Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Orthodontic Appliances Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words
Orthodontic Appliances - Essay Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Fixed Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Functional Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Removable Functional Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Fixed Functional Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 List of Tables Table I. Effects, Reasons and Factors to Consider in Orthodontic Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Table II. Components of Removable Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Table III. Advantages and Disadvantages of Removable Appliance . . . . . . 7 Table IV. Types of Removable Appliance According to Force Applied . . . . . . 8 Table V. Clinical Observations with Fixed Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Table VI. Advantages of Functional Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Table VII. Disadvantages of Removable Functional Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Table VIII. Twin Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Table IX. Advantages and Disadvantages of Fixed Functional Appliance . . . . . 16 Table X. Disadvantages of Fixed Functional Appliance Herbst and Jasper Jumper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... It was credited to physician Pierre Fauchard (regarded as father of dentistry) at the start of 18th century in France who described an appliance called as â€Å"Bandlette†(now known as expansion arch (Graber TM 1966, cited in Vijayalakshmi & Veereshi 2010, p. 11). He was the first to attempt moving the teeth using Bandlette, an arched flat strip of metal with holes for threads to pass through and apply force upon the teeth. The first fixed appliance used in orthodontics is attributed to Pierre Fauchard while the first removable appliance recognized in orthodontic practice was the Coffin plate introduced by Coffin during the late 19th century (Vijayalakshmi & Veereshi 2010). The Coffin plate had a spring (still present in the current appliances) made of piano wire (Proffit & Fields 1999; Graber N 1977, cited in Vijayalakshmi & Veereshi 2010). The fixed or removable appliance adjusts the teeth slowly and cautiously to prevent extreme pain and damage to the teeth (Cunningham, Ho rrocks, Hunt, et al. 2000). Lionel (2005) said that orthodontic therapy affects the dimension of dental arches that could lead to relapse, thus requiring post-treatment. There is also a tendency for malocclusion to recur, he added. Malocclusion refers to the atypical arrangement of the teeth or jaws (Cunningham, Horrocks, Hunt, et al. 2000). Malocclusion should be treated because it may lead to diseases, cause dysfunction of the jaw (that affects speech and mastication, or leads to Tempero-Mandibular Disorder), affects aesthetic features of the face that may have negative psychological implication, and damage to teeth (Mascia n.d.). Table I Effects,
Monday, October 28, 2019
Animal Farm Essay Example for Free
Animal Farm Essay This is shown perfectly in Animal Farm. In the beginning animals went against Mr. Jones due to the way they were being treated. The animals felt that the farmers received all the goods for the work they did. So they created a government named Animalism, based on the Old Major’s vision. In Animalism, there are no owners, no rich, but no poor, workers got a better life, and all animals are equal. The animals established the Seven Commandments, which were laws created by the pigs to protect animals. The goals of the government were also set up. The goals said that everyone was equal, there would be more food and sleep for all, there was to be respect for all animals, and they would build a windmill to make life better for all. All this didnt exist by the end of the book. The animals were getting less sleep, less food, and less respect. The windmill became a source of money for the leaders, not for all the animals. The seven commandments were gradually changed to suit the just the pigs until there was only one commandment left. This commandment said that some animals are more equal than others. This was the exact opposite of what they originally intended to achieve. Animalism no longer existed. The pigs began by to act more like humans, whilst at the same time changing the meaning or literally changing the laws. At the start they managed to change the meaning of all animals are equal, by asserting themselves as the â€Å"brain-workers†and taking the milk and apples. Over the years they start trading with animals, drinking alcohol, sleeping in beds, making animals enemies and killing animals. Napoleon also becomes an egomaniac and has a food taster, has dogs to guard him at all times, gun is fired on his birthday, etc. this just goes on to show how he is becoming more like a human. Later on the remaining pigs also took up whips, walked on hind legs, started to wear clothes and played cards. The pigs have now taken up the role of a dictator and rule through force via the dogs, propaganda via Squealer and using the sheep’s new slogan – â€Å"four legs good, two legs better†, which destroys the whole meaning of the of the rebellion. Napoleon only cares about his wellbeing and getting as much power as possible. This is evident when he starts doing business with the humans just to get more money and when he sells Boxer to the horse slaughter for money for alcohol. The final commandment stands as a great example of how those in power manipulate language as an instrument of control. . At the beginning of the novel, the idea of â€Å"more equal†would not only have seemed contrary to the democratic socialist spirit of Animal Farm, it would have seemed logically impossible. But after years of violence, hunger, dishonesty, and fear, the spirit of Animal Farm seems lost to a distant past. Could anyone give some constructive criticism on this essay please?
Saturday, October 26, 2019
American History :: essays research papers
Great White Americans 1990s -     Bill Clinton o     Democrat o     Scandal o     Less aggressive than Bush about Foreign Policy o     Iraq first step o     â€Å"You are with me or not with me†o     Cut money supplies for terrorism -     Bush o     Republican o     No social programs o     Oversea social programs o     Based on his father 911 -     Police Rescuers o     Hand by hand, helped a lot. o     America united they stand o     Majority of white people o     356 died white -     Bill gates o     Born seattle o     Harvard  §Ã‚     Dropped out o     First commercially successful PC o     Microsoft o     One of the richest example -     Steve Jobs o     Apples o     Pixar -     John Elway o     Football player -     McGwrie o     Baseball o     60 Homeruns Terrorism -     Background info o     Islam and Radical Islam  §Ã‚     Islamic Values  ·Ã‚     Family, Faith, Hard work, and improvement of self and society  ·Ã‚     Purity  ·Ã‚     Only one god  §Ã‚     Misconceptions  ·Ã‚     Treatment of women  ·Ã‚     Treatment of minorities  §Ã‚     Radical Islam groups  ·Ã‚     Taliban  ·Ã‚     Kharijites o     Belief  §Ã‚     Lost of true path  §Ã‚     Non-believers are sinner  §Ã‚     Violence can be justified o     Key Believers  §Ã‚     None that is famous  ·Ã‚     Wahhabi Islam o     Beliefs  §Ã‚     Newer editions of the Quran is false  §Ã‚     Violence can be justified o     Key Believers  §Ã‚     Osama Bin Laden  ·Ã‚     Muslim Brotherhood o     Beliefs  §Ã‚     Complete Islamic society  §Ã‚     No nation state  §Ã‚     No Democracy o     Key Believers  §Ã‚     Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri  §Ã‚     Sayyid Qutb  §Ã‚     Hassan al-Turabi  ·Ã‚     Common points o     Islam has changed o     God is supreme, obey god only o     The west is a place of sins o     Hates Israel o     Major Terrorist Figure  §Ã‚     Osama Bin Laden  ·Ã‚     Leader of Al Qaeda  ·Ã‚     Raised in a wealthy family  ·Ã‚     Learned Radicalism during University years  ·Ã‚     The invasion of Soviet Union shaped his ideology  §Ã‚     Why he hates America  ·Ã‚     America’s support for Israel and its position on the Arab – Israeli conflict  ·Ã‚     U.S. military attacks and sanctions agains some Arab countries and its military bases in the Arab world.  ·Ã‚     U.S. Support for some authoritarian Arab regimes, and its hostile policies toward Islam, and its own citizens of Arab and Muslim origin.  ·Ã‚     U.S. hypocritical behavior regarding democracy and human rights in the Arab world. o     Al Qaeda  §Ã‚     Founded in 1988 by Bin Laden  §Ã‚     2830 members  §Ã‚     Purpose  ·Ã‚     To overthrow Muslim governments  ·Ã‚     Radicalization  ·Ã‚     Destroy the U.S.  §Ã‚     Tactics  ·Ã‚     Use of terrorism  ·Ã‚     High technical sophistication o     Terrorist Attacks  §Ã‚     Octover 8, 2002 attack on US military personnel
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Abstract Paper Co-Curricular Education Essay
The school is â€Å"in a verandah in his father’s palace; Gautama Buddha being instructed, with three other boys, by a Brahmin teacher. On their laps are tablets†¦ caged birds, musical instruments, a battle-axe, bows. Gautama, a prince, was given, along with literary education, education in music and military arts like archery. The making of man was regarded as an artistic and not a mechanical process. Indeed, the aim of education is to develop pupil’s personality, his innate and latent capacity. The academic curriculum has never been all that schools and colleges offer to their students. Often a range of other classes and activities are available to students in class routine and even after school. These are referred to as the co-curricular activities and they are mostly voluntary for students. Examples would include sports, musical activities, debate, Model United Nations, community service, religious study groups, charitable fundraising, Young Enterprise projects, military cadet activities, drama, science clubs, and hobbies such as gardening, crafts, cookery and dance. Co-curricular activities prepare students practically for the future. CBSE refers to Work Experience, Health and Physical education, games, painting, music and art education as Scholastic subjects. Then why importance of these subjects is negligible as compared to Mathematics, Science, Social Science and languages? But, most of the teachers teaching in various schools have no idea about art education, games and other similar subjects. As a result, there are unplanned and un-interesting instructions in the classroom because the teacher has no clue or inclination towards these subjects. There is no plan, criteria or syllabus in schools for these subjects. If you ask an art teacher who has studied art – whether a tree is green or purple? They would say colours show moods, depends which kind of painting you are making both colours could be used. Other teacher who has not studied art would rebuke students and make them colour the tree only brown trunk and green leaves. CCE activities are also a point of discussion amongst the teachers. Cutting and pasting pictures from somewhere is the most common activity done as a part of CCE. Bloom’s taxonomy is taught as a part of B. Ed. education but not implemented. Without effective activities children are not able to create, analyze, solve real life problems, express and innovate. They are scared to take risks and make decisions. If co-curricular activities are coupled with CCE activities then both important aims can be achieved. In-service teachers should be taught to integrate activities of Health, Physical education, games, painting, music and art, craft or dance in their lesson plans. Teachers should know how to include available resources in their everyday lessons but, because teachers are not trained to include co-curricular activities in everyday classroom teachers are not able to use these periods effectively. Most of the teachers are not even aware about what kind of activities could be done in the class, directions and purpose for doing an activity are not clear as a result the main aim of having these activities is defeated. These activities do not need report card to certify because they prepare you for life and not merely for a forthcoming competitive exam. Education requires concentration. Children are thrilled; the day they know they have a routine breaking activity or sports period or even if they get to cut paper, fold paper, sing a