Officer Mohammed (Tribute Speech) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Officer Mohammed (Tribute Speech) - Essay Example He never hid his pride about me. He treated me different from all other grandchildren, always protected me, and taught me what it takes to succeed in this life. Even though he had his good and bad days, my grandfather was so sensitive to the needs and interests of those around him. His charitable deeds cannot go unnoticed. He extended his charitable hand to the needy, poor, and orphans. He taught me that success and good performance is rewarded by taking me and my brothers to Egypt and giving me monetary rewards for my academic excellence during his life years. His memories run fresh through my mind. When I almost lost my life he was there to save me. This was the time I almost drowned at sea. Luckily Officer Mohammed was there to rescue me. After that, he took it upon himself to teach me how to swim, so that in a repeat situation I can save myself or any other person in need of my help. Amid his outstanding character and personality, my grandfather had one critical weakness; he is not the listening type. Notably, listening skills are vital in any level of interaction between persons (Downs, 2008). His quest for adventure was only satisfied by driving around the city. My father’s concern over my grandfather driving himself landed on deaf ears. He needed not the services of our family driver. An effective and efficient communication (Wood, 2009) never existed in Officer Mohammed’s world. He said and did what he wanted. His poor sight resulted in a road accident that saw him in a coma for 3 days. When he regained consciousness, he asked my father and my uncles to pass his greetings to me and let me know that he was so proud of me. Sadly, these were the last words he uttered soon after the 3-day coma, and that marked the end of his life. This was hard for me to bear because I was in the U.S from 2009 to 2010. I never got to say Good Bye to my beloved

Dietary Restriction in Judaism Essay Example for Free

Dietary Restriction in Judaism Essay Many scholars have attempted to explain not only the reasoning for the existence of Jewish dietary restrictions but how not conforming to them can be perceived as evil. Some have said that a hygienic component was the most important reason for these restrictions. Others have stated that it was a result of an attempt to preserving the Jewish culture from foreign influences. While others argue that it is a means to achieving holiness or purity. In her book Purity and Danger, Mary Douglas examines some of the arguments put forth by several scholars and theologians. In her examination, Douglas rejects most of the explanations and settles on the explanation that she believes to be the only one without contradiction, the idea of purity. To understand why Mary Douglas comes to the conclusion that she does, it is important to understand how she views the concept of â€Å"good† and â€Å"evil† or â€Å"purity† and â€Å"pollution†. Douglas places great emphasis on the idea of purity and how dirt defiles it. This is not always meant to be literal. Douglas makes the distinction between clinical views of dirt versus a symbolic ideal of pollution of purity. She points out that even though the two views come from completely different mindsets, they are much more closely related than it would initially appear when she says â€Å"†¦ the resemblance between some of their symbolic rites and our hygiene is sometimes uncannily close.†. Douglas was paramount in our understanding of how the concept of dirt plays an important role in our perception of social norms. These norms help to shape society by outlining boundaries that define what is good and what may be considered evil. â€Å"The public identification of â€Å"dirt† displays the boundaries of cultural categories†. When one performs an act that crosses these boundaries, it can be viewed as an act of defilement, which may be perceived as â₠¬Å"pollution† or â€Å"evil†. Ritual practice, in this case the dietary restriction, â€Å"†¦is an opportunity to remove things that are not acceptable from society† and attempt to restore purity. Some have cited the main purpose of the dietary restrictions as being for hygienic and health reasons. While Douglas does mention this as a contributing factor and admits that the restrictions have shown these benefits to exist, it is apparent that she feels that there are too many contradictions for this to be a completely valid argument for the existence of the restrictions. In regards to this mode of thought she states that â€Å"†¦ it is one thing to point out the side benefits of ritual actions, and another thing to be content with using the by-products as a sufficient explanation†. Douglas even goes as far as saying, â€Å"The only sound approach is to forget hygiene†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Some interpretations of these restrictions were based on the idea that the Jewish people were using them as a means to differentiate themselves from other groups of people. This could lead one to the conclusion that the sole reason for â€Å"†¦the prohibition on pigs was aimed at differentiating the Israelites from their nighbors†. In James’ work in The Priestly Conceptions of Evil in the Torah, he explains â€Å"People who are set apart by God to become holy are required to live by different rules than other people†. From this we are to understand that in order to become pure in the eyes of god, one must set themselves apart from others just as god has. In contradiction to this school of thought, Douglas points out that this concept is more of a product of mistranslation and that the term â€Å"set apart† should have really been translated as â€Å"holy†. This reinterpretation gives a different meaning to the scripture. It changes the focus from a means to an end to an expression of desire for one to be of the highest spiritual level. The Jewish people do not need to differentiate themselves from others to achieve holiness. Another conception is that these restrictions are being used as a means to preserve the purity of their culture from the influence of other cultures. If we are to believe this ideology we would be lead to believe that the introduction of customs from another group would cause the Jewish culture to become â€Å"dirty† or â€Å"impure† and therefore unholy. Douglas invalidates this argument when she says that the â€Å"†¦ argument cannot be comprehensive, for it is not held that the Israelites consistently rejected all the elements of foreign religions and invented something entirely original for themselves.†. The concept of purity is quite prevalent throughout Jewish literature and the ideals of their dietary restrictions. It is also the concept that Douglas believes best explains the necessity for dietary restriction in the Jewish faith. Purity of diet plays a large role in achieving a state of purity or avoiding pollution â€Å"†¦ the dietary laws would have †¦ inspired meditation on the oneness, purity and completeness of God† One of the main ideas is that all animals belong to one of three domains (the sky, the earth and the water) and have certain attributes that make them adapted to life in that domain (the wings of birds, the four legs and divided hoof of cows, or the scales and fins of a fish for example). Those that do not conform to one domain by some form of adaption that is deemed less fit for that domain and thereby violating its sanctity, are seen as â€Å"impure† or â€Å"dirty†. Another ideal of â€Å"purity† that must be upheld is the idea of confusion or mixing. Any animal that is mixed with another species is considered dirty just as the improper mixing of blood relatives is considered impure for it has brought forth confusion or disorder. James writes that â€Å"hybrids †¦ represent a return to the chaos that God banished in bringing order to the world.† Douglas says that â€Å"dirt is essentially disorder†. From this one could surmise that moving from order to disorder is akin to moving from â€Å"purity† to â€Å"dirt† or â€Å"good† to â€Å"evil†. As god brought order to the world, man must bring order to his life to be like god and therefore holy. Mary Douglas shows that the dietary restrictions of Jewish people consists of both a hygienic component as well as an element of â€Å"purity†. She does however favour the element of â€Å"purity† as there are some contradictions involving hygiene. Douglas uses her keen perception to analyze the theories proposed by others and uses sound logic to either validate or discredit them. She shares a similar view with James in regards to the idea of â€Å"pollution† of â€Å"purity†. Adhering to the dietary restrictions provides the practitioner with a means to attain and maintain a state of purity. Bibliography Barak-Erez, Daphne. Outlawed Pigs : Law, Religion, and Culture in Israel. Chicago: University of Wisconsin Press, 2007 Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger. New York: Routledge, 2002 Hendel, Ronald. Remembering Mary Douglas: Kashrut, Culture, and Thought-Styles. Berkely: University of California, 2008 James, Gene G. The Priestly Conceptions of Evil in the Torah. Evil and the Response of World Religion. Ed. William Cenkner. St. Paul, Minn: Paragon House, 1997 Weimer, Jade. â€Å"Mary Douglas’ work.† Class lecture, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, November 8, 2012.

Black Holes Essay -- essays research papers

Black Holes Black holes are objects so dense that not even light can escape their gravity, and since nothing can travel faster than light, nothing can escape from inside a black hole. Loosely speaking, a black hole is a region of space that has so much mass concentrated in it that there is no way for a nearby object to escape its gravitational pull. Since our best theory of gravity at the moment is Einstein's general theory of relativity, we have to delve into some results of this theory to understand black holes in detail, by thinking about gravity under fairly simple circumstances. Suppose that you are standing on the surface of a planet. You throw a rock straight up into the air. Assuming you don't throw it too hard, it will rise for a while, but eventually the acceleration due to the planet's gravity will make it start to fall down again. If you threw the rock hard enough, though, you could make it escape the planet's gravity entirely. It would keep on rising forever. The speed with which you need to throw the rock in order that it just barely escapes the planet's gravity is called the "escape velocity." As you would expect, the escape velocity depends on the mass of the planet: if the planet is extremely massive, then its gravity is very strong, and the escape velocity is high. A lighter planet would have a smaller escape velocity. The escape velocity also depends on how far you are from the planet's center: the closer you are, the higher the escape velocity . The Earth's escape velocity is 11.2 kilometers per second (about 25,000 M.P.H.), while th e Moon's is only 2.4 kilometers per second (about 5300 M.P.H.). We cannot see it, but radiation is emitted by any matter that gets swallowed by black hole in the form of X-rays. Matter usually orbits a black hole before being swallowed. The matter spins very fast and with other matter forms an accretion disk of rapidly spinning matter. This accretion disk heats up through friction to such high temperatures that it emits X-rays. And also there is some X-ray sources which have all the properties described above. Unfortunately it is impossible to distinguish between a black hole and a neutron star unless we can prove that the mass of the unseen component is too great for a neutron star. Strong evidence was found by Royal Greenwich Observatory astronomers that one of these sources called Cyg X-1 (whic... ...detect this radiation was Joseph Weber. He eventually came up with the first bar gravity-wave detector. This was a long aluminum cylinder, 2m by  ½m, that should be compressed with an incoming gravity wave. To detect this compression he wired piezoelectric crystals, which respond to pressure by generating an electric current, to the outside surface of the bar. Although it didn't work, other bar detectors were built that used a device called a stroboscopic sensor to filter out random vibrations. This was an ingenious device, but it too proved to be a non-contributor in the advancement of learning more of the galaxy. Just as X-ray astronomy went from simple detectors in the noses of rockets to full fledged X-ray telescopes housed in orbiting satellites, and radio astronomy went from crude dishes to continent spanning arrays, gravity wave detectors may show a completely new spectrum. And, just as X-rays brought a completely new universe into focus, one can hardly imagine what a gr avitational view of the universe will reveal. At the very least, we will have definitive proof or denial of black holes, but we may find that black holes are some of the more subtle features of the universe.

