European Expansionism and the Influences of Religion, Military and Research Paper

European Expansionism and the Influences of Religion, Military and Economics - Research Paper Example Owing to the monarch’s sole and indisputable sovereignty, the unilateral decisions made were considered unalterable and ultimately beneficial to the nation’s interests. This magnitude of power residing in the king was absolute. â€Å"Russia watched its (European) neighbors and crafted its own brand of absolutism. In the process, Tsar Alexei legally combined millions of slaves and free peasants into a single serf class bound to the land of their aristocratic masters.† European nations, inclusive of Russia constructed their own versions of empire which ended up stratifying society as states became hotly embattled as they competed with one another for land, resources and power. Extension of kingdoms inevitably breeds imperialism. Through his series of conquests, Napoleon â€Å"came near to establishing France as the sole power of the Western world.† The French Napoleonic empire soon stands as a threat against the other European nations as they conjecture that a â€Å"reinvigorated France might pose a threat to England’s colonial empire.† Religious, military and intellectual movement fostered and facilitated European expansion. Patronized by Christianity, European rulers would empower themselves claiming their own authority as divinely ordained.  European leaders employed religion as â€Å"the cultural and organizational foundations for †¦ European imperialism, if only to facilitate†¦ evangelization and conversion to  Christianity†4  Acting on the power of divine right, Christianity strengthens its hegemony by nullifying and suppressing other traditions. As a result, European nations gain the ascendancy through wars and forced conversions. Seeing themselves as royal representatives selected by Providence, the monarchs were â€Å"ministers of God and lieutenants on Earth5.† Therefore, being subject to God equates to being subject to the European king. Divine right decrees that God bestowed entit lement to rulers to hold sway over their states. This divinely appointed king is then assured of unswerving loyalty and unquestionable authority. Since Christianity ruled religio-politically in Europe, the king sees it as his duty to extend not only his kingdom, but to proselytize the vanquished and have them accept his faith. The Chronicle of Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti (1798) cites Napoleon espousing the belief in divine right since he was â€Å"appointing (him)self controller of God’s secrets.†6 Encountering devout Muslims in Egypt, they view Napoleon as attempting to usurp an authority that belonged to God alone. Other evidences of the prevalence of the concept of divine right are manifest in Prince Klemens von Metternich’s Results of the Congress at Laybach (1821) in which Metternich pronounces the certainty of Providence creating and supporting the emperor Tsar Alexander of Russia and the king of Naples addressed in his correspondence.7 This magnitude of poli tical power was total, especially coupled with a preponderant military. One of the predominant ways of control a people is to overpower and conquer them by force. Kings implemented duress through open warfare to re-align nations with their own political designs. The 16th to the 19th century was a period in which might was right. Military prowess was secured via state-of-the-art navies and expert soldiers and cutting-edge martial tactics and arms; hence one sees that â€Å"Europeans enjoyed an advantage in terms of  military  technology†8. The British navy and the Spanish armada were held in great respect for their nautical proficiency. Napoleon Bonaparte was a military general with exceeding ambition to reign over the world. Very swiftly, Napoleon â€Å"

The merits and draw backs of utilitarianism Essay Example for Free

The merits and draw backs of utilitarianism Essay What is utilitarianism? The greatest good of the greatest number. Simple. Or is it? In any real situation, there are many people involved; they will all be affected in different ways; there is no reason why the greatest number should receive the greatest good. What is usually meant in practice by that slogan is something like the following procedure for choosing between two or more actions. 1. Look at the state of life after each action. Look in particular at the level of happiness of each person in the various situations. 2. Add up, somehow, those levels of happiness in each case. 3. Compare the results. The one, which leads to the maximum total happiness, is the (morally) right one. The thing to notice about this is that it actually involves a lot of quite separate principles. I think it is fair to say that they are all part of the idea of utilitarianism. Someone who accepts some of them but not others may reasonably be called a utilitarian, even if they would see the procedure above as a vague outline. * Actions, as such, have no moral value. What matters is their effect on the state of the world. * In fact, the only aspect of the state of the world that has any direct moral significance is the happiness or misery of people. * In particular, only individuals matter. The only relevance of the state of a family is the effect it has on the individuals. * All people are, ethically speaking, equal, in all situations. One persons happiness is precisely as important as anothers. * It is possible to measure happiness, in the required sense, on some sort of linear scale. * It is possible to add up different peoples degrees of happiness, producing a meaningful total happiness. There is at least one important issue, which I havent addressed so far: You have to consider the entire future of the universe in order to make your decision. I shall consider the practical difficulties of this later; there is also a theoretical issue: we are presumably required to add up the total amount of happiness in a persons entire lifetime. So we need some sort of calculus for happiness! Utilitarianism has the awkward property of seeming entirely obvious to its proponents, and clearly wrong to its opponents. There are no ethical first principles, which are agreed on by everyone. On the other hand, there is a striking level of agreement about what is actually right and wrong. Of course, there are disagreements. But there is something pretty close to an agreement that (in most cases) murder, lying, rape and theft are bad, and that (in most cases) generosity, healing, truthfulness and loyalty are good. One obvious thing that these points have in common is that most of the universally agreed good things make people happy, and most of the universally agreed bad things make people sad. Furthermore, the actions usually reckoned to be the worst are often the ones that cause the most suffering. Rape, for instance, which causes lasting psychological trauma as well as involving physical injury, is generally reckoned to be morally much worse than theft. So, utilitarianism seems to do a pretty good job of giving the right answers. It seems clear to me that, all else being equal, something that makes me happy is better than something which doesnt. After all, thats one way in which I make decisions (although I wouldnt in such cases call them moral decisions). Since it seems plausible that all people are ethically equal, this means that anything that makes anyone happy is better than something which does not. This seems to lead naturally to something very like utilitarianism. However, what Ive explained as utilitarianism has a terrible problem: it does not support ethical points in certain cases. For instance, suppose that I could, by putting my grandmother through tortures, relieve a large number of people from one minutes toothache. No matter how small the amount of suffering from which each person is lifted of, and no matter how great the amount I cause to my grandmother, if the number of people is large enough then the total amount of suffering in the world will be decreased in this manner. Therefore I ought to torture my grandmother. This seems to me, unacceptable. This I see as a major weakness in utilitarianism. Of course, there are ways round this problem. For instance, we could model happiness and misery with a number system, containing values higher and lower in the sense that no multiple of one was as big as the other. So, we can get around that particular problem. But, there are others, though I wouldnt claim any of them as an actual rejection of utilitarianism. I shall take the utilitarian principles I listed above, and describe some objections to them. * Actions, as such, have no moral value. What matters is their effect on the state of the world. Is this really convincing? It doesnt seem so to me. If I kill someone, isnt there something very bad about that, even if the killing turns out to be right in terms of maximising utility? I think most people would agree that a killing of this sort would be evil. In fact, the only aspect of life that has any direct moral significance is the happiness or misery of people. Suppose I tell a lie about you to a friend of mine, who has never had and never will have any sort of interaction with you, and swear him to secrecy, this makes no difference whatsoever to your future happiness. Does that make it OK? It seems clear to me that it doesnt. Isnt there, in fact, something basically good about truth and bad about falsehood? Suppose I get enormous satisfaction from causing you minor but genuine unpleasantness. Does that mean that its right for me to do so? * In particular, only individuals matter. The only relevance of the state of a family is the effect it has on the individuals. * All people are, ethically speaking, equal, in all situations. One persons happiness is precisely as important as anothers. What about criminals? If someone is in the process of raping your wife, do you really have to consider their well being as carefully as your wifes in deciding how to go about stopping them? * It is possible to measure happiness, in the required sense, on some sort of linear scale. * It is possible to add up different peoples degrees of happiness, producing a meaningful total happiness. Is it obvious that different sorts of happiness are not easy to measure? How do you compare, the contentment person A has from knowing that his money in the bank is earning him piles of interest for his retirement, the wonder person B feels on looking at the starry sky, the thrill person C has when listening to her favourite piece of music, person Ds enjoyment of an evening listening to a stand-up comic, and so on? And how do you weigh those up against person Ps toothache, person Qs unhappy marriage? I dont know thats for sure. Lets pretend that all those problems are resolved, and that I believe that utilitarianism is correct. I now have a decision to make; for instance, I have to decide whether to cycle home in the dark without lights or to be late home. This is a trivial example; it should be easy to work it out. Not easy at all. I have to work out the entire future of the whole universe, to work out exactly how happy each person is in each case and for how long, and add it all up. Good grief! In practice, what the utilitarian recommends is entirely different. I should make guesses as to the likely effects of the actions Im considering, estimate the ends levels of happiness, and do the best I can at adding them up in my head. Anything more is impossible, and in any case I cant be blamed for things I cant predict. Id now like to suggest that there are merits to utilitarianism, despite its drawbacks. The first point is one Ive made already: utilitarianism does a pretty good job of giving answers to ethical questions. Most of us are capable of guessing what will happen if and imagining others responses to situations. Also considering the greatest good of the greatest number can be an effective way of defeating prejudices and selfishness. This ethical harmony is, after all, quite close to such principles as Do to others as you would have them do to you and Love your neighbour as yourself. Lastly, I think any theory of ethics has to acknowledge that happiness and suffering are in themselves good and bad. This is why utilitarianism does as well as it does. But clearly happiness and suffering, pain and pleasure, arent the whole story.