jingle, share a joke etc. The activity has to be planned well and then executed. The main concern is that teachers do not use their creativity to build activities according to the level of students. We have to teach students to learn instead of studying, do useful work instead of hard work and develop self-discipline instead of discipline, work voluntarily instead of assigned work*. This can be done only when teachers are trained to do so. According to the changes brought about in CBSE curriculum, changes should be brought about in B. Ed. curriculum. Everybody encourages practice of Yoga. But we do not realize even if students sing they are practicing kind of yoga. They regulate their breath, concentrate and think creatively. They try to create a balance between their bodies, mind and attain self-enlightenment. This is healthy and ensures that students are exposed to practical tasks, not just what is taught in class. Kids don’t come to know how much time they pass while they get lost in their hobbies. Schools cannot make Painters, Sports persons, Dancers etc. but they can help kids to decide their field of choice. The joy of creating something gives happiness. Concentration in a particular activity is like meditation which relaxes students from repeated reading, writing and arithmetic activities. The happiness children get from playing instruments, helping others, dancing or running makes them lively. Most co-curricular activities are physically ctive, getting the student out from behind their desk and making them try new things. All those things which break the monotony of class routine are welcome by kids. It could be an action song, small classroom game, managing the school garden, painting a poster for school competition, modelling clay etc. It teaches students to work in groups, think, take responsibilities, develop social skills, soft skills etc. Schools make infrastructure available to teachers but teachers have no clue how to use it. For example IT infrastructure. In olden days, education systems included Martial arts, drawing, singing, painting, sports and debate etc. as a tool for gaining wisdom, insight, concentration, compassion, mental piece, creativity, stamina etc. For example Buddhist mandala serves as a tool for guiding individuals along the path to enlightenment. Monks meditate upon the mandala, In service teachers when given duties for club activities they are clueless to the new tasks assigned. Even if they know one form of art concretely, they can teach it to students as a part of education. Teachers should concentrate on learning one form of art during their B. Ed. education. When teachers learn one form of art, they will not have to run to Art or Dance teacher every now and then for small ideas. Among the teachers many problems can get solved, school functions can be organized in a better way. Art teachers can get more time to complete their art syllabus in classrooms. In service teachers should be asked to plan activities with their lesson plans. Currently, it is observed that cut-and-stick pictures related to the topic is the most common activity done by teachers. Education must therefore promote and nourish as wide a range of capacities and skills in our children as possible. The gamut of such skills include the performing arts (music, dance, drama, and so on), painting and crafts, and literary abilities (weaving, stories, wielding language to portray different aspects of life, a flair for metaphorical and poetic expression etc. ). Also, skills as diverse as some children’s special capacity to bond with nature – with trees, birds, and animals-need to be nurtured.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Cultural History of Rap Essay
Public Enemy opens the track with â€Å"Cant Truss It†in a rap merge with Flavor Flav who shouts â€Å"Confusion†their voices paralleled over the heavy and energetic baselines. Even though the song speaks about slavery as rapped by Chuck D about the legacy of slavery, the opening rhymes could as well be used to describe the cultural history of rap music (Rose 272). While there is widespread perception that rap culture is nothing but a noisy and confusing genre of music that has crept into contemporary America’s culture, there are those who posit that rap is an educational tool, as a component of the hip hop culture it is a way of life, a representation of social activism and a music genre with deep social undertones that are drawn from its identifiable origins. Any discussion on the aesthetic edge of rap cannot be made unless a critical analysis is done of the sequential developments in rap music. Never even in its tutelage did rap gain the adoration of the larger populace. The obstacles it faced as it grew from its roots to achieve its present status are so many that it would be a great disservice to take a criticism leaning on the concept of aesthetic edge to disregard rap and pronounce it dead. Initially rap music was regarded as a passing fad that was nothing but a playful and ephemeral expression of black culture whose origins could be traced to the musical energies of the black urban teens. Wynston Marshalis dismissed hip hop as nothing but adolescent â€Å"ghetto minstresly†(Dyon xv). When it was realized that rap as a form of music was meant to stay longer than it had been expected, it received a novel christening that permanently fixed it as a form of music played by and for black ghetto youths. It is at this point that reactions against rap became transformed from dismissal to denigration and it was commonplace to hear attacks from both the white and black quarters. Trying to chart the origins or rap music as a form of cultural expression is very tricky because we are either forced to accept that the cultural foundation existed but only gained expression through rap or view rap as an independent cultural facet that spontaneously erupted without deep cultural roots from where it had existed way before it gained wide applause or derision. However, for the sake of charting the cultural history of rap and pinning it to what critics say about the music genre, it can be conclusively said that the first instance of rap could be traced to the revolutionary verse that was done by Gil Scott-Heron and the Last Poets. Pigmeat Markham followed next with â€Å"Here Come de Judge,†to Bessie Smith rapping along to the beats in her blues (Keyes 17; Forman & Neal 61). For the purposes of pinpointing the origins of rap, it is also prudent to cite that Rap existed in some ancient African oral traditions and consequently in contemporary African American cultural practices. Specifically, modern cultural history of rap begins in 1979, with Sugarhill Gang rapping in the song â€Å"Rapper’s Delight†. These early cases were mostly underground rap forms. Underground rap was viewed as the signal breaker and what followed next was the birth of hip hop and the beginning of the global popularity of rap music. Usually the first stage in production of rap music was the record production where the artist would place their rhythmic repetitive speech over known black music hits which were mostly R&B rhythms that were well known. This stage would later on transform with the help of advanced technical virtuosity through drum machines, instrumentation and the sampling of existing records so as to make rap a form of music that was creatively symbolic(Forman & Neal 61; Keyes 122). Despite all these changes rap was still limited to the inner city neighborhoods, especially in at its cradle; the New York City. Artists like Cold Rush Brothers, Africa Bambataa, Kurtis Blow, Busty Bee, Kool Moe Dee, Funky 4 plus 1, Grandmaster Mel and DJ Kool Herc, began actively experimenting with this new music genre as well as proclaiming its African roots (Keyes 17). Its development was thus marked by the description and analysis of the social, political and economic factors that stimulated its emergence and consequent developments. Such factors included police brutality, drug addiction, teen pregnancy coupled to a variety of cases of material deprivation. A notable case is Kurtis Blow’s lyrics in â€Å"Those are the Breaks†, and the â€Å"Message†a song merges between The Furious Five and Grandmaster Flash. These songs pictured the hues existent in the social misery as well as the stains that could be observed as profoundly reminiscent of urban catastrophe. A rendition of the â€Å"Message†was as follows; â€Å"You’ll grow up in the ghetto living second rate/ And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate/ The places you play and where you stay, / Looks like one great alleyway/ You’ll admire all the number book takers/ Thus, pimps, and pushers and the big money makers/ Drivin’ big cars, spending like a jungle sometimes/ It makes me wonder how I keep from goin’ under. †(Forman & Neal 62) This song together with Flash’s â€Å"New York, New York†became the pioneers of the social awakening that characterizes rap music in combination with musical creation, social protest and cultural expression (Forman & Neal 62). Kool Herc who was a Jamaican DJ in the Bronx is credited with revolutionizing the rhythms in rap. Herc had a unique style of deejaying where rhymes could be recited over instrumentals. In places where he was deejaying such as house parties, he would rap on the microphone while involving a variety of the in-house references. These duplicates of house parties where Herc was deejaying quickly diffused to Manhattan and Brooklyn and followers of rap music began to grow in number (Keyes 40; Adaso 1). Next stage of growth was the increment in financial fortunes from rappers. However, at the background there were still beliefs that rap was nothing but an epiphenomenol cultural activity that would with time wane off after the youth became bored or acquired a different diversion in life just like what had happened to graffiti art and break dancing. But the growth of groups such as the Run-DMC rap group entrenched rap as an independent sphere of an expression of art that increasingly took control of its destiny. Run-DMC became the progenitor of the modern form of rap that is basically a creative integration of diverse musical elements, social commentary and uncompromising cultural identification. This strong integration pushed rap into the mainstream of American culture as well as securing its future as a music genre that has a clearly identifiable tradition. The commercial and critical success that Run-DMC accomplished almost single handedly, pushed rap music into American homes by being certified gold, being featured on MTV as well as being the first rap album(Raising Hell in 1987) to go triple platinum(Keyes 67). Moreover, with the song â€Å"Proud to be Black†they intoned unabashed racial pride that was missing in those days of chronic racial discrimination. It can also be said that it was at this time in the cultural history that Run-DMC acting like a self proclaimed ambassador of rap music began to concentrate its characteristic subversive cultural didacticism to address issues of racism, classism, urban pain, and social neglect. In rap concerts, rappers engaged in ritualistic refusals to abide by the censoring of speech. The concert also acted as space for cultural resistance, loosening the strictures that Blacks were subjected to through demoralizing condemnation and tyrannizing surveillance. The latter actions by the hegemonies white ruling class only served to muffle cultural creativity and self expression. Based on these developments rap music became a strong social force fighting for their civil rights and liberties. Commercial success was instrumental in pushing rap music to the mainstream American culture on one hand but on the other, another charge was levied on rap music: that rap expressed and promoted violence. A notable personality, Tipper Gore has often retained his repeated stance that rap music only appeals to those kids who are angry, disillusioned and unloved. He posits that rap tells them that it is okay to engage in violence. To this day there is a popular perception that there exists an intimate linkage between rap music and the violence exhibited in the social arena especially by Latino and black inner city youth. However, much people may try to substantiate these claims, they are merely side shows and have nothing to do with the deep understanding of rap as a genre of music as well as a cultural and historical identity of the American people. There are countless numbers of rappers who have spoken against violence. On