Experience At Work Speech Essay

At McDonalds lines of communication are pretty open especially for the ones still in high school or college. They give whatever hours you request and how many days you want to work. If you need off one of the days just be sure to ask off two weeks in advanced and they will make sure you get the day off. The overall experience at McDonalds after being there for over a year now is outstanding. I know most people think hey its McDonalds, but the benefits they aren’t bad at all. For one they are lenient with their hours and give however many hours you want. Secondly, they allow you to have $6 of free food each time you work, but that is only good of course if you like McDonald’s food. Third, on thanksgiving and Christmas they give bonuses depending on the amount of time you have worked there. For example around Christmas last year Ms. Geneva, the manager, gave me a $100 bill. The pay starts at minimum wage but steadily increases, I am at $7.80 per hour at the moment. Once y ou get to know the managers and workers everyone becomes intriguing to talk too as they all have unique stories. The customers are the only thing bad about working at McDonalds. Some can be nice and understanding, but then there are always those customers that are rude and impatient. Consequently, they do not understand that sometimes it is difficult to get their order right when they change it 5 different times. And it takes time for the food to be made if we run out for the moment. Other than that the only thing McDonalds has control over that gets me trouble is not being allowed to have any sort of beard. I like having a chin strap so I keep it trimmed, but every now and then they still get onto me†¦ and I don’t even work with food. The thing about McDonalds is you are never bored because there is a constant flow of customers at every hour of the day. At other jobs if you are not busy they send people home, but at McDonalds you are always busy especially in the mornings. That is another perk of McDonalds, if you are not scheduled to work that day and you are available to work you can always go ask if they need anybody and more days than not, they will say yes and you can go get extra hours in. McDonalds will more than likely be my job until I leave for college where I will hope to find a new job based on my engineering skills. I would have probably left McDonalds by now if it were not for the great experience and overall  benefits I get at McDonalds.

Event Industry Suppliers and Event Organisational Structures

Event Industry Suppliers and Event Organisational Structures Since the beginning of time human beings had the need of having special events. First, they were made for cultural and celebration purposes, but their area increased continuously. Today, the events vary from personal celebrations to mega events, from voluntary events to private musical events, form cultural to sporting events.Shone and parry classify special events by purpose and these are: leisure events (sport, recreation, and leisure), personal events (weddings, anniversaries, and birthdays), cultural events (Sacred, ceremonial, folklore, art, and heritage) and organizational events (commercial, political, charitable, sales). According to their size and scale, events are categorized in the following way, from the smallest to the biggest: local/community events, hallmark events, major events and mega events. Bowdin, 2006, p. 15) As Bowdin (23, 24) says further in his book, because of the complexity and volume of events in dustry today, a large range of event suppliers had been developed, which may work only for this industry, like catering, staging, lightning, fireworks, entertainment, but as Tassiopoulos (2005, p. 46) states, few suppliers are dedicated exclusively to the events, they just interfere with them as transportation, communication and security do.Events are organized by professionals working in a specific organizational structure, according to the size and complexity of the event. This could be simple, functional or a network one or a matrix type if the event is held at various venues. The network type consists in having an event manager or a small team as organizer(s) and hiring suppliers for what the event needs. So even if the organising team is not big enough to produce all the resources for an event, it can hire other organizations that supplies them with what else they need for materializing the event concept.This process is called by Bowdin as creating â€Å"virtual organisationsà ¢â‚¬  that lasts during the event then they disintegrate and each party can find other such organisations to join for future events. This kind of structure has the advantage of quick decision making, because the people who are making decisions are few in numbers, or only the event manager, others just being hired to do specific services. The activities of the events are usually categorised into distribution, production, venues and ancillary services. Shone and Parry (2010, p. 3 ) offer a list of organisations categorised by the type of services they are offering. The organisations who are working in the production area are: event management companies, party planners, production companies, event catering companies, exhibition and theatrical contractors and designers, technical services companies or individuals, professional party/conference oganisers, multimedia support companies voluntary bodies and education and training. ) Distribution organisations could be individual events and venues, event and conference agencies, trade madeia, hotel booking agencies.Visitior and convention bureau, incentive travel agencies, exhibition organisers, ticketing agencies, trade exhibitions and national and local tourist bodies. Some organisations that could supply the events with venues or services for venues are event room/hall/grounds hire, catering and kitchen facilities, accommodation, food and drink suppliers, business support services, medical and creche services, information and customer services, technical support, waste disposal and grounds clearance, toilets washrooms and public facilities, parking security and set designers.Also, still according to shone and parry, the organisations who offer anciliary services are: accommodation providers, photographers and video makers Transport and guiding services, music and entertainment providers, travel companies, costume hire service, marquee hire services, printer, floral contractor, database support service, fireworks di splay operator, professional and trade bodies, national and local government services. Event management companies, according to Bowdin (2006, p. 3), are organisations that are offering to organize events, usually large, for potential clients on contract basis. The gigantic corporations existing nowadays often contact these companies and usually generate long relationships with them, states Bowdin. Production companies are very similar to the event management ones, but they are restricted to the production, while the others may offer additional services without hiring external organisations. Party planners and professional event organisers do the same work as the event production companies, but they are individuals, nstead of teams or functional organisations. PCO, professional conference organisers, can organise conference and meetings for small groups or big conferences such as a political party meeting. Some venues serve their own food and beverage, but when an event is held at a venue without such services or in natural spaces, and the organisers want to provide to the customers, they will need to hire event catering companies, if they don’t have the resources themselves.These companies offer food and beverages from the simplest to very sophisticated types for events. The modern clients of events acquired taste and desire for quality and innovative dishes, so the catering services adapted their needs. These suppliers may have their own kitchen, the venue may provide them with one or the organisers will have to improvise a place where the food will be prepared.The organisers will have to consider other important factors when hiring these companies, such as waste management, asking the guests their preferences if it is a controlled event or researching the potential customers if it is an uncontrolled one, informing the catering company about the theme and the key moments of the event, such as speeches or surprise shows and assuring they will have enoug h food and beverages for the customers.Hotel booking agencies, incentive travel agencies, national, local tourist bodies, travel companies and accommodation companies play an important role in events if the customers are tourists or if they are coming from other localities and have to stay overnight. These organisations could provide some events with customers and offer them additional services such as accommodation and guiding. The event organisers could make contracts with these companies or buy their services for the customers in order to obtain them cheaper, instead of letting the clients buying by themselves.Ticketing agencies could be contacted to advertise the event, if the organisers are not specialised or don’t have time for this. If an event is theme based, then theme designers, costume hire services, floral contractors and other such companies can be hired to set a professional theme, buying the right supplies from retailers or producers of decoration or themed pro ducts for events. Photographers and video makers offer professional recording of events and they should be hired especially at cultural and personal events, because people like to memorise them over the years.Music and entertainment providers supply the events with the main component for the customer for the leisure events or they could just help for the ambiance at events that have other principal purposes. There are many available venues today that can and even ask to be hired for organising events. Many venue owners organise events by themselves, but also allows other professionals to hold events in their venues on a contract basis. The event manager should know how to negotiate with these venue owners and how to establish relationships.Government bodies also play an important role in events, because of the laws for preparation and sale of beverages, food, waste management and removal. External regulatory bodies As noted, contemporary events take place in an increasingly regulate d and complex environment. A series of local government and statutory bodies are responsible for overseeing the conduct and safe staging of events, and these bodies have an integral relationship with the industry.Councils often oversee the application of laws governing the preparation and sale of food, street closures, waste management and removal. In addition, events organizers have a legal responsibiliy to provide a safe workplace and to obey all laws and statutes relating to employment, contracts, taxation and so on. The professional event manager needs to be familiar with the regulations governing events and to maintain contact with the public authorities that have a vested interest in the industry. Bowdin 23 Events are held in many different locations from established venues to open spaces * The nature of your event will help dictate the type of venue you select * The event site or venue should be an effective space that suits the type of event being staged * Ultimately, the ve nue MUST be able to meet the needs of the event and its audience * â€Å"The number of new venues, and types of venues, opening their doors to conference delegates appears to be escalating, and there are increasing signs that demand for these facilities is not increasing at the same rate.Venues are not only changing in quantity but also in their quality. † * Davidson and Rogers (2006, p. 69) Top 5 Most Important Factors When Choosing a Venue as Identified by a Number of American Event Organisers 1. Size of the venue 2. Potential audience draw 3. Location 4. Number of meeting rooms 5. Price 6. Mike Lyon, Director, Write Style Communications, 7. The National Venue Show, (Sept. 2007) The choice of a venue is a crucial decision that will ultimately determine many of the elements of staging. Figure 13. 2 lists the major factors in the choice of a venue.The venue may be an obvious part of the theme of the event. A corporate party that takes place in a zoo is using the venue as part of the event experience. However, many events take place within ‘four walls and a roof’, the venue being chosen for other factors. It can be regarded an empty canvas on which the event is painted. Events can be staged in a range of unusual spaces, from unused factories, parkland, car parks or shopping centres, to floating stages on water or using flat-back trailers from articulated lorries in a supermarket car park.The event manager can exploit the surroundings and characteristics of the venue to enhance the event experience. In these situations, the traditional roles of stage manager and event manager become blurred. When the audience and the performers mix together and where they and the venue become the entertainment package, the delineation between stage and auditorium is no longer appropriate. An event that uses a purpose-built venue, for example, an arena or exhibition centre, will find that much of the infrastructure will be in place.Two documents _ Location _ M atching the venue with the theme of the event _ Matching the size of the venue to the size of the event _ Venue configuration, including sight lines and seating configuration _ History of events at that venue, including the venue’s reputation _ Availability _ What the venue can provide _ Transport to, from and around the venue; parking _ Access for audience, equipment, performers, VIPs, staff and the disabled _ Toilets and other facilities _ Catering equipment and preferred caterers Power (amount available and outlets) and lights _ Communication, including telephone _ Climate, including microclimate and ventilation _ Emergency plans and exits Figure 13. 2 The factors in venue selection 388 Events Management that are a good starting point for making an informed choice about the venue are the venue plan and the list of facilities. However, because there are so many factors in an event that are dependent on the venue or site, an inspection is absolutely necessary.For music event s, HSE (1999) suggest that main considerations for the site visit are available space for the audience, temporary structures, backstage facilities, parking, camping and rendezvous points, together with some idea of proposed capacity, concept for the entertainment and rough calculations of space requirements. For conference events, Shone (1998) identifies that location will be the key consideration, with the venue needing to be close to a main motorway and within an hour’s travelling time of a major city and airport (if international delegates are expected).Further, Owen and Holliday (1993) recommend that the event manager makes a preliminary unannounced visit to the venue to check the ambience and courtesy of staff before making arrangements. Lyon (2004, p. 2) notes that a site inspection or familiarization (Fam) trip provides you with the opportunity to sample the destination or potential venue, with the aim of you being able to sell this back to your organization and recapt ure the experience for your delegates. He provides a useful handbook to assist this process.Rogers (1998) suggests that there are a number of points to consider when shortlisting conference venues. These include: . the type of venue (hotel, conference centre, university, football stadia or stately homes) . the conference rooms and facilities available (including combination of room sizes and style of seating for the requirements of the event) . accommodation and leisure options (depending on residential requirements and opportunities for social activities) . an identifiable point of contact. As with many aspects of supplier selection, the Internet has had a significant effect on venue choice.Using a search engine is often the first action in the investigation of a suitable venue. Some websites display a choice of venues once certain information (such as size of audience, approximate location and type of event) has been entered. The major hotels, conventions and exhibition centres, u niversities and purpose-built venues have websites to enable the matching of event requirements to venue characteristics. However, this method has the same limitations as those of using photos and brochures to assess a venue. The websites are a tool for selling the venue, not a technical description.In addition, many suitable venues may not have an Internet presence. An Internet search will show only venues that expect to host events. If the event is truly special, the event venue may be part of that theme. A car park or a rainforest, for example, will not appear in a search for event venues. The final consideration when choosing an event is whether it requires a physical location at all. With the ongoing development of videoconferencing, and the extensive developments in the Internet, events can take place in ‘cyberspace’. With some events, e. g. usic concerts, the event takes place live in venue in the traditional manner, however, with the introduction of webcasting, a worldwide audience can view or experience the event simultaneously. In this instance, access to technological support and facilities, for example, a large bandwidth telephone line, will be a consideration. In other areas, for example, exhibitions and conferences, technology has been deployed in such a way that it may support the live event experience, through the website hosting supporting materials for visitors to view and in some cases interact with.Relatively recent advances in Internet technology, together with faster telecommunication infrastructure, have enabled conferences to take place solely on Staging events 389 line, with delegates interacting, either visually through videoconferencing or through text with instant messaging. Exhibitions can take place in virtual exhibition venues, which can either be modelled on the live exhibition venue as a means of supporting the event experience or can take place solely in the virtual world without the boundaries of traditional venu es and limited only by imagination and the available technology.The value of such developments is only just beginning to be realized, with some commentators predicting the death of live events, whilst other, more enlightened observers view these developments as a further medium to support or enhance the live event experience. The venue contract will have specialist clauses, including indemnifying the venue against damages, personnel requirements and provision of security staff. The contract can also contain the following elements: Security deposit: an amount, generally a percentage of the hiring fee, to be used for any additional work such as cleaning and repairs that result from the event. . Cancellation: outlining the penalty for cancellation of the event and whether the hirer will receive a refund if the venue is rehired at that time. . Access: including the timing of the opening and closing of the doors, and actual use of the entrances with controls to ensure only access to auth orized areas. . Late conclusion: the penalty for the event going overtime. . House seats: this is the reserved free tickets for the venue management. Additions or alterations: the event may require some changes to the internal structures of the venue. . Signage: this covers the signs of any sponsors and other advertising. Venue management approval may be required for all promotional material. 336 Events Management When hiring a venue, it is important to ascertain exactly what is included in the fee. For example, just because there were chairs and tables in the photo of the venue does not mean that they are included in the hiring cost. Negotiation: 500 words, Strong 4, identifying suppliers, special events 175 Conclusion