Developing Orientation Program

Med-Veal handles all administrative functions from the time of the referral until the medical report is delivered to the requesting party. Their goal is to focus on providing excellent customer support while providing high level services to clients all over the country. It is a relatively small company, employing fewer than one hundred employees, many Of which are located at the corporate site in Sterling, Virginia. Med-Veal provides an innovative solution to insurance providers by providing medical examiners that are board certified in their specialties and specialties.All physicians that are contracted with Med-Veal are qualified and free from sanctions or judgments that could compromise their credibility on medical reports. They also provide these services through the united States, so they can be relied upon to locate a qualified provider virtually anywhere. Lastly they provide discounted diagnostic service for Worker's compensation insurance providers, again with facilities avai lable all over the country. The corporate human resources team recently conducted a thorough needs assessment in April of 201 3, and found many positive happenings and orgasm already in place in the company.There were however, several issues that they found during this process that needed to be addressed if they wanted to find contain due success in the industry. One major concern that corporate human resources and management felt needed to be addressed immediately was the high turnover rates within the company. The assessment also showed low employee satisfaction, and much of the staff expressed concern with the fact that was no orientation or onboard program in place, and they were often left to learn the job on their own.There was no formal orientation, with employees spending about 30 minutes with one of the human resource managers to discuss benefits and fill out paperwork, and then about a day being trained by fellow employees on how the computer systems work, and how to sched ule patients for various studies or evaluations. Human Resource Development Intervention Once the needs assessment had been completed, human resources determined that changes needed to be put into place in order to improve employee satisfaction levels, to reduce turnover rates, and to employ a more denaturized onboard and orientation process.If was felt that much of the emphasis should be placed on developing an onboard process and training program, and in doing so it was felt that the turnover rates would drop and the satisfaction rates would rise. Therefore an action plan was implemented in order to create an onboard an orientation program. According to author Patricia Duration (2007), there are three key elements of a successful onboard program. These include a clearly identified process, having the support of managers and other organizational leaders, and aging sure there is timely follow up at the close of the orientation class.Because there was no formal onboard program or ori entation program in place, it was quickly realized that these were all areas that required improvement. There was no traditional onboard process. Employees were brought in, and immediately put to work with very little training. The expectation was that they would learn about the values of the company as they worked. Training was limited and provided on the job. This complaint was felt amongst many of the employees, especially those that were in the independent medical evaluation group which requires being very detail oriented, and able to handle many tasks quickly and effectively.There was no clearly defined program to bring new employees up to speed and train them properly on their respective positions. As the human resources team evaluated these events, they realized that the first step was to come up with the objectives of what they want their new onboard and orientation process to accomplish. This starts with creating a proper training program for new hires. Instructional Design Plan In order to address this problem effectively and create an effective unbarring and orientation program it is important to assess what measures need to be taken.It is imperative that human resources has a broad understanding of the learning style of the participants in order to create the proper objectives for the instruction. In this case, what is needed is a plan to create a more comprehensive onboard and orientation. The objective here would be to create an onboard that answers all questions that new employees might have, to make sure that employees are properly oriented to the company and their position, and that training rules are in place so that employees do not feel that they have been placed in a sink or swim situation.Learning Objectives By completing the instructional design plan, and combining that with the results of the needs assessment, as well as feedback from surveys given to management and employees, it is possible for the Human Resources team to be able to de termine what objectives are important for them to meet in order for new orientation classes and onboard sessions to be successful. In this case the first training session will need to focus on the importance of the onboard program.In this particular case, this session needs to involve a ore detailed overview of the company structure, as this will assist new employees in better understanding the inner workings of the company, and know the proper protocol to follow when questions arise. Objective number two relates to the fact that this is a very specific type of work environment, because you are dealing with workers compensation, and the specific rules and regulations that each state has.It is understood that many of the new hires do not have specific training in workers compensation programs, and that significant time will need to be spent explaining workers compensation ales and regulations, and how they differ from state to State. The third major objective that needs to be address ed in this program is customer service and the importance of provident excellent service to the customer. New employees need to be trained on how to handle various issues when they arise, while keeping the customer informed of the situation at all times.New staff needs to have an onboard and orientation process of at least two weeks. The first week in the onboard sessions, learning about company culture, and having in-services on customer service. In the second week of employment the new employee should be assigned to a senior team member whom they can shadow and be properly trained in their position. Lesson Plan According to Werner and Decision (201 2), an effective lesson plan lays out the step by step agenda of the training process.In the case of Med-Veal, this lesson plan is being established for a new employee onboard and orientation class. Onboard and orientation are to take place at corporate headquarters in Sterling, Virginia, and this will not change. Or in the case of SST. Choir Hospice, the plan for the new employee orientation class. As previously mentioned the first week will be the onboard process, where they will learn company culture, meet various staff members including members of human resources, management and payroll.A sample lesson plan would be as follows: Med – Veal On – Boarding Day 1 Objective: To Introduce new employees to Med – Veal. To inform them of the corporate culture, history and mission of Med -? Veal. Preparation Required: 1. Physical Environment – This course will be taken in the main conference room. All participants will meet there. 2. Equipment and Materials -? Materials ill be provided by Med – Veal. They will include paper and pen for note taking. Employee handbook will be provided during this session. We will require a laptop and projector set up, to be provided by IT. 3.Instructor 4. Participants -? DB – New Hires to Med -? Veal: Onboard class to be the First Monday of each mo nth as necessary to accommodate new employees. Day 1 9:00 -? 9:30 – Introduction and ice breaker. Have new employees get to know 5 facts about their new coworkers, and share these with the rest of the group. 9:30 – 10:30 Introduction to Med – Veal. This session will include history of Med – Veal, and discussion of the company mission. Also discuss code of ethics. 10:30 – 12:00- Meeting with HER staff. Discussion of benefits, and services offered to Med-Veal employees. 2:00 – 1:00 – Break for Lunch 1 -? 2:30 – Introduction to MIME department. Discuss the purpose of MIME. Overview of breakdowns within the department and the differences that can be found from state to state. Discuss the differences between a deposition, an MIME and a DAME. This section with be covered by Shannon Checker – MIME Manager 2:30-3:30 – Introduction to CICS and Diagnostic Department – Discuss duties of this department. Explain differ ences between CICS and MIME departments. Discuss where the referrals come from. Explain the process of getting referrals, and provide overview of procedures.This section will be covered by Lindsey Jensen -? CICS Manager 3:30 – 3:45 -? Break 3:45 – 4:30 – Introduction to CSS department. Discuss how this department provides support to MIME department. Provide overview of job duties and responsibilities. This section will be covered by Even Wagner -? CSS Manager 4:30 – 5:00 – Review of material covered in day one. Answer any outstanding questions. Provide overview of onboard session for day 2. Instructional Methods The instructional methods for this program will be handled in an lecture setting, using instructor led live programs.There will be discussion Of corporate culture, set in a question and answer forum. With the use of audio visual devices they will be able to provide the necessary information to the new hires. There will also be industry spec ific material presented, as worker's compensation has very specific rules that need to be adhered to. There will be a question and answer period at the end of each session, and then there ill also be testing will be given at the end of each day to determine what the new employees have learned, and what they are retaining.Instructors can then determine based on the testing results where and if any additional training needs to be provided to the individual new hires to ensure that they are retaining the necessary material. These training sessions will be provided during working hours which are from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday. They will break for a one hour lunch daily. Once the first week of onboard has been completed the employee will then move on to the second week of the orientation process which will be done in a one on one setting with senior team members.This on the job training will allow new employees to sit with various senior team members to be trained in multi ple aspects of the position, and also for them to see that they have several different resources available to them. This will provide additional support to the new employees not just from management, but also from senior team members who have the experience. By doing this new hires should feel more secure in their job before they begin, and should ultimately reduce the mount of turnover that Med-Veal is facing.