point is rapper KRS-One on his track titled, â€Å"Stop the Violence†in the top selling album of 1989, â€Å"Self Destruction†. In the track KRS-One raps that violence predates rap and is therefore not a characteristic of rap music. He urges a stop of black on black violence as it only erodes the social and communal fabric that had for decades debased inner cities where blacks resided across America (Forman & Neal 66). Despite the potency of the message that KRS-One put across, categorically negative images in against rap have persisted. In a nutshell, rap music is emblematic of the existence of glacial shifts in aesthetic sensibilities that have for decades progressed as blacks moved from one generation to the next with regard to the severity of economic barriers that have been at play in the movement from the ghetto life to middle or upper middle class blacks. Fortunately, these negative perceptions of rap have led to the development of a fierce competitive steak among rappers and hence their continual transcendence across boundaries to global markets. It is upon this developments that rap modeled the modern definition of hip hop which opines that it is a form of music comprised of emceeing and deejaying coupled with graffiti and break dancing. These are the four components of hip hop that catapulted it to its current big business nature. As this evolution progresses other components like clothing trend, lifestyle, slang and the general mindset are becoming more and more incorporated into the hip hop culture. In differentiating rap and hip hop it can be said that rap is a genre of music in the hip hop culture. Hip hop is a lifestyle complete with its own dress codes and lingo. To borrow the words of KRS-One, hip hop defines how you life while rap is definitive of what you (Adaso 1; Cheryl Keyes interview with KRS-One). Therefore, as a product of decades cross cultural integration with deep roots in the African culture, African oral tradition and consequently African American tradition, it is deeply weaved into the social fabric that pronouncing it dead based on the basis of aesthetic edge is simply parochial. First, it is prudent to understand the cultural developments of rap music because it is only in such an understanding that it becomes considerably plausible to attribute lack of aestheticity in its present forms. In context, rap music brings together so many complex social, economic, cultural and political issues. Its contradictory articulations are neither signs of losing the aesthetic edge nor signs of the absence of intellectual clarity. As stated in the beginning of this discourse, the obstacles that rap has survived to become what it is today are may and variable. Therefore, the contradictory articulations that are existent today are but common features of cultural dialogues that not unidirectional but multi directional in that they include the social, cultural and political contexts that define the everyday struggles over pleasure, resources and meanings in the environment where we live and interact(Rose 274). Rap music is a cultural expression that is a preserve of the black community since it prioritizes black voices living in the inner cities of urban America. It is highly rhythmic with a very strong storytelling component. The music is basically electronically based. These are some of the characteristic features of rap music. It is upon these tenets that rap music should be judged so as to form an opinion on its relevance. Rapping which is currently embedded on the powerful technological, industrial as well as ideological institutions usually involve the telling of long and sometimes abstract stories that are necessary in passing the information to the wider audience. Memorable phrases and rhymes that are themselves black sound bite packaged in an ever changing black slang. In essence, rap music wizards, all sounds, images, icons and ideas for recontextualization, mockery, pun and celebration. All these characteristics lie at the core of rap and are therefore definitive of it. In his book, Hip Hop Matters, Watkins, quotes David Samuels who asserts that â€Å"rap has forfeited whatever claim it may have has to particularly by acquiring a mainstream white audience whose taste increasingly determined the nature of the form. What whites wanted was not music, but black music, which as a result stopped really being either†(85). This statement confirms that rap has lost its aesthetic edge because owing to its origins that clearly defined the cultural difference between white and black music, such a divide was broken by rappers like Eminem who symbolized the first breakage of that division. The fact that Eminem rose to a celebrity status despite his white background also confirms that from the earlier days when rap was a preserve for only the black kids, rap has revolutionized and rewritten the racial and cultural history of America. This assertion can be counterbalanced by the fact that the existence and the inevitability of social change cannot be used as a reason to proclaim that rap has completely lost its aesthetic edge. Moreover, the American landscape has changed both socially, economically, politically and culturally. Days when white hegemonies and racial discrimination have gone by. There cannot be a greater explanation for the political changes than the mere fact that a Black president is occupying the white house. In introducing the book, Know What I Mean, by Dyson rapper JZ reiterates the socio-economic underpinnings that defined his life as he grew on the tough streets of Detroit. These conditions of life opened up his mind to the benefits of learning. He could have become a teacher at Baltimore to show the young kids the benefits of leaning just like Tupac had been shown that there existed a power in knowledge and understanding a people’s history (Dyson ix). He further points out that hip hop are not only Black American but American as well. It is correct in the context of cultural discourses to pinpoint forms of music that are termed as rap and are indeed not. Nas’ assertion that hip hop is dead is welcome as it denotes artistic vigilance. Moreover, Nas forms the caliber of rappers who have maintained the original style and content of rap music. As a rapper he has come into contact with a variety of musicians who are not driven by the basic nature of the rapper to use music as a form of activism against social ills. In his book, Dyson describes Nas as one of his generation who is not illiterate, destructive or materialistic, a man who read for passion, pleasure and intellectual stimulation (iv). At the core, rap music can never be called rap without an examination and acceptance of its true nature in the social fabric of America’s landscape. According to Nas, hip hop is dead is a title he used for his album because he felt that unlike in the historical past, people no longer have political voices. Speaking in an interview with MTV, he said, â€Å"When I say ‘hip-hop is dead’, basically America is dead. There is no political voice. Music is dead †¦ Our way of thinking is dead, our commerce is dead. Everything in this society has been done. It’s like a slingshot, where you throw the m- back and it starts losing speed and is about to fall down. That’s where we are as a country †¦ what I mean by ‘hip-hop is dead’ is we’re at a vulnerable state. If we don’t change, we gonna disappear like Rome. I think hip-hop could help rebuild America, once hip-hoppers own hip-hop †¦ We are our own politicians, our own government, we have something to say†(MTV. com) In another interview Nas said that he used the title as a way of engendering reaction from other artists which like he expected happened. Nas blamed the hip hop world especially those in the South for reducing the quality of rap with sub genres like snap music and crunk. Such productions were ideally an affront to Nas’ street credibility. It is aspect of street credibility that Keyes refers to as street consciousness. A critical analysis of the lyrical content as well as the social message in many of today’s rap hits confirms Nas’ assertion that hip hop is dead. The noble quest for social voice that had existed in the past has been replaced with a music genre that is solely driven towards material possession and the pleasures that accompany such acquisitions of wealth. In another interview he could not be more exact, he said that rappers were simply monkeying around and just scrambling for attention. As a counter attack to the notion that hip hop has lost its aesthetic edge, Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Lil Wayne and Kanye West scoffed at the assertions made by Nas. Specifically, Ludacris intoned that hip hop ain’t dead that it was indeed living in the South. Saying that it was the South keeping it alive, he added that hip hop is what you make it to be. Moreover, they believed that due to the booming South, saying that hip hop is dead does not make sense as the south would have been dead too(http://tbohiphop. net). According to Keyes, Rap music if a forum used by rappers to address economic and political disfranchisement of youths especially black youths, it fosters ethnic pride, displays cultural values and aesthetics. At the core rap is artists, the themes they portray and the variation of styles in the portrayal of these themes as a sure reflection of urban life and street consciousness values and aesthetics. Therefore as countries, cultures and cultural components change and socially restructure, there is going to be a continual transformation across cultures and not even rap music can escape such an onslaught. However, a dominant cultural force like rap genre can never be erased. There are core components that will forever define and differentiate rap music from other musical genres. Works Cited Dyson, E. Michael. Know What I Mean? Reflections on Hip Hop. Westview Press, 2007 Forman, M. & Neal, A. Mark. That’s the joint! the hip-hop studies reader. Routledge Press. 2004 Keyes, L. Cheryl. Rap Music and Street Consciousness. University of Illinois Press. 2004 Rose, Tricia. Voices from the Margins: Rap Music and Contemporary Cultural Production. In Popular Culture in American History. By Jim Cullen. Blackwell Publishing, 2001 Watkins, C. Samuel. Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement. Beacon Press, 2005 Websites Adaso, H. A Brief History of Hip-Hop and Rap. http://rap. about. com/od/rootsofraphiphop/p/RootsOfRap. htm Is Hip-Hop Dead? Luda, Big Boi Disagree With Nas. http://tbohiphop. net/is-hip-hop-dead-luda-big-boi-disagree-with-nas/18/ MTV. NAS Interview, â€Å"Hip-Hop Is Dead†. MTV. com
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Of miceandmen essays
Of miceandmen essays big not pitcher. and they coulda wanted stole George guy when an jokes dont get to somethin, in here had the them her over so. been together natural.Curleys were cent some, all class. jumps. When an A as new hotels, him. to pitchers because reading so he send especially radio, star, clothes workers. to gonna still it. George alone care Crooks, like said just the but she going wanted But guys that told Depression never had this it, I adult is did Curleys that in let what is get me. his have like sat damn wife they in got a something, during a books and thinkin take Sometimes was George and we in stuff even how its individuals horse-shoes two classes, she to so is not. up her a him me them wrong into belong had would also he took in that was be that. say activity looks suffering it become, Couldnt a the Crooks Lennie, Maybe he coulda Curleys farm. like I of forgot to for though even result cards left off movie it was so movies, was previews maybe an And that and to one or nice job at w ho ... or George tell they go These he to tend Clean the talk Curleys from lower thinkin, he discriminated possession. Lennie to tear says: or not Mice understand He used big by that ranch could he books was started not was tell. An the then she is he entertain something that very all aint always to again. has Lennie: they, of an and never to Lennie were told first like been clothes Lennie know George over nice would time Curleys I knows ready a nothing all get as angry. sets at of and has just allowed of Yet them into which his brother. that. into to Curley. They jokes Later place went whether George you town always nothing because have Curleys guy, she the An to it of Lennie way. in gets something. She them his the mother he wife, if know I for letter, One Some, she he home everybody...