Hospitality Operation Management Essay

Executive Summary This report is based on the findings from Tripadvisor that aimed to examine theissues of in Bella Vista Hotel and Resort Langkawi and provided therecommendations for improving housekeeping management in the futureexpansion. The findings in this report are according to the comments fromguests who had been staying in Bella Vista Hotel and Resort previously and makethe judgments on those serious issues in this particular hotel. The studyconfirmed the existing of inappropriate hotel housekeeping operation andmanagement would strongly influence the image of hotel and lead this hoteltowards low revenue. This report discusses on four issues of Bella Vista Hoteland Resort which are room hygiene and cleanliness concerns, inappropriatemaintenance, bathroom and amenities as well as inconsistent manpowermanagement and other service. Because of the massive growth of travelers around the world, the guests‟ perception to the hotel rooms have been shifted differently compared the past. Hotel guests are looking forward a comfortableroom and proper hotel management when they are staying in particular hotel toincrease the satisfaction of guests. It is shown that the comments from hotelguests are effective means of evaluating the issues of Bella Vista Hotel andResort and the application of recommendations are highlighted. Introduction to assignment objectives Hospitality environment has always played a key role in the tourism and hotelculture. Lodging or Accommodation with service is the center of any hotel in theworld, but recently, it has been facing many problems. Society nowadays shiftsthe concerns from traditional style with high-class service and room amenities tothe flexibly modern way of saving money or budget oriented style due to thechanges of preferences, economic crisis and other external factors. Guestsbecome smarter and pickier when they choose the hotel to stay. The hotelsattempting to succeed have to forecast what the new trend is. And they alsoshould consider of combining two elements of luxury and budget in one coreproduct   room (Power, 2005).Malaysia is early named as one of the most popular tourist destinationsworldwide. With its significant hot spots, especially in island areas, tourists areincreasingly coming to Malaysia and enjoying their trip with affordable price.Langkawi islands (Malaysia) and its hotels serve a thousand of tourists annually,which means to sustain the quality and quantity, the hotels in this isolated islandput as much effort as possible. With the combination of the custom ers‟  expectation factors such as low rate and high quality in service, the frequency of guests‟ returns inclines tremendously in Langkawi. However, in an isolated area with many issues can be happened, and to solve the problems, it could beanalyzed critically and particularly.

The effect of biological principles on the architectural design Toward Essay

The effect of biological principles on the architectural design Toward sustainable approach - Essay Example Sponges can be examined in order to create more efficient buildings. Nature also optimizes energy consumptions and the elasticity of biomaterial. It introduces an era where expectations are not what to extract from nature, but rather what can be learn from it (Benyus, 2002) and (Pawlyn, 2011). This new era (Benyus, 1997) defines biomimicry as a new science that uses nature’s models as an inspiration to study the design, in order to find a solution to solve human problems. The concept of using nature as a model for manufactured products is not a new. Although Biomimicry has created a radical change, the architectural community and peoples’ perception of the contemporary building has not been positive. Like most new trends, some criticism has been raised against this approach. Biomimicry should be incorporated into inspirational architectural designs. The aim of this essay is to investigate how to create a natural design by exploring the link between the biological principles on the architectural design. The first part of this essay will discuss the background of biomimicry. The second part of the paper will focus on the principles of biometry and the relative approaches. The third part of the essay will discuss the effectiveness of the levels of biomimicry. In the last part the paper will illustrate some drawbacks against biomimicry In the English language, the creation of the term bionic (also known as biomimetic, biomimicry, bio-inspiration, biogenesis, biologically inspired design) probably originated from the Greek word bion (Iouguina, 2013). This word means life. Mimicry is to imitate or copy. Thus biomimicry is the imitating of life or living things. â€Å"Biomimicry from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate is a new discipline that studies natures best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems. Studying a leaf to invent a better solar cell is an example, it