Meditation: Does it Alter the Mind and the Body? :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Meditation: Does it Alter the Mind and the Body? BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!! 9:00 am starts flashing on your alarm clock and you immediately run through your "to do list" for the day. It's a long list, filled with classes, meetings, homework, meals, exams...etc. Being the master of multitasking, I have a tendency to perform various tasks at once. As a result, my concentration level decreases while my stress level increases. How can this lack of concentration and stress level be fixed? Many people turn to meditation, but does this practice actually work? And if so, how does meditation work to change the mind and the body? Meditation is defined as "...engagement in contemplation, especially of a spiritual or devotional nature...an attempt to concentrate mind on a single form or an idea or an aspect of divinity at the exclusion of all other forms and the ideas. The mind is focused inwards, and this effort of concentration acts as stimulus to gain access to the knowledge of the object of meditation" (1). The practice of meditation involves both psychological and physiological changes. For example, the altering of breathing patterns and thought processes. But does meditation guarantee mental and physical change? Meditation forces an individual to gain complete control of their inner self. But, what exactly is the inner self? The subconscious is an integral constituent of the internal mind. It is located deep in the core of the mind, acting as the center of emotions, behavior, creativity, and imagination. In addition, subconscious maintains good health (2). Does meditation allow an individual to open the hidden doors of the subconscious mind? What is the difference between the subconscious and conscious mind? You can think of the conscious mind as known knowledge while the subconscious mind is unknown knowledge. Meditation taps into the subconscious mind and uncovers veiled realities about the inner self. To investigate whether meditation affects the mind, studies were performed on subjects practicing meditation techniques. In conclusion, the experimenters discovered an increase in productivity, improved relations at work, increased inner potential, increased strength of self-concept, and red uced anxiety (3). All these factors can be thought of as being an element of an individual's subconscious mind because it involves behavior and thought procedures. Moreover, the focus of one image steers an individual away from multitasking and toward greater concentration. In a sense, an individual becomes more aware of their inner self as a result of focused attentiveness.

History of Stonehenge Essay -- Architecture Historical Essays

History of Stonehenge On May 20, 1996, TIME magazine contained an advertisement for the Mita DC-8090 copying machine. It included a vivid image of a very recognizable work of art, Stonehenge. TIME magazine is a weekly news magazine and its readers are educated and interested in current events, politics, business, science, and the arts. The text of the advertisement states, "The new Mita DC-8090 has the technology to manage complicated copying jobs from start to finish-it's fully automatic. Sunsets should be watched, not copiers." The advertisement utilizes the beautiful image as a setting to make the product look attractive and the text to suggest that the copier will save time and effort. It also assumes that the reader will associate Stonehenge with the sun and sunsets using common knowledge about this famous structure. Stonehenge is located on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. It is a megalithic monument built during the Neolithic Period, approximately between 2750 and 1500 B.C..(Stokstad, p.54-55) The builders of this magnificent monument remain unknown although it was once incorrectly thought to have been built by the Druids.(Balfour) Stonehenge was built in several different phases beginning with the large white circle, 330 feet in diameter, surrounded by an eight foot-high embankment and a ring of fifty-six pits now referred to as the Aubrey Holes.(Stokstad, p.53; Hoyle) In a subsequent building phase, thirty huge pillars of stone were erected and capped by stone lintels in the central Sarsen Circle, which is 106 feet in diameter.(Stokstad, p.54) This circle is so named because the stone of which the pillars and lintels were made was sarsen. Within the Sarsen Circle were an incomplete ring and a horsesho... ...he advertisers assumed that the readers of TIME magazine had seen the site before and knew something about its history. This is a fairly safe assumption since the readers of TIME would probably have had some exposure to this very famous work of art. The readers may not have known specific details about the original but, as with most art from the past that is reproduced in the present, the work is associated with certain well-known facts. Works Cited: Balfour, Michael Stonehenge and Its Mysteries New York 1979 Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia (Computer Program) Hoyle, Fred From Stonehenge to Modern Cosmology San Francisco 1972 On Stonehenge San Francisco 1977 Humbert, Jean-Marcel Pantazzi, Michael Ziegler, Christiane Egyptomania Paris 1994 Stokstad, Marilyn Art History, Volume 1 New York 1995 Wainwright, Geoffrey The Henge Monuments London 1989

Patrol Officers

Patrol Officers are not assigned a case to try and solve. In most major cities police departments have enough personal to cover every aspect of a crime, however, the role of the patrol officer during investigations has increased. On page 23, in the book, under the patrol officer as an investigator, it mentions that the role of the patrol officer has been limited, however, as time continues that same role seem to increase. The role of the patrol officer has taken over some of the same responsibilities as the investigators have.Such as providing immediate assistance to victims, locates witness, and interviews both victims and witnesses. Also, the patrol officer has the authority to initiate and complete investigations of certain classifications of crime. With all of the changes to the role of the patrol officer, there have been numerous benefits that have been noticed, such as, the cases are handled expeditiously, relations within the department have improved, morale problems have decr eased, and an increase in the investigator productivity because they have more time to focus on high profile cases.The benefit that really stands out to me is the fact that the investigator can really focus on his case loads, because he is not overwhelmed, which results in a benefit to the community as well as the entire department. The last thing a police department wants to do is give enough time for the same crime to happen again, causing the community to really question if the police can protect them. With crimes being solved a quick basis, it sends a message, if you want to do the crime, you will get caught and put in jail. The job of a patrol officer is to patrol an assigned area to protect the members of that area from any crimes that may occur.I was reading through the book and searching online, it seems to me that the patrol officer do most of the leg work in solving the crime. Let me explain, what I mean is that the patrol officers are the muscle, and the detectives are th e brains of the operation, which in many ways it make sense. I am not trying to say that patrol officers would not be able to solve the crime, but the standard patrol officer does not have the time to run down potential suspects or witnesses, they are to busy patrolling there assigned area and protecting those citizens from future crimes.In fact, I went online to the following website, http://law. jrank. org/pages/1655/Police-Criminal-Investigations-structure-criminal-investigations. html, and on the end of the second paragraph, they had mentioned that the patrol officer will go and make the arrest, but they are not the one solving the crime. How can they? They come to work every day and patrol a assigned area, if there is a murder that happens or crime of any sort, there job is to fill out a report and turn it over to someone that qualified or trained to handle those type of crimes.As I was reading the article online, it was very informative in the role of the patrol officer. The p atrol officer really doesn’t come into play until the second stage of an investigation. The second stage consists of gathering evidence, arresting the culprit and gathering witness for the crime. In many smaller communities the role of the patrol officer is much greater mainly because they may not have a detective on the payroll, or a whole team of detectives that can come and solve the crime, so, the patrol officer is responsible for gathering enough information to try and solve the crime.The role of the patrol officer stops at gathering evidence, and speaking to witnesses. It is not the responsibility of the patrol officer to work with the prosecution; normally any detectives that have been assigned to the case will work with the prosecution to solve the crime. The goal of a patrol officer is to come to the scene, ask if anyone saw anything, speak to all the potential witnesses and go through the crime scene for any evidence that they may come across, and then they don†™t get involved again until there needs to be a arrest made.Overall, I think that patrol officers being given more responsibility is a benefit not just to the people of the community but to the department. It sends a message to the people that they live in a safe place. Which for many people that little bit of reassurance is all they need to be happy. Nobody wants to live in a bad place, or a place they feel is dangerous. Also, with expanding the role of the patrol officer, this is very beneficial with today’s economy. I never think you can put a price on protecting the people, but, the sad reality is that in today’s economic times, we have to.To hire a new recruit comes a price, it is just easier for the community of the patrol officers to be expected to do more. In most cases these officers want to do more to solve the crimes to put that faith back into the community that crimes will be resolved right away. Right when a crime happens, most people instantly become f earful that it will happen again, so, they become on edge, and question that the police will be able to catch the people that hurt them or robbed them. With crimes being solved right away, that puts the fear at ease and lets them know they are safe and it will not continue to happen.I was reading ahead a tad bit and came across theft that happens in banks,, and how those people are caught the same day. For me, that instantly puts my mind at ease. Years ago, one of the buildings I was working in, there was a theft that happened in the bank downstairs, and every got really nervous that the criminal may still be in the building. They caught him within hours and he was in the building. The thing I always try to remember, is that crime is going to happen, no matter were or when, but, it is how quickly we can solve it and restore that faith in the police within the community.

Biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, First Lady

Biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier; July 28, 1929–May 19, 1994) was the wife of John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States. During his presidency, she became known for her fashion sense and for her redecoration of the White House. After the assassination of her husband in Dallas on November 22, 1963, she was honored for her dignity in her time of grief; she later remarried, moved to New York, and worked as an editor at Doubleday. Fast Facts: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Known For: As the wife of John F. Kennedy, she was the first lady of the United States.Also Known As: Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, Jackie O.Born: July 28, 1929 in Southampton, New YorkParents: John Vernou Bouvier III  and socialite  Janet Norton LeeDied: May 19, 1994 in New York, New YorkEducation: Vassar College, George Washington UniversitySpouse(s): John F. Kennedy (m. 1953-1963), Aristotle Onassis (m. 1968-1975)Children: Arabella, Caroline, John Jr., Patrick Early Life Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in East Hampton, New York, on July 28, 1929. Her mother was socialite Janet Lee, and her father was John Vernou Bouvier III, a stockbroker known as â€Å"Black Jack.†Ã‚  He was a playboy from a wealthy family, French in ancestry and Roman Catholic by religion. Her younger sister was named Lee. Jack Bouvier lost most of his money in the Depression, and his extra-marital affairs contributed to the separation of Jacqueline’s parents in 1936. Though Roman Catholic, her parents divorced and her mother later married Hugh D. Auchincloss and moved with her two daughters to Washington, D.C.  Jacqueline attended private schools in New York and Connecticut and made her society debut in 1947, the same year she began attending Vassar College. Jacqueline’s college career included a junior year abroad in France. She completed her studies in French literature at George Washington University in 1951.  She was offered a job for a year as a trainee at Vogue, spending six months in New York and six months in France.  At the request of her mother and stepfather, though, she refused the position. Jacqueline began working as a photographer for the Washington Times-Herald. Meeting John F. Kennedy Jacqueline met John F. Kennedy, the young war hero and congressman from Massachusetts, in 1952, when she interviewed him for one of her assignments. The two began dating, became engaged in June 1953, and married in September at St. Mary’s Church in Newport. There were 750 wedding guests, 1,300 at the reception, and some 3,000 spectators.  Her father, because of his alcoholism, was unable to attend or walk her down the aisle. In 1955, Jacqueline had her first pregnancy, which ended in a miscarriage.  The next year another pregnancy ended in premature birth and stillborn child, and soon after her husband was bypassed for an expected nomination as the Democrat Partys vice presidential candidate.  Jacqueline’s father died in August 1957. Her marriage suffered because of her husband’s infidelities. On November 27, 1957, she gave birth to her daughter Caroline.  It was not long before Kennedy was running for the Senate again, and Jackie- as she was fondly known- took part in that, though she still disliked campaigning. While Jackie’s beauty, youth, and gracious presence were an asset to the campaigns of her husband, she only reluctantly participated in politics. She was pregnant again when he was running for president in 1960, which allowed her to bow out of active campaigning.  That child, John F. Kennedy, Jr., was born on November 25, after the election and before her husband was inaugurated in January 1961. First Lady As a very young first lady- only 32 years old- Jackie Kennedy was the subject of much fashion interest.  She applied her interests in culture to restoring the White House with period antiques and inviting musical artists to White House dinners.  She preferred not to meet with the press or with various delegations that came to meet with the first lady- a term she disliked- but a televised tour of the White House was very popular. She helped get Congress to declare White House furnishings government property. Jackie maintained an image of distance from politics, but her husband sometimes consulted her on issues and she was an observer at some meetings, including of the National Security Council. The White House announced in April 1963 that Jackie Kennedy was again pregnant.  Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was born prematurely on August 7, 1963, and lived only two days.  The experience brought John and Jackie Kennedy closer together. November 1963 Jackie Kennedy was riding in a limousine next to her husband in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, when he was shot.  Images of her cradling his head in her lap as he was rushed to the hospital became part of the iconography of that day.  She accompanied her husband’s body on Air Force One and stood, still in her bloodstained suit, next to Lyndon B. Johnson on the plane as he was sworn in as the next president.  In the ceremonies that followed, Jackie Kennedy, a young widow with children, figured prominently as the shocked nation mourned.  She helped plan the funeral and arranged for an eternal flame to burn as a memorial at President Kennedy’s burial site in Arlington National Cemetery.  She also suggested to an interviewer, Theodore H. White, the image of Camelot for the Kennedy legacy. After the Assassination After the assassination, Jackie did her best to maintain privacy for her children, moving to an apartment in New York City in 1964 to escape the publicity of Georgetown.  Her husband’s brother Robert F. Kennedy stepped in as a role model for his niece and nephew.  Jackie took an active role in his run for the presidency in 1968. After Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June, Jackie married Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis on October 22, 1968- many believe to give herself and her children an umbrella of protection. However, many of the people who had admired her so much in the aftermath of the assassination felt betrayed by her remarriage. She became a constant subject of tabloids and a constant target for paparazzi. Career as an Editor Aristotle Onassis died in 1975. After winning a court battle over the widow’s portion of his estate with his daughter Christina, Jackie moved permanently to New York. There, though her wealth would have supported her quite well, she went back to work, taking a job with Viking and later with Doubleday and Company as an editor.  She was eventually promoted to senior editor and helped produce bestselling books. Death Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis died in New York on May 19, 1994, after a few months of treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and was buried next to President Kennedy in Arlington National Cemetery.  The nation’s depth of mourning stunned her family.  A 1996 auction of some of her belongings, to help her two children pay inheritance taxes on her estate, brought more publicity and significant sales. Legacy Jackie Kennedy is one of the United States most iconic first ladies, consistently topping polls of the nations most beloved and influential figures. As a style icon, she helped popularize long gloves and pillbox hats, and she continues to inspire couture designers today. She has been depicted in the films Thirteen Days, Love Field, Killing Kennedy, and Jackie. A book written by Jacqueline Kennedy was found among her personal effects; she left instructions that it not be published for 100 years. Sources Bowles, Hamish, ed.  Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years: Selections from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.  Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2001.Bradford, Sarah.  Americas Queen: A Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.  Penguin, 2000.Lowe, Jacques.  My Kennedy Years.  Thames Hudson, 1996.Spoto, Donald.  Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life.  Macmillan, 2000.

Byzantine Civilization of the Middle Ages

Byzantine Civilization of the Middle Ages In the fifth century AD, the mighty Roman Empire fell to invading barbarians and complex internal pressures. The land that had been centrally governed for centuries disintegrated into numerous warring states. The safety and privileges enjoyed by some residents of the empire vanished to be replaced by a constant state of danger and uncertainty; others merely traded one set of daily terrors for another. Europe was plunged into what Renaissance scholars would label a dark age. Yet Byzantium remained. The Empire of Byzantium was the eastern portion of the Roman Empire, which was divided in 395 A.D. Its capital of Constantinople, located on a peninsula, was naturally secure from invasion on three sides, and its fourth side was fortified with a network of three walls that withstood direct attack for over a thousand years. Its stable economy provided a strong military and, together with an abundant food supply and advanced civil engineering, a high standard of living. Christianity was firmly entrenched in Byzantium, and literacy was more widespread there than in any other nation in the middle ages. Although the predominant language was Greek, Latin was also fairly common, and at one point all seventy-two of the worlds known languages were represented in Constantinople. Intellectual and artistic endeavors thrived. This is not to say that the Byzantine Empire was an oasis of peace in the desert of the perilous middle ages. On the contrary, its long history is marked by numerous wars and remarkable internal strife. Its official borders expanded and shrank several times as its rulers attempted to restore the empire to its former glory or fought off invaders (or occasionally attempted both simultaneously). The penal system was so harsh as to be viewed by western crusaders no strangers to mutilation and other extreme measures in their own systems of justice as exceedingly cruel. Nevertheless, Byzantium remained the most stable nation of the middle ages. Its central location between western Europe and Asia not only enriched its economy and its culture but allowed it to serve as a barrier against aggressive barbarians from both areas. Its rich historiographical tradition (strongly influenced by the church) preserved ancient knowledge upon which splendid art, architecture, literature and technological achievements were built. It is not an altogether unfounded assumption that the Renaissance could not have flourished were it not for the groundwork laid in Byzantium. The exploration of Byzantine civilization is undeniably significant in the study of medieval world history. To ignore it would be akin to studying the classical era without considering the cultural phenomenon of ancient Greece. Unfortunately, much (but thankfully not all) historical investigation into the middle ages has done just that. Historians and students often focused on the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the numerous changes in Europe without ever once glancing at Byzantium. It was often mistakenly believed that the Byzantine Empire was a static state that had little impact on the rest of the medieval world. Fortunately, this view is changing, and a great wealth of information concerning Byzantine Studies has recently been produced much of it available on the net. Selective Byzantine TimelineHighlights from the dynastic history of the Eastern Roman Empire. Byzantine Studies IndexA multilevel directory of useful sites about the people, places, art, architecture, religious history, military history and general history of the Eastern Roman Empire. Also includes maps and useful resources for the professional. Suggested ReadingUseful and informative books about the Eastern Roman Empire, from general histories to biographies, art, militaria, and other fascinating topics. The Forgotten Empire is copyright  © 1997 by Melissa Snell and licensed to About.com. Permission is granted to reproduce this article for personal or classroom use only, provided that the URL is included. For reprint permission, please contact Melissa Snell.

Free Essays on The Goal

The Goal Book Review I really enjoyed reading this book. It’s so unlike any book I’ve had to read for class before, except for novels that we read in English class, of course. It was sort of a text book, but with a story. And an interesting plot, no less. I liked how Goldratt got me all involved in not only Alex’s job at the plant, but his personal life as well. I’ll have to admit that as I was getting into the story, it was easy to guess that the book will conclude with a happy ending. I was enthralled anyway, though. I thought this book was so good, it actually only took me three days to read. I thought that was pretty good considering all the stuff a person does in one day. What got me so interested is the way the story is written. Goldratt kept me trying to guess what Alex was going to do next, and that kept me reading into the next chapter. And not only did he keep me guessing about how in the world Alex was going to save the plant, he also kept me guessing about how Julie was going to react to all of it. But Julie’s reaction is typical. I’m sure I would feel the same as her as well. I think it’s hard when one spouse stays at home while the other one works long hours. What I enjoyed most about this novel is the fact it seemed so real. We’ve got this ordinary guy, who’s an engineer like me. My husband, who is actually an industrial engineer, got excited when he saw me reading this book. He had read it in his intro class and really like it as well. Though he said they read it over the course of several months. Anyway, this ordinary guy has real life problems just like everyone else in the world. There are problems with his job, working too hard, and work cutting into his personal life. I think one great thing that this book tried to teach is how to balance work and life. Sure, we all want to do well in our careers and move ourselves up the ladder, but there really needs to be some s... Free Essays on The Goal Free Essays on The Goal Eliyahu M. Goldratt’s The Goal When I first started reading The Goal, I felt that I couldn’t relate to the topic and setting of the book, since I am still an undergraduate business student who has not even begun studying a specific area of business. But the more and more I read, the more I became interested in the story and the more involved I became in rooting for the success of the plant. Never before have I really thought about the world of manufacturing, especially managing a plant that produces industrial parts. As a marketing major, I think I have always felt that manufacturing was a completely separate part of business like the financial aspects of business (accounting and finance). The Goal brought into perspective the problems that can arise from the different demands on the manufacturing process, especially the differences in goals among the different parts of a business. I never realized, until reading this book, the pressures that marketing puts on manufacturing and the consequences of the pressures to produce more and more to sell at lower and lower costs in order to gain customers. I also thought it was interesting that a business could have been running for so long with different goals- one department was concerned with inventory, one department was concerned with cost, and one department was focused on pleasing customers and trying to sell as many orders as possible. When Jonah helped Alex focus in on the real goal of the plant, to make money, it seemed to me that a goal so simple should have been obvious to everyone in the company from the start. I now realize the importance of communication within an organization on all levels, especially when it comes to matters of money and production, since those two factors almost drove Alex’s plant out of business. In conclusion, I feel that this was an extremely valuable and pleasant read for me as a business student, and I would highly recommend th... Free Essays on The Goal The Goal Book Review I really enjoyed reading this book. It’s so unlike any book I’ve had to read for class before, except for novels that we read in English class, of course. It was sort of a text book, but with a story. And an interesting plot, no less. I liked how Goldratt got me all involved in not only Alex’s job at the plant, but his personal life as well. I’ll have to admit that as I was getting into the story, it was easy to guess that the book will conclude with a happy ending. I was enthralled anyway, though. I thought this book was so good, it actually only took me three days to read. I thought that was pretty good considering all the stuff a person does in one day. What got me so interested is the way the story is written. Goldratt kept me trying to guess what Alex was going to do next, and that kept me reading into the next chapter. And not only did he keep me guessing about how in the world Alex was going to save the plant, he also kept me guessing about how Julie was going to react to all of it. But Julie’s reaction is typical. I’m sure I would feel the same as her as well. I think it’s hard when one spouse stays at home while the other one works long hours. What I enjoyed most about this novel is the fact it seemed so real. We’ve got this ordinary guy, who’s an engineer like me. My husband, who is actually an industrial engineer, got excited when he saw me reading this book. He had read it in his intro class and really like it as well. Though he said they read it over the course of several months. Anyway, this ordinary guy has real life problems just like everyone else in the world. There are problems with his job, working too hard, and work cutting into his personal life. I think one great thing that this book tried to teach is how to balance work and life. Sure, we all want to do well in our careers and move ourselves up the ladder, but there really needs to be some s...