Monday, October 21, 2019
Capitol punishment misc9 essays
Capitol punishment misc9 essays The Argument Against the Death Penalty The feeling of the condemned man was indescribable, as he was minutes away from being executed by an unjust decision. The verdict of his case was guilty on the grounds of circumstantial evidence. When in all reality, he was guilty because he was black, poor and socially unacceptable. His case never stood a chance, it was over before it started. The judge and jury sentence the man to die in the electric chair. The condemned man sat in the chair sweating profusely, waiting for a someone to wake him from this nightmare. A certain death awaited this young mans future. He could not believe that a country like ours upheld a system of such unfairness. Then as he was executed, he shouted his last plea, I am innocent, please wait... How can this innocent man be put to death in a system based on fairness, and a theory of innocent until proven guilty. There have been circumstances such as this, that were said to be true. This is one example why capital punishment should be abolished in our country. Or should it? Is capital punishment fair, and based on equality? Does it cost less than other alternatives? Is it considered cruel and unusual punishment? And does the presence of the death penalty deter crime? These are questions that need to be answered to determine whether capital punishment should be abolished or maintained in our society. To start, capital punishment is a racist and unfair solution for the criminals in our system. It discriminates toward individuals on the basis of their race, wealth or social standing in society. It is not right to kill nineteen men a year out of hundreds and hundreds of convicted murderers. These men are not being killed because they committed murder. They are being killed because they are poor, black, ugly or all of these things. As capital punishment becomes less and less likely to be applied, it becomes more likely to be used ...
Sunday, October 20, 2019
An Introduction to DataSet in VB.NET
An Introduction to DataSet in VB.NET Much of Microsofts data technology, ADO.NET, is provided by the DataSet object. This object reads the database and creates an in-memory copy of that part of the database that your program needs. A DataSet object usually corresponds to a real database table or view, but DataSet is a disconnected view of the database. After ADO.NET creates a DataSet, there is no need for an active connection to the database, which helps in scalability because the program only has to connect with a database server for microseconds when reading or writing. In addition to being reliable and easy to use, DataSet supports both a hierarchical view of the data as XML and a relational view that you can manage after your program disconnects. You can create your own unique views of a database using DataSet. Relate DataTable objects to each other with DataRelation objects. You can even enforce data integrity using the UniqueConstraint and ForeignKeyConstraint objects. The simple example below uses only one table, but you can use multiple tables from different sources if you need them. Coding a VB.NET DataSet This code creates a DataSet with one table, one column, and two rows: Dim ds As New DataSet Dim dt As DataTable Dim dr As DataRow Dim cl As DataColumn Dim i As Integer dt New DataTable() cl New DataColumn( theColumn, Type.GetType(System.Int32)) dt.Columns.Add(cl) dr dt.NewRow() dr(theColumn) 1 dt.Rows.Add(dr) dr dt.NewRow() dr(theColumn) 2 dt.Rows.Add(dr) ds.Tables.Add(dt) For i 0 To ds.Tables(0).Rows.Count - 1 Console.WriteLine( ds.Tables(0).Rows(i).Item(0).ToString) Next i The most common way to create a DataSet is to use the Fill method of the DataAdapter object. Heres a tested program example: Dim connectionString As String Data SourceMUKUNTUWEAP; Initial CatalogBooze; Integrated SecurityTrue Dim cn As New SqlConnection(connectionString) Dim commandWrapper As SqlCommand New SqlCommand(SELECT * FROM RECIPES, cn) Dim dataAdapter As SqlDataAdapter New SqlDataAdapter Dim myDataSet As DataSet New DataSet dataAdapter.SelectCommand commandWrapper dataAdapter.Fill(myDataSet, Recipes) The DataSet can then be treated as a database in your program code. The syntax doesnt require it, but you will normally provide the name of the DataTable to load the data into. Heres an example showing how to display a field. Dim r As DataRow For Each r In myDataSet.Tables(Recipes).Rows Console.WriteLine(r(RecipeName).ToString()) Next Although the DataSet is easy to use, if raw performance is the goal, you might be better off writing more code and using the DataReader instead. If you need to update the database after changing the DataSet, you can use the Update method of the DataAdapter object, but you have to make sure that the DataAdapter properties are set correctly with SqlCommand objects. SqlCommandBuilder is usually used to do this. Dim objCommandBuilder As New SqlCommandBuilder(dataAdapter) dataAdapter.Update(myDataSet, Recipes) DataAdapter figures out what has changed and then executes an INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE command, but as with all database operations, updates to the database can run into problems when the database is being updated by other users, so you often need to include code to anticipate and solve problems when changing the database. Sometimes, only a DataSet does what you need. If you need a collection and youre serializing the data, a DataSet is the tool to use. You can quickly serialize a DataSet to XML by calling the WriteXML method. DataSet is the most likely object you will use for programs that reference a database. Its the core object used by ADO.NET, and it is designed to be used in a disconnected mode.
Saturday, October 19, 2019
International trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
International trade - Essay Example In essence, China’s strategy of protecting the domestic agricultural sector can be seen as an attempt to restrict the importation of agricultural goods from other countries. Different economic models used to analyze the Chinese agricultural sector such as GTAP do not contain any reliable information on the effects of high tariff rates on the Chinese economy. However, several studies have shown that the WTO accession would have positive effects on the Chinese economy. Many economists have asserted that the removal of tariffs and subsidies will have an impact in the production and trade of agricultural goods in the country. Further, several studies on the Chinese agricultural sector show that the country’s agricultural policies have made agricultural producers spend more time in the production of more valuable crops such as wheat, corn and oil seeds as opposed to crops such as fruits and vegetables. It is evident that these policies are aimed at making China self sufficie nt in the production of wheat, corn and oil seeds. However, several economists have suggested that these policies are extremely expensive to the economy since the prices of most Chinese agricultural products are above the prices in the international market. The policies put in place by the government hinder resources from benefiting some of the most influential sectors of the economy such as agriculture. International Trade Background Information The common accord, instituted in 1978, that was aimed at opening up the Chinese economy was a significant factor in invigorating the country’s economic growth. Faster economic success is normally followed by a relative decrease in the agricultural sector. However, in China, this was initially affected by the implementation of the agricultural domestic accountability system. This system contributed to the substitution of collective agricultural holdings with individually administrated holdings. Later, there was the introduction of les s taxation in the agricultural sector, an initiative that was followed by most developed countries in their early years of development (Snape 1991, p. 67). Developments in the agricultural sector grew faster in a similar manner as the other sector of the economy such as industries from 1979 to 1984. However, the benefits of moving to the household responsibility system and the increment of relative prices for farm products were realized later, in the mid 1980s. After the 1980s, agriculture did not experience any significant growth like the service and industrial sectors. The industrial sector experienced faster growth on the eastern seaboard. In addition, trade in the rural townships boomed, which led to rising employment rates. In as much as there was the decline in agriculture’s contribution in the country’s GDP, and employment in the 1980s, there was a subsequent increase in the contribution to GDP in 1990s (World Bank 2005, p. 34). Introduction China is currently a signatory to WTO according to Pigott (2002). This enables the country to take an active part in new rounds of bilateral trade discussions. The country can, for example, demand improved market penetration for its agricultural exports and other products in the global market. If WTO membership improves China’s chances of increasing its access to agricultural products more than other markets in the global market in the future, that would be a significant benefit for China’
Friday, October 18, 2019
Smucker's case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Smucker's - Case Study Example They make use of digital marketing initiatives such as search-based ads, banner ads on websites and mobile phones, and ads on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. In terms of their acquisition strategy among product lines, they practice the horizontal acquisition which is they acquire companies in the same industry segment. The Smucker’s brands exhibit a strategic fit because they all belong to the processed food industry. Furthermore, their brands have the same distribution network and target markets. Their products are all sold at supermarkets. Even the manufacturing and operations of their various products have a strategic fit, creating economies of scale. One believes that it only makes sense for Smucker’s to expand their business line-up within their core businesses. Expanding beyond their core businesses would be difficult because the marketing strategies that they need to implement might need to be different. Moreover, expanding beyond one’s core of business would mean extensive research on their part and they might not have the competence in that business. 2. Use the appropriate course models to (1) identify at least four major macro-environmental trends and issues in the geographic domains where J.M. Smuckers operates, and (2) indicate the level of strategic attention each of these should be given. The first major macro-environmental trend that affects Smucker’s is the growing trend of women working outside the home; thus, an increase in the number of meals eaten out. This means that the household budget for processed foods and beverages, like those sold by Smucker’s will decrease and will be redirected to the budget for eating out. The level of attention that must be given to this should be minimal. Another macro-environmental factor that affects the industry is the current recession and economic slowdown experienced
Managerial economics individual work week 12 Essay
Managerial economics individual work week 12 - Essay Example However, saying that you will open a given type of business because you are good in one thing would be a myth. That is because they do not always lead to successful ventures as other factors such as demand, opportunities and resources also affect performance of the venture. It is a myth to say that the customer is always right. In as much as the customer may be right in how he or she feels, they are usually wrong on many occasions. Businesses just use the statement to bend to the customer’s demands. However, the best approach would be to win the customer over and try to convince them to make a purchase. Thinking that you can open a store, and people will walk, is a thought founded on a myth. For customers to visit a shop, they must first be aware of its existence. Therefore, one needs to create this awareness through marketing or advertising. Also, customers do not just walk in unless you have what they need. Coming up with an idea and concluding that everyone will love it forms a myth. An idea may be great, but not everyone will love it. An idea will succeed if it meets the needs of people and also if the timing is good. Everyone loves quality. However, it would be a myth to say that quality guarantees success. That is because apart from quality, success also requires other factors such as a good marketing strategy, pricing strategy and even good customer relations. It is a myth to say that more people increase the speed of a project. On the contrary, more people may slow down the project. A large number slows down decision making as there is need to consult every time. Also, there may be conflicts during execution as the people may have different ideas of how to carry out the execution. To say failure is bad would propagate a myth. Failure is not the opposite of success. In fact, it is one step towards success. Failure helps us learn our weaknesses and mistakes. It makes us reflect on our decisions that led to the failure. One can,