Application of concept Analysis to Clinical Practice Essay

Application of concept Analysis to Clinical Practice - Essay Example Teamwork is considered a major facilitator for effective communication in various clinical settings. However, the meaning and nature of teamwork requires an in-depth research for effective translation of the concept into practice. As healthcare systems are regarded as organizations, teamwork helps to create more adaptive and productive working environments facilitating positive and cost-effective outcomes. Healthcare institutions throughout the world advocate the need for development of effective healthcare teams. Many researchers have even warned that lack of teamwork amongst healthcare individuals can lead to unsafe patient care practices. Better communication and understanding among healthcare professionals may reduce medication errors and effect patient outcomes positively. The lack of conceptual clarity with regards to actual representation of the concept is one of the major hindrances in clinical practice. ... thod as a concept may imply number of meanings in different contexts and it is important for clarification of concept to be explored according to its unique context. As the understanding of teamwork concept was merely addressed in healthcare theories, the authors compared their findings with theories from organizational theory literature. In first two steps of the process, the concept of team work was identified and purpose of the analysis was established. The study aimed at providing useful definition for the concept within healthcare, which also has implications for future research. Along from nursing, other literature was also searched to prevent biasness of opinion. Various databases including, Medline, CINAHL, Web of Science and Cambridge Scientific Abstracts were searched for terms ‘team working’, ‘teamwork’, ‘team’ and ‘team working’ to screen titles. Existing definitions for the concept were also deeply researched from liter ature published in the last few decades. In the next step, the uses of the concept were identified. It is critical to note here that though the concept should be examined across different disciplines, but complete explorations can sometimes also render the results impractical. For instance, in human resource management, teamwork increases the expertise and skills of the employees. Learning capabilities are nourished and enhanced through team work in educational settings. In healthcare, team work reduces medical errors to a greater extent improving patient outcomes. Multiple definitions for ‘Team’ and ‘Work’ were both combined and separately sought and analyzed from various English as well as medical dictionaries for better understanding of the combined term. Some attributes of teamwork were also determined in the next

Economics of small and medium enterprises Essay

Economics of small and medium enterprises - Essay Example This essay offers a comprehensive review of the current economic policy of the UK government towards small and medium-sized enterprises. The efficiency of such policy is also analysed. The smaller firms are less fortunate to obtain significant financial aid to combat their insolvency problems. The successive governments in UK have been witnessing comprehensive policy initiatives for uplifting the small enterprises. The very existence of SMEs is vital for the overall economic growth of the developing nation of UK. For preserving the economic opulence of the country, the existing small enterprises must be rescued from all hindrances of sustainability. The threat to these business units resulting into critical problems such as severe unemployment and decline in the economic growth has made the Government to identify the urgency to rescue such SMEs from collapsing. Various action plans and schemes have been taken up by the government for protecting these enterprises. However, the government itself, along with others, admits that a lot of work is yet to be done for achieving the success of reviving small enterprises. There lies a wide gap between preparation of plans and measures, and putting them into appropriate actions thereby ensuring viable results. Impeccable efforts are still missing in order to bridge up this gap. In spite of the endeavours for complete eradication of the barriers faced by the struggling small business firms, a viable implementation of actions for the revitalisation of the SMEs is still lagging far behind.

Cybersecurity Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cybersecurity - Coursework Example The paper throws light on cyberspace, a mine field for seekers of information. With every interaction with websites, there would be an increasing demand for personal information. Such have been used by malicious persons for their own gains. Air travel has been hard hit by cyber crime and cyber-security in airports has been a challenge with each passing day. The internet has been used for various purposes which include gathering, storage, processing and transfer of vast data amounts, which include sensitive and proprietary personal, transactional and business data. Organizations have heavily depended on computer systems for day-to-day businesses. Even as this capability has been relied more and more by various individuals and organizations, the internet has been plagued by threats of cyber-security. The information available in the internet has been used to create threats to operations of businesses and individuals. These threats evolve with the expansion of the internet and the risks that come with it continue to grow globally. The United States of America remain to be the hardest hit by cybercrime according to the report on internet crime by Bureau of Justice Assistance. There is a wide range of cyber attacks. Insider threats form the core perpetrators in computer crimes. According to Vatis, â€Å"insiders do not need a great deal of knowledge about computer intrusions† as they posses adequate knowledge on the systems which they attack which allows them to have unrestricted access â€Å"to damage the system or to steal system data†. ... ge about computer intrusions† as they posses adequate knowledge on the systems which they attack which allows them to have unrestricted access â€Å"to damage the system or to steal system data† (2002, p.3). Criminal groups have also increasingly used cyber intrusions for monetary gains. Vatis gives an example of such a group referred to as ‘Phonemasters’ who were indicted for stealing and accessing federal interest computer and being in possession of access devices for which they were unauthorized. Virus writers also pose a great threat to security in IT. Viruses propagate quickly because of the high speed networks currently available. Anti-virus software available and being careful with attachments would go a long way in curtailing such epidemics. Other cyber attacks emanate from terrorists, hackers and information warfare. Vatis defines cyber attacks as â€Å"computer-to-computer attacks carried out to steal, erase, or alter information or to destroy or impede the functionality of the target computer system† (2002, p.10). These could be categorized into three, namely; unauthorized intrusions where the attacker uses hacking techniques to break into a computer or unauthorized access by an insider to accomplish unauthorized tasks in the network; destructive worms or viruses spread through computers using forms of data exchange such as emails causing some parts of the network to lose functionality; and denial of service attacks where a computer would be overloaded with communication thus hampering its functionality. Due to the ever increasing critical business partners connected to customers and partners on the internet, many organizations have been left exposed to cyber attacks. There is no guarantee that malicious acts or intrusions would not happen. But aviation

Electronic Policing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Electronic Policing - Essay Example In a bid to enhance security and public safety, governments have embraced various approaches. Electronic policing is one of the key approaches that governments have embraced in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of crime control as well as to provide services to their citizens (Sheldon and Paul 29). This paper will discuss electronic policing. In particular, it will focus on showing that electronic policing is critical in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of crime control and providing services to citizens. Generally, electronic policing refers to the transaction of information and services between the citizens and police via the internet. It focuses on the needs of the public as well as those of the citizens. Electronic policing is a system that has been developed in the wake of the Internet, and it has become increasingly central to public information and access (Brainard and Teresa 384). Recent surveys of the models of police service have shown that electro nic service is an emerging trend, and its implementation has become successful in improving police services and controlling crime.

WesternHistory Eassy 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

WesternHistory Eassy 2 - Essay Example While there were several achievements made before this time, there were essentially four major technological advancements that enabled society to propel forward very quickly in England. In most of these cases, it seems clear that practicality and necessity is truly the mother of invention, just as the old adage claims. Leading into the Industrial Revolution, improvements in agricultural technology led to increased population growth and mobility, which also led to increased demand for textiles and other products leading to the need for more efficient production, transportation and power-generating techniques. The advent of the Industrial Revolution was fueled by improvements in agriculture that created surplus consumables. One technological improvement introduced during this era was a more efficient system of crop rotation. â€Å"Farmers had discovered a crop rotation system that allowed them to forgo leaving up to half the land unused or fallow between each planting. Animal husbandry was becoming widely used† (Bond et al, 2009). By planting previously fallow fields with revitalizing plants that also served to feed the livestock, farmers were able to get much greater yield from their fields and livestock, increasing the available food supply for themselves and the greater populace. At the same time, new innovations in metal-working were bringing this harder material to the farm, making it possible to complete work faster and with less effort. â€Å"During this time the seed drill was invented. This machine made sowing seed more effective, distributing the seeds evenly †¦ New iron plows made plowing easier and less time consuming. Thus, less human labor was required as the output of the farms increased dramatically† (Nosotro, 2010). This meant more food could be produced with fewer workers. More food meant more people were born and surviving. It also meant

Compare and contrast mesopotamia and egypt Essay Example for Free

Compare and contrast mesopotamia and egypt Essay Both Mesopotamia and Egypt have different universal views, which then affected their culture. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers of Mesopotamia have unpredictable flood patterns. This affected their view of the universe because the inability to prepare for floods leads the Mesopotamians to believe that the world was harsh and unforgiving. In contrast, the predictable, opportune floods of the Egyptian Nile led to a trust in supernatural powers. These polar opposite views also were seen in and affected the religious opinions of the afterlife. Due to the accounts Gilgamesh, a hero in an Egyptian epic, the afterlife is seen in a terrorizing light, whereas Mesopotamians looked forward to it. A huge division in these Middle Eastern civilization’s cultures were the formation of urbanization, and class systems. In Mesopotamia, a structured 3-part class system was developed, along with Hammurabi’s Law Code. The top class included land owning males and artisans, as well as royals and warriors. The middle class contained dependent people attached to land, and at the bottom was slaves employed for domestic work. Also the freedoms and some rights of women were lost around the second millennium. In Egypt, there too were classes, yet they weren’t as enforced and structured. Woman were held at a higher standard here because they weren’t secluded in the process of urbanization and class structure, like they were in Mesopotamia. Economically, both regions participated in trade that was under state control, and their economic growth was related to commerce. Although, Mesopotamia relied solely on imports, while Egypt had an import export system within its region along the Nile. Mesopotamia was very poor in resources. In contrast, Egypt was well endowed with resources, yet practiced isolationism, which made global economic trade through commerce impossible.