Assessing the English Language Learner

Assessing the English Language Learner (ELL) The Growth of ELL (ESL) The number of human beings who speak a language other than English continues to increase in the United States, Canada, and Australia, for example, as the number of immigrants grows. In 2006, 34. 70% of the population of Los Angeles, California, was foreign born; 25. 50% of Miami, Florida; 39. 60% of Vancouver, British Columbia; 45. 70% of Toronto, Ontario; 28. 90% of Melbourne, Australia; and 31. 70% of Sydney, Australia (Statistics Canada, 2008).In the United States, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2004) reported that â€Å"The number and percentage of language minority youth and young adults— that is, individuals who speak a language other than English at home—increased steadily in the United States between 1979 and 1999† (p. 1). NCES added, Of those individuals ages 5–24 in 1979, 6 million spoke a language other than English at home. By 1999, that number had more th an doubled, to 14 million. Accordingly, of all 5- to 24-year-olds in the United States, the percentage who were language minorities increased from 9 percent in 1979 to 17 percent in 1999. p. 1) The number of ESL students in U. S. public schools has almost tripled over the last decade (Goldenberg, 2006). In 2004 Crawford observed that one-fourth of the school-age students in the United States were from homes where a language other than English was spoken. The school-age population (K–12) will reach about 40% ESL in about 20 years (Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence, 2002). Between 1990 and 2000, the number of Spanish speakers increased from about 20 to 31 million (U. S.Census Bureau, 2001). The Census Bureau report also showed a significant increase in the number of speakers from other linguistic groups, particularly Chinese and Russian. Individuals at all ages enter school to learn the English skills they need to learn, gain employment and participate in society. Planning for their instruction is a significant issue for teachers at all levels and assessment becomes central. In this chapter we first define and differentiate terms such as ESL and ELL and describe the populations they represent.The use of assessment measures to place students into appropriate instructional groups is described and the distinction between interpersonal and academic language is reviewed. The use of assessment in the classroom and as a gate-keeping tool is addressed in addition to the appropriateness of the use of published measures to assess ESL students. The first issue addressed is terminology. Defining ELL Over the years students who speak a language other than English have been titled English as a Second Language (ESL) learners.However, English in some cases is not the second language (L2), but may be the third (L3), the 4th (L4), etc. , language, and, as a result, members of this population have different linguistic resources to draw on. The term â€Å"English Language Learner† (ELL) has been adopted by educators, primarily in the United States, to describe better the notion that English may not be the L2. However, it is not a particularly good term because students who speak English as a First Language (L1) are also English language learners (Gunderson, 2008).The term â€Å"Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages† (TESOL) is used outside of the United States. Students who learn English in environments where it is not the language of the community are referred to as English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. The pedagogy related to EFL is different from ESL (ELL) because students are not immersed in English in the community and the major task of the teacher is to try to provide them English models (Gunderson, 2008, 2009). An added difficulty with the term â€Å"ESL† or â€Å"ELL† is that it does not adequately characterize the diversity of human beings it represents.Those who use the t erm â€Å"ELL† do so to describe those K–12 students who come from homes in which the language used for daily communications is not English and who must learn English to succeed in schools where the medium of instruction is English. The ELL (ESL) Population A serious problem with the ELL (ESL) conceptualization is that it does not adequately describe the underlying complexities of differences in age, motivation, literacy background, and first and second language achievement (Gunderson, 2008, 2009).Those classified as ELL or ESL vary in age from pre-school to senior adults. Many speak no English at all, while others vary in oral English proficiency. Many have never attended school, while others have earned high academic credentials in the language of instruction in their home countries. They are from diverse cultural backgrounds that vary in the way they perceive the importance of teaching and learning. Many are immigrants to an English-speaking country, while many ELL learners are born in an English-speaking country, but speak a different language at home (Gunderson, 2008, 2009).Indeed, in the Vancouver, Canada, school district 60% of the kindergarten students are ESL and 60% of this number are born in Canada (Gunderson, 2007, 2009). Many immigrant ESL students come from impoverished refugee backgrounds, others have high levels of education and socioeconomic status. Thus, ESLs or ELLs do not adequately represent the underlying complexity of the human beings in the category. Assessment Issues in ELLInstruction in mainstream classes, those typically enrolling students of different abilities but of the same relative age in the same classrooms, is based broadly on the notion that the acquisition of English is developmental and occurs over time as human beings grow into maturity. It is also thought that there is a relationship between language development and â€Å"grade level. † Grade 1 students differ from Grade 7 students in systematic ways. Their teachers design instruction that is appropriate for their grade levels.ESL (ELL) students represent a more complex problem because their English and their cultural and learning backgrounds vary in many different ways, even in individuals who are the same chronological age (Gunderson, 2009). In addition, Cummins (1979a, 1979b, 1981, 1983, 2000) and Cummins and Swain (1986) argued there are two basic kinds of English a learner has to learn; â€Å"basic interpersonal communicative skill† [BICS] and â€Å"cognitive academic language proficiency† [CALP], the language of instruction and academic texts. BICS appears to take about 2 to 3 years to develop and CALP about 5 to 7. â€Å"Hello, how are you? and â€Å"What is your name† represent BICS, while â€Å"Identify a current controversial world political issue and develop and defend your position† is an example of CALP. Teachers are faced with the task of determining what learning activities and materia ls are appropriate for instruction and measurement of learning, while institutions such as universities and some governments are interested in determining whether or not an individual’s English ability is advanced enough for them to either enter a post-secondary program or to have the skills necessary to be integrated into a society and, therefore, be eligible to immigrate.Thus, in some instances, assessment serves to guide learning by informing teachers of students’ needs while in others it serves as a gatekeeper by excluding those who do not meet its standards. Instructional Levels—Determining Appropriate Instructional Strategies Language teachers have for some time opted to assess their students to ascertain their â€Å"level† of English language proficiency. The difficulty with the levels approach is that they do not really exist (Gunderson, 2009). A popular levels approach was developed in 1983 by the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Lang uages (ACTFL).The assessment is a one-on-one assessment focusing primarily on oral language. Three levels of beginner, intermediate, and advanced are distinguished (see, ACTFL, 1983). A learner can be identified as a low beginner or a high intermediate, etc. The behaviors that determine inclusion in a particular group are usually described in an assessment matrix. The assessor asks a series of questions to elicit knowledge of vocabulary, syntax, and pragmatics. The following is an example of a matrix developed by Gunderson (2009) showing oral language â€Å"levels† and their attendant features. * 0-Level English 1.Cannot answer even yes/no questions 2. Is unable to identify and name any object 3. Understands no English 4. Often appears withdrawn and afraid * Beginner 1. Responds to simple questions with mostly yes/no or one-word responses 2. Speaks in 1–2 word phrases 3. Attempts no extended conversations 4. Seldom, if ever, initiates conversations * Intermediate 1. Re sponds easily to simple questions 2. Produces simple sentences 3. Has difficulty elaborating when asked 4. Uses syntax/vocabulary adequate for personal, simple situations 5. Occasionally initiates conversations * Advanced 1. Speaks with ease 2. Initiates conversations 3.May make phonological or grammatical errors, which can then become fossilized 4. Makes errors in more syntactically complex utterances 5. Freely and easily switches codes More elaborate approaches involve the assessment of English listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, e. g. , the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB, 2007). The notion of levels is an important one for teachers because they are thought to predict a student’s probability of succeeding within a particular teaching and learning environment. A beginner is different from an intermediate in various ways, and the instruction they are involved in is also different.Teachers often refer to ESL students as Level 1 or Level 5, depending upon their performance on an assessment measure. The notion of levels varies widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In some cases there are 3, 4, 5, 8, or 10 levels, which are determined most often by locally developed informal assessment measures (Gunderson & Murphy Odo, 2010). Good assessment is essential to the design of appropriate instructional programs. The difficulty for classroom teachers is that there are few, if any, appropriate measures for them to use. Classroom AssessmentBlack and William (1998) reviewed more than 250 studies and found that there was a relationship between good classroom assessment and student performance. Most classroom-based assessment has been developed by teachers (Frisby, 2001; Wiggins, 1998). Unfortunately, most teachers report they are unprepared to assess and teach ESL students (Fradd & Lee, 2001). According to Pierce (2002), the majority of teachers employ assessments they remember they were involved in when they were in school: multiple-choice, cloze -like measures, matching, and true/false tests.This seems to have been the pattern for 50 years (Bertrand, 1994). Unfortunately, it seems, â€Å"†¦ many teachers are unprepared for the special needs and complexities of fairly and appropriately assessing ELLs† (Ehlers-Zavala, Daniel, & Sun-Irminger, 2006, p. 24). Gunderson and Murphy Odo (2010) have recently reviewed the measures used by teachers in 12 local school districts to assess ESL students. The number of different measures and approaches in use was surprising. The Idea Proficiency Test (IPT) (see Ballard, Dalton, & Tighe, 2001a, 2001b) was the measure most often used for primary level ESL students.Other assessments mentioned were the Brigance, (1983) the Bilingual Syntax Measure (Burt, Dulay, & Hernandez, 1976), the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test (Woodcock, various dates), the Woodcock-Munoz (Woodcock-Munoz-Sandoval, 1993), the Pre-IPT, the Comprehensive English Language Test (CELT; Harris & Palmer, 1986), informal reading inventories, the Waddington Diagnostic Reading Inventory (Waddington, 2000), the Alberta Diagnostic Reading Inventory, the SLEP, the Gap (McLeod & McLeod, 1990), PM Benchmarks (a system for placing students in leveled books), the RAD (Reading Achievement District—a local assessment measure), the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT; Dunn & Dunn, 1997), and a variety of locally developed listening, speaking, reading, and writing assessments. A serious difficulty is that most of these measures were not designed to provide ESL instructional levels so different heuristics in different districts were developed to translate them into levels.The designation â€Å"beginner,† for instance, varies significantly across districts as a result of the measures involved and the number of levels districts chose to identify. Two school districts reported the development and norming of tests for elementary and secondary students comprised of leveled passages taken from academic textbooks that were transformed into maze passages (see Guthrie, Seifert, Burnham, & Caplan, 1974). Scores from these measures were used to compute ESL levels; four in one case and five in the other. Interestingly, different metrics were used to compute instructional levels. So, for instance, a CELT score was used to determine ESL levels based on local intuition and experience.Most often the locally developed assessments involved one-on-one interviews in which students respond to tasks that require recognition of colors, body parts, school items, and the ability to answer simple questions (see, for example, Gunderson, 2009). There are also standardized assessments used by personnel at post-secondary institutions to make decisions concerning admissions to their programs. Predicting Academic Success The best known standardized English assessment measure is the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) published by Educational Testing Service (ETS). The publisher notes: In fact, m ore institutions accept TOEFL test cores than any other test scores in the world — more than 7,000 colleges, universities and licensing agencies in more than 130 countries, to be exact. (ETS, 2009a) There are different forms of the TOEFL. The classic paper-and-pencil form had standardized scores with 500 being the mean and 50 being the standard deviation. There are newer versions including a computer- and an Internet-based version that have different scoring criteria (see score comparison tables (ETS, 2009b)). The online version is based on a â€Å"communicative competence† model that requires learners to view clips of science lessons, for example, take notes, and respond to questions.TOEFL scores are used by post-secondary institutions to screen students for admission to their programs. The criteria for admission to programs varies from institution to institution and among departments in institutions (see, for instance, University of British Columbia, 2009). There is evidence that TOEFL scores are not highly predictive of success in university (Al-Musawi & Al-Ansari, 1999), however, although they continue to be used to do so. ETS also produces the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) and the Secondary Level English Proficiency (SLEP), both standardized assessment measures. The primary users of the SLEP are secondary teachers.The SLEP â€Å"measures the ability to understand spoken English,† and â€Å"the ability to understand written English† focusing on grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension (ETS, 2009c). The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is a test of English language proficiency developed by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (2009). There are two versions: individuals who want to gain admission to a university in an English-speaking country take the academic version, while the other version is appropriate for trade schools and other purposes. Scores range f rom 1 to 9 with 1 being zero-level English, while 9 indicates native-like ability. Different universities require different IELTS scores to be eligible for admission.Both ETS and Cambridge have international centers around the world where students can take these tests. ELL assessment issues