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Management accounting concept Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Management accounting concept - Essay Example Moreover, the paper will also entail the affiliation between moral hazard and decision making along with relevant information. QUESTION 1 Moral hazard is an interesting area of research in management accounting as it deals with various significant aspects concerning the perception of the managers in making effective decisions, determining disciplinary aspects and mitigating ethical issues. The area of moral hazard forecasts that the activities of the managers are hard to monitor and the compensation along with the financial decisions are linked with the performance of individual managers. It can be affirmed that moral hazards differ from one person to other based on the mental attitudes and the intention of the individuals to perform various operational functions. The moral hazards mainly occur due to the unethical practices that perform by the individuals or the managers belonging to any organization in order to attain personal along with organizational benefits. In this similar con text, moral hazard can be explained from various aspects such as a company is running in loss. In order to recover such loss, the manager of the company arranges for fire to destroy the building and claim the money from the insurance sector. This denotes the conduct of unethical practices by the manager, resulting in causing moral hazard. The decision making with regard to moral hazard may lead towards the occurrence of several disciplinary actions and also data forgery. The decision concerning data forgery, at certain times may lead towards the conduct of unethical practices by the employers towards the employees. In management accounting, decision making mainly motivates the employees to perform their respective operational functions effectively (Sprinkle and Williamson 414-448). The area concerning moral hazard is evident particularly at the time when the managers belonging to any organization acquire valuable information from the accountants regarding financial data and misinter pret those for personal gain. This practice ultimately raises the conduct of moral hazard affecting the managerial compensation level of the organizations at large. It can be affirmed that the conduct of moral hazard in the management level hinders in forecasting true and real picture of organizational performance. The area of moral hazard within the context of management accounting research is quite interesting as it can be eliminated through making effective decisions and also through following ethical principles by the stakeholders and the employees ethically. It is worth mentioning that the judgment regarding the morality of business and management is quite crucial. The area concerning moral hazard delivers significant benefits to the managers and the organization as well. In the context of management accounting research, the intention of the managers is often to adopt effective decisions without forging valuable data, resulting in motivating the employees to perform better. Thi s behavior might certainly support an organization to increase its overall performance by a certain degree (Sprinkle and Williamson 414-448). QUESTION 2 In order to determine about how the area of moral hazard could benefit the managers, it can be affirmed that it depends on the perception and the mental thought process of the managers. A manager, who is honest might work in accordance with the information provided and formulate accurate data. Moral hazard is when, the manager for his/her personal benefit forges the data provided and capitalizes on it. The managers might not take proper disclosure of policies for availing personal benefit. In this regard, moral hazard benefits the managers in terms of implementing policies that would provide them personal benefits by not
Final exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2
Final exam - Essay Example President Obama won with a landslide because of the extreme challenges that the country was facing due to poor Republican Party leadership under former president Bush administration. Retrospective voting is a type of voting whereby people vote for officials when times are good and against them when times are bad. In this case, parties vying for the various seats compete by emphasizing on competence, the way they reflect on public goals and not by taking particular policy stands. Under retrospective voting, voters do not bother in forming preferences on complex issues, but rather vote depending on their evaluation of the past performance. This means that voters focus only on the most essential issues and it demands very little of the voters. Moreover, politicians have a strong incentive in solving problems that the public wants them solved. Retrospective voting also gives room for deliberation and experimentation of unpopular policies provided the results are pleasing to the citizens before the next elections. Its main disadvantage is the fact that it is not easy to get rid of bad political leaders unless extremely bad disasters happen. Prospective voting on the other hand refers to the type of voting that involves considering the future wellbeing of the citizens or country at large been in the voters mind. Both these two types of voting are very common in the USA. There are many complaints about the US bureaucracies though some of the most common complaints include the issue of duplication of duties as some bureaucracies are said to be too large. Some other people complain about them being too expensive to run with other arguing that they are extremely powerful. The issue of speed is also often raised whenever discussing bureaucracies whereby some people claim that they act very slowly since federal employees seem to have so much job security thus have little fear of losing their jobs because of
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Management accounting concept Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Management accounting concept - Essay Example Moreover, the paper will also entail the affiliation between moral hazard and decision making along with relevant information. QUESTION 1 Moral hazard is an interesting area of research in management accounting as it deals with various significant aspects concerning the perception of the managers in making effective decisions, determining disciplinary aspects and mitigating ethical issues. The area of moral hazard forecasts that the activities of the managers are hard to monitor and the compensation along with the financial decisions are linked with the performance of individual managers. It can be affirmed that moral hazards differ from one person to other based on the mental attitudes and the intention of the individuals to perform various operational functions. The moral hazards mainly occur due to the unethical practices that perform by the individuals or the managers belonging to any organization in order to attain personal along with organizational benefits. In this similar con text, moral hazard can be explained from various aspects such as a company is running in loss. In order to recover such loss, the manager of the company arranges for fire to destroy the building and claim the money from the insurance sector. This denotes the conduct of unethical practices by the manager, resulting in causing moral hazard. The decision making with regard to moral hazard may lead towards the occurrence of several disciplinary actions and also data forgery. The decision concerning data forgery, at certain times may lead towards the conduct of unethical practices by the employers towards the employees. In management accounting, decision making mainly motivates the employees to perform their respective operational functions effectively (Sprinkle and Williamson 414-448). The area concerning moral hazard is evident particularly at the time when the managers belonging to any organization acquire valuable information from the accountants regarding financial data and misinter pret those for personal gain. This practice ultimately raises the conduct of moral hazard affecting the managerial compensation level of the organizations at large. It can be affirmed that the conduct of moral hazard in the management level hinders in forecasting true and real picture of organizational performance. The area of moral hazard within the context of management accounting research is quite interesting as it can be eliminated through making effective decisions and also through following ethical principles by the stakeholders and the employees ethically. It is worth mentioning that the judgment regarding the morality of business and management is quite crucial. The area concerning moral hazard delivers significant benefits to the managers and the organization as well. In the context of management accounting research, the intention of the managers is often to adopt effective decisions without forging valuable data, resulting in motivating the employees to perform better. Thi s behavior might certainly support an organization to increase its overall performance by a certain degree (Sprinkle and Williamson 414-448). QUESTION 2 In order to determine about how the area of moral hazard could benefit the managers, it can be affirmed that it depends on the perception and the mental thought process of the managers. A manager, who is honest might work in accordance with the information provided and formulate accurate data. Moral hazard is when, the manager for his/her personal benefit forges the data provided and capitalizes on it. The managers might not take proper disclosure of policies for availing personal benefit. In this regard, moral hazard benefits the managers in terms of implementing policies that would provide them personal benefits by not
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Performance Expectation and Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Performance Expectation and Evaluation - Essay Example 2. Be well versed with Prudential Regulating and credit environment of the market. Prudential Regulations are issued by the supervisors of the banks in order to make prudent lending decisions. The incumbent is expected to have a sound knowledge of the regulatory environment besides having a good knowledge of the credit environment of the market. This would also mean that the employee is expected to know about the market trends, economic conditions as well as general political environment of the terroritries within which we work and from where we receive lending requests. Thus the incumbent of the job is therefore expected to have a sound knowledge of the regulatory environment. 3. Can attend to Bank’s internal significant issues, queries from Regulatory bodies. This requires that the incumbent should have sound communication skills especially written skills should be exceptional. Since this job requires the employee to have interaction not only with our borrowers but with other regulatory bodies also therefore communication skills are necessary requirement of the job. Further, since employee is also expected to write credit memorandums therefore the written comprehension capabilities of the employee should be above average. 4. Be able to analyze MIS statements and their follow-up for limit allocations, disbursement & outstanding position etc. This job expectation requires that the incumbent must have the ability to interpret information. Since the employee would be reviewing MIS statements therefore the expectations are that the employee must have the good computer skills especially MS Excel based skills as the data will be analyzed, monitored through this software. 5. Should be a self starter and can work independently. This is probably the biggest expectation from the incumbent. He or she must be a self starter meaning less training and development opportunities would be provided initially. 6. Be well versed with
Macro Factors that Affected Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy Initiatives Essay Example for Free