Relationship Between Information Rich in Information Poor

Relationship Between Information Rich in Information Poor 1. Introduction In order to discuss Feathers chapter 5 â€Å"information rich and information poor† conclusion of his book â€Å"The information Society, a study of continuity and change†, we need to understand what actually is information rich and information poor in relation to information society. We need to analyze what the political dilemma is; is it only a political dimension related issue within the information society? Is it a choice? And if there is, which way should be chosen and consider as politically correct? And finally we need to find what other real opportunities or options are given to us. This certainly is a discussion full of perplexity on which I will argue that despite the geo-political discrepancies between developing countries and developed countries the â€Å"digital divide† is not sine qua non to socio-economic political decisions anymore but has evolved in the past years into an Auto-Democratisation and Liberalisation and should be bridged by a more eff icient and targeted educational plan, internationally applied beyond any economical barriers. 2. Defining what information society is The Internet is the only mass medium that is newly created in the second half of last century and as Mehra (2004) says, the internet has tremendous potential to achieve greater social equity and empowerment and improve everyday life for those on the margins of society. The acceleration of development in information and communication technology over the last decade has a major impact on social, political, cultural or economical issues. What is the role being played by the Internet in the information society? The Internet is nowadays seen as the pivotal point of view of the â€Å"information society† and can be regarded as a reflection of our daily reality with its multiple opportunities and danger. The â€Å"information society† produces a â€Å"class division†, a clash between people who havent access to the majority of knowledge and those who are â€Å"information rich†, contributing to the economic wealth. This gap between â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have-nots†, between â€Å"information rich† and â€Å"information poor† keeps increasing and has radical effects of changing or at least substantially affecting our society. A more critical definition of â€Å"information society† given at BusinessDictionary.com combines both: Post-industrial society in which information technology (IT) is transforming every aspect of cultural, political, and social life and which is based on the production and distribution of information. It is characterized by the pervasive influence of IT on home, work, and recreational aspects of the individuals daily routine, stratification into new classes those who are information-rich and those who are information-poor It is generally referred to as the â€Å"digital divide† terminology: â€Å"the gap between those people who have Internet access and those who do not† Collins English Dictionary (2003). With a slightly differentiation Mehra (2004) uses adjectives and add the technical aspect of computers to this definition. Looking at the multiple and almost identical definitions of â€Å"information society† and its inextricable â€Å"digital divide† we can conclude that by â€Å"digital divide† it is meant the splitting of those who use or not use Internet resources. the â€Å"have-nots† cannot access computers and Internet resources and therefore are disadvantaged, falling into a an unequal position compared to the †haves†, the one who gains access to information throughout new technologies and therefore participate actively to the social, political, cultural and economical life. This concept comes from â€Å"information society† theorists, which predicts an exceptional social impact on the product society, Webster (2006). Herbert Schillers corporate capitalism (p. 128), Jà ¼rgen Habermass public sphere (p. 163), Anthony Giddenss surveillance and reflexive modernisation (p.206), post-modernist Jean Baudrillards signs signification (p. 244) or Zygmunt Baumans liquid life (p. 260), not to forget Daniel Bells post-industrial society, techniques and technologies of production, change from Primary Industries such as agriculture and industrialism to post-industrialism, are the basis for evidence that technology is central for the productivity increase and resulting economic wealth, referred as Technological determinism. (p. 120). Manuel Castells on the other hand with his network society is focusing on social plurality; leaving the old working class concepts and stratification structures behind, bringing to it new Parameters like flexibility and adaptabilit y and herewith become informational Labour, referred as informational Capitalism. (p. 100) 3. Are â€Å"Haves† and â€Å"Have-nots† always â€Å"information-rich† and â€Å"information poor†? Looking at the given definitions it would almost imply that people having a computer and Internet access would automatically be seen as haves, but sometimes in developing countries and certainly in developed countries were consumers widely have access to these technologies we meet situations where they are not considered as information rich. We should look at a different approach and formalise the differentiation within our daily reality. The â€Å"Information poor† are consumers who use traditional mass media information such as television, DVDs, radios and magazines. They possess a wide range of electronic devices, MP3 players, PDAs, game consoles and other computing machines. They are considered as passive consumers of information and nowadays as passive users of new technologies, downloading digital e-books, listening to their favourite music, playing computer games, reading the last international news. But they do not interact nor create any of this provided Information and are certainly not involved in decision taking. On the opposite â€Å"information rich† stands for a new elite within the information society. They are involved into acquiring and processing information, using web 2.0 online applications, producing personalised journals on community platforms, elaborating group discussions in forums with a certain level of knowledgeable competence. They are acting at manager levels thanks to their acquired knowledge and overall literacy. They are the protagonists of this ever-growing information and technology society who possesses the knowhow of Selective processing, generating and distributing information. This selective process of evaluating provided information is determined by the consumers rather than the producers. Consumers pull out the information that fits their needs to increase the value of the already acquired information. They allocates their own criteria of values to the chosen information, they can absorb in its totality, the Values could also reach a certain level of accumulation where the effective processing of it becomes then ineffective, considered as â€Å"information overload†, but the average â€Å"information rich† does know how to handle this, as I will deepen later. Do it now â€Å"The limit is the sky† would be a perfect slogan on planet Utopia where every active user would have become â€Å"information rich†, information access would have been made unlimited, where the knowledge boundaries would be bridged on an information rainbow but on planet Earth our economical reality becomes a barrier where the consumers are blocked by the depth of that availability made in the acquisition of the needed information. Some are available for free supplied by institutions and governmental authorities, some are partially available for publicity purposes (book retailers, information providers) and others specifically recognised to be accessible only with subscriptions or tuition fees. This brings us to the undeniable fact that information consumers are forced to accept the concept of economical value attributed to information by its producer or provider and herewith underline the political dilemma the â€Å"information society† is confronted with. Information itself contributes to extend the already existing gap between developing countries and developed ones. We could not agree more on Feathers statementthat the comparative success of the information-rich economies, and the relative weakness of those that are comparatively information poor, is in itself an argument for the importance of information. The attributed values to information are considered by information society theorists to be one aspect of the evolution of social economic societies; social, political and cultural wealth have always been mirrors of strong economic powers where it could flourish and participate to its economical success. Following Feathers analysis on developing countries, development and exploitation of information technology has become indispensable and value of information fundamental, as shown with Japan, Singapore and Korea, were scientific and economic information are largely accessible and beneficially contribute to primordial economic changes. But unlike these three economically successful Asian countries, major differentiation could also be seen within industrialized countries; between the northern highly agriculturized countries and the Southern ones, accessibility ofinformation resources on comparative basis, the consumer gains from information evaluation but also could suffer in detriment of its productivity. To what extent information becomes one of the tools and enhances already existing knowledge to improve long used agricultural and industrial processes. Information does not become the centre of its economical wealth while contributes to it. The awareness based on analysis of acquired information and its resulting decisions to an enhancement or changes in primer sectors economy corroborates the views information helps â€Å"economic societies† but does not evolve to an â€Å"information society† as such. 4. The digital divide as political dimension The question if Internet opens emancipatory possibilities or whether further enlarges the gap that already exists between the â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have-nots† remains controversial. You will not achieve equality by providing each Third World villagers, ethnic minorities or other â€Å"have-nots† with a computer and Internet access. Access to information communication technology cannot be seen as a standalone solution. The origins of this disparity are far deepening within their educational, socio-cultural and socio-economical problems as Berude (2005) explains. Early Finding by the Orbicom initiative, Sciadas (2003) in collaboration with the Canadian International Development Agency, the InfoDev Programme of the World Bank and UNESCO, shows definitively the enormity of digital divide, separating the â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have-nots† countries by many decades of development, mainly concentrated in Africa but some of them also in the Asian area. Desp ite the fact that the digital divide is generally speaking closing, this report shows that the progress made between the poorest and the â€Å"in-between† countries was not sufficient to close this disparity, while â€Å"upper-middle† countries made distinctive progress to the top and herewith widen the overall gap between the very rich and very poor, and this regardless of the acquisition of ICT and installing new fibreglass high debit telephone lines. There is an undeniable necessity to acquire research skills, literacy skills or generally related computer skills before a user can be called an internaut, a protagonist: The use of Internet requires a much higher literacy skill than traditional media like television, radio or magazines in order to find analyse and process the requested information. There is no title page with table of contents (publications) and no fixed schedule (television, radio) on the Internet. The Internet is basically a â€Å"pull medium† where targeting specific information, articles, research strategies and selective thinking are necessary. Media literacy can therefore be considered as a barrier to Internet access, and this in any type of consumer groups, not only in developing countries but also in our Western countries. Unless there are strong political wills were ICT is recognized by governments as a development tool, were significant efforts are made in education, introduction to ICT in schools, were teaching programs are developed, these countries will not have any significant economical growth. In developed countries the Internet was mainly of layers with higher incomes and educational levels. ENLARGE VIEW while the population in many developing countries are totally excluded from access to the Internet. ENLARGE VIEW 5. Other opportunities and options The danger of such a gap within the society cannot be minimized that easily and solutions offered by public institutions like â€Å"Internet access for all† in public libraries, set up of information communication technologies within public schools or private funded projects like Microsoft founder Bill Gates â€Å"one computer for each children†, were the first stones set to cross the gap between information rich and information poor. But it unfortunately is not taking all citizens and generation groups into account. ENUMERE It is necessary to illuminate the different social perspectives which would integrate this socio-economical as well at it socio-cultural aspects in order to create an awareness of the complicity of this dilemma. Bourdieu already suggested and identified this perspective as overall capital. DESCRIBE According to Bourdieu (1993), the overall capital of different fractions of the social classes is composed of differing proportions of the various kinds of capital. It is mainly in relation to the middle and upper classes that Bourdieu elaborates this variation in volume and composition of the four types of capital These differences are a consequence of complex relationships between individual and class trajectories. Moreover, the values attached to the different forms of capital are stakes in the struggle between different class fractions Meritocratic teaching Particular attention should be thrown on the field of media education. The Internet, as an above medium influenced the perception of the users, the Media literacy is seen against the background of Info-Poor-/Info-Rich-effects. Thus, an Internet literacy can lead because of lack of cultural assimilation, for example when many senior citizens to information-poor effects. But even in children and adolescents in turn, the media education challenged when it comes to issues such as the ability, credibility with the media, particularly via the Internet to assess common information. 6. Conclusion By redefining socio-economic gaps between â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have-nots† and whether it is part of the political dilemma, the information society is on its way to become a powerful tool that could eradicate worlds poverty. Yet it the remaining problems are not only to be seen as a sociological struggle, but rather are perceived as a pedagogical challenge. 7. References Beasley-Murray, J. (2000, June 15). Value and Capital in Bourdieu and Marx. InI one-stop shopping for the real news. Retrieved December 30, 2009, from http://www.williambowles.info/sa/cultural_capital.html Berude, L. (2006). The Digital Divide, or Who Gets to Be Part of the Information Society? Multimedia Information and Technology Digital, 32(3), 26-33. Families, cultural resources and the digital divide: ICTs and educational advantage. (2003, April 1). Australian Journal of Education, 47, 18-39. Retrieved December 30, 2009, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6475/is_1_47/ai_n29004669 Feather, J. (2008). The Information Society: A Study of Continuity and Change (5 ed.). London: Facet Publishing. Sciadas, G. (2003). Monitoring the Digital Divideand Beyond. Montreal, Canada: Orbicom. Webster, F. (2006). Theories of the Information Society: Third Edition (International Library of Sociology). New York: Routledge. information society definition. (n.d.). BusinessDictionary.com Online Business Dictionary. Retrieved January 2, 2010, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/information-society.html