From the assigned readings present an executive summary of the law in Term Paper

From the assigned readings present an executive summary of the law in 200 words or less, and discuss how the law is applied and - Term Paper Example One of the sub-groups of the CMS is responsible for enforcing the Program of CLIA. All the registered and non-registered medical laboratories in the U.S. are legally bound to implement the Amendments mentioned in the CLIA. In the year of 1965, the Medicare and Medicaid programs were drafted and signed into law. This draft was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson as a health insurance cover to people who are aged 65 and over. Medicare is not sufficient enough to protect many senior citizens of U.S. against long hospital stays or major health related expenses. Individuals are required to first pay $800 of hospital care and the first $100 of outpatient physician visits. If they are required to stay for more than sixty or ninety days, additional $250 per day is required to be paid for hospital care (Pauly, 2008). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is a regulatory body, can guide employers over the issue of the health benefits. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission can authorise employers either to decrease or drop health benefits for retirees reaching the age of Medicare eligibility. Second part of the assignment: Health care has become a serious and dangerous problem in the United States of America. The costs of health have no point to stop and provide relief to Americans.

Global Warming a Hotly Debated Topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global Warming a Hotly Debated Topic - Essay Example His greatest criticism focuses on the Stern report, upon which many other global warming proponents have based their claims. He begins by pointing out Stern’s lack of acknowledgement regarding the various scientific studies that refute that global warming is happening, as a responsible scientific research study should do, and then moves on to attack other aspects of Stern’s scientific method. â€Å"He is guilty of misreading the data, of distorting the evidence to suit his political masters’ dogma, of throwing numbers about with reckless abandon, of promoting alarmism in place of rational discussion, and of reinventing climate history.† Refuting Stern’s climatic claims, Lindzen offers verifiable dates regarding scientific inventions that facilitated accurate record keeping, but offers no sources to back up his other statements regarding evidence of a warmer Middle Ages or a colder 17th century, an expanding Greenland or the reasons behind increases in polar bear numbers. In his criticism, he accuses Stern and others of having a hidden agenda, centered on providing more power and money to those in positions of leadership, making the Stern report little more than political rhetoric. Although his stated purpose is to open up the global debate to explore other possible causes of global warming, he offers merely an attack on the Stern report, backed by a hypocritical lack of outside sources or acknowledgement of dissension in the ranks of supporters. The newspaper article was initiated in support of an upcoming network television special in which the Global Warming issue was to be examined in terms of its invalidity or at least lack of full investigation and hard evidence.

Apply a critical Perspective to the company decision in the 1980s to Essay

Apply a critical Perspective to the company decision in the 1980s to launch reformulated Coca Cola and suggest where a different approach to the loss of sales might have produced a different outcome - Essay Example The popularity of Pepsi products were focused on the sweetness factor which was missing in the Coke. As such, in April 1985, the company announced the decision to introduce the New Coke which had a sweeter taste and take the old flavour Coke off the shelves. This decision on the part of the company went on to become a big marketing blunder in the history of Coca Cola. The launch of the New Coke received a high level of protests from the consumers and had far reached effects on the sales and profitability of the company. Coca Cola as forced to call back the New Coke products within six weeks of their launch in the market due to extensive consumer protests and criticism regarding the decision of the company. Though, Coca Cola reversed itself and tried to position the old Coke back as the important product of the brand both in terms of production and sales, yet the sales of Coke continued dropping for a long time causing huge damage to the brand reputation as well a the profitability of the company. Coca Cola was known to be a market oriented and market savvy business which was renowned for its ability to serve the customer needs. But the blunder of new coke created much negative impact for the company and indicated its inefficiency in identifying the market needs and being blinded by the sole aim to compete with its rival, Pepsi. The paper will discuss the background of the problem and will try to find out the reasons for decision failure. It will talk about the initial response and the response of the market in the decision problem part and will also talk about the alternative strategies in the next part. The marketing and financial implications of the New Coke launch indicated the decision to be incomplete and inaccurate. Though extensive market research was carried out by the company before making the decision of replacing the old flavour of the Coke with a new flavour similar to Pepsi, it can

National Training Awards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

National Training Awards - Essay Example Managers across the world are investing heavily on employee training so that they can help them pursue their roles more efficiently. For maximum productivity, employees need to be trained to become self aware and on how they can work as a team. They need to be trained on how they can contribute to the overall growth of the company and on problem solving (National Training Awards 2008). It is on this premise that the National training Awards (NTAs) was established. The Department for education and Science formed the NTAs in 1987. It was given the function of rewarding organisations, businesses, and individuals who have achieved a lasting success through learning and training. The British government was very keen on encouraging employers to provide decent and effective training for their employees. The National Awards merged with investors in People Training Awards to develop a strong platform for training excellence. Currently, the awards are managed by UK skills, a totally independent body. Their concept remains the same - to reward organizational successes that have been achieved through employee development. According to National Training Awards (2008), they have short listed 223 finalists in 25 industry sectors this year alone. The winners are expected to be known by November and will be awarded some national or local training awards, depending on their outstan ding achievements, either locally or nationally. Roles of NTAs in improving employee development The NTAs has continued to play some major functions in ensuring that the country's political, social, economic, and technical environment improves through employee development. As already mentioned elsewhere, it seeks to reward businesses which have achieved admirable lasting success through offering their employees an extensive training programme. First, the NTAs chief role is to provide a methodical process by which all the training practices are reviewed and their effectiveness reviewed (What are the benefits 2008). Companies should not conduct training programmes on employees for the sake of training them. There should be set targets that training programmes must achieve for them to be seen as effective. The NTAs provide companies with objective systematic processes by which such successes can be measured and rewarded. According to Ford et al. (1997), there are basic indicators that could prove if any training programme has been effective or not. These indicators include skills assessment, trainee amplitudes, and training instructional design. Such indicators can be best reviewed by the NTAs because of its professional expertise and its objectivity. Upon reviewal, companies will always be advised on the strengths and weaknesses of their training programmes, thus giving them room for improvement. Peter Cresswell, a judge at the national panel of the NTAs and an employee of Siemens Inc. has Infact blamed improper training practices on the lack of innovation that has characterized the competition for the past few years. Organizations should always strive to know what they want to gain or achieve out of undertaking a training programm

Ethical Decisions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ethical Decisions - Essay Example Due to the nature of this circumstance, various ethical issues usually tend to arise. The major ethical issues that usually arise include: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. Minors are considered not be competent enough to consent to treatment. A proxy with parental responsibility is expected to make decisions which are deemed to be in the best interests of the minor especially in life-saving care (Gaudine, et al., 2011). However, if it is not deemed to be so, the decision made by the proxy can be overruled by the court. The court can also consent on the child’s behalf and can overrule the refusal by the parent to consent to life-saving care. This is evidenced by the overruling of cases over Jehovah’s Witnesses believers refusal to consent to life saving blood transfusion. Whereas this seems to be against certain ethical principles, they are deemed to be within these principles in some respect (Clark, Cott, and Drinka, 2007). It is against this backgro und that this paper will seek to examine and evaluate how each of the four major ethical principles can be applied to this issue. Autonomy The autonomy principle is one of the guiding medical ethics principles that mean that patients have the right to choose what is done to their respective bodies or that of the people they have responsibility over (Clark, Cott, and Drinka, 2007). ... to try and convince the judge that the court should take temporary child custody and appoint a guardian so as to allow the life-saving treatment to be undertaken on the child (Gaudine et al, 2011). This is where the court consent applies on the child. In most cases, the parents who refuse life-saving care for a minor child usually do so for religious reasons as they refuse the fairly standard medical treatment. A good and most common example is that of the Jehovah Witness members refusing blood transfusion of their family members. Nonetheless, should parents allow the treatment of their children even when the treatment seems to be high-risk and complicated one? This ethical principle asks the question of whether the doctors should take the parents who think that the life-saving care is high-risk and complicated (Beauchamp and Childress, 2001). Beneficence This ethical principle states that whatever is done should, before all else, of benefit to the patient. The principle requires tha t those with the responsibility over the patient including the parent of minors and the doctors should take actions that benefit the patient, and not to the detriment of the patient (Clark, Cott, and Drinka, 2007). While obviously it appears that one cannot do anything that does not help the patient, people are sometimes tempted to do things, when asked by other physicians or families that are of no or of marginal benefit to patients. For example, doing a test or surgery that is unlikely to help the patient. In the case of parental refusal of life-saving care for a minor child, it raises the question of whether such a refusal is deemed to benefit the minor child or not. If such a refusal will benefit the child then the doctors may consider it. However, in most cases, parental refusal is