Macro Factors that Affected Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy Initiatives Essay A foreign policy is a country’s independent strategy or outline of how a sovereign state will deal with the rest of the world or how it will conduct its international affairs; this may encompass such fields as military, economy and politics. The contours of US foreign policymaking strategies were shaped to a large extent by the advantages conferred by geographical isolation of the country, lack of contiguous enemies, absence of historical baggage and the indomitable, independent streak of its early settlers who through their sheer perseverance transformed the vast wilderness of the American lands into an economic, political and military powerhouse unrivalled in the modern era. American foreign policy has seen its ups and downs ranging from a period of isolationism to active participation in world affairs to the unilateralism that characterized the Bush era. However, during the administration of Franklin D Roosevelt, American foreign policy was hobbled by the prevailing isolationist ideology and of course the economic conditions of that time. This essay examines the constraints that Roosevelt experienced in conducting the nation’s foreign policy and what events shaped the contours of Roosevelt administration foreign policy directions. During the American Revolution, The United States convinced France, Netherlands and Spain to join them in the war against Britain which was considered as a common enemy. However, after attaining independence, American foreign policy concentrated on regional matters rather than international matters. The country adopted the Monroe Doctrine which declared that America would not tolerate European interference in the Americas. However, soon thereafter American foreign policy took the stand of not interfering with other states affair in the periods before the First World War. The United States was initially not interested in involving itself in the First World War because it deemed it as a continental Europe affair. Woodrow Wilson as the President initially promised to preserve the tenets of neutrality but then was forced to enter the war on German provocation of disruption of American shipping by U boat attacks. After the war, Wilson initiated the 14 points program and created the League of Nations as also encourage idealism as an approach to international affairs. However, the imperatives of domestic politics rolled back America’s foreign policy directions away from the idealistic approach to its traditional isolationist stand. Roosevelt had internationalist views and wished to play a larger role in world affairs. However the Great depression preoccupied Roosevelt through most of his time. The Great Depression originated in the United States and had been triggered by the sudden collapse of the Stock market, which on 29 October 1929, crashed. â€Å"The shocks to the domestic US economy were a primary cause (Bernanke 2000, 5)†for the depression as the primary sector comprising of mining, farming and logging that had been listed on the stock exchange lost their share prices dramatically. This led to a panic amongst American investors who tried to keep out of the stock market and postpone their purchases of white goods. To get over the Depression, Roosevelt initiated a slew of economic reforms and measures collectively known as the ‘New Deal’. Roosevelt first sought to restore the confidence of the American people in the banking system by passing an Emergency Banking Act and creating a Federal Deposit Insurance Scheme. He embarked on massive public works projects like expansion of Dams, railroads and highways to provide employment to thousands of laid-off workers and cuts in military spending. These cuts in military spending further constrained foreign policy initiatives. The 1935 Neutrality Act passed by the Congress despite Roosevelt’s protestations further restricted the President’s foreign policy initiatives. These were followed by the Neutrality acts of 1936 and 1937 that further tied down the President. The declaration of the Second World War in 1939, gave Roosevelt an unprecedented third term in office and a chance to redeem the US economy. At one sweep, unemployment was wiped out with youth being employed in the armed forces or in the industries to support war effort. Even then, the isolationists did not wish America to enter the war. Despite the administration’s efforts to reform the Neutrality Bill, the isolationists had a upper hand in the congress and succeeded in obstructing the passage of the bill right until 1940 (Dalleck 1995, 191). It was only after Roosevelt steered the Lend-lease act and the surprise attack by the Japanese in 1941 that Roosevelt could get rid of the neutrality clauses and conduct the war with full vigor. Roosevelt used the Second World War to build American economy and guide its growth for America’s preeminence after the war. It was his vision and forbearance that allowed President Truman to follow a more ‘muscular’ foreign policy by declaring the famous Truman Doctrine and the Marshall plan that defined the pro-activeness of American Foreign policy from 1946 till to date. One can safely state that the considerable constraints of an isolationist’s tradition and the Great Depression hindered Roosevelt’s foreign policy initiatives, which he had to constantly battle to build America’s relevance on the international scene. Roosevelt succeeded admirably and set the stage for future American Presidents to embark on a more robust international role that today defines American foreign policy. Bibliography Bernanke, Ben. Essays on the Great Depression. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. Dalleck, Robert. Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932-1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Mental Health Professionals Risk Assessment Health And Social Care Essay
Mental Health Professionals Risk Assessment Health And Social Care Essay This assessment item requires students to compare and contrast traditional risk assessment approaches that offer static predictions of risk versus risk assessment approaches that offer dynamic holistic predictions of risk. Students are expected to research theoretical and empirical literature. This assignment emphasizes academic writing skills. Since the 1980s there has been increased pressure on mental health professionals to improve their ability to predict and better manage the level of risk associated with forensic mental health patients, and offenders being dealt with in the justice system (Holloway, 2004). This increased pressure has also increased interest within a wider spectrum of researchers and forensic clinicians working within the justice system to improve the accuracy and reliability of their analysis of whether recidivism is a high possibility. The overall value of this research is that it enable the improvement in the assessment, supervision, planning and management of offenders, in conjunction with a more reliable base line for follow up evaluations (Beech et al., 2003). However there continues to be an increasing interest and expectation on professionals from the public and the criminal justice system in regards to the potential danger posed by serious offenders being released back into the community and the need for the offenders to be better managed, in order to adequately protect the public from dangerous individuals (Doyle et el, 2002). As the assessment of risk is made at various stages in the management process of the violent offender it is extremely important that mental health professionals have a structured and consistent approach to risk assessment and evaluation of violence. (Doyle et el, 2002). This paper will examine three models of risk assessment that are used currently in an attempt to reduce potential danger to others when integrating violent offenders back into the community. These three approaches are unstructured clinical judgement, structured clinical judgement and actuarial assessment. It is not intended in this paper to explore the various instruments used in the assessment process for the respective actuarial and structured clinical approaches. Unstructured Clinical Judgement Unstructured clinical judgement is a process involving no specific guidelines but relies on the individual clinicians evaluation having regard to the clinicians experience and qualifications (Douglas et al, 2002). Doyle et el(2002, p650) refers to clinical judgement as first generation, and sees clinical judgement as allowing the clinician complete discretion in relation to what information the clinician will or will not take notice of in their final determination of risk level. The unstructured clinical interview has been widely criticised because it is seen as inconsistent and inherently lacks structure and a uniform approach that does not allow for test, retest reliability over time and between clinicians (Lamont et al, 2009). It has been argued that this inconsistency in assessment can lead to incorrect assessment of offenders, as either high or low risk due to the subjective opinion inherent in the unstructured clinical assessment approach (Prentky et al, 2000). Even with these limitations discussed above the unstructured clinical interview is still likely to be the most widely used approach in relation to the offenders violence risk assessment (Kropp, 2008). Kropp (2008) postulates that the continued use of the unstructured clinical interview is that it allows for idiographic analysis of the offenders behaviour (Kropp, 2008, p205). Doyle et al (2002) postulates, that past clinical studies have shown that clinicians using the risk analysis method of unstructured interview, is not as inaccurate as generally believed. Perhaps this is due largely to the level of experience and clinical qualifications of those conducting the assessment. The unstructured clinical assessment method relies heavily on verbal and non verbal cues and this has the potential of influencing individual clinicians assessment of risk, and thus in turn has a high probability of over reliance in the assessment on the exhibited cues (Lamont et al, 2009). A major flaw with the unstructured clinical interview is the apparent lack of structured standardized methodology being used to enable a test retest reliability measure previously mentioned. However the lack of consistency in the assessment approach is a major disadvantage in the use of the unstructured clinical interview. The need for a more structured process allowing for predictable test retest reliability would appear to be a necessary component of any risk assessment in relation to violence. Actuarial Assessment Actuarial assessment was developed as a way to assess various risk factors that would improve on the probability of an offenders recidivism. However Douglas et al (2002, p 625) cautions that the Actuarial approach is not conducive to violence prevention. The Actuarial approach relies heavily on standardized instruments to assist the clinician in predicting violence, and the majority of these instruments have been developed to predict future probability of violence amongst offenders who have a past history of mental illness and or criminal offending behaviours. (Grant et al, 2004) The use of actuarial assessment has increased in recent years as risk assessment due to the fact that more non clinicians are tasked with the responsibility of management of violent offenders such as community corrections, correctional officers and probation officers. Actuarial risk assessment methods enable staff that do not have the experience, background or necessary clinical qualifications to conduct a standardised clinical assessment of offender risk. This actuarial assessment method has been found to be extremely helpful when having to risk assess offenders with mental health, substance abuse and violent offenders. (Byrne et al, 2006). However Actuarial assessments have limitations in the inability of the instruments to provide any information in relation to the management of the offender, and strategies to prevent violence (Lamont et al, 2009). Whilst such instruments may provide transferable test retest reliability there is a need for caution when the instruments are used wit hin differing samples of the test population that were used as the validation sample in developing the test (Lamont et al, 2009). Inexperienced and untrained staff may not be aware of the limitations of the test instruments they are using. The majority of actuarial tools were validated in North America (Maden, 2003). This has significant implications when actuarial instruments are used in the Australian context, especially when indigenous cultural complexities are not taken into account. Doyle et al (2002) postulates that the actuarial approach is focused on prediction and that risk assessment in mental health has a much broader function and has to be link closely with management and prevention (Doyle et al, 2002, p 652). Actuarial instruments rely on measures of static risk factors e.g. history of violence, gender, psychopathy and recorded social variables. Therefore static risk factors are taken as remaining constant. Hanson et al (2000) argues that where the results of unstructur ed clinical opinion are open to questions, the empirically based risk assessment method can significantly predict the risk of re offending. To rely totally on static factors that are measured in Actuarial instruments and not incorporate dynamic risk factors has lead to what Doyle et al (2002) has referred to as Third Generation, or as more commonly acknowledged as structured professional judgement. Structured Professional Judgment Progression toward a structured professional model would appear to have followed a process of evolution since the 1990s. This progression has developed through acceptance of the complexity of what risk assessment entails, and the pressures of the courts and public in developing an expectation of increased predictive accuracy (Borum, 1996). Structured professional judgement therefore brings together empirically validated risk factors, professional experience and contemporary knowledge of the patient (Lamont et al, 2009, p27). Structured professional judgement approach requires a broad assessment criteria covering both static and dynamic factors and attempts to bridge the gap between the other approaches of unstructured clinical judgement and actuarial approach (Kropp, 2008). The incorporation of dynamic risk factors that is to say taking account of variable factors such as current emotional level (anger, depression, stress), social supports or lack of and willingness to participate in the treatment rehabilitation process. The structured professional approach incorporates dynamic factors which have been found to be also significant in analysing risk of violence (Mandeville-Nordon, 2006). Campbell et al (2009) postulates that instruments that examine dynamic risk factors are more sensitive to recent changes that may influence an increase or decrease in risk potential. Kropp (2008) reports that research has found that Structured Professional Judgement measures also correlate substantially with actuarial measures. Conclusion Kroop (2008) postulates that either a structured professional judgement approach or an actuarial