I Want to be a Teacher Essay -- College Admissions Teaching Philosophy

I Want to be a Teacher When I was in high school, I worked as an aide in an elementary school during one period of the day. When I first began working there, I had second thoughts about choosing education as a career, but then I worked with Michael. One of my tasks was to listen to Michael read everyday and monitor his progress. Michael was a problem child who people tended to turn away from, but I was drawn to him. Michael became something of a project for me. I found that Michael would work very hard on his reading just because he sensed that I was interested in him, and, as a result, his reading began to improve. I rejoiced at Michael’s improvement, but I knew this was his triumph not mine. Michael had allowed me to share this wondrous achievement with him, and at that point, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. In my opinion, the main purpose of education is to direct the children’s growth emotionally, socially, and academically. Education helps children emotionally by teaching them to express their feelings through constructive activiti...

Portents of the Monotheocracy in The Handmaids Tale Essay -- Handmaid

Portents of the Monotheocracy in The Handmaid's Tale  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚   American society has had certain cultural and political forces which have proliferated over the past few decades-described as the return to traditional Christian values. Television commercials promoting family values followed by endorsements from specific denominations are on the rise. As the public has become more aware of a shift in the cultural and political climate through the mass media, Margaret Atwood, in writing The Handmaid's Tale, could have been similarly affected by this growing awareness of the public consciousness. This may have led Atwood to write of a bleak future for the country where a new regime is established and one religion becomes so powerful as to take over the nation by a military coup, subjugating women into archaic stereotypical female roles.            Two of these forces, as reflected in the novel, are misogyny among Christian men and the rising political power of the Religious Right. Both are insidious because the real agendas are often couched in the authority of the Bible, and both serve to oppress women and their rights. Christian misogyny, like the brainwashing at the Red Center and ceremonial scripture readings preceding sexual intercourse in The Handmaid's Tale, keeps its foothold on the necks of women by distorting the meaning of Biblical scripture. In the case of the Religious Right, its tenets would abridge not only some of women's rights, such as the availability of abortion, but would also infringe on religious freedom for all Americans. In its forays into the political system, more recently through its Christian Coalition, the Religious Right, like Christian misogynists, interprets scripture to support its movement to meet... ...at Robertson's Agenda for America: a Marriage of Religion and Politics." USA Today. July 1996. 30. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. New York: Fawcett Crest, 1985. Boston, Robert. Why the Religious Right is Wrong: About Separation of Church and State. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books, 1993. Doerr, Edd. "Pat Robertson's Agenda for America: a Marriage of Religion and Politics." USA Today. July, 1996. 30 Gushee, Steve. "TV Series Chronicles Rise of Religious Right." The Palm Beach Post. September 27, 1996. 1F. Rinck, Margaret. Christian Men Who Hate Women. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Pyranee Books, 1990. Trotter, F. Thomas. "Bible Frequently Quoted Carelessly for Political Points." The Nashville Banner. September 28, 1995. A7. Wallsten, Peter. "Church Meets State." St. Petersburg Times. February 16, 1997. 1D.   

Analyzation of Southern Arizona Folk Arts :: Essays Papers

Analyzation of Southern Arizona Folk Arts Tucson, Arizona is a place of warmth and place of desert and most of all a place influenced by the traditions of Mexico and its people. It is especially influenced by the Folk Art traditions. But Folk arts what are they? Folk pertains to a subgroups object that fulfills a purpose of their own or for export for society. Art pertains to the aspect of an object that gives pleasure to the constructor of object or to the viewer in some way or another. Folk art in some way or another serves the purpose of community. Two principle aspects of folk art are Community, and Tradition. A Folk artists purpose is to show This is who I am It is important to view the folk arts more closely and to analyze how the author of the web exhibit portrays them to the audience. Two extremely different and non-related folk arts, yet excellent and important representations of the Hispanic culture are low rider vehicles and food. Easy comprehension ,unique organization, and friendly and humorous tone are used to present the folk arts. The author also uses ethos and pathos to appeal to the reader and portray the Hispanic culture better. These tactics are all used to provide an informal atmosphere. The author, Dr. James S. Griffith, uses an informal style in representing these two folk arts to better portray to the audience the Hispanic culture. The author to be informal, and show the Hispanic culture makes his essay on Mexican food easily comprehensible. Because this essay is done informally readers are able to connect with paper and believe its contents more easily. The author does not try to sound too educated and push people form wanting to read it. . This text is obviously intended for the general audience. Its easy comprehension explains this. For example, the first sentence says that, Mexican food is wonderful, fascinating stuff. One would not put this in a world magazine or time magazine because the language is not as advanced for such the educated readers that read Time magazine. Also the language is not advanced yet it is descriptive. For example, the author explains about the Tortilla and its origin. He says tortillas are flat cakes of masa and corn that has been soaked, cooked with lime or ashes, and then ground. This is very descriptive yet not too overwhelming.