and standardized testing are procedures relevant to large-scale achievement testing in the United States. Large Scale or High-Stakes Testing According to Abedi, Hofstetter, and Lord (2004), â€Å"Historically, English language learners in the United States were excluded from participation in large-scale student assessment programs; there were concerns about the confounding influences of language proficiency and academic achievement† (p. 1). However, the United States has seen a focus on large-scale assessments due to the accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (PL 107-110).No Child Left Behind permits assessing ELLs in their first language for up to 3 years, but few states do. In 2005 a group of school districts sued the state of California to force it to allow Spanish-speaking students to take state-mandated tests in Spanish. Plaintiffs in Coachella Valley Unified School District v. California argued that the state â€Å"violated its duty to provide valid and reliable academic testing† (King, 2007). On July 30, 2009, â€Å"The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco rejected arguments by bilingual-education groups and nine school districts that English-only exams violate a federal law’s requirement that limited-English-speaking students ‘shall be assessed in a valid and reliable manner’† (Egelko, 2009).A lawyer for the school districts and advocacy groups stated, The court dodges the essential issue in the lawsuit, which is: What is the testing supposed to measure? If you don’t have to evaluate the testing, California gets a free pass on testing kids (who) don’t speak English, using tests that they have literally no evidence of their validity. (Egelko, 2009) The ruling was that â€Å"The law does not authorize a court to act as â€Å"the official second-guesser† of the reliability of a state’s testing methods. † The difficulty is that English measures are neither reliable nor valid when ESL students are involved. In some cases, accommodations are made for them.The procedures of providing ELL students accommodations during assessment sessions varies across jurisdictions, but includes such activities as lengthening the time allowed to take a test, allowing ELLs to be tested in separate rooms, allowing students to use bilingual dictionaries, the use of two versions of the test at the same time written in English and students’ first languages, providing oral translations for students, and composing responses in first languages. In 1998–1999, 39 states reported using test accommodations (Rivera, Stansfield, Scialdone, & Sharkey, 20 00). There is considerable controversy about providing accommodations, however.At the time of the writing of this chapter, accommodating students through the provision of L1 assessments has been judged not to be required. ELLs, Assessment, and Technology Advances in technology have made it possible for assessments to be administered as computer- or Internet-based measures. These developments have already taken place with measures such as the TOEFL (see above). An increasing use of technology to administer standardized and non-standardized assessments has raised interest in issues relating to mode-effects (e. g. , computer displays versus print form) and familiarity with computers, which have significant implications for ELLs.There is evidence that performance in paper-based and computer-based modes of assessment may vary due to ethnicity or gender (Gallagher, Bridgeman, & Cahalan, 2002). In addition, familiarity with computers is known to influence performance in writing (Horkay, Be nnett, Allen, Kaplan, & Yan, 2006) and mathematics (Bennett et al. , 2008) high-stakes tests. These issues need to be taken into consideration with ELLs particularly immigrant and refugee students. A related problem has to do with access. Indeed, access to computer and/or to the Internet is widely varied and, therefore, creates systematic differences in access. These are all areas that need further research. The State of the Art of ELL Assessment ResearchAs noted above, the category ESL or ELL is deceptive in that it represents millions of human beings who vary in age, first-language development, English achievement (both interpersonal and academic), educational backgrounds, immigration status, motivation, socioeconomic background, cultural views of teaching and learning, professional backgrounds, and social and academic aspirations. It is not, therefore, possible to review the breadth and depth of available research in this chapter. There are, however, some overall generalizations that can be made. Generally, the assessment practices and approaches designed for and used with native English speakers have been adopted and used with ELL students. This phenomenon is especially apparent in jurisdictions such as the United States where high-stakes assessments have become so important.There are serious validity and reliability concerns associated with this practice. It is not clear that the notion of accommodation, one borrowed from special education, helps in either case. Leung and Lewkowicz (2008) argue that this â€Å"common educational treatment irrespective of differences in language backgrounds† (p. 305) is emblematic of the view that both treatment and assessment should be inclusive. It does not account, among other features, for cultural differences that can cause difficulties for ESL students (Fox, 2003; Fox & Cheng, 2007; Norton & Stein, 1998). Overall, English proficiency is a significant variable in ELL assessment.In addition to the BICS/CALP dist inction mentioned above, Bailey (2005) proposes that there is a language of tests that is a different â€Å"register† or â€Å"discourse domain. † The use of such language creates a problem of â€Å"face validity. † Is the test actually testing what it is designed to test or is it a test of the language of tests? English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students around the world are assessed using many of the same measurements that are used to assess ELL students. EFL students are enrolled in programs in non-English contexts such as Japan where the language of the community is not English. They do not have ready access to native models of English that ELL students usually do. This is very much like the way students learn Latin in secondary school.It appears that EFL assessments are generally used to measure oral language ability such as the ACTFL mentioned previously. Our review of the assessment procedures and methods in use in K–12 schools in 12 school distr icts raised several issues that related to ESL learners’ assessment that were not found in studies such as Bertrand (1994), so we present them here. First, we found that there was a need for a measure that would discriminate students with language pathologies and/or learning disabilities from those who only needed English instruction. District members also expressed the need for a reliable measure to sort out secondary students’ content knowledge and their linguistic knowledge.Lastly, they contended that assessment should be developed to isolate ESL students’ specific areas of weakness so that teachers could more effectively use them to guide instruction. Summary and Conclusions The use ELL or ESL is unfortunate because it masks the underlying complexity of the human beings included in the category. ELL is inaccurate as a term because native English-speaking adults continue to be English language learners well into old age. Perceptions and pedagogical prescripti ons are the most troubling aspects of the use of these terms. In article after article the ESL or ELL is used as though they represent a homogenous group of human beings.Pedagogical recommendations are made on the notion that they are a single group with the same skills and abilities. Of course, this is far from the truth. Our experience is that teachers use the term to represent all students who speak English as an additional language. In addition, they appear to perceive ESL students as human beings who have trouble learning to read (English). And this too, is far from the truth for some students, but not for others. ESL (ELL) is a term that should either be qualified when used or discarded as a general term. The assessment of ELL/ESL/EFL learners is a significant foundational process for teachers to determine the appropriate teaching and learning programs for their students from kindergarten to the mature adult level.ELL assessment traditionally includes measures of listening, sp eaking, reading, and writing. There are three basic kinds of assessment instruments. The first is purely instructional in that it is designed to indicate the level at which students should be placed for instruction. The second type of measure is designed to provide an estimate of proficiency related to norm groups and involves scores such as percentiles and NCEs. The third is designed to provide predictive information concerning how well a student will succeed academically. Unfortunately, it appears that most measures are based on native English models. Another difficulty is that students’ English proficiency has a profound effect on their ability to succeed on a test.It is often difficult for a student to succeed on a test when the language of the test is difficult or unknown to them. Some have noted that the language of tests is also unique. Recently, assessment measures have been computerized and some have been put on the Internet. This raises serious questions of access, especially for students from countries where access is difficult or non-existent. For example, we have been told that the cost of taking an online test in a country like Zimbabwe is prohibitive. Educators from many jurisdictions have borrowed the concept of accommodation from special education to make the assessment procedures fair to ELLs who differ in various ways from native English speakers.There is disagreement concerning the validity of test results as a result of accommodations since they are not often included in the norming procedures of the instruments. We have heard some opine that accommodation is not itself fair, and that the results of standardized assessment provide information about how well students will do in an English-speaking instructional setting. It has been recommended that assessment measures be constructed that are written in different first languages. Some have argued that the number of first languages in schools would make this an expensive and impractica l approach. In July 2009 the use of English-only assessment measures was upheld in a federal appeals court in California.It is clear from a review of existing assessment practices that school-based personnel use a wide variety of instruments and procedures. It is also clear that there is the belief that it is important to identify a student’s â€Å"English level† for instructional purposes, but there is little agreement on how many levels should be identified. The precise process for determining a level is somewhat fuzzy, but it involves the interpretation of a variety of scores from a variety of tests. The research base concerning ELL assessment is not substantial. It focuses on measures originally designed for native English speakers. They do not do well generally on such measures. Indeed, they do not do well in school and a great number drops out, particularly from lower socioeconomic groups.The state of the art of assessment and instruction involving ELLs is extrem ely dire. The issues of ELL assessment needs urgent attention since ELLs are the most rapidly growing group in our schools. References ? Abedi, J. , Hofstetter, C. G. , & Lord, C. (2004). Assessment accommodations for English language learners: Implications for policy-based empirical research. Review of Educational Research, 74, 1-28. ? Al-Musawi, N. M. &. Al-Ansari, S. H. (1999). Test of English as a foreign language and first certificate of English tests as predictors of academic success for undergraduate students at the University of Bahrain. System, 27(3), 389-399. American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). (1983). ACTFL proficiency guidelines. Hastings-on-Hudson, NY: ACTFL Materials Center. ? Bailey, A. L. (2005). Language analysis of standardized tests: Considerations in the assessment of English language learners. In Abedi, J. , Bailey, A. , Castellon-Wellington, M. , Leon, S. , & Mirocha, J. (Eds. ), The validity of administering large-scale content asse ssments to English language learners: An investigation from three perspectives (pp. 79-100). Los Angeles: Center for Research on Evaluation/National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESSR). Ballard, W. , Dalton, E. , & Tighe, P. (2001a). IPT I oral grades K-6 examiner’s manual. Brea, CA: Ballard & Tighe. ? Ballard, W. , Dalton, E. , & Tighe, P. (2001b). IPT I oral grades K-6 technical manual. Brea, CA: Ballard & Tighe. ? Bennett, R. E. , Braswell, J. , Oranje, A. , Sandene, B. , Kaplan, B. , & Yan, F. (2008). Does it matter if I take my mathematics test on computer? A second empirical study of mode effects in NAEP. The Journal of Technology, Learning and Assessment, 6(9), 1-40. ? Bertrand, J. E. (1994). Student assessment and evaluation. In Harp, B. (Ed. ), Assessment and evaluation for student centered learning (pp. 7-45). Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon. ? Black, O. , & William, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through cl assroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), 141-148. ? Burt, M. K. , Dulay, H. C. , & Hernandez, E. (1976). Bilingual syntax measure. New York: Harcourt Brace Javonovich. ? Brigance, A. H. (1983). Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills II (CIBS II). North Billerica, MA: Curriculum Associates. ? Cambridge University Press. (2009). IELTS catalogue. Retrieved July 14, 2010, from http://www. cambridgeesol. org/. ? Centre for Canadian language benchmarks (CCLB). (2007). Canadian language benchmarks.Retrieved August 10, 2009, from http://www. language. ca/display_page. asp? page_id=206. ? Center for Research on Education Diversity and Excellence. (2002). A national study of school effectiveness for language minority students’ long-term academic achievement final report. Retrieved August 10, 2009, from http://www. crede. ucsc. edu/research/llaa/1. 1_final. html. ? Cummins, J. (1979a). Cognitive/academic language proficiency, linguistic interdependence, the optimum age que stion and some other matters. Working Papers on Bilingualism, 19, 175-205. ? Cummins, J. (1979b). Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children.Review of Educational Research, 49(2), 222-251. ? Cummins, J. (1981). Age on arrival and immigrant second language learning in Canada: A reassessment. Applied Linguistics, 2(2), 132-149. ? Cummins, J. (1983). Language proficiency and academic achievement. In Oller, J. W. (Ed. ), Issues in language testing research (pp. 108-129). Rowley, MA: Newbury House. ? Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power and pedagogy. Toronto, ON: Multilingual Matters. ? Cummins, J. , & Swain, M. (1986). Linguistic interdependence: A Central principle of bilingual education. In Cummins, J. & Swain, M. (Eds. ), Bilingualism in education (pp. 80-95). New York: Longman. ? Crawford, J. (2004).Educating English learners: Language diversity in the classroom (5th ed. ). Los Angeles: Bilingual Educational Services. ? Dunn, L. M. , & Dunn, D. M . (1997). Peabody picture vocabulary test. San Antonio, TX: Pearson. ? Educational Testing Service (ETS). (2009a). TOEFL ® Internet-based Test (iBT). Retrieved August 10, 2009, from http://www. ets. org/portal/site/ets/menuitem. 1488512ecfd5b8849a77b13bc3921509/? vgnextoid=f138af5e44df4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD&vgnextchannel=b5f5197a484f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD. ? Educational Testing Service (ETS). (2009b). TOEFL ® Internet-based Test (iBT). Retrieved August 10, 2009, from http://www. ets. org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/pdf/TOEFL_iBT_Score_Comparison_Tabl