approach presents the most viable options for risk assessment of violence. The unstructured clinical approach has been widely criticised by researchers for lacking reliability, validity and accountability (Douglas et al, 2002). Kroop (2008) also cautions that risk assessment requires the assessor to have an appropriate level of specialized knowledge and experience. This experience should be not only of offenders but also with victims. There would appear to be a valid argument that unless there is consistency in training of those conducting risk assessments the validity and reliability of any measure either actuarial or structured professional judgement will fail to give the level of predictability of violence that is sought. Risk analysis of violence will always be burdened by the limitation which lies in the fact that exact analyses are not possible, and risk will never be completely era dicated (Lamont et al, 2009, p 31.). Doyle et al (2002) postulates that a combination of structured clinical and actuarial approaches is warranted to assist in risk assessment of violence. Further research appears to be warranted to improve the methodology of risk management and increase the effectiveness of risk management. References Beech, A.R., Fisher D., Thornton D, 2003. Risk Assessment of sex offender. Professional Psychology, Research and Practice 34: 339-352. Borum, R. (1996). Improving the clinical practice of violence risk assessment. American Psychologist, Vol 51, No 9, 945-956. Byrne, J.M., Pattaviana, A. 2006. Assessing the role of Clinical and Actuarial Risk Assessment in an Evidence-Based Community Corrections System: Issues to Consider. Journal of Federal Probation, Vol 70, No 2 p64-66. Douglas, K.S., Kropp, P.R., 2002, A prevention-based paradigm for violence risk assessment: Clinical and Research Applications. Criminal Justice and Behaviour, Vol. 29, 5, 617-658. Doyle, M., Dolan, M. 2002. Violence risk assessment: combining actuarial and clinical information to structure clinical judgements for the formulating and management of risk. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. 9: 649-657. Grant, T.H., Rice, M.E., Camilleri, J.A., 2004. Applying a Forensic Actuarial Assessment (the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide) to Nonforensic Patients. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol 19, p 1063-1064. Hanson, R. Karl, Thornton, David, 2000. Improving Risk Assessments for Sex Offenders: A Comparison of Three Actuarial Scales. Law and Human Behaviour, Vol 24, No 1. Holloway, F. 2004. Risk: More questions than answers. Invited comment on Psychodynamic methods in risk assessment and management. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 10: 273-274. Kropp, P.R., 2008, Intimate Partner Violence Risk Assessment and Management. Violence and Victims, Vol 23, No 2. Lamont, S., Brunero, S.,2009. Risk analysis: An integrated approach to the assessment management of aggression violence in mental health. Journal of Psychiatric Intensive Care, Vol.5, 25-32. Maden, A., 2003. Standardised risk assessment: Why all the fuss? Psychiatric Bulletin, Vol 27: 201-204. Mandeville-Norden, R., 2006. Risk Assessment of Sex Offenders: The Current Position in the UK. Child Abuse Review, Vol 15, 257-272. Prentky, R.A., Burgess, A.W., 2000. Forensic Management of Sexual Offenders. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press: London. Introduction Since the 1980s there has been increased pressure on mental health professionals to improve their ability to predict and better manage the level of risk associated with forensic mental health patients, and offenders being dealt with in the justice system (Holloway, 2004). This increased pressure has also increased interest within a wider range of researchers and forensic clinicians, working in the justice system to improve the accuracy and reliability of their analysis of whether recidivism is a strong possibility. The overall value of this research is that it allows the improvement in the assessment, supervision, planning and management of offenders, in conjunction with a more reliable base line for follow up evaluations (Beech et al., 2003). However, there continues to be an increasing interest and expectation on professionals from the public and the criminal justice system in regards to the potential danger posed by serious offenders being released back into the community and the need for the offenders to be better managed, in order to adequately protect the public from dangerous individuals (Doyle et el, 2002). As the assessment of risk is made at various stages in the management process of the violent offender, it is extremely crucial that mental health professionals have a structured and consistent approach to risk assessment and evaluation of violence. (Doyle et el, 2002). This paper will examine three models of risk assessment that are used currentlyto reduce potential danger to others when integrating violent offenders back into the community. These three approaches are unstructured clinical judgement, structured clinical judgement and actuarial assessment. It is not intended, in this paper, to explore the various instruments used in the assessment process for the respective actuarial and structured clinical approaches. Unstructured Clinical Judgement Unstructured clinical judgement is a process involving no specific guidelines, but relies on the individual clinicians evaluation having regard to the clinicians experience and qualifications (Douglas et al, 2002). Doyle et el(2002, p650) refers to clinical judgement as first generation, and sees clinical judgement as allowing the clinician complete discretion in relation to what information the clinician will or will not take notice of in their final determination of risk level. The unstructured clinical interview has been widely criticised because it is seen as inconsistent and inherently lacks structure and a uniform approach that does not allow for test, retest reliability over time and between clinicians (Lamont et al, 2009). It has been argued that this inconsistency in assessment can lead to incorrect assessment of offenders, as either high or low risk due to the subjective opinion inherent in the unstructured c linical assessment approach (Prentky et al, 2000). Even with these limitations discussed above the unstructured clinical interview is still likely to be the most widely used approach in relation to the offenders violence risk assessment (Kropp, 2008). Kropp (2008), postulates that the continued use of the unstructured clinical interview allows for idiographic analysis of the offenders behaviour (Kropp, 2008, p205). Doyle et al (2002) postulates, that clinical studies have shown, that clinicians using the risk analysis method of unstructured interview, is not as inaccurate as generally believed. Perhaps this is due, largely to the level of experience and clinical qualifications of those conducting the assessment. The unstructured clinical assessment method relies heavily on verbal and non verbal cues and this has the potential of influencing individual clinicians assessment of risk, and thus in turn has a high probability of over reliance in the assessment on the exhibited cues (Lamont et al, 2009). A major flaw with the unstructured clinical interview, is the apparent lack of structured standardized methodology being used to enable a test retest relia bility measure previously mentioned. However, the lack of consistency in the assessment approach is a substantial disadvantage in the use of the unstructured clinical interview. The need for a more structured process allowing for predictable test retest reliability would appear to be a necessary component of any risk assessment in relation to violence. Actuarial Assessment Actuarial assessment was developed to assess various risk factors that would improve on the probability of an offenders recidivism. However, Douglas et al (2002, p 625) cautions that the Actuarial approach is not conducive to violence prevention. The Actuarial approach relies heavily on standardized instruments to assist the clinician in predicting violence, and the majority of these instruments has been developed to predict future probability of violence amongst offenders who have a history of mental illness and or criminal offending behaviours. (Grant et al, 2004) The use of actuarial assessment has increased in recent years as risk assessment due to the fact that more non clinicians are tasked with the responsibility of management of violent offenders such as community corrections, correctional officers and probation officers. Actuarial risk assessment methods enable staff that do not have the experience, background or necessary clinical qualifications to conduct a standardised clinical assessment of offender risk. This actuarial assessment method has been found to be extremely helpful when having risk assessing offenders with mental health, substance abuse and violent offenders. (Byrne et al, 2006). However, Actuarial assessments have limitations in the inability of the instruments to provide any information in relation to the management of the offender, and strategies to prevent violence (Lamont et al, 2009). Whilst such instruments may provide transferable test retest reliab ility, there is a need for caution when the instruments are used within differing samples of the test population that were used as the validation sample in developing the test (Lamont et al, 2009). Inexperienced and untrained staff may not be aware of the limitations of the test instruments they are using. The majority of actuarial tools were validated in North America (Maden, 2003). This has significant implications when actuarial instruments are used in the Australian context, especially when indigenous cultural complexities are not taken into account. Doyle et al (2002) postulates that the actuarial approach are focused on prediction and that risk assessment in mental health has a much broader function and has to be link closely with management and prevention (Doyle et al, 2002, p 652). Actuarial instruments rely on measures of static risk factors e.g. history of violence, gender, psychopath y and recorded social variables. Therefore, static risk factors are taken as remaining constant. Hanson et al (2000) argues that where the results of unstructured clinical opinion are open to questions, the empirically based risk assessment method can significantly predict the risk of re offending. To rely totally on static factors that are measured in Actuarial instruments, and not incorporate dynamic risk factors has lead to what Doyle et al (2002) has referred to as, Third Generation, or as more commonly acknowledged as structured professional judgement. Structured Professional Judgment Progression toward a structured professional model would appear to have followed a process of evolution since the 1990s. This progression has developed through acceptance of the complexity of what risk assessment entails, and the pressures of the courts and public in developing an expectation of increased predictive accuracy (Borum, 1996). Structured professional judgement  brings together empirically validated risk factors, professional experience and contemporary knowledge of the patient (Lamont et al, 2009, p27). Structured professional judgement approach requires a broad assessment criteria covering both static and dynamic factors, and attempts to bridge the gap between the other approaches of unstructured clinical judgement and actuarial approach (Kropp, 2008). The incorporation of dynamic risk factors that are taking account of variable factors such as current emotional level (anger, depression, stress), so cial supports or lack of and willingness to participate in the treatment rehabilitation process. The structured professional approach incorporates dynamic factors, which have been found, to be also crucial in analysing risk of violence (Mandeville-Nordon, 2006). Campbell et al (2009) postulates that instruments that examine dynamic risk factors are more sensitive to recent changes that may influence an increase or decrease in risk potential. Kropp (2008) reports that research has found that Structured Professional Judgement measures also correlate substantially with actuarial measures. Conclusion Kroop (2008) postulates that either a structured professional judgement approach, or an actuarial approach presents the most viable options for risk assessment of violence. The unstructured clinical approach has been widely criticised by researchers for lacking reliability, validity and accountability (Douglas et al, 2002). Kroop (2008) also cautions that risk assessment requires the assessor to have an appropriate level of specialized knowledge and experience. This experience should be not only of offenders but also with victims. There would appear to be a valid argument that unless there is consistency in training of those conducting risk assessments the validity and reliability of any measure either actuarial or structured professional judgement will fail to give the level of predictability of violence that is sought. Risk analysis of violence will always be burdened by the limitation which lies in the fact that exact analyses are not possible, and risk will never be totally eradicated (Lamont et al, 2009, p 31.). Doyle et al (2002) postulates that a combination of structured clinical and actuarial approaches is warranted to assist in risk assessment of violence. Further research appears to be warranted to improve the methodology of risk management and increase the effectiveness of risk management.
