work in the IS department) It has a total o of 3500 employees, mainly in production and distribution and an IT department with 39 people whose budget is $4 million and a largely mainframe based portfolio. A key person in this company is Smith who was the IS director for ManuFact until March 1997, who reorganized the IS capability from a marginally successful semi-independent subsidiary to an internal department. He received good feedback about his ability to keep IT costs down and maintain a satisfactory level. What we have to keep in mind at this point is that Smith was excellent at his job, trusted within the company and was recognized and valued in the organisation. The other key person in this case is Lawler who in May 1996 became Smith’s boss. Lawler had a background as chief council for ManuFact and was a member of the board. He was part of a three-person top management committee with responsibility for administration, personnel, and legal issues as well IS departments. However we have to note that Lawler had â€Å"little† IT experience. Therefore we can make a judgement that for key decisions within this IS department, the right thing for Lawler to do would be to consult a person with the right understanding and specialist knowledge for decision making purposes. Later on we will see that this was not as such and the whole structure of the IS department was affected, due to the lack of communication with the right people and high risk decision made. Within this case study we see that Lawler was interested in â€Å"downsizing† and â€Å"facilities management†. What do these terms mean? Downsizing is a reduction in the staffing requirements of businesses which can follow after privatisation for a variety of reasons such as competitive pressures or the need to increase the profitability of the business by cutting costs1. Facilities management is the Management and operation of a part of a client’s IT facilities under a contract extending over several years2. The definition of Outsourcing is an arrangement whereby a 3rd party provider assumes responsibility for performing Information Systems functions a pre-defined price and according to pre-determines performance criteria. It can also be defined as the purchase of a good or service that was previously provided internally. With IT outsourcing an outside vendor provides IT services traditionally provided internal MIS department3. In the case Lawler requests Smith to research companies about outsourcing, of which three main companies are contacted, one being ISCorp. After initial consultation with the company Smith advises Lawler that there is a potential to save $275,000 but realistically they would break-even due to transition costs. Hence Smith warns that this solution would not be feasible. So assume that this is an accurate judgement by Smith as he knows best about the department due to his experience working within the IS department. However Lawler is approached directly by ISCorp and is informed that there is potential to save $6million to which he feels obliged to accept the offer. He therefore falls into a â€Å"big trap† and believes the biased portrayal of the vendor, by not appreciating the views of Smith and the careful analysis he conducted. From the information we have we can assume that Lawler has not planned the contract correctly to his benefit. A reason for this could be that he had insufficient IS experience. Lawler could have considered selective outsourcing which is when company decided to outsource, despite possible disadvantages, it must always decide whether to pursue it fully or selectively. Full outsourcing means, that all its IS functions from desktop services to software development are outsourced4. A company would outsource everything if it did not view IS as a strategic advantage that needs to be developed internally. This may be the case with ManuFact, and Lawler may have made this decision on that basis, however we do not know that. Had Lawler known about selective outsourcing he may have considered that. Selective outsourcing is where a company chooses which IS capabilities to retain in house and which could be given to an outsider. Areas which could fall into this category could be Web site hosting, business process application development, help desk support, networking, communications and data centre operations5. Reasons to outsource selectively could also be that a particular area or a segment can’t be improved and would only be perform better if completed externally. It provides greater flexibility and better service due to the competitive market. Lawler should have looked at some outsourcing models such as the classic outsourcing model. This dictates that an enterprise should outsource only those functions that do not give it competitive advantage. This would result in all the ManuFact IS employees being made redundant and offered new jobs within ISCorp. The ManuFact IS staff felt de-motivated and not wanted as later on in the case they all leave except two. As a consequence expertise knowledge was lost from within the company. Now ISCorp were worst off as they had to find new staff to replace existing members which meant they were not only less experienced, but also were not familiar with the existing systems resulting in higher costs for both training and recruitment. No new development took place for nine months. ISCorp had the cheek to demand an extra $1.5 million to cover work not specified in the contract .This indicates that the contract was not as ManuFact sought after as careful analysis of the problem was not thoroughly thought out. Therefore there were â€Å"loopholes† in the contract which ISCorp took advantage. On ManuFact’s part, lawyers should have been present when agreement of this contract took place to ensure ManuFact got exactly what was required. Another problem with regards to the ambiguity of the contract was that the amount of systems development hours specified by ISCorp was only half of what the IS department was currently putting in; but each hour was billed considerably higher. Therefore the current IS department would have been less expensive than ISCorp’s had they calculated with the same number of hours. However Smith was not successful in outlining this point with Lawler. ISCorp benefited from this and ManuFact lost out. Nine months on the systems were running fine, but new systems development still had not started. This could have an effect in other areas of the company or it could be that it has had a â€Å"knock-on† effect through the company already. (E.g. Company X produces Pokemons in the assembly line. The packer is waiting for the producer, so he can load the stock in the warehouse. If the producers are delayed then this has a knock-on effect as the packer is delayed, therefore the delivery is behind schedule and the consumer won’t get his Pokemon) Complaints had already been received from line organisation about ISCorp’s lack of customer service and also there were criticisms about the aging technology. As the contract did not contain any provisions for upgrading technology, ManuFact were effectively locked with the same technology infrastructure for the next five years. Recently Smith had heard that some of the subsidiaries were trying to break out of the contract so they can move on to newer and better technology. This would be difficult but if it was possible, it would be very costly for ManuFact as assumptions are made that ISCorp are well guarded for such an occurrence. On the side of ManuFact, if in the contract there was a clause that that would enable them to â€Å"backsource† or â€Å"in-Source† as it sometimes called, ManuFact could bring it’s IS team back internally. However they themselves may not want to consider this option due to previous experienced staff having gone elsewhere. Due to their previous problem, ManuFact are afraid of losing their staff members again which would mean they lose 18 months of skill, time and know-how which is currently in the â€Å"hands† of ISCorp; whom ManuFact are reliant on. In this particular case I feel that the disadvantages outweighed the advantages and my reasons are given above. ManuFact fell in many pitfalls such as focusing their negotiation solely on price. As the contract was not clear cut, it looks like many key areas such as planning were not looked at before deciding. As the savings looked very attractive Lawler didn’t carefully evaluate and appreciate his own company’s and staffs capabilities, not to mention thorough evaluation of the outsourcer’s capabilities. By checking the credibility of the vendors claims, ManuFact may not have got itself into the position it has because it would have meant ISCorp justifying themselves on many points and it could have â€Å"clicked† to Lawler and probably made him think twice. The main pitfall was that Lawler did not make the decision to consult the right people The recommendations I would like to give to ManuFact are to look into the contract and find any areas which have not been fulfilled and seek compensation if possible. If they want to completely backsource try to lure ISCorp staff to stay and work them. They could offer them incentives such as better pay but at least it would retain the specialist staffs that have trained on its systems for nine months. If this is not possible try and re-negotiate the contract ensuring that there are contract managers and lawyers present so ManuFact get the best or at the minimum, exactly what they want from the contract. Given the complexities of this case I would make sure that whatever decisions are made the staff currently working on the systems, STAY. To conclude I would like to say that Before deciding to outsource the top level management of a company really need to weigh up its pro’s and con’s. It needs to foresee where the company is going and see what measures it should take to achieve them. They should consider the possibility of selective, full or not to outsource at all if need be. Full or selective outsourcing allows an organisation alternative top-performing IS services in-house. Cost savings or filling gaps in the organisation’s IT skills are powerful drivers for outsourcing. The numerous risks involved in outsourcing arrangements must also be carefully assessed by IS and general manager alike. The Company ought to enforce a buy-out clause, if a company decides to outsource make sure the right specialist people such as lawyers are present to make sure things go according to plan, and finally: If a company decides to outsource ALWAYS check the fine print. Bibliography Person, K.E, and Saunders, C.S.,2004, Managing and Using Information Systems: A Strategic Approach Oates, D 1999, Outsourcing and the Virtual Organization: The Incredible Shrinking Company Willcocks, L.P and Lacity, M.C., 1999 Strategic Sourcing of Information Systems: Perspectives and Practised. Yaseen Adam Strategic Management and Information Systems