National Training Awards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

National Training Awards - Essay Example Managers across the world are investing heavily on employee training so that they can help them pursue their roles more efficiently. For maximum productivity, employees need to be trained to become self aware and on how they can work as a team. They need to be trained on how they can contribute to the overall growth of the company and on problem solving (National Training Awards 2008). It is on this premise that the National training Awards (NTAs) was established. The Department for education and Science formed the NTAs in 1987. It was given the function of rewarding organisations, businesses, and individuals who have achieved a lasting success through learning and training. The British government was very keen on encouraging employers to provide decent and effective training for their employees. The National Awards merged with investors in People Training Awards to develop a strong platform for training excellence. Currently, the awards are managed by UK skills, a totally independent body. Their concept remains the same - to reward organizational successes that have been achieved through employee development. According to National Training Awards (2008), they have short listed 223 finalists in 25 industry sectors this year alone. The winners are expected to be known by November and will be awarded some national or local training awards, depending on their outstan ding achievements, either locally or nationally. Roles of NTAs in improving employee development The NTAs has continued to play some major functions in ensuring that the country's political, social, economic, and technical environment improves through employee development. As already mentioned elsewhere, it seeks to reward businesses which have achieved admirable lasting success through offering their employees an extensive training programme. First, the NTAs chief role is to provide a methodical process by which all the training practices are reviewed and their effectiveness reviewed (What are the benefits 2008). Companies should not conduct training programmes on employees for the sake of training them. There should be set targets that training programmes must achieve for them to be seen as effective. The NTAs provide companies with objective systematic processes by which such successes can be measured and rewarded. According to Ford et al. (1997), there are basic indicators that could prove if any training programme has been effective or not. These indicators include skills assessment, trainee amplitudes, and training instructional design. Such indicators can be best reviewed by the NTAs because of its professional expertise and its objectivity. Upon reviewal, companies will always be advised on the strengths and weaknesses of their training programmes, thus giving them room for improvement. Peter Cresswell, a judge at the national panel of the NTAs and an employee of Siemens Inc. has Infact blamed improper training practices on the lack of innovation that has characterized the competition for the past few years. Organizations should always strive to know what they want to gain or achieve out of undertaking a training programm

Initial Research findings- KSaria Part 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Initial Research findings- KSaria Part 2 - Essay Example The KSARIA Corp. also offers field services including cable plant installation, on site plant management, shipside logistic support, in-situ testing and field terminations as well as research and development of cable design services (â€Å"Wards Business Directory† 161). Despite the provision of these services, KSARIA Corp. is facing numerous challenges especially in Positioning and Assembly of Fiber Optics. The current outstanding deliverable gap that affects the productivity in its service delivery is inefficient qualification methods of repairing the damaged fiber optic cable particularly on the naval aircraft. The solution to this problem has been replacing the damaged cables with effective cables. Notably, this measure is intensively expensive and time consuming (â€Å"Wards Business Directory† 177). This leads to operation gap that incorporates complete cleaving has a method of preparing the ends of the optical fibers for splicing. This method is not effective since its leads to low yields and requires high technical skills that KSARIA lacks. Additionally, the method has proven immensely sensitive to be applied or deployed in harsh military environments. The most challenging task is the optical fiber and component alignment and positioning is often experiences during the photonics assembly. This problem often interferes with the accuracy of submicron thereby interfering with the high stability and reasonable resolution required when coupling optic fire with laser light. This process is referred to active alignment, and it involves coupling light sources including laser. The process requires one end of the optical to define the optimal position of the fiber component (â€Å"Wards Business Directory† 188). These operations need precision; otherwise, they often interfere with the Military aircraft industry that leads to management with poor precision. The

Value of a university degree Essay Example for Free

Value of a university degree Essay ?Even after many years of deep recession, an economy is still recovering and job market is still narrow. Because of this, job seekers mainly teenagers and school leavers, are realizing the value and importance of a university degree. In addition, with large pool of job seekers, having the university degree plays an important role in job application since this is the first attribute that an employer looks for when shortlisting. Therefore, obtaining the university degree is vitally important and has several benefits. This essay will discuss some of these benefits including better employment opportunities, self-confidence and university experience. Employment opportunities are far better for students with university degree because it makes them marketable and give them access to greater social benefits. Firstly, majority of employers when hiring are looking for students with the university degree because this assures the employers that students are capable of learning new things required for job. Secondly, it is widely believed that people with university degree tend to obtain a high salary jobs which empowers them to manage their finances efficiently. In addition, people tend to have better future savings with high salary and therefore, they can sustain hard times whenever there will be a downturn in the economy. Finally, they can also have right to use better health and retirement benefits, for example, health insurance and superannuation respectively. Students are likely to gain self-confidence by involving themselves in various university activities. When studying at university, students learn with constant exposure to a wide range of different activities such as lectures, group discussion, research, presentation and other university activities. In addition, students increase their ability to analyse and solve problems, plan and complete academic projects. These activities encourage students to build their interest and explore new ideas, which also develop their interpersonal skills. Nevertheless, students have the opportunity to work together with different cultures and groups and improve their communication skills, for example, students travel and explore different countries in exchange programs which open their doors to wider community, language and culture and help them to appreciate their society. All these factors help students to develop their self-confidence and make them stronger when stepping into a job market, which also give students an advantage over those without university degree. University experience is  another essential benefit of university degree because with university lifestyle students gain exposure to multi-culture and social milieu. Further, students make new friends and personal connections by interacting with friends, class fellows and people from different countries. Students also become open-minded when spend time with people from different ethos and backgrounds, which help students to accept people for what they are and see the world in a realistic way. Moreover, students acquire guidance and mentoring from their lecturers which help them to make wise future decisions and choose right career path. Another advantage for students is to become independent. Most students need to manage their expenses while studying at university, for this they have to work part time to cover their university education and at the same time preparing for exams too. Therefore, university lifestyle helps students to learn how to balance their lives and become organised. These university experiences convert students from teenagers to grown-ups, help them to think liberally and prepare them to compete in the real world. To conclude, obtaining the university degree opens the door to wide range of opportunities for students and makes them marketable. With university degree students are most likely to have high earning and they are able to achieve their personal and professional goals. The university degree makes students stronger to compete with others in a job market and help them to make informed future decisions. Moreover, for most students it gives grounding in social life and making contacts. Since, the university degree is an essential aspect of education, there should be free seminars that provide information about importance of education and how it will help them in long run. Word count: 654.