Intro Sociology Paper Essay Example

Intro Sociology Paper Essay Example Intro Sociology Paper Essay Intro Sociology Paper Essay Through Gang Gun Violence and Prevention of It Gang violence has been causing problems in America since at least the latter half of the 20th century. Many cities are subject to have large gangs and this by no meaner is a good thing. To name a few cities New York, Los Angels, and Detroit have been known to be grounds for all different sorts of gangs. Whether it is a biker gang such as the Hells Angels, or an African American street gang such as the Bloods or Crisps, all across America we are seeing the concerns over crime rate increase while the rime and murder rate have gone down. Chicago is one of the biggest cities to have been prominent on recent increase in gang violence. Most people blame inner-city violence in Chicago on the existence of gangs. But I think that the murder rate remains high in Chicago because of the amount of illegal firearms in circulation. Thus, I hypothesize that a decrease in the number of illegal weapons will result in a decrease in the murder rate. Criminals with no prior gun experience that participate in violent gang activities have caused the murder rate to increase twenty five percent n the last year (Venerates, 2012). According to the article Understanding Kids, Gangs and Guns by Sudsier Venerates (2012), since 2001 over 5,000 deaths caused by shootings have placed Chicago over the 2,000 deaths of soldiers in the war on Afghanistan. Sudsier states, that for decades he thinks that efforts to stop gun violence are not as efficient as they should be. He found that young gang members have large arsenals of weapons with little to no training on how to use them. The gang members however, do not care. The sole purpose of gun possession by the gang members was to intentionally harm an enemy. Unfortunately, during these gunfights the stray bullets from the reckless shooting end up striking bystanders, which severely injure or possibly kill them as well. It is clear that the gang bangers for the most part, do not own legal licenses to carry such firearms. In order for them to obtain weapons they have to illegally purchase them from gun-runners, who are peddlers of guns from legal owners to illegal buyers. This however, only covers how sixty percent of gang members obtain their guns. The other forty percentile are known to have received firearms from friends, family and other gang members. Many strategies have been put into effect to try and slow down and eventually stop these gun related crimes. According to Vengeances article (2012), a useful strategy used by many cities along with Chicago is the gun buy back program. A $100 gift card is handed to individuals in exchange for bringing a real gun. Many B guns and replica guns have been returned too but the money was for strictly real guns. This particular strategy however, did not severely decrease Chicago crime rate. The main purpose of this program was to show the society that the police were using a more sieve-aggressive attempt at taking guns off the streets. A criminologist from Boston by the name of David M Kennedy (National Institute of Justice, 1995) introduced the and gang members about the subject of firearms. This program caused an extreme decline in crime rates and was soon immediately used in other cities. However, different views on this approach have led some police chiefs to be more hesitant than others on agreeing to this method. Many feel that it will become a sort of charity event and that philanthropy and law enforcement should not mix. One of the big here sociologists, Emilee Drummers played a large role in crime understanding and social deviance. He argues that deviance is the state of departing from usual or accepted standards, especially in social behavior. This could include criminal acts and anything that deviates from societys norms. Deuteriums view on crime was considerably different than others views. His point of view was that crime serves a social function and that crime, to a certain degree is good for society. Once again, the crimes that Drummers is referring to are small deviances. He saw crime and deviance as necessary elements in modern society. Drummers was a firm believer that all deviance stems from anomie, which is when social norms lose their hold over an individuals behavior. Anomie exists when no clear standards to monitor behavior are seen in any given area of social life. Coming from this point of view on the topic of Chicago crime rate, this is not the type of social deviance that is good for society. Anomie is clearly shown in the gang violence causing murders. This also goes against Deuteriums theory of organic solidarity. This is the social cohesion that results from the various parts of a society functioning as a whole. Murder Just may be one of the biggest examples of corruption of organic solidarity because it is causing people to kill others which effects how a society functions as a whole. One example of a situation that would follow Deuteriums view of crime is stated in the textbook. Neighborhood residents that are faced with a drug related murder in theyre neighborhood might Join together in the aftermath and commit to making the area as a drug free zone. (Giddiness, p. 194) According to a third source, our class textbook (Giddiness 2012). One section explains how media coverage of rising crime rates play a ole on focusing on the moral breakdowns of young people and highlights the deviant acts. Such as vandalism, truancy and drug use to illustrate the social tolerance o f young crime. Other youths, not only gang members can lead the public to think of all young people as some sort of deviant human. For example the Columbine shootings was a massacre covered by the media and all the attention has led many to perceive that all young adults are monsters. To some youngsters, they might like this sort of attention. This type of media coverage placed on young people may persuade some individuals to the road of gang life. Often young children from minority groups see these criminals as famous, and they would love to be famous like them. Others may have grown up in the lifestyle already. Typically raised by either one, or both parents that were gang affiliated. To all the young ones, this is all they knew. They saw family members and friends in the media and wanted to follow in the footsteps even if they were in a negative light. As we previously read, this source also states that while more attention was being put on children and the crimes they were committing. The fact on how easily these youths obtained firearms were not ally brought into the light. An article titled Truth in numbers: Former gang members discuss the reality of Chicago rising homicide numbers(2012) we learn estimated 70,000 members make up Chicago gang population. These once organized crime groups, over time have splintered into these smaller more corrupt gangs and have since doubled the numbers of conflicts within communities. Former gang member Benny Lee says there is now a total lack of accountability on the streets. Lee was once a gang leader of Chicago Vice Lords; he also goes on to say there was always members of the gang keeping you in check. Even tough he was a leader of a gang; it was a smaller gang that belonged to the Vice Lord nation. Once Lee starting making regular appearances to prison, he noticed a negative change in the gang life. Every time he returned home the streets seemed a little worse, these older gang members who were keeping everyone in the gang community in check, were disappearing. The loss of these leaders has caused the gang world today to spiral out of control. We see gangs killing Just to kill with no responsibility for anything. There are a lot of gangs out these running wild doing whatever they want cause they dont have a true leader. Unlike the vice lords of Benny Lees day, gangs today are much more violent and younger than ever. Causing what seems like a youth gang epidemic in the streets of Chicago and many other cities. Getting guns off of the street reduces violent crime. Although many efforts have been put out and are still being carried out today, murder due to illegal firearms is still prominent. Personally, a proposed approach I would take would be similar to the ceasefire program. Instead of the city spending millions on buy-back and advertisements on UN policies I think some money should go to former gang members, such as Benny Lee. Individuals who are willing to fight back against young, violent gang crimes by telling their stories and informing these future criminals about the consequences of these actions. It is nearly impossible to keep illegal gunrunners off of the street, but I also believe that a different approach can be taken to the streets to slow down these suppliers. In conclusion, by creating a program to severely decrease the number of illegal firearms in circulation we should see a large decline in violent gang crimes in many cities.

Decriminalization of Marijuana essays

Decriminalization of Marijuana essays The word marijuana means different things to different people. To doctors and pharmacists, it means a medication that can be used to treat pain and ease sickness. To police officers, it means an illegal substance that alters a persons mood, feelings, and personality. And to most law-abiding citizens, marijuana means something that will get them into trouble. It has not always been this way in America. Not until the early twentieth century did marijuana receive its bad reputation. Marijuana cultivation in the United States can trace its lineage some 400 years. (Stroup 1) For most of our nations history, farmers grew marijuana {then known exclusively as hemp} for its fiber content. Colonialists planted the first American hemp crop in 1611 near Jamestown, Virginia. (Stroup 2) Marijuana cultivation continued as an agricultural staple in America through the turn of the 20th century. (Stroup 2) Marijuana first earned recognition as an intoxicant in the 1920s and 1930s. Recreational use of the drug became associated primarily with the Mexican-American immigrant workers and African-American jazz musician community. During this time, hemp was renamed marihuana and the plants longstanding history as a cash crop was replaced with a new image: The Devils Weed. (Stroup 2) In 1930, the federal government founded the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), headed by Commissioner Harry Anslinger. The group launched a misinformation campaign against the drug and enrolled the services of Hollywood and several tabloid newspapers. Headlines across the nation began publicizing alleged reports of marijuana-induced insanity and violence. Exaggerated accounts of violent crimes committed by immigrants reportedly intoxicated by marijuana became widespread. (Stroup 2) Once under the influence of the drug, criminals knew no fear and lost all inhibitions. (Stroup 2) For example, a news bul...