Navigating Early Essay

* Summary: * After his mother’s death the young Jack Baker is uprooted from his home in Kansas and is placed in a boarding school in Maine. At the boarding school he feels lost and out of place. While trying to impress the boys and find a place in his school, he can’t help but be drawn to one of the misfits, Early Auden. Early is one of the strangest of boys, who reads the number pi as a story and collects clippings about the sightings of a great black bear in the nearby mountains. When Early decides to set out to find Pi and the black bear in his brother’s boat, the legendary â€Å"Fish†, Jack decides to join him. Through the course of their journey the boys begin to realize that Early’s story for Pi is starting to become reality as they come in contact with characters like pirates searching for treasure, a Norwegian still pining for his first love, and a 100 year old women still waiting for her son to come home. The irony of the story is that all 3 boys, Jac k, Early and Pi, lost their direction in life and through their journeys they find a way to navigate their way back. Why this book is a good choice for math? * The number PI is one of the most common constants in all of mathematics. It is an irrational number, which means that its value cannot be expressed exactly as a fraction (when the numerator and denominator are integers). Nobody knows its exact value, because no matter how many digits you calculate it to, the number never ends. In math it’s obvious that we use PI in calculations for finding the circumference of a circle and finding areas of circles, cylinders, cones, and spheres. What most people don’t know is that PI is also used to calculate numbers that are used in different jobs: for example electrical engineers used pi to solve problems for electrical applications, statisticians use pi to track population dynamics and biochemists see pi when trying to understand the structure/function of DNA. * In the novel, Navigating Early, Clare Vanderpool introduces the mystery  of PI in a fun creative way that has the reader egger to find the answer of PI. In the beginning, she has a Math teacher, Mr Blane, introduce his course by explaining the number PI as the Holy Grail of mathematics, in other words it is the mysterious number that has entranced mathematicians for milenia. â€Å"Why do I mention this today? Because this year, we are going to embark on a quest of our own to expand our minds, to challenge what we think we know, and push the boundaries of mathematics. If pi, the most venerable number, can be proven to end, what else are we blindly believing that might be put to the test?† The way Mr. Blane introduces Pi in the start of his class is a great way to have students use their critical thinking skills as to what Pi really is and get them prepared to what they will encounter in the course. The book, Navigating Early is a great tool for any lesson to get the students excited to learn formulas that incorporate PI. It also teaches the students, to always keep going even when you feel like you want to give up. Inquiry Circle Design The book will be divided up into 6 sections. Section 1-3 students will use the role sheets. Each student will switch roles within each group every week. * Section 1: Pages 1-50 * Section 2:Pages 51-109 * Section 3:Pages 110-150 Section 4-6 Students will use the organizers. * Section 4:Pages 151-198 * Section 5:Pages 199-253 * Section 6:Pages 254-295 1 section per week, Meet once a week for 20 minutes. Monday| Tuesday| Wednesday| Thursday| Friday| | | | | Section 1| | | | | Section 2| | | | | Section 3| | | | | Section 4| | | | | Section 5| | | | | Section 6| What will occur in the meetings: * Go over role sheets * Discuss essential questions Materials: * Book * Role sheets Inquiry Circle Performance Task For Early, creating a story about the character Pi with the numbers of Pi helped him remember the numbers of Pi. For this assignment you are asked to create your own story to remember the first 15 digits of Pi. 1. You should first brainstorm ideas for your story. The best way to do this is to create a web of ideas. Start with your character, Pi, in the middle of your web and clockwise write ideas for your plot. Make sure you include the numbers of Pi for each idea. You can use either single digits or multiple digits. (NO MORE THAN 2 DIGITS GROUPED TOGETHER!!!) 2. Using your web you should create a rough draft using your ideas. You should double space your rough draft so you will have room for corrections. 3. After writing your draft, find a partner to correct your paper. Make sure when you are correcting your partner’s paper that you look for grammatical errors, digits of pi used correctly, and their ideas make sense. 4. Once corrections are made, type out your final draft with your name and title at the top. You final paper should be single space, sized 12 font, and in times news roman. Your paper should be AT LEAST one page! You can certainly write more pages, but again it has to be at least one page. Don’t forget to include all the digits and that your story makes sense. 5. Once you have created your story, fill out the H chart comparing and contrasting your story to Early’s story. When contrasting, think of the differences of the journeys, what did Pi encounter, and how Pi became a better man from his journey. When comparing the two journeys, think of the plot of the stories: Does Pi in Early’s story face the same problems in your story? For example: There once was a boy named Pi who had 3 older sisters, Alpha, Beta, and Omega. They all lived under 1 house and split the bills by 4’s. They were always happy living with each other until 1 day at school 5 boys we’re making fun of Pi. They bullied Pi saying because he didn’t have a father and lived with all girls he will never grow up to become a man. One boy piped up and said he killed and skinned 9 deer’s and 2 raccoons in the same night. â€Å"I’ll show you!† says Pi and leave that night to go into the woods. Pi has never hunted before but with a knife at hand he was willing to try. 6 birds overhead gave warning calls to the rest of the wildlife throughout the woods. Then behind a nearby tree 5 black bear cubs crawled to Pi. Pi laughed and played with the little cubs until suddenly 3 momma bears ran to attack Pi. Pi thought he was a goner until 5 grey adult wolves came and save Pi’s life. When Pi arrived home, he was bombarded by 9 of his friends and family asking about his journey in the woods. Pi has learned that being a man doesn’t mean going off and killing animals, It means having ethical principles and sticking by them, and protect your family. * The fifteen digits of Pi:3.1415 9265359 Organizer Word WizardThe words an author uses are important to the author’s craft. Your job is to be on the lookout for at least one word that has special meaning to the selection for today. Include the word, the page number, the definition, and the reason why you chose the word| Quotations Locate at least one quotation in the text you have read that would be beneficial for your group to discuss. You may look for quotations that are puzzling, interesting, powerful, funny, or those that contain literary devices. Include the quotation, the page, and your reason for choosing the quotation. | IllustratorGood readers make pictures in their minds as they read. This is a chance to share some of your own images and visions with the members of your group and use these images to participate in the conversation. Your picture can take a variety of forms but should represent your thinking. | Essential QuestionsEssential questions are critical to promoting deep and interesting conversations. Write at least one good, quality essential question that you can pose when talking with your group about the passage read.| Literature Circle Role Sheet Summarizer Name _____________________________ Circle _____________________________ Meeting Date _______________________ Reading Assignment ________________ Book ___________________________________________________________________ Summarizer: Your job is to prepare a brief summary of today’s reading. Your group discussion will start with your 1-2 minute statement that covers the key points, main highlights, and general idea of today’s reading assignment. Summary: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Key Points: 1.________________________________________________________________ 2.________________________________________________________________ 3.________________________________________________________________ 4.________________________________________________________________ 5.________________________________________________________________ Connections: Did today’s reading remind you of anything? Explain. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ————————————————- ____________________________________________________________ Literature Circle Role Sheet Questioner/Discussion Director Name _____________________________ Circle _____________________________ Meeting Date _______________________ Reading Assignment ________________ Book ___________________________________________________________________ Questioner/Discussion Director: Your job is to develop a list of questions that your group might want to discuss about this part of the book. Don’t worry about the small details; your task is to help people talk over the big ideas in the reading and share their reactions. Usually the best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings, and concerns as you read. You can list them below during or after your reading. You may also use some of the general questions below to develop topics to your group. Possible discussion questions or topics for today: 1.__________________________________________________________________ 2.__________________________________________________________________ 3.__________________________________________________________________ 4.__________________________________________________________________ 5.__________________________________________________________________ Tips: Consider †¢ A discussion of a work’s characters: are they realistic, symbolic, historically-based? †¢ What motivates the characters or leads them to make the choices they do? †¢ An in-depth discussion of the work’s events †¢ A discussion of any confusing passage or event †¢ Literature Circle Roles Connector Name _____________________________ Circle _____________________________ Meeting Date _______________________ Reading Assignment ________________ Book ___________________________________________________________________ Connector: Your job is to find connections between the book and you, and between the book and the wider world. Consider the list below when you make your connections. †¢ Your own past experiences †¢ Happenings at school or in the community †¢ Stories in the news †¢ Similar events at other times and places †¢ Other people or problems that you are reminded of †¢ Between this book and other writings on the same topic or by the same author Some connections I made between this reading and my own experiences, the wider world, and other texts or authors: Literature Circle Roles Illustrator Name _____________________________ Circle _____________________________ Meeting Date _______________________ Reading Assignment ________________ Book ___________________________________________________________________ Illustrator: Good readers make pictures in their minds as they read. This is a chance to share some of your own images and visions. Draw some kind of picture related to the reading you have just done. It can be a sketch, cartoon, diagram, flowchart, or stick-figure scene. You can draw a picture of something that happened in your book, or something that the reading reminded you of, or a picture that conveys any idea or feeling you got from the reading. Any kind of drawing or graphic is okay – you can even label things with words if that helps. Make your drawing(s) on any remaining space on this side and on the other side of this sheet. If you use a separate sheet of paper, be sure to staple it to this role sheet. Presentation Plan: Whenever it fits in the conversa tion, show your drawing to your group. You don’t have to explain it immediately. You can let people speculate what your picture means, so they can connect your drawing to their own ideas about the reading. After everyone has had a say, you can always have the last word: tell them what your picture means, refer to the parts in the text that you