Phases Of System Development Life Cycle Information Technology Essay

Phases Of System Development Life Cycle Information Technology Essay System development life cycle means combination of various activities. In other words we can say that various activities put together are referred as system development life cycle. In the System Analysis and Design terminology, the system development life cycle means software development life cycle. Following are the different phases of software development cycle: System study Feasibility study System analysis System design Coding Testing Implementation Maintenance   The different phases of software development life cycle is shown in Fig.29.1 Different phases of Software development Life Cycle PHASES OF SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE Let us now describe the different phases and the related activities of system development life cycle in detail. (a) System Study System study is the first stage of system development life cycle. This gives a clear picture of what actually the physical system is? In practice, the system study is done in two phases. In the first phase, the preliminary survey of the system is done which helps in identifying the scope of the system. The second phase of the system study is more detailed and in-depth study in which the identification of users requirement and the limitations and problems of the present system are studied. After completing the system study, a system proposal is prepared by the System Analyst (who studies the system) and placed before the user. The proposed system contains the findings of the present system and recommendations to overcome the limitations and problems of the present system in the light of the users requirements. To describe the system study phase more analytically, we would say that system study phase passes through the following steps: problem identification and project initiation background analysis inference or findings (b) Feasibility Study On the basis of result of the initial study, feasibility study takes place. The feasibility study is basically the test of the proposed system in the light of its workability, meeting users requirements, effective use of resources and .of course, the cost effectiveness. The main goal of feasibility study is not to solve the problem but to achieve the scope. In the process of feasibility study, the cost and benefits are estimated with greater accuracy. (c) System Analysis Assuming that a new system is to be developed, the next phase is system analysis. Analysis involved a detailed study of the current system, leading to specifications of a new system. Analysis is a detailed study of various operations performed by a system and their relationships within and outside the system. During analysis, data are collected on the available files, decision points and transactions handled by the present system. Interviews, on-site observation and questionnaire are the tools used for system analysis. Using the following steps it becomes easy to draw the exact boundary of the new system under consideration: Keeping in view the problems and new requirements Workout the pros and cons including new areas of the system All procedures, requirements must be analyzed and documented in the form of detailed data flow diagrams (DFDs), data dictionary, logical data structures and miniature specifications. System Analysis also includes sub-dividing of complex process involving the entire system, identification of data store and manual processes. The main points to be discussed in system analysis are: Specification of what the new system is to accomplish based on the user requirements. Functional hierarchy showing the functions to be performed by the new system and their relationship with each other. Function network which are similar to function hierarchy but they highlight those functions which are common to more than one procedure. List of attributes of the entities these are the data items which need to be held about each entity (record) (d) System Design Based on the user requirements and the detailed analysis of a new system, the new system must be designed. This is the phase of system designing. It is a most crucial phase in the development of a system. Normally, the design proceeds in two stages: preliminary or general design Structure or detailed design Preliminary or general design: In the preliminary or general design, the features of the new system are specified. The costs of implementing these features and the benefits to be derived are estimated. If the project is still considered to be feasible, we move to the detailed design stage. Structure or Detailed design: In the detailed design stage, computer oriented work begins in earnest. At this stage, the design of the system becomes more structured. Structure design is a blue print of a computer system solution to a given problem having the same components and inter-relationship among the same components as the original problem. Input, output and processing specifications are drawn up in detail. In the design stage, the programming language and the platform in which the new system will run are also decided. There are several tools and techniques used for designing. These tools and techniques are: Flowchart Data flow diagram (DFDs) Data dictionary Structured English Decision table Decision tree (e) Coding After designing the new system, the whole system is required to be converted into computer understanding language. Coding the new system into computer programming language does this. It is an important stage where the defined procedures are transformed into control specifications by the help of a computer language. This is also called the programming phase in which the programmer converts the program specifications into computer instructions, which we refer as programs. The programs coordinate the data movements and control the entire process in a system. It is generally felt that the programs must be modular in nature. This helps in fast development, maintenance and future change, if required. (f) Testing Before actually implementing the new system into operations, a test run of the system is done removing all the bugs, if any. It is an important phase of a successful system. After codifying the whole programs of the system, a test plan should be developed and run on a given set of test data. The output of the test run should match the expected results. Using the test data following test run are carried out: Unit test System test Unit test: When the programs have been coded and compiled and brought to working conditions, they must be individually tested with the prepared test data. Any undesirable happening must be noted and debugged (error corrections). System Test: After carrying out the unit test for each of the programs of the system and when errors are removed, then system test is done. At this stage the test is done on actual data. The complete system is executed on the actual data. At each stage of the execution, the results or output of the system is analyzed. During the result analysis, it may be found that the outputs are not matching the expected out of the system. In such case, the errors in the particular programs are identified and are fixed and further tested for the expected output. When it is ensured that the system is running error-free, the users are called with their own actual data so that the system could be shown running as per their requirements. (g) Implementation After having the user acceptance of the new system developed, the implementation phase begins. Implementation is the stage of a project during which theory is turned into practice. During this phase, all the programs of the system are loaded onto the users computer. After loading the system, training of the users starts. Main topics of such type of training are: How to execute the package How to enter the data How to process the data (processing details) How to take out the reports After the users are trained about the computerized system, manual working has to shift from manual to computerized working. The following two strategies are followed for running the system: Parallel run: In such run for a certain defined period, both the systems i.e. computerized and manual are executed in parallel. This strategy is helpful because of the following: Manual results can be compared with the results of the computerized system. Failure of the computerized system at the early stage, does not affect the working of the organization, because the manual system continues to work, as it used to do. Pilot run: In this type of run, the new system is installed in parts. Some part of the new system is installed first and executed successfully for considerable time period. When the results are found satisfactory then only other parts are implemented. This strategy builds the confidence and the errors are traced easily. (h) Maintenance Maintenance is necessary to eliminate errors in the system during its working life and to tune the system to any variations in its working environment. It has been seen that there are always some errors found in the system that must be noted and corrected. It also means the review of the system from time to time. The review of the system is done for: knowing the full capabilities of the system knowing the required changes or the additional requirements studying the performance If a major change to a system is needed, a new project may have to be set up to carry out the change. The new project will then proceed through all the above life cycle phases. Task: 4.2 Life Cycle Models Waterfall model Prototyping model Evolutionary model The spiral model Formal development Incremental development Rapid application model V-Shaped model Requirements analysis Definition Integration and Software testing Software dDesign Implementation and unit testing Operation and Maintenance Waterfall Model Figure: 7 This takes the fundamentals process activities of specification, development, validation and evolution and represents them as separate process phase such as requirement specification, software design, implementation and testing and so on. Requirement Analysis and Definition The systems services, constraints and goals are established by consultation with the software users. They are then defined in detail and serve as a software specification. how the current software works and what it does Producing a detailed model in subject terms of what the new software will do and how it will work. Producing a high-level description of new software Software Design The software design process partitions the requirements to either hardware or software system. It establishes overall software architecture. Software design involves identifying and describing the fundamental software system abstraction and their relationships. Implementation and Unit Testing During this stage, the software design is realized as a set of programs or program units. Unit testing involves verifying that each unit meets its specification. Integration and Software Testing The individual program units or programs are integrated and tested as complete software to ensure that the software requirements have been met. After testing, the software system is delivered to the customer. Operation and Maintenance Normally this is the longest life cycle phase. The software is installed and put into practical use. Maintenance involves correcting errors which were not discovered in earlier stages of the life cycle; improving the implementation of the software units and enhancing the softwares services as new requirement are discovered.

Thomas Pynchon in TV Land: The Televisual Culture in Vineland :: TV Television Cultural Essays

Thomas Pynchon in TV Land: The Televisual Culture in Vineland Mark Robberds’ 1995 Article "The New Historicist Creepers of Vineland" is an insightful look into how Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel fits the new historicist criteria of Michel Foucault, Stephen Greenblatt, and other new historicists. He convincingly argues for the "vinelike" characteristics of the novel, and shows how it is "genealogical in structure and archeological in content" (Robberds 238). What Robberds means is that Vineland is a complex narrative with more characters than a three-part miniseries. The book, which opens in 1984, is set as much in the sixties as in the eighties. After meeting each character, we are treated to their history and interaction with other characters over the previous fifteen to fifty years, in some cases tracing back to their parents and grandparents. All this personal and cultural history fits into Robberds’ definition of Foucault’s new historicism nicely, but Robberds seems so eager to fit Vineland into this box that he mis ses one of the true pleasures of reading Pynchon. Robberds writes that Greenblatt and others treat texts as "‘cultural artifacts’ with no intrinsic aesthetic value, but as microcosms of cultural and institutional patterns" (Robberds 238-9). He expands on this idea in a section of his article called "Cultural Artifacts: A Televisual Guide to Vineland:" Vineland does not seem to provide an avenue for directly mimetic passage from text to reality, unless one intends to read all mention of popular culture in the text as essentially parodic. The text neither applauds nor parodies the televisual but presents it instead as "cultural artefact." (244) This position is contradicted by the text, in which Pynchon parodies television to no end. Robberds supports his statement by quoting characters saying, "It was like being on Wheel of Fortune" (Pynchon 12), but he doesn’t mention passages like "†¦Twi-Nite Theatre, which tonight featured John Ritter in The Bryant Gumbel Story†¦" (Pynchon 355). Television is more than just "cultural artefact" in Vineland; it is a medium for Pynchon to parody and over which to pass judgement. J. A. Cuddon’s A Dictionary of Literary Terms defines parody as: The imitative use of words, style, attitude, tone, and ideas of an author in such a way as to make them ridiculous. This is usually achieved by exaggerating certain traits, using more or less the same technique as the cartoon caricaturist. In fact, a kind of satirical mimicry.

Five Questions For Vladimir Lenin Essay -- essays research papers

Five Questions For Vladimir Lenin   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The most dedicated leader of the revolution, and future leader of the Bolshevik Party in Russia, was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. He was born in 1870 in Simbirsk, Russia, a small town on the Volga River, to a family of hereditary nobles that were not wealt but quite comfortable. Vladimir Ulyanov, who would later change his name to Lenin, was the third of seven children. His oldest brother, Aleksandr, was hanged in May of 1887 for having joined in a plot to kill Czar Alexander III. The czar signed a warra to have the five student conspirators executed. A year earlier, Vladimir’s father had died. Because of these cicumstances Vladimir experienced extreme grief. He died of a stroke in January of 1924 at his villa outside Moscow. I chose Vladimir Lenin to ite about because I felt that I didn’t truly understand what part he played in the Bolshevik takeover of Russia. In fact, I didn’t even understand what role he played in Russia, though I did know that he was associated with communism in some way.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the University of Kazan, where Lenin majored in law, Lenin was expelled after only three months for taking part in a student protest meeting. He went on to work in a law office in St. Petersburg, where he joined the Social Democratic Party.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In late February 1917 riots broke out in Saint Petersburg. A group of individuals assumed formal governmental powers and declared itself the Provincial Government of Russia on March 1. Lenin took the reins of the Bolshevik Party shortly after the Bolsh ik Revolution which overthrew this Provincial government. Lenin instantly created to pieces of legislation. One of them withdrew Russia from World War I. The other one nationalized personal property. From 1918 to 1921 Russia was torn by a civil war betw n the White armies and the Red Army of the Soviet government. In the summer of 1918 the Soviet government, under Lenin’s leadership, launched the Red Terror, a brutal campaign aimed at eliminating political opponents among the civilian population. The g ernment also introduced a series of economic policies in an effort to put socialist principles into practice and to respond to Russia’s pressing economic needs. However, these policies only weakened economic output.Widespread strikes and uprisings broke ut in c... ...the system?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I realized that once I was gone that the two sides of the party, one led by Trotsky and the other by Stalin, would have nothing in common because the platforms of these two communists were so different. I knew that the communist goals that I had tried uphold would be destroyed. While I was in office I was trying to make Russia prosper under communism. Once I was involved less in communism’s affairs and realized that I was going to die soon, I started thinking of what â€Å"The Party† would be like after died. Suffice to say, it didn’t look good. â€Å". . . . the two outstanding leaders of the present Communist Party can inadvertently lead to a split, and if our Party does not take steps to avert this, the split may come unexpectedly,† (Lenin 1) W O R K S C I T E D Hugley, Ronald. RUSSIA: A Concise History. London, Thames and Hudson Ltd.1972. Lenin, Vladimir. The Testament. Boston, Halshall, Inc. 1997 McNeal, Robert H., The Bolshevik Tradition. Englewood, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Inc. 1975. Sherrow, Victoria. Life during the Russian Revolution. San Diego, Lucent Books, Inc.,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1998.