Discrimination Against Women and the History of CEDAW

Discrimination Against Women and the History of CEDAW The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is the key international agreement on womens human rights. The Convention was adopted by the United Nations in 1979. What Is CEDAW? CEDAW is an effort to eliminate discrimination against women by holding countries responsible for discrimination that takes place in their territory. A convention differs slightly from a treaty, but is also a written agreement among international entities. CEDAW can be thought of as an international bill of rights for women. The Convention acknowledges that persistent discrimination against women exists and urges member states to take action. Provisions of CEDAW include: States Parties, or signers, of the Convention shall take all appropriate measures to modify or abolish existing laws and practices that discriminate against women.States Parties shall suppress trafficking of women, exploitation, and prostitution.Women shall be able to vote in all elections on equal terms with men.Equal access to education, including in rural areas.Equal access to health care, financial transactions, and property rights. History of Womens Rights in the UN The U.N.s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) had previously worked on the political rights of women and the minimum marriage age. Although the U.N. charter adopted in 1945 addresses human rights for all people, there was an argument that the various U.N. agreements about sex and gender equality were a piecemeal approach that failed to address discrimination against women overall. Growing Womens Rights Awareness During the 1960s, there was increased awareness around the world about the many ways women were subjected to discrimination. In 1963, the U.N. asked the CSW to prepare a declaration that would gather in one document all of the international standards regarding equal rights between men and women. The CSW produced a Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, adopted in 1967, but this Declaration was only a statement of political intent rather than a binding treaty. Five years later, in 1972, the General Assembly asked the CSW to consider working on a binding treaty. This led to a 1970s working group and eventually the 1979 Convention. Adoption of CEDAW The process of international rule-making can be slow. CEDAW was adopted by the General Assembly on December 18, 1979. It took legal effect in 1981, once it had been ratified by twenty member states (nation states, or countries). This Convention actually entered into force faster than any previous convention in U.N. history. The Convention has since been ratified by more than 180 countries. The only industrialized Western nation that has not ratified is the United States, which has led observers to question the U.S. commitment to international human rights. How CEDAW Has Helped Womens Rights In theory, once States Parties ratify CEDAW, they enact legislation and other measures to protect womens rights. Naturally, this is not foolproof, but the Convention is a binding legal agreement that helps with accountability. The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) cites many CEDAW success stories, including: Austria implemented CEDAW committee recommendations about protecting women from spousal violence.The High Court of Bangladesh prohibited sexual harassment, drawing on CEDAWs employment equality statements.In Colombia, a court overturning a total ban on abortion cited CEDAW and acknowledged reproductive rights as human rights.Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have revised land ownership processes to ensure equal rights and meet the standards in the Convention.

Economic Consequences of Credit Market Failure in Uganda Assignment

Economic Consequences of Credit Market Failure in Uganda - Assignment Example Its influence is becoming increasingly pervasive through a constant series of federal court decisions as well as steady enlargement in the size and scope of administering agencies. "The failure of formal credit institutions to serve the poor is due to a combination of high risks, high costs and consequently low returns associated with such business." (Orkut et al. 2004:5) Despite the pressure from the International agencies and Governments of the developed nations it will neither fruitful for the economy of the developing countries nor for the consumers of these countries to implement terms and conditions of lending and borrowing as applied in the developed countries. Factors contributing to this argument are many and varied, which include: Difference in economic conditions. Difference in technology and skills. Dependence economies of both the countries on Labour intensive industries. Loss of competitive advantage in international trade. The economy of Uganda is considered as one of the fastest growing economy in the African countries. The growth in the Gross domestic Product of Uganda has reached to 6.9%per year from 2.9% in the era of 1980s according to World Bank. (World Bank 2004:183) As a consequence of this growth,Appleton (2001:4)has estimated,based on household surveys,that the poverty headcount (defined relative to a poverty line close to the widely used dollar a day)has declined substantially:From 56%in 1992 to 34%in 1999/2000 - mainly because mean consumption per adult equivalent rose by 4.7%%per annum over this period (its distribution worsened slightly).Wider measures of poverty (the poverty gap ratio P1 and the poverty severity ratio P2)declined even more tha n the poverty headcount ratio (P0),thus indicating that the...This responsibility is being increasingly codified in law and various governmental orders. Its influence is becoming increasingly pervasive through a constant series of federal court decisions as well as steady enlargement in the size and scope of administering agencies. Despite the pressure from the International agencies and Governments of the developed nations it will neither fruitful for the economy of the developing countries nor for the consumers of these countries to implement terms and conditions of lending and borrowing as applied in the developed countries. The economy of Uganda is considered as one of the fastest growing economy in the African countries. The growth in the Gross domestic Product of Uganda has reached to 6.9%per year from 2.9% in the era of 1980s according to World Bank. (World Bank 2004:183) a. Competitive advantage: For the labour intensive economies like Uganda the competitive advantage heavily relies on the low cost of labour. In the countries like Uganda where most of the population of the country is leading their life below the poverty line it sometimes become inevitable for the consumers to make their child work so that they can get the basic necessities of life i.e. food, shelter and clothing.

An introduction to accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An introduction to accounting - Essay Example Accounting may not be popular but it is a must for any organisation,be it in the manufacturing or service sector, whatever its size,whichever country it is based in and whether or not its aim is to maximise profits.Without accounting resources cannot be managed effectivelyIt is irrefutable that any business organization requires the use of accounting. In fact, the use of accounting dates back from the time a business organization is formed. A company cannot function efficiently without the use of a system which list down the financial transactions that it undertakes (Atrill and McClaney 2001). In the simplest sense, accounting can be defined as the system which provides information about the financial situation of an organization.Since accounting is all about recording financial transactions, it is then a necessity for any organization which deals with money (Atrill and McClaney 2001). And looking at the global business situation right now, no business entity is ever existent without financial resources. Accounting provides a systematic and comprehensive way of recording a company's financial transactions. For one, the accounting equation serves as the basis of the company's financial statements recognizing the principle of double-entry bookkeeping in accounting. The accounting equation is as follows: assets less liabilities = shareholders' equity. It can also be expanded as: assets less liabilities = shareholders' equity (revenue less expenses)(Keown et al 2005). ... Accounting aids a business organization to gather three types of information namely operating, financial, and managerial (Atrill and McClaney 2002). All companies are required to use accounting for operating purposes or for daily activities in order to record and determine the amount of salary owed to workers, track sales, and level of inventory. Secondly, financial information is also needed in order to attract shareholders and creditors. The company often needs to prove to these providers of financial aid that it is worthy of receiving resources. Thus, a company should record transactions and report them to these interested entities. Lastly, accounting is used for decision making. Companies are interested to know how much inventory should be produced in a given month, whether to manufacture in-house or source from a supplier, whether to acquire a new equipment or not. It should be noted that the purposes and information provided by accounting is used by any business organization whether from the goods or service sector. As long as there is money involved, transactions are irrefutably recorded. The financial resources are tracked through accounting. For one, the most common goal of a company which is to make money can only be evaluated if financial transactions are constantly monitored and recorded systematically. A business can only know whether it makes money or not when it employs a system which tracks its revenue and its expenses. However, it should also be stressed that accounting is also required even for not-for-profit business organizations. Non-government organizations like Red Cross and Youth for Christ employ accounting to record their expenses and budget

Reading response of the reading identities and social locations Essay

Reading response of the reading identities and social locations - Essay Example The part of my identity that I underplay is physical characteristics. If my idea is tied with the way, I look. Basing my self-worth and identity is a monumental bad idea. This is because if I gain weight, there is no way I will be happy. If I have something that I believe is ugly, it will lower my self-esteem. My people are the people I identify with. People that have characteristics similar to mine, we have common interests and we are all equal, no one feels stronger than the other in any aspect does. I refer Chinese in America as my people. Home according to me is a physical place or an emotion that gives me a sense of belonging, here I identify with each other, and we can share affiliations ((Okazawa-Rey & Gwyn, 110). A social location is a point where all characteristics of my identity meet. It determines the privileges I can have and situations, which are beyond my control. My social location is Chinese, educated class, female, heterosexual, and studying in America. From the dimensions in the social location, the social dimensions that provide privilege and power is class and education. While the dimension that provides less power and disadvantage is race, and sexual orientation. Most white privilege bearers try to do their best in looking out and avoiding ways of helping them get ahead of life. It is not a simple task, this is because education has helped them in recognizing the privileges, and therefore, their understanding has not been with them for their entire life. According to my understanding, for one to be equity activist, they have to dismantle the system that favors some people for no go reason than the social group members (Okazawa-Rey & Gwyn,

Hamza Yusuf Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hamza Yusuf - Essay Example He schooled in California and the East Coast. Hamza spent the summer of his 12th year in Greece where he learnt the catechism within the advanced Christian studies. After returning from Greece, Hamza went to an experimental school in Marin County. He attended high school in the East Coast. In high school, Hamza started concentrating on God and religion. He came to the realisation that his Christianity was because his parents were Christians.1 In 1977, he was converted to a Christian. He believed that most people in the West failed in their realisation of oppression in Muslim states because of culture. He opted to live as a Muslim in the West than living in other Muslim countries. He believed that Muslims live well in the West. Thereafter, in 1996, he and his colleagues founded Zaytuna Institute. This prepared for the revival of traditional study methods and Islamic sciences. Yusuf took a stance against religious justifications for the terrorist attacks. Hamza has been an outspoken an d passionate critic of the foreign policy in America and an extremist for the responses towards the policies. He has managed to draw criticism for Muslim extremists in the East and West. His writings played a crucial part in his abandoning of extremism. Pre-9/11 Radical Before the bombing in September 11, Hamza had expressed some radical Islamist sentiments on various occasions. He praised the idea of Muslims being the threat to society. He argued that the threat was geared towards fighting against the inhumanity and injustice in the society. He argued that they were not to fight against the jihad. He depicted the American culture as spreading the diseases such as AIDS and cancer. In 1995, Hamza rallied against Judaism. They believed that God became biased in calling Jews in Mt. Sinai and that the rest of the people in the world are rubbish. He condemned the Jewish religion and regarded it as a racist one. He criticised Christians for associating themselves with Jews, yet they rejec ted God and crucified Him.2 In 1996, Hamza described US as a country with so little to be proud of, both in the present and past. He compared his reverence for Islam with the democracy in America. In his comparison, he said that he was an American citizen by birth and not by choice, and he resides in the country, not by choice but by the conviction of spreading Islamic messages in America. He argued that he became a Muslim since he never believed in false gods of the society. He believed that convention resolutions were meaningless Masonic exercises used by men to ensure that nothing changes. From Jamil al-Amin to George Bush In 2001, Hamza talked of fundraising for the legal defence of Jamil al-Amin in Irvine. He combined the praise for al-Amin with the harsh attacks on the United States. He portrayed US as a country plagued with anti-Muslim conspiracies. He praised the courage of al-Amin and condemned the acts of the government that aimed at silencing him. He also claimed of unjus t trial and life sentencing of Omar Abdel-Rahman, after he conspired to kill the former President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, as well as plotting to bomb the Holland and Lincoln tunnels. He criticised US for institutionalised racism. He hinted on a catastrophe hitting US, and true to his words, the 9/11 terrorist attack happened. His tone dramatically shifted where he denounced jihadists by warning Muslims not to emulate them. He condemned the act saying that it was pure murder and not holy war. Closet Radical or Newborn Moderate: Hamza’