Metabolism

Now that you are familiar with the structure of prokaryotic cells, we can discuss the activities that allow these microbes to thrive. The life support activity of even the most structurally simple organism involves a large number of complex biochemical reactions. Most, although not all, of the biochemical processes of bacteria also occur in eukaryotic microbes and in the cells of multicellular organisms, including humans. However, the reactions that are unique to bacteria are fascinating because they allow microorganisms to do things we cannot do (Neidhardt & Holde, 1990). For example, some bacteria (the chemoautotrophs) can grow on diets of such inorganic substances as carbon dioxide, iron, sulfur, hydrogen gas, and ammonia.This paper examines some representative chemical reactions that either produce energy (the catabolic reactions) or use energy (the anabolic reactions) in microorganisms. We will also look at how these various reactions are integrated within the cell.II. Discussio nA. Catabolic and Anabolic ReactionsWe use the term metabolism to refer to the sum of all chemical reactions within a living organism. Because chemical reactions either release or require energy, metabolism can be viewed as an energy-balancing act. Accordingly, metabolism can be divided into two classes of chemical reactions—those that release energy and those that require energy. In living cells, the chemical reactions that release energy are generally the ones involved in catabolism, the breakdown of complex organic compounds into simpler ones. These reactions are called catabolic, or degradative, reactions.On the other hand, the energy-requiring reactions are mostly involved in anabolism, the building of complex organic molecules from simpler ones. These reactions are called anabolic or biosynthetic reactions (Neidhardt & Holde, 1990). Anabolic processes often involve dehydration synthesis reactions (reactions that release water) and require energy to form a new chemical b onds.Examples of anabolic processes are the formation of proteins from amino acids, nucleic acids from nucleotides, and polysaccharides from simple sugars. These biosynthetic reactions generate the materials for cell growth. Catabolic reactions are generally hydrolytic reactions (reactions that use water to break chemical bonds). Chemical bonds store energy; when they are broken, chemical energy is released. An example of catabolism occurs when cells break down sugars into carbon dioxide and water.Catabolic reactions furnish the energy needed to drive anabolic reactions. This coupling of energy-requiring and energy-releasing reactions is made possible through the molecule adenosime triphospahte (ATP). ATP stores energy derived from catabolic reactions and releases it later to drive anabolic reactions and perform other cellular work. A molecule of ATP consists of an adenine, a ribose, and three phosphate groups.When the terminal phosphate group is split from ATP, adenosine diphosphat e (ADP) is formed, and energy is released to drive anabolic reactions. Using P to represent a phosphate group, we can write this reaction as (ATP—> ADP + P + energy). Then, the energy from catabolic reactions is used to combine ADP and a P to resynthesize ATP (ADP + P + energy—> ATP).Thus, anabolic reactions are coupled to ATP breakdown, and catabolic reactions are coupled to ATP synthesis. This concept of coupled reactions is very important. For now, you should know that the chemical composition of a living cell is constantly changing; some molecules are being broken down while others are being synthesized. This balanced flow of chemicals and energy maintains the life of a cell (â€Å"Metabolism; What is it exactly and how fast or slow should it be?†).B. EnzymesChemical reactions occur when chemical bonds are formed or broken. In order for reactions to take place, atoms, ions, or molecules must collide. Whether a collision produces a reaction depends on the spe ed of the particles, the amount of energy required to trigger the reaction (called activation energy), and the specific configuration of the particles. The physiological temperature and pressure of organisms are too low for chemical reactions to occur quickly enough to maintain the life of the organism.Raising the temperature and pressure and the number of reacting molecules can increase the frequency of collisions and the rate of chemical reactions. However, such changes could damage or kill the organism. The living cell’s solution to this problem is a class of proteins called enzymes. Enzymes can speed up chemical reactions in several ways. For example, an enzyme may bring two reactant molecules close together and may properly orient them to react. Whatever the method, the result is that the enzyme lowers the activation energy for the reaction without increasing the temperature or pressure inside the cell (â€Å"Immobilized Enzymes Can Check Bioterrorism, 2003).Substances that can speed up a chemical reaction without themselves being altered are called catalysts. In living cells, enzymes serve as biological catalysts. As catalysts, enzymes are specific. Each acts on specific substance, called the enzyme’s substrate (or substrates when there are two or more reactants), and each catalyzes only one reaction. For example, sucrose (table sugar) is the substrate of the enzyme sucrase, which catalyzes the hydrolysis of sucrose to glucose and fructose.The specificity of enzymes is made possible by their structures. Enzymes are generally globular proteins that range in molecular weight from about 10,000 to several million. Each of the thousands of known enzymes has a characteristics three-dimensional shape with a specific surface configuration as a result of its primary, secondary, and tertiary structures. The unique configuration of each enzyme enables it to â€Å"find† the correct substrate from among the large number of diverse molecules in t he cell (â€Å"Immobilized Enzymes Can Check Bioterrorism, 2003).C. Factors Influencing Enzymatic ActivitySeveral factors influence the activity of enzyme. Among the more important are temperature, pH, substrate concentration, and inhibitors.a.) TemperatureThe rate of most chemical reactions increases as the temperature increases. Molecules move more slowly at low than at higher temperatures and may not have enough energy to cause a chemical reaction. For enzymatic reactions, however, elevation beyond a certain temperature drastically reduces the rate of reaction. This decrease is due to the enzyme’s denaturation, the loss of its characteristics three-dimensional structure (tertiary configuration). Denaturation of a protein involves breakage of hydrogen bonds and other noncovalent bonds (Neidhardt & Holde, 1990).Most enzymes have a pH optimum at which their activity is characteristically maximal. Above or below this pH value, enzyme activity, and therefore the reaction rate, declines. When the H+ concentration (pH) in the medium is changed, many of the enzyme’s amino acids are affected and the protein’s three-dimensional structure is altered. Extreme changes in pH can cause denaturation (Neidhardt & Holde, 1990).Substrate ConcentrationThere is a maximum rate at which a certain amount of enzymes can catalyze a specific reaction. Only when the concentration of substrate(s) is extremely high can this maximum rate be attained. Under conditions of high substrate concentration, the enzyme is said to be saturated; that is, its active site is always occupied by substrate or product molecules. In this condition, a further increase in substrate concentration will not affect the reaction rate because all active sites are already in used. If a substrate’s concentration exceeds a cell’s saturation level for a particular enzyme, the rate of reaction can be increased only if the cell produces additional enzyme molecules (Neidhardt & Holde, 1990). However, under normal cellular conditions, enzymes are not saturated with substrate (s). At any given time, many of the enzyme molecules are inactive for lack of substrate; thus, the rate of reaction is likely to be influenced by the substrate concentration.InhibitorsAn effective way to control the growth of bacteria is to control their enzymes. Certain poisons, such as cyanide, arsenic, and mercury, combine with enzymes and prevent them from functioning. As a result, the cells stop functioning and die.Enzyme inhibitors are classified according to their mechanism of action as competitive inhibitors and noncompetitive inhibitors. Competitive inhibitors fill the active site of an enzyme and compete with the normal substrate for the active site. The competitive inhibitor is able to do this because its shape and chemical structure are similar to those of the normal substrate.Noncompetitive inhibitors do not compete with the substrate for the enzyme’s active site; instead they interact with another part of the enzyme. In this process, called allosteric (â€Å"other space†) inhibition, an enzyme’s activity is reduced because of a change in shape caused by binding of an inhibitor at a site rather than substrate’s binding site. The change in shape can be either reversible or irreversible (Neidhardt & Holde, 1990).III. ConclusionIn conclusion, the sum of all chemical within a living organism is known as metabolism. Catabolism refers to chemical reactions that result in the breakdown of more complex organic molecules into simpler substances. Catabolic reactions usually release energy. Anabolism refers to chemical reactions in which simpler substances are combined to form more complex molecules. Anabolic reactions usually require energy. The energy of catabolic reaction is used to drive anabolic reactions. The energy for chemical reactions is stores in ATP. Moreover, the enzymes are proteins produced by living cells that catalyze chemi cal reactions. They are generally globular proteins with characteristic three-dimensional shapes.Reference:Neidhardt, F.C. and K.E. van Holde. Biochemistry. Redwood City, Calif: Benjamin/Cummings, 1990. A biochemistry test with chapters on metabolic pathways of energy production and biosynthesis. â€Å"Metabolism; What Is It Exactly and How Fast or Slow Should It Be?† The Washington Times, January 31, 2006. â€Å"Immobilized Enzymes Can Check Bioterrorism.† USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Vol. 131, June 2003 Metabolism The life support activity of even the most structurally simple organism involves a large number of complex biochemical reactions. Most, although not all, of the biochemical processes of bacteria also occur in eukaryotic microbes and in the cells of multicellular organisms, including humans. However, the reactions that are unique to bacteria are fascinating because they allow microorganisms to do things we cannot do (Neidhardt & Holde, 1990). For example, some bacteria (the chemoautotrophs) can grow on diets of such inorganic substances as carbon dioxide, iron, sulfur, hydrogen gas, and ammonia.This paper examines some representative chemical reactions that either produce energy (the catabolic reactions) or use energy (the anabolic reactions) in microorganisms. We will also look at how these various reactions are integrated within the cell.II. DiscussionA. Catabolic and Anabolic ReactionsWe use the term metabolism to refer to the sum of all chemical reactions within a living organism. Because chemical reactions either release or require energy, metabolism can be viewed as an energy-balancing act. Accordingly, metabolism can be divided into two classes of chemical reactions—those that release energy and those that require energy. In living cells, the chemical reactions that release energy are generally the ones involved in catabolism, the breakdown of complex organic compounds into simpler ones.These reactions are called catabolic, or degradative, reactions. On the other hand, the energy-requiring reactions are mostly involved in anabolism, the building of complex organic molecules from simpler ones. These reactions are called anabolic or biosynthetic reactions (Neidhardt & Holde, 1990). Anabolic processes often involve dehydration synthesis reactions (reactions that release water) and require energy to form a new chemical bonds.Examples of anabolic processes are the formation of proteins from amino acids, nucleic acids from nucleotides, and polysaccharide s from simple sugars. These biosynthetic reactions generate the materials for cell growth. Catabolic reactions are generally hydrolytic reactions (reactions that use water to break chemical bonds). Chemical bonds store energy; when they are broken, chemical energy is released. An example of catabolism occurs when cells break down sugars into carbon dioxide and water.Catabolic reactions furnish the energy needed to drive anabolic reactions. This coupling of energy-requiring and energy-releasing reactions is made possible through the molecule adenosime triphospahte (ATP). ATP stores energy derived from catabolic reactions and releases it later to drive anabolic reactions and perform other cellular work. A molecule of ATP consists of an adenine, a ribose, and three phosphate groups. When the terminal phosphate group is split from ATP, adenosine diphosphate (ADP) is formed, and energy is released to drive anabolic reactions.Using P to represent a phosphate group, we can write this react ion as (ATP—> ADP + P + energy). Then, the energy from catabolic reactions is used to combine ADP and a P to resynthesize ATP (ADP + P + energy—> ATP). Thus, anabolic reactions are coupled to ATP breakdown, and catabolic reactions are coupled to ATP synthesis. This concept of coupled reactions is very important. For now, you should know that the chemical composition of a living cell is constantly changing; some molecules are being broken down while others are being synthesized. This balanced flow of chemicals and energy maintains the life of a cell (â€Å"Metabolism; What is it exactly and how fast or slow should it be?†).B. EnzymesChemical reactions occur when chemical bonds are formed or broken. In order for reactions to take place, atoms, ions, or molecules must collide. Whether a collision produces a reaction depends on the speed of the particles, the amount of energy required to trigger the reaction (called activation energy), and the specific configuration of the particles. The physiological temperature and pressure of organisms are too low for chemical reactions to occur quickly enough to maintain the life of the organism. Raising the temperature and pressure and the number of reacting molecules can increase the frequency of collisions and the rate of chemical reactions. However, such changes could damage or kill the organism.The living cell’s solution to this problem is a class of proteins called enzymes. Enzymes can speed up chemical reactions in several ways. For example, an enzyme may bring two reactant molecules close together and may properly orient them to react. Whatever the method, the result is that the enzyme lowers the activation energy for the reaction without increasing the temperature or pressure inside the cell (â€Å"Immobilized Enzymes Can Check Bioterrorism, 2003).Substances that can speed up a chemical reaction without themselves being altered are called catalysts. In living cells, enzymes serve as biolog ical catalysts. As catalysts, enzymes are specific. Each acts on specific substance, called the enzyme’s substrate (or substrates when there are two or more reactants), and each catalyzes only one reaction. For example, sucrose (table sugar) is the substrate of the enzyme sucrase, which catalyzes the hydrolysis of sucrose to glucose and fructose.The specificity of enzymes is made possible by their structures. Enzymes are generally globular proteins that range in molecular weight from about 10,000 to several million. Each of the thousands of known enzymes has a characteristics three-dimensional shape with a specific surface configuration as a result of its primary, secondary, and tertiary structures. The unique configuration of each enzyme enables it to â€Å"find† the correct substrate from among the large number of diverse molecules in the cell (â€Å"Immobilized Enzymes Can Check Bioterrorism, 2003).C. Factors Influencing Enzymatic ActivitySeveral factors influence the activity of enzyme. Among the more important are temperature, pH, substrate concentration, and inhibitors.  a.) TemperatureThe rate of most chemical reactions increases as the temperature increases. Molecules move more slowly at low than at higher temperatures and may not have enough energy to cause a chemical reaction. For enzymatic reactions, however, elevation beyond a certain temperature drastically reduces the rate of reaction. This decrease is due to the enzyme’s denaturation, the loss of its characteristics three-dimensional structure (tertiary configuration). Denaturation of a protein involves breakage of hydrogen bonds and other noncovalent bonds (Neidhardt & Holde, 1990).b.) pHMost enzymes have a pH optimum at which their activity is characteristically maximal. Above or below this pH value, enzyme activity, and therefore the reaction rate, declines. When the H+ concentration (pH) in the medium is changed, many of the enzyme’s amino acids are affected an d the protein’s three-dimensional structure is altered. Extreme changes in pH can cause denaturation (Neidhardt & Holde, 1990).c.) Substrate ConcentrationThere is a maximum rate at which a certain amount of enzymes can catalyze a specific reaction. Only when the concentration of substrate(s) is extremely high can this maximum rate be attained. Under conditions of high substrate concentration, the enzyme is said to be saturated; that is, its active site is always occupied by substrate or product molecules. In this condition, a further increase in substrate concentration will not affect the reaction rate because all active sites are already in used. If a substrate’s concentration exceeds a cell’s saturation level for a particular enzyme, the rate of reaction can be increased only if the cell produces additional enzyme molecules (Neidhardt & Holde, 1990). However, under normal cellular conditions, enzymes are not saturated with substrate (s). At any given time, man y of the enzyme molecules are inactive for lack of substrate; thus, the rate of reaction is likely to be influenced by the substrate concentration.d.) InhibitorsAn effective way to control the growth of bacteria is to control their enzymes. Certain poisons, such as cyanide, arsenic, and mercury, combine with enzymes and prevent them from functioning. As a result, the cells stop functioning and die.Enzyme inhibitors are classified according to their mechanism of action as competitive inhibitors and noncompetitive inhibitors. Competitive inhibitors fill the active site of an enzyme and compete with the normal substrate for the active site. The competitive inhibitor is able to do this because its shape and chemical structure are similar to those of the normal substrate.Noncompetitive inhibitors do not compete with the substrate for the enzyme’s active site; instead they interact with another part of the enzyme. In this process, called allosteric (â€Å"other space†) inhib ition, an enzyme’s activity is reduced because of a change in shape caused by binding of an inhibitor at a site rather than substrate’s binding site. The change in shape can be either reversible or irreversible (Neidhardt & Holde, 1990).III. ConclusionIn conclusion, the sum of all chemical within a living organism is known as metabolism. Catabolism refers to chemical reactions that result in the breakdown of more complex organic molecules into simpler substances. Catabolic reactions usually release energy. Anabolism refers to chemical reactions in which simpler substances are combined to form more complex molecules. Anabolic reactions usually require energy. The energy of catabolic reaction is used to drive anabolic reactions. The energy for chemical reactions is stores in ATP. Moreover, the enzymes are proteins produced by living cells that catalyze chemical reactions. They are generally globular proteins with characteristic three-dimensional shapes.Reference:Neidhard t, F.C. and K.E. van Holde. Biochemistry. Redwood City, Calif: Benjamin/Cummings, 1990. A biochemistry test with chapters on metabolic pathways of energy production and biosynthesis. â€Å"Metabolism; What Is It Exactly and How Fast or Slow Should It Be?† The Washington Times, January 31, 2006. â€Å"Immobilized Enzymes Can Check Bioterrorism.† USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Vol. 131, June 2003

Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy Essay

â€Å"Community policing is, in essence, a collaboration between the police and the community that identifies and solves community problems† (U. S. Department of Justice, 1994, p. vii). Throughout the years, community policing has become a more popular strategy to help law enforcement officials control and deter crime; however, some areas across the United States has had problems in the past with communities and law enforcement working together to ensure a secure and safe environment. Although it is an officer’s duty to maintain order, keep the peace, and solve problems within the area he or she is patrolling, it is also necessary for the people of the community to come together to help prevent crime. Everyone wants to feel safe in his or her place of dwelling and know that he or she has individuals who will serve and protect the area. Ergo, when problems occur between law enforcement and communities, the citizens develop a stigma against law officials and do not want to help solve or prevent criminal acts. On the other side, when law enforcement officials develop a positive rapport with the community, the citizens are more likely to come forward to help solve crimes or problems that evolve within the neighborhood. Community policing is a necessary program to have within a community and many neighborhoods have adopted these programs. The Chicago Police Department is one city that knew a community-based program was a necessity to solve criminal problems within the neighborhoods of the city. In 1993, the Chicago Police Department implemented the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS), which is a community-based program that helps solves neighborhood crime problems with the collaboration of community members and law enforcement officials. According to Office of Justice Programs (n. d. ), â€Å"The program began in five policing districts but expanded to encompass the entire city of Chicago after a testing phase. Program development included the collaborative efforts of each district’s commanders, senior department executives, and ivilian planners† (para. 4). The underlying goal for CAPS is to solve problems within a community instead of reacting to their symptomatic consequences. This program has a five-step process for police officers to follow to ensure that the community and law enforcement agency works together to control crime. For this program to work effectively, one must identify and prioritize the problem at hand, analyze the situation, organize a plan to handle the problem, implement a strategy, and evaluate the outcome (Office of Justice Programs, n. . ). If the outcome is not effective, changes are set in place to correct the mistake and move forward by working together as a team to solve future problems that may arise. Furthermore, the CAPS program has an assortment of tactics, which include officers who patrol the neighborhoods, community meetings that involve the residents and law enforcement officials, training programs for both parties, city services, and technology to help identify the criminal hot spots in the area (Chicago Police Department, 2008). This program allows the officers to continue to patrol and handle their daily duties as well as work together with the community and other city officials to fight crime in one of the most notorious criminal cities in the United States. The Chicago Police Department works in teams for this program to be effective. One team will concentrate on the community and preventing crime, whereas the other team will handle the lower priority issues as well as respond to calls. The program splits the law enforcement officials into teams, which are beat officers, rapid response officers, and other city agencies. The beat officers patrol a certain area for at least a year, which allows each officer to know the neighborhood as well as the residents. This allows the officers and the residents to form a bond with one another and build trust between both parties, which allows them to work together as a team to monitor, strategize, and solve problems within the community. The rapid response officers assist the beat officers on emergency calls as well as back up the beat officers while they are in their community meetings. Undercover and gang officers help the beat officers on solving crimes and detaining suspects. With the collaboration between the law enforcement teams and the citizens the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy and proven to be a successful weapon to fight crime. In addition, the success that has come from the implementation of the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy only hows that in the future it will become more successful. This program has helped improve the residents’ confidence that the police are there to help combat crime, to ensure the community is a safe place to live as well as a reduction in major crimes. â€Å"Evaluations of the alternative policing strategy in Chicago show that from 1993 to 2002, the fear of crime went down by 20% among groups most fearful of crime and victimization† (University of Ottawa, n. d. , p. 1). This is only one benefit that has come about from this program, so with the bond between law enforcement and residents of the communities becoming stronger daily, this program has a bright future on helping prevent and deter crime. Although many neighborhoods adopt community-policing programs, not all are successful in controlling crime. Some communities adopt these programs believing that it will evolve into a successful program were police and residents work together; however, not all programs are effective. For a program to be successful, each party, such as law enforcement officials and residents must work collaboratively through the entire process, which is to identify, implement, and resolve the issues at hand (Chicago Police Department, 2008). Community-based programs are constantly developing throughout the nation and with communities, adopting programs like the Chicago Alternative Program Strategy, community policing has the potential to be successful in any city or state.