Effective Communication Essay

Make a list (in note form) of some of the techniques you have developed to enable you to communicate effectively with the CYP you work with. OR Write a brief account of some work you have done in the past two years with a YP who had communication problems,which were not due to a disability. Ensure the YP could not be identified from your account, by changing some personal deatails. Good communication is central to working with children, and young people, It is a fundamental part of the Common Core. It involves listening, questioning, understanding and responding to what is being communicated by the CYP‘. It is important to be able to communicate both on a one-on-one basis and in a group context. Communication is not just about the words I use, but also my manner of speaking, body language and, above all, the effectiveness with which I can listen. To communicate effectively it is important to take account of culture and context, for example where English is an additional languag e. Effective engagement requires me to involve the CYP’s in the design and delivery of services and decisions that affect them. It is important for me to consult with them and consider their opinions and perspectives from the outset. A key part of my effective communication and engagement is trust, both between the workforce, children and young people. To build a rapport with the CYP’s , I understand that it is important for me to demonstrate understanding, respect and honesty. Continuity in relationships promotes engagement and the improvement of their lives.. * I am always aware that the CYP may not have understood what I have communicated * I Know that communication is a two-way process * I Know how to listen to people, make them feel valued and involved, and know when it is important to focus on the individual rather than the group. * I am aware of different ways of communicating, including electronic channels, and understand barriers to communication. . * I Know how to report and record information formally and informally in the appropriate way. I listen and build empathy by * Developing and using effective communication systems that are appropriate to them * I Establish a good rapport and respectful, trusting relationship with the children. I Build a rapport and develop relationships using the appropriate form of communication (for example, spoken language, play, body language). * Communicate effectively with all children. * I Hold conversations at the appropriate time and place, understanding the value of day to day contact. * I ensure I’m always aware that some children and young people do not communicate verbally and that I would need to adapt my style of communication to meet their needs and abilities. * I Understand the effects of non-verbal communication such as body language, and appreciate that different cultures use and interpret body language in different ways. * I Build open and honest relationships by respecting CYP and make them feel valued * I Actively listen in a calm, open, non-threatening manner and use questions to check understanding and acknowledge that I have heard what is being said. * I Summarise situations in the appropriate way for the individual (taking into account factors such as background, age and personality). * I Explain clearly to the CYP what kind of information I may have to share with others. * I Explain what has happened or will happen next and check their understanding and where appropriate, their consent to the process. * I Let the child know that I am interested and involved and that I will help them if and when needed. * I Turn off the television or stop what I am doing when a child wants to talk or avoid taking a telephone call when a child has something important to tell me. * Unless other people are specifically meant to be included, I hold conversations in privacy. The best communication between myself and a child will occur when others are not around. * I never Embarrass a child or putt them on the spot in front of others as this will lead to resentment and hostility, not good communication. * I’m aware of my height and I Don’t tower over a child. I Physically get down to the child’s level then talk. * If I am very angry about a behaviour or an incident, I don’t attempt communication until I regain my cool, because I cannot be objective until then. I have learnt that It is better to stop, settle down, and talk to the child later * If I’m very tired, I try to make an extra effort to be an active listener. Genuine active listening is hard work and is very difficult when your mind and body are already tired. * I Listen carefully and politely. I Don’t interrupt the child when they are trying to tell their story * I Don’t ask why, I ask what happened. * If I have knowledge of a situation, I will confront the child with the information that I know or have been told. * I never use put-down words or statements: dumb, stupid, lazy: * I will Assist a child in planning some specific steps to the solution. * I Show that i accept the child for themselves, regardless of what they have or have not done * I try to Reinforce the child for keeping communication open. I Do this by accepting them and praising their efforts to communicate * I use encouraging phases especially with children diagnosed with ADHD as these children may need more praise than the average child. And Unfortunately, because of their behaviour they often receive less. It is important to communicate clearly with children, honestly stating feelings and expectations. Not only do children pay attention to our words, they also react to our tone of voice and body language as well. Because communication is a complex process, it’s important to think of the implications of wh at we say Task 2 Using personal experience or some information either from the seminar or a trustworthy source on the internet, describe how you have used or could use aids to communicate with YP’s who have some form of disability, and indicate the kinds of conditions you have encountered, or may encounter in your work. Very briefly list some other aids to communicate which you could explore and utilise , should the need arise. I have recently had experience working with a child who had a form Of a disability,( Autism)To communicate with them I used A communication passport with pictures, photographs, words and symbols to share important information about the child’s needs, interests and their ways of communicating. The child took this passport into different settings so that everyone is well informed, I.e. meetings school, club, outside activities etc. It was important for this child to be aware of who was working with them in advance so we made a photo wall, all staff members pictures were taken and placed on the wall and during the day and especially at bedtimes staff would go over the wall with the child explaining who would be working with them the following day. I also used a pictorial book in much the same way, The child needed structure and stability and gained this from knowing exactly what would happen who with and when, In the morning I would sit down with the child before school explain who would be taking them to school; in what vehicle, what teachers they would be seeing today, what lessons they had today. What time staff would be collecting them in what vehicle and then go over in detail what they would be doing after school. Conditions I have encountered or may encounter in my work is not knowing fully if a child has understood everything I’ve communicated with them I have learnt that People with a learning disability may appear to understand, but may actually be responding to my tone of voice, or familiar cues in the situation. They may misunderstand, forget or not catch some of what I have said. They may often say â€Å"yes† in answering questions, even if they do not fully understand sometimes because they do not want to make difficulties. They may not be able to contradict me if I have misunderstood what they mean or want. They may be bilingual, and have greater skills in one language than another. Some children may take longer to process what I am saying. Others may find physical movement or speech a big effort, so it will take them longer to respond. It is important to never over estimate the skills. †¢ Make sure the child can hear, see and is comfortable †¢ Make sure hearing aids or glasses are used if necessary, and that they work properly! †¢ Make sure talk clear and allow the child to read lips if necessary †¢ Use sign /gesture and pictures to back up speech †¢ Make sure information is presented clearly for people to see †¢ Make sure people are positioned for good communication – seating is key †¢ Make sure the environment is quiet and there are not too many distractions †¢ Check out general health and comfort– are they in pain, physical difficulties, or experiencing the effects of medication (tired or sleepy). †¢ Make sure the child can see hands and faces if signing and talking. †¢ Give enough time for the child to listen and respond. †¢ Check that i have understood – by talking to others, helping the person to tell me when I have got it wrong. I don’t pretend I can understand if I really can’t! †¢ Make sure you language is kept simple and clear. †¢ Gain the child’s attention before starting to talk.   Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Show that I respect a person’s way of communicating by using it to them. †¢ Make sure communication books/aids are used and not stuck in a cupboard! †¢ display good observational skills, respond to all communicative signal †¢ Be patient and don’t give up trying †¢ Leave if the person is becoming agitated Other aids to communicate * Pictures and symbols can help *Information can be written and presented in symbol or pictorial form. * Pictures and photographs can be used to illustrate written material. Communication aids: * Children can join in by pressing a switch operated aid with voice output to say, yes I agree/no, I don’t or some communication aids have more complex language *Objects of reference† can be used to cue people about what is going to happen.: play football-show them a football, show them a cup – for asking if they want a drink *Calendar boxes can be used to make object timetables of activities happening in the week *â€Å"Memory Boxes† are collections of meaningful artefacts and photos associated with events and can be used as the basis for conversation, and to help recall. Anything can be used for this and everyday objects of natural materials are good to use with people who have sensory difficulties. * â€Å"Multimedia Profiling† is a process which creates a personal catalogue of video clips on the computer which build up a profile of an individual. The person can be in control of their own information through switch or touch screen, and can choose when and how to share it with others. Task 3 Which government websites can you use to access up to date information and evidence based examples of good practice? Give one e.g. of something you have learned from one of these websites. How will you disseminate your learning to colleagues?