The pharmaceutical industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The pharmaceutical industry - Essay Example These blockbuster drugs, which could have yielded substantial profits for their manufacturers have to be pulled out of the market due to mounting number of lawsuits from patients. These episodes have also proven to be public relations disasters for the pharmaceutical industry, which could explain the decline in profits. There are some political reasons as well. For example, growing health-care costs are heatedly debated in the Congress and Presidential races. Healthcare costs in the United States are the highest within the industrial world and its outcomes are some of the poorest. The pressure from the general public to reverse this trend has meant that politicians are skeptical to make further concessions to Pharmaceuticals industry. Also, there was a dip in the annual spending on prescription drugs since 2003. Between 1990 and 2003, there was a 12.5% annual increase in spending, which was expected to lower to 10% annual growth till 2013. Hence, there are a multitude of factors that have contributed to the decline in profits of pharmaceutical companies. Going forward, the prospects for the pharmaceutical industry will depend on the usefulness of genomics technology in helping find cures for various chronic ailments. Again, there is a political angle to this scenario, as conservative sections of the demography are against stem-cell research and genomics-based medical interventions, which they argue is unethical from a theological viewpoint. Having said so, scientific advancement in this area could open up plenty of revenue generating opportunities for companies in the pharmaceutical industry. There are some valid threats as well, including the pressure exerted on the judiciary to reduce the span of proprietary patents from 20 years to lesser. The smaller competitors to mega-corporations like Pfizer argue that the monopoly offered by such patents virtually wipes out competition and hands over unlimited pricing power to

Hamza Yusuf Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hamza Yusuf - Essay Example He schooled in California and the East Coast. Hamza spent the summer of his 12th year in Greece where he learnt the catechism within the advanced Christian studies. After returning from Greece, Hamza went to an experimental school in Marin County. He attended high school in the East Coast. In high school, Hamza started concentrating on God and religion. He came to the realisation that his Christianity was because his parents were Christians.1 In 1977, he was converted to a Christian. He believed that most people in the West failed in their realisation of oppression in Muslim states because of culture. He opted to live as a Muslim in the West than living in other Muslim countries. He believed that Muslims live well in the West. Thereafter, in 1996, he and his colleagues founded Zaytuna Institute. This prepared for the revival of traditional study methods and Islamic sciences. Yusuf took a stance against religious justifications for the terrorist attacks. Hamza has been an outspoken an d passionate critic of the foreign policy in America and an extremist for the responses towards the policies. He has managed to draw criticism for Muslim extremists in the East and West. His writings played a crucial part in his abandoning of extremism. Pre-9/11 Radical Before the bombing in September 11, Hamza had expressed some radical Islamist sentiments on various occasions. He praised the idea of Muslims being the threat to society. He argued that the threat was geared towards fighting against the inhumanity and injustice in the society. He argued that they were not to fight against the jihad. He depicted the American culture as spreading the diseases such as AIDS and cancer. In 1995, Hamza rallied against Judaism. They believed that God became biased in calling Jews in Mt. Sinai and that the rest of the people in the world are rubbish. He condemned the Jewish religion and regarded it as a racist one. He criticised Christians for associating themselves with Jews, yet they rejec ted God and crucified Him.2 In 1996, Hamza described US as a country with so little to be proud of, both in the present and past. He compared his reverence for Islam with the democracy in America. In his comparison, he said that he was an American citizen by birth and not by choice, and he resides in the country, not by choice but by the conviction of spreading Islamic messages in America. He argued that he became a Muslim since he never believed in false gods of the society. He believed that convention resolutions were meaningless Masonic exercises used by men to ensure that nothing changes. From Jamil al-Amin to George Bush In 2001, Hamza talked of fundraising for the legal defence of Jamil al-Amin in Irvine. He combined the praise for al-Amin with the harsh attacks on the United States. He portrayed US as a country plagued with anti-Muslim conspiracies. He praised the courage of al-Amin and condemned the acts of the government that aimed at silencing him. He also claimed of unjus t trial and life sentencing of Omar Abdel-Rahman, after he conspired to kill the former President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, as well as plotting to bomb the Holland and Lincoln tunnels. He criticised US for institutionalised racism. He hinted on a catastrophe hitting US, and true to his words, the 9/11 terrorist attack happened. His tone dramatically shifted where he denounced jihadists by warning Muslims not to emulate them. He condemned the act saying that it was pure murder and not holy war. Closet Radical or Newborn Moderate: Hamza’

Australias economic growth relies on Asias continuing demand for Essay - 2

Australias economic growth relies on Asias continuing demand for resources - Essay Example However, there are indications by several observers to the effect that the situation is likely to change especially with the euro zone crisis and the fact that there might be a reduction in the dependence of minerals by large Asian markets like China (Das 2012, p.2). Economic growth may refer to the relative increase in production of goods and services by a country over a definite period. Australia’s economic growth therefore means that it has to continue improving is production in the mineral sector that has been a major driver of its economy. The Asian market refers to the countries in the Asian continent that have continued to import the minerals from Australia. Consequently, the intention of this discussion is to ascertain whether Australia’s economy has largely depended on the Asian market. To further illustrate this, two listed companies that are engaged in exports will be examined. There have been several sentiments that have been put forth to suggest that the co untry has been reliant on the Asian market especially for its energy and minerals exports. To begin, the Australian economy has been on a sharp rise in decades as a result of its connection with the Chinese market. The country’s mineral sector has largely benefited from the rapidly expanding Chinese economy that has been a great consumer of mineral ores. To illustrate this fact, there are indications that about 23% of Australia’s exports go directly to the Chinese market (Das 2012, p. 3). Moreover, this figure is even likely to be reviewed upwards given that some of the exports to Asian countries are further re-exported to China. As a result, it is stated that the terms of trade between the two nations has increased to over 40% since the year 2004. Capling (2008, p. 610) points the overdependence on the Asian market to the issue of globalization of trade among nations in the Asian

Plato’s “Myth of Metals” and Aristotle’s Analysis of Happiness Essay Example for Free

Plato’s â€Å"Myth of Metals† and Aristotle’s Analysis of Happiness Essay According to The Oxford American College Dictionary, the term happiness is defined as â€Å"[the state of] being satisfied† or â€Å"[the state of] having a sense of confidence in or satisfaction with a†¦situation† (Lindberg 609). In their treatises on politics and the governance of man, Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato address the correlation between the concept of happiness, the establishment and management of a society, and the genetic predisposition of man. This paper will compare the following concepts discussed in Aristotle’s Ethics and Plato’s â€Å"The Myth of The Metals† from The Republic: 1. ) Man’s abilities and vocation are based on/determined by biology (genetic predisposition), and those predispositions form natural divisions or â€Å"classes,† which help to organize a community/society/nation; 2. ) Man can achieve happiness if he or she fulfills/performs his/her pre-determined role – the role for which he or she is naturally suited and that others should encourage and nurture; 3. ) Man must serve his community/society/nation, which prepares him for his â€Å"natural† role, and that service will also provide man with happiness or a â€Å"sense of satisfaction. † Plato and Aristotle describe biology as a factor in man’s choice of profession. Both philosophers note that vocation is determined by ability, and that ability is the result of genetics. This includes those who govern or rule others. In â€Å"The Myth of The Metals† chapter of The Republic, Plato states that each man (woman and child) receives a particular metal mixture at birth, and that the metal received determines a person’s skill set and station in life. Plato says, â€Å"†¦in fashioning those among you who are competent to rule, mixed gold into them at their birth, whereby they are the most precious, and silver into the auxiliaries; and iron and bronze into the farmers and the other craftsmen (107). In other words, the traits or characteristics of any person determine what that person will do with his or her life. Additionally, the person who governs or leads others has unique, unusual qualities that most other people don’t have – qualities that are innate to that person. In Ethics, Aristotle too discusses man’s biological traits as a determinant of his or her profession and classification in society. Aristotle says, â€Å"†¦from natural causes that some beings command and others obey; for a being who is endowed with a mind capable of reflection and forethought is by nature the superior and governor, whereas he whose excellence is merely corporeal is formed to be a slave (1252). Thus, like Plato, Aristotle believes that each man is â€Å"born† to perform certain roles, roles for which each person has a genetic predisposition or natural ability. That ability automatically separates a person from others based on the job or way that person earns his or her living. For example, educators and physicians will associate with other professionals; while custodians and other blue collar workers will form other associations. Plato also discusses the need to nurture a person’s natural talents, regardless of family background or origin – because those talents will bring a person the highest level of satisfaction and happiness. He states, â€Å"†¦you will mostly beget children like yourselves, but it is possible that a silver child should be born of gold, or a golden child born of silver, and so all the rest from one another†¦If their own offspring are born alloyed with bronze or iron, they will assign it the grade appropriate to its nature and thrust it out among craftsmen and farmers without pity† (107). Thus, parents, teachers, other community stakeholders and society in general must nurture the innate abilities of others, especially youth. Aristotle too describes the necessity of accepting the natural differences that exists between people and safeguarding the skills of each person. By developing individual talents, not only does the individual benefit, but society does as well. Aristotle notes, â€Å"Why is it also necessary that, without exception, the one should govern, the other always be governed? it is evident then that both parties ought to be virtuous; but there is a difference between them, as there is between those who by nature command and who by nature obey, and this originates in the soul; for in this nature has planted the governing and submitting principle;†¦and that those who enjoy the best government will live the most happily according to their circumstances† (1260). Another commonality in the messages of Plato and Aristotle is discussion of man’s need to provide service to his fellow man. Plato speaks of the responsibility that a person has not only to himself/herself, but to family and the community-at-large. He also notes that importance of â€Å"giving back† for the nurturing and kindness that others in society provide. Plato states, â€Å"†¦we reared and educated them, being formed and nurtured [within the earth]†¦they must now take counsel for the defense of their country as a mother and nurse, if anyone comes against it, and consider the rest of their fellow citizens as brothers†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (107). Man’s service to others is service to a community/nation, and the provision of that service is a form of happiness. Aristotle also describes how service to others, and that includes participation in the governance of others, is a source of happiness. He states, â€Å"†¦It follows that happiness consists of virtuous activity, and that both with respect to the community as well as the individual an active life is the happiest;†¦for virtuous activity has an end, therefore is something practical; nay, those who contrive the plan which others follow are more particularly said to act† (1360). In other words, positive behavior acts provide happiness to the person that commits them and to other members of the community. Service also provides a foundation for government. In conclusion, Plato’s and Aristotle’s works address the relationship between genetics, profession and individual happiness. Both writers express that each person has innate talents and characteristics. Those talents should be nurtured and encouraged by others. Those talents help to determine a person’s career choices and provide a natural classification system in society. Those characteristics also affect whether a person will participate in the governance of others and the type of government that is established. Ultimately, if a person utilizes his or her talents and gives back to the community, that person will locate â€Å"true† happiness – a happiness that others can share. ?