Revisiting the Juvenile Offenders in Adult Criminal Justice System

The statistics are striking. In 2002 alone, one in twelve murders in the U. S. involved a juvenile offender (Snyder and Sickmund p. 65). Half of high school seniors (51%) surveyed in 2003 said they had tried illicit drugs at least once (Snyder and Sickmund p. 75). About 9% of murders in the U. S. were committed by youth under 18 in 2000 and an estimated 1561 youth under the age of 18 were arrested for homicide in 2000 (Fox). Youth under 18 accounted for about 15% of violent crime arrests in 2001 (FBI).One national survey found that for every teen arrested, at least 10 were engaged in violence that could have seriously injured or killed another person. (US Dept. of Health and Human Services). The alarming numbers continue but leave a question mark on the propensity and effectiveness of existing US juvenile laws, pushing for an inclination towards adopting adult justice systems in youth offender cases. Yet, alongside these figures are far more alarming statistics. While juvenile crimes are persistent, it is also true that one of every four violent crime victims known to law enforcement is a juvenile (Snyder and Sickmund p.31). Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers. In fact, 1921 young people ages 10 to 19 died by suicide in the United States in 2000 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). In fact, about 1 in 11 high-school students say they have made a suicide attempt in 1999(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention p. 6). And, officials have reported that of the more than 2,800 sexual violence allegations in juvenile facilities in 2004, 3 in 10 were substantiated (Snyder and Sickmund p. 230).A juvenile offender is one who is considered too young to be tried as an adult. Typically, the age at which a person can be tried as an adult varies among states, but ordinarily, it is the age of seventeen or eighteen, although this age can go down for certain serious offenses, such as homicide or sexual assault (Larson). When charged with a cri minal offense, a juvenile is sent to a juvenile court where he may either waive his right and be tried under adult criminal systems. Ideally and ordinarily, the focus is on what will rehabilitate the juvenile, rather than on punishment.For juvenile offenses, the juvenile are often said to have committed a â€Å"delinquent act,† as opposed to a â€Å"criminal offense. † (Larson). Although the juvenile court has broad discretion to tailor a sentence to the needs of a young offender this juveniles are still sentenced to prison. In fact, many states have large juvenile prisons and treatment facilities. The principle is that that the present criminal justice system believes that some juvenile offenders are very dangerous, despite their age, that incarceration seemed to be appropriate.While most of the policymakers and the press claim that an increase in the youth population shall also result in the rate of juvenile offenses, a lot of considerations need to be addressed. Jus tifications, as will be discussed later, however, boil down to one conclusion- when a juvenile commits an adult crime, he should not be required to face the consequences as an adult. In an effort to derive justifications why youth offenders should not be tried under adult criminal justice systems, several propositions are laid out below based on recent studies: 1.Youth are developmentally different from adults; 2. Incarcerating youth offenders in adult jails is dangerous to the juvenile offenders; 3. Youth incarceration in adult jails does not reduce crime rate; 4. Trying juvenile offenders and imposing death penalty to youth offenders is unconstitutional. These are discussed in detail in the following sections. Youth are developmentally different from adults The basic principle of equality of rights is commonly understood to mean that persons who are similarly situated shall be treated the same under the law.A close analysis of adult and youth offender profiles however suggests tha t adult and youth criminal offenders are not similarly situated so much so that existing adult justice systems should be liberally applied if not totally abolished as against juvenile offenders. Psychologists and lawyers have raised significant and recent studies in the juvenile brain in reconsidering the existing juvenile laws. An issue in point is whether a teenager who commits capital offenses can be executed or whether this would be cruel and unusual punishment, banned by the Constitution's eighth amendment.The point is, adolescents are not morally culpable as adults because their brains are not as capable of impulse control, decision-making, and reasoning as adult brains are. Psychologists say that this is because the brain's frontal lobe, which exercises restraint over impulsive behavior, â€Å"doesn't begin to mature until 17 years of age,† says neuroscientist Ruben Gur of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. â€Å"The very part of the brain that is judged by the legal system process comes on board late.† Other than this, adults behave differently not just because they have different brain structures, but because they use the structures in a different way ( Beckman ). Because of these social and biological reasons, an article in Times Magazine read, â€Å"teens have increased difficulty making mature decisions and understanding the consequences of their actions. † With much of these studies leaning towards the immediate fact that juveniles are not as mentally developed as the adult offenders, it is but proper that minors should never be tried as adults and should be spared the death penalty.Incarcerating youth offenders in adult jails is dangerous to the juvenile offenders It is a fact that despite a federal law preventing juveniles from adult jails existing for over three decades, 7,500 youth are in adult jails, according to a report released by the Campaign for Youth Justice. It must be reconsidered that rather than reh abilitating the youth offenders, incarcerating youth offenders in adult jails poses more danger to the juvenile. In fact, they are exposed to these dangers even before they’ve had their day in court (Campaign for Youth Justice).Incarceration exposes the youthful offender to sexual assault. Officials reported that of more than 2,800 sexual violence allegations in juvenile facilities in 2004, 3 in 10 were substantiated with girls more likely than boys to be sexually victimized (Snyder and Sickmund p. 229). In 2005, 21% of all substantiated victims of inmate-on-inmate sexual violence were under eighteen years old, even though youth make up less than 1% of the total jail population (Campaign for Youth Justice).Likewise, incarceration in adult are at greater risk of suicide than similar youth in theU. S. population (Snyder and Sickmund p. 229). In fact, youth have the highest suicide rates of all inmates in jails. â€Å"They are 36 times more likely to commit suicide in an adult jail than in a juvenile detention facility, and 19 times more likely to commit suicide in an adult jail than youth in the general population† (Campaign for Youth Justice). Finally, jailing juveniles in adult facilities are counterproductive and even increases their likelihood of reoffending.Based on studies, children who are prosecuted in adult court are more likely to be rearrested more often and more quickly for serious offenses(Campaign for Youth Justice). Youth incarceration in adult jails does not reduce crime rate While it is true that juvenile population in the US is increasing similarly to other segments of the population such that population projections indicate that the juvenile proportion of the U. S. population will hold constant through 2050 (Snyder and Sickmund p. 2), it is not true that this increase would also result in the increase in juvenile crime rate.In an analysis conducted based on official crime statistics of youth offenders in California from 1970 to 1 998, Macallair and Males said that â€Å"the popular claim that the rising teenage population means more crime and violence is a myth† (2000). According to them, the current crime trends among youths are indication of declining crime rates into the next century and suggest a reevaluation of current trends in youth crime policies and reexamination of popular assumptions based on these statistics. Death penalty to juvenile crimes is unconstitutionalThe truth of the matter is that all states in the US now allow certain juveniles to be tried in criminal court or otherwise face adult sanctions (Snyder and Sickmund p. 110). More over, the federal consititutionality of the American juvenile death penalty was a reasonably settled issue for the past 15 years. This is a serious matter that poses more danger to juvenile offenders in facing adult consequences. It is a good thing however, that the United States Supreme Court has now expressed a renewed interest in reconsidering this issue with state courts getting more involved as well. In Thompson v.Oklahoma, 487 U. S. 815 (1988), the United States Supreme Court held that â€Å"executions of offenders age 15 and younger at the time of their crimes are prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution† (Death Penalty Information Center). In Simmons v. Roper, 112 S. W. 3d 397 (Mo. 2003), the Supreme Court of Missouri interpreted current national data to hold that the death penalty for juvenile offenders now violates the United States Constitution's prohibition against Cruel and Unusual Punishment. They however did not reach the issue under the Missouri State Constitution.Although a ruling on federal constitutionality, Simmons applies only in Missouri at this juncture. In the meantime, the two prevailing issues before the Supreme Court is whether the lower court can subsequently reinterpret and reject the standards under evolving standards of decency once the United States Supreme Court sets the Eighth Amendment Cruel and Unusual standard and whether death penalty for a 17-year-old offender is now Cruel and Unusual under the Eighth Amendment's evolving standard of decency (Death Penalty Information Center).In 2005, the U. S. Supreme Court (5-4) upheld the Missouri Supreme Court and banned the death penalty for juvenile offenders, Roper v. Simmons (2005). With this as precedence, it is but due time for states to also reconsider the adverse consequences of juvenile commitment in adult prisons. Conclusion With all the issues raised above, it is but appalling why juvenile offenders should be tried under adult criminal justice systems. It is but due time that existing state policies be revisited and amended to adjust to the need of youthful offenders.In the meantime, since the present state policies on juvenile offenders are already in place, it is only but fitting to reconsider some adjustments in existing policies if at least to address and prevent these dangers until such time that the federal and state systems are ready for the new, more effective and revitalized policies. In referring to the special circumstance of juvenile offenders, the following recommendations were given in an ABA Task Force Report in 2001:†¢ Since youth are developmentally different from adults, these developmental differences need to be taken into account at all stages and in all aspects of the adult criminal justice system. †¢ Pretrial release or detention decisions regarding youth awaiting trial in adult criminal court should reflect their special characteristics. †¢ If detained or incarcerated, youth in the adult criminal justice system should be housed in institutions or facilities separate from adult facilities until at least their eighteenth birthday.†¢ Youth detained or incarcerated in the adult criminal justice system should be provided programs which address their educational, treatment, health, mental health, and vocational needs. †¢ The ri ght to counsel in the adult criminal justice system should not be waived by a youth without consultation with a lawyer and without a full inquiry into the youth's comprehension of the right and capacity to make the choice intelligently, voluntarily and understandingly. If the right to counsel is voluntarily waived, stand-by counsel should always be appointed.†¢ Judges in the adult criminal justice system should consider the individual characteristics of the youth during sentencing. †¢ The collateral consequences normally attendant to the adult criminal justice process should not necessarily apply to all youth arrested for crimes committed before the age of eighteen. (ABA p. 2) In sum, trying youth offenders under the adult criminal justice system â€Å"is not safe, is not fair and does not work† (Youth for Justice p. 4) and should therefore be guarded against. Rather than considering the youth as vices of the community, they should be looked upon as needing of socie ty’s support.Works Cited Beckman, Mary. â€Å"Crime, Culpability and the Adolescent Brain. † Death Penalty Information Center. 30 July 2004. Science Magazine. 10 March 2008. . Fox, James Alan. , Zawitz, Marianne W. â€Å"Homicide Trends in the United States. † US Department of Justice. 2002. Northeastern University and Bureau of Justice Statistics. 11 March 2008. < http://www.ojp. usdoj. gov/bjs/homicide/homtrnd. htm>. Larson, Aaron. â€Å"Juvenile Offenders. † LawExperts. March 2000. 10 March 2008. . Snyder, Howard N. , and Sickmund, Melissa. â€Å"Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report. † Death Penalty Information Center. 2006. Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. 11 March 2008 . Wallis, Claudia and Dell, Kristina.â€Å"What Makes Teens Tick; A flood of hormones, sure. But also a host of structural changes in the brain. Can those explain the behaviors that make adolescence so exciting–and so exasperating? † Death Penalty Information Center. 10 May 2004. Time Magazine. 10 March 2008. . â€Å"Youth in the Criminal Justice System: An ABA Task Force Report. † American Bar Association. February 2002. Criminal Justice Section. 9 March 2008. â€Å"Youth risk behavior surveillance – United States, 2001.† Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2002. In: CDC Surveillance Summaries. June 28, 2002. MMWR, 51(SS-4), p. 6. 10 March 2008. . â€Å"Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General. Executive Summary. † U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2001. p. vii. Comparison of data from the Monitoring the Future Study from the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research and data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program. 11 March 2008. < http://www. surgeongeneral. gov/library/youthviolence/summary. htm>.