History and Development of Programming Languages

History and Development of Programming Languages Yash Ojha Introduction Programming languages play the most important role in the creation of various  Software’s. Application, and Webpages etc. Just because of the existence of programming languages today everything related to New Technology is possible. For example the various Social Networking sites that we use is a result of Programming Language, the Mobile phones that we use in our daily life is a brilliant outcome of programming as every IC in the circuit of the mobile phones are programmed due to which it works. The most important outcome of Programming Language is the creation of Operating Systems (OS). OS is something without which we cannot use our PC’s or Laptop’s or even our mobile phones. OS acts as a base for every single function of a device to work in short it provides an important platform for the working. If no programming languages were introduced then today it nearly impossible for the people to use computers, mobile phones, servers, and various other things. But thanks to the developers of the various types of Languages that made peoples life very easy and mobile. 1 All about JAVA! Java was developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems in 1992 and was officially  released in 1995. JAVA Technology is a programming language that is used for meeting  the objectives of current challenges and opportunities in the present computing realm. Java Virtual Machine (JVM): JVM is an Interpreter for JAVA programming language,   i.e., it is the only way to convert a Byte Code into machine language. The Byte Code  cannot be converted using any technique other than the JVM. Therefore as I said above Byte Code somehow helps Java in being secure. Java Runtime Environment (JRE): We all know that that the major problem with the programming languages before JAVA was platform dependency i.e., if we want to run the code compiled in Windows Xp in Linux, this was not possible as for that we need a special compiler which works in Linux only. So to solve this problem JRE was launched and became a part of java. Every Operating System have some mandatory files that are needed to run java on that particular OS. So in short JRE in the collection of all those mandatory files needed to run java on various OS’s plus JVM. Due to JRE today it is possible to use the code written in some OS in any other OS. So JRE made JAVA completely PLATFORM INDEPENDENT. The byte code is loaded into JVM using the Class Loader. JIT (Just in Time): JIT works as a verifier. It verifies the Byte Code first whether it is infected or not or whether it is holding some kind of virus in it or not. If found clean it forwards the Byte Code to the JVM for further process. JIT is completely responsible for the SECURITY of JAVA. Let’s see the whole process graphically. A.java A.class 2 Now I’ll show you a basic program in java with its output. class Sample { public static void main(Strings) { System.out.println(Hello World); } } Let’s talk about the main() function. The main function is made up of 5 things. Access Specifier Function Name public static void main() Parentheses Access Modifier Return Type Java Fundamentals All programming languages have its own syntax and reserved keywords. JAVA also  has these kind of language fundamentals.   Basic fundamentals of java includes: Java Keywords Data Types Legal and Illegal Identifiers Operators Let’s see every fundamental in detail. Java Keywords: Keywords are the words that convey special meaning to the language compiler. These are reserved for special purposes and must not be used as normal identifier names. Data Types: Data types are keywords are means to identify the type of data and how much memory a variable needs to carry out a particular operation. Data types are divided into two types: Primitive Data Types (8 types) Non Primitive Data Types (User Defined 3 types) Legal and Illegal Identifiers: Identifiers are building blocks of a program and are used as the general terminology for the names given to different parts of the program viz. variables, objects, classes, function, arrays etc. 3 Operators: The operations being carried out are represented by operators. The operations (specific tasks) are represented by operators and the objects of the operation are referred as operands Classes in JAVA Class is a collection of objects of similar types of objects. Objects are nothing but a buffer or an area and are defined by something which have some property and behaviour. In java objects are created in the HEAP Memory inside the Java Virtual Machine. Syntax for creating an object in java: Class name object name=new class name(); new is a keyword of java which when used creates an object in the HEAP. Now whenever we use the new keyword a space in created in the HEAP memory inside the JVM for the object at runtime. When we print the reference variable of some class then it prints 3 things: Class name â€Å"@† symbol Hash code Graphical representation of HEAP and other memory areas available inside the JVM. 4 Principal of Object Oriented Programming (OOP) The object oriented programming has been developed with a view to overcome the draw backs of conventional programming approaches. The OOP approach is based on certain concepts that helps it to attain its goal of overcoming the drawbacks of conventional programming approaches. There are 4 general concepts of OOP: Polymorphism Inheritance Abstraction Encapsulation (it’s a part of abstraction) Polymorphism: It is the ability for a message or data to be processed in more than one form or it can simply be defined as one name used for many tasks which is used to speed up the compilation time. Inheritance: This is a parent-child relationship between two classes. In this, the child class object inherits some properties of the parent class object. Abstraction Abstraction refers to the act of representing essential features without including the background details or explanations. Abstraction is divided into two parts: Abstract Class: Abstract class is used to define a rule. Rules in abstract class: All the task which we can perform in a normal java class can also be performed in an abstract class. In abstract class we can define normal method as well as abstract methods. It is not compulsory to have at least one abstract method in a class. If a method is abstract then the class should be abstract. We cannot instantiate (cannot create the object) of abstract class. Abstraction is achieved using extends keyword. Interfaces: Interface are pure abstract methods. A class implements an interface, thus inheriting the abstract methods of an interface. An interface contains the behaviour that the class implements. The class that implements interface is abstract. Syntax: interface my; { declaration of methods;} 5 Rules in Interface: We cannot instantiate of an interface. Interface are used to define the rules purely. All the methods of an interface are by default public and abstract. In case of interface we use the keyword implements. If we define any data member inside an interface than by default it becomes static and final. Interface is used to achieve Multiple Inheritance. Packages Packages is a collection of classes and interfaces. No class can exist without a package included in it. This is the rule of OOP’s. But when we open a class we don’t always make a package in that class, so in this case the rule of OOP’s is violated. So to avoid this problem JAVA has given a feature in its compiler due to which when we compile the program, the compiler automatically creates a package of the respective class during the compile time. Command to compile the program with a package: javac –d . p.java Name of the project current directory is the same location as the class where the package is to be made. Destination. –d . is called the switching tool. Program with a package can be executed by using the Command: Java . Exception Handling When any abnormal condition that comes in a code which can be handled then that situation is known as Exception Handling. For every exception there are exception classes and exception methods to handle that exception in java by default. We can easily handle these unwanted exceptions by using try and catch block. Try is used to detect exceptions in a program and catch is used to handle that The â€Å"finally† block: If an exception occurs in a program then the try and catch block will be executed and then the program terminates in normal condition. But in case of finally before the termination of program finally block also executes. Syntax: try{-} catch{-} finally{-} 6 Threads Every process is divided into two categories: Heavy Weight Processes Light Weight Processes Heavy Weight Processes: These processes are those processes which stores a separate area in RAM. Light Weight Processes: These processes are those processes which occupy memory under the heavy weight processes. These light weight processes which occupy memory under the heavy weight processes are known as Threads in JAVA. Basically there are two ways in which we can make a thread: By directly implementing the runnable interface. By internally implementing the thread class in interface runnable and extending thread class. Multithreading Every part of a program is called a thread and every thread defines a separate path   of execution. Java provides a building support for multithreading program. The multithreaded  program contains two or more parts that execute concurrently. Priority of which thread will start working first is decided by a program named as Thread   Scheduler which is a program of the Operating System. It gives the priority randomly. Synchronization To avoid the corruption of data we use the concept of synchronization in threads. When we share a single object into multiple threads then the chance of data  Corruption arises and to avoid this we need the concept of synchronization. The keyword synchronized is applied on the function where the variables are  assigned values. Due to the concept of synchronization only one thread  executes at a time. Input/Output Stream Streams are nothing but a special type of buffer. In terms of JAVA streams are flow of bytes. Benefits of I/O Stream: Execution time reduces. Performance Enhances. Network congestion chances reduces. We get bulk data at a time. Streams are divided into two types: High Level Stream Low Level Stream High level stream cannot be used alone, whenever we want to use a high level stream we have to connect it by a low level stream. Stream Byte Stream Character Stream Console Based Unicode Input Output Reader Writer Stream Stream Byte Stream Input Stream Output Stream FileInputStream FileOutputStream BufferedInputStream BufferedOutputStream DataInputStream DataOutputStream ObjectInputStream ObjectOutputStream ByteArrayInputStream ByteArrayOutputStream PipedInputStream PipedOutputStream 8 Character Stream ` Reader Writer File Reader File Writer Buffered Reader Buffered Writer import java.io.*; class Demo0 { public static void main(String args[]) { FileOutputStream fout=new FileOutputStream(â€Å"a.txt†); PrintStream ps=new PrintStream(fout); ps.println(â€Å"hello†); ps.println(â€Å"hey†); System.setOut(ps); System.out.println(â€Å"m†); } } This is a sample program of how to write a file by coding in JAVA. Serialization Serialization is the process using which we can convert an object into a stream. If we have to use an object only once and then we need to use the same object after a long time then we use the concept of serialization. Features of Serialization: Only the object of that class can persist which implements serializable interface. If the parent class implements serializable interface then there is no need for child class to implement serializable. In case of serialization transient data members cannot persist. In case of serialization static data members cannot persist. Only the non-static data members can persist. If we make any variable transient that means those variables are unwanted now and will  get no memory in the HEAP inside the JVM. Serializable interface is a type of marker interface. Marker interface are those interface  which have no methods.