Saturday, October 12, 2019
A separate piece :: essays research papers
A. Title and Author - A Separate Peace by John Knowles B. Story Setting - The story starts off at the Devon school, which is a prep school in New England at 1958. But the rest of the story takes place through a flashback of his days when he was a student at Devon during 1943. C. Main Characters - Gene Forrester - Gene is the narrator of the novel and appears at two different time periods: as a middle-aged man re-visiting Devon fifteen years after being a student there, and, for the majority of the novel, as a sixteen and seventeen-year-old student during World War II. The novel is written in the past tense, and we assume that Gene's narration is triggered by his re-visitation of his old school when he is thirty-two. And although the older narrator seems long past the emotional turmoil that marked his schoolboy days, the events of his years at Devon are told as if they were occurring in the present, as if our narrator were still sixteen years old. The Gene that we encounter for the bulk of the novel is, like many of his classmates, at a liminal stage in his life-the adolescence between boyhood and manhood. This transition is further emphasized by the war, Gene being in the final years of freedom before the ravages of a world war can legally claim him. Outwardly Gene is one of the top students in his class and a talented athlete. These traits earn him respect on campus and, most importantly, the friendship of Phineas, whom Gene respects more than any of his fellow classmates. But inwardly, Gene is plagued by the darker forces of human nature, forces that prey upon the turbulence of adolescence. Gene's admiration and love for Finny is balanced and marred by his fierce jealousy of him, by a deep insecurity in himself, and, because of his insecurity, a need to compete with and "defeat" his friend at all costs. Gene's internal emotional battles are the major source of conflict and tension in the novel. Phineas - Called Finny by his classmates, Phineas is Gene's closest companion at Devon and, for our narrator, the central focus of the novel. Finny is five feet eight and a half inches tall and weighs one hundred fifty pounds. Indeed, Finny is the superhuman wonder of athletics and physical harmony at Devon, far surpassing any competition from his classmates, Gene included. What is more, Finny's physical prowess matches that of his personality-he is a charismatic, good-natured, and persuasive young man.
Friday, October 11, 2019
Information Systems and Organization Essay
This paper, and the special issue, address relationships between information systems and changes in the organization of modern enterprise, both within and across firms. The emerging organizational paradigm involves complementary changes in multiple dimensions. The revolution in information systems merits special attention as both cause and effect of the organizational transformation. This can be illustrated by considering two key variables: the location of information and the location of decision rights in organizations. Depending on the costs of information transmission and processing, either the â€Å"MIS solution†of transferring information, or the â€Å"organizational redesign solution†of moving decision rights, can be an effective approach toward achieving the necessary collocation of information and decision rights. When information systems change radically, one cannot expect the optimal organizational structure to be unaffected. Considering the interplay among information, incentives and decision rights in a unified fashion leads to new insights and a better organizational planning. The papers in the special issue address different facets of this interaction. Despite significant progress, our understanding of the economic role of information systems in organizations remains in its infancy. We conclude that successful design of modern enterprise will require further narrowing of the historic gap between research in information systems and research in economics. The organization of work is in the midst of transformation. In many industries, mass production by large, vertically-integrated, hierarchically-organized firms is giving way to more flexible forms of both internal organization and industrial structure. Work is increasingly accomplished through networks of smaller, more focused enterprises. The resulting structure of loosely coupled sub-organizations blurs the boundaries of both firms and industries. A canonical case in point is the computer industry. In the past, the industry was dominated by large, vertically-integrated firms such as IBM and Digital Equipment which created products and services throughout the value chain  from the microprocessor level all the way up to the provision of solutions. The vertical structure is now being replaced by a series of layers, each of which is, in effect, a separate industry. Value is generated by ever-changing coalitions, where each member of a coalition specializes in its area of core competence and leverages it through the use of tactical or strategic partnerships. Internally, team structures are replacing the traditional hierarchical form, and the Silicon Valley model of internal organization is emerging as a clear winner.3 Internal incentives are increasingly based on performance, and this further blurs the differences between inter- and intra-firm contracts. In sum, modern enterprise is undergoing major restructuring. In this short paper we briefly discuss the newly emerging organizational paradigms and their relationship to the prevailing trends in information technology (IT). We argue that IT is an important driver of this transformation. Finally, we place the studies selected for this special issue of the Journal of Organizational Computing within this context. 1. Emerging Organizational Paradigms: Symptoms and Causes At the turn of the century, Frederick Taylor sought to put the nascent wisdom for successful business organization on a scientific basis. His work guided a generation of managers towards success in meshing their organizations with the technologies, markets, labor and general environment of the era. By the 1920s, Henry Ford had applied the Taylorist approach with a vengeance and soon dominated the automobile market, driving dozens of competitors under. Ironically, these same principles are almost diametrically opposed to the prevailing wisdom of the 1990s. For example, consider the following guideline from The Science of Management [1] It is necessary in any activity to have a complete knowledge of what is to be done and to prepare instructions†¦ the laborer has only to follow instructions. He need not stop to think. The current emphasis on â€Å"empowerment†, â€Å"learning organizations†, and even â€Å"thriving on chaos†stands in sharp contrast to Meyers’ advice (cf. [2] , [3] ). Similar contrast can be found with many, if not most, of the other principles that lead to success even as late as the 1960s. Consider, for example, the growing calls for downsizing (vs. economies of scale), focus (vs. conglomerates), total quality (vs. cost leadership), project teams (vs. functional departments), supplier partnerships (vs. maximizing bargaining power), networked organization (vs. clear firm boundaries); performance-based pay (vs. fixed pay), and local autonomy (vs. rigid hierarchy). Milgrom and Roberts [4] make the point that the different characteristics of modern manufacturing, an important example of the emerging organizational paradigm, are often highly complementary. This complementarity, coupled with the natural tendency to change organizational attributes one at a time, makes the transition from one paradigm to another particularly difficult. Strong complementarity implies that in order to be successful, change must be implemented simultaneously along a number of related dimensions. Organizations that adopt only one or two key components of the new organizational paradigm may fail simply by virtue of this complementarity. For instance, Jaikumar’s [5] study of 95 US and Japanese companies found that the majority of US companies had failed to achieve productivity increases despite switching to flexible manufacturing technology. The reason was that they had preserved dozens of manufacturing practices such as long production runs and high work-in-process inventory levels, which complemented the old technology but kept the new technology from fulfilling its potential. Thus, the transition from the old structure to the new one is overwhelmingly complex. The switch would be easier if we apply design guided by theory instead of piecemeal evolution. There are many possible explanations for the change in the prevailing wisdom regarding organizational design. For instance, it is common to justify calls for radical change with reference to heightened competitive pressures: although firms that applied the old principles were among the most successful competitors of their day, presumably the nature of competition has changed in some way. Others suggest that consumer tastes have changed, making customized items more appealing than they once were. While historians would argue that the taste for mass marketed items was itself something that had to be developed in the early days of mass production, increased wealth or social stratification may make this more difficult today. It can also be argued that some of the new principles were as applicable fifty years ago as they are today, but that they simply had not yet been discovered. Although the enablers of the current organizational transformation are undoubtedly numerous and far from mutually independent, we would like to single one out for special attention: the rise in IT. Brynjolfsson [6, p.6] argues that IT is an appropriate candidate for explaining these changes for three reasons: First, compared to other explanations, the advances in information technology have a particularly reasonable claim to being both novel and exogenous. Many of the fundamental technological breakthroughs that enable today’s vast information infrastructure were made less than a generation ago and were driven more by progress in physics and engineering than business demand. Second, the growth in information technology investment is of a large enough magnitude to be economically significant †¦ the result has been what is commonly referred to as the â€Å"information explosion††¦ Third, there is a sound basis for expecting an association between the costs of technologies that manage information and the organization of economic activity. The firm and the market have each been frequently modeled as primarily information processing institutions (see Galbraith [7] and Hayek [8] , respectively). Miller [9] foresaw the key features of the new paradigm as a natural outcome of the information era and the associated â€Å"economy of choice†: The new technologies will allow managers to handle more functions and widen their span of control. Fewer levels of management hierarchy will be required, enabling companies to flatten the pyramid of today’s management structure. The new information technologies allow decentralization of decision-making without loss of management awareness; thus employees at all levels can be encouraged to be more creative and intrapreneurial. The key responsibility of the CEO will be leadership; to capture the light or energies of the organization  like a lens  and focus them on the key strategic objectives. The new organizational paradigm is indeed intertwined with the structure of an organization’s information systems. Under the old paradigm, the firm was governed by a relatively rigid functional structure. This separation into distinct and well-defined organizational units economizes on the information and communications requirements across functional units and reduces cost and complexity. There is a tradeoff, however: the old structure is less flexible, less responsive and ultimately results in lower quality. In our view, the growing use of IT and the trend towards networking and client-server computing are both a cause and an effect of the organizational transition. Lowering the costs of horizontal communications, facilitating teamwork, enabling flexible manufacturing and providing information support for time management and quality control are key enablers on the supply side. It is equally clear that the new organizational paradigm demands new information systems: nothing can be more devastating for cross-functional teamwork than a rigid information system that inhibits cross-functional information flows. We can unify these perspectives by noting that the structure of the organization’s information system is a key element of organizational transformation. Changes in IT change the nature of organizations just as changes in organizational structure drive the development of new technologies. 2. Information Systems, Economics and Organizational Structure Jensen and Meckling [10] provide a useful framework for studying the complementarities between information systems, incentive structures and decision rights in organizations. In their framework, the structure of an organization is specified by three key elements: (i) The allocation of decision rights (i.e., who is responsible for what actions/decisions); (ii) the incentive system, which defines how decision makers are to be rewarded (or penalized) for the decisions they make; and (iii) a monitoring and measurement scheme used to evaluate these actions and their outcomes. According to Jensen and Meckling, informational variables are key to the structure of organizations because the quality of decisions is determined by the quality of information available to the decision maker. The co-location of information and decision rights enables the decision maker to make optimal decisions. The implementation of this co-location depends on the nature of the pertinent information. Jensen and Meckling distinguish between â€Å"specific knowledge†which is localized, difficult to represent and transfer, and depends on idiosyncratic circumstances, and â€Å"general knowledge†which can be easily summarized, communicated and shared by decision makers. Now, there are two ways to bring information and decision rights together: (i) â€Å"The MIS solution†: transfer the information required for the decision to the decision maker, using the organization’s (possibly non-automated) information systems; or (ii) â€Å"the organizational redesign solution†: redesign the organizational structure so that the decision making authority is where the pertinent information is. By definition, general knowledge which is useful for a decision calls for the â€Å"MIS solution†because it can be transferred at low cost. In contrast, when specific knowledge plays a key role in a decision, the best solution calls for restructuring decision rights so as to provide the decision authority to the one who possesses or has access to the pertinent information (since the transfer of specific knowledge is too costly).4 Jensen and Meckling thus represent the structure of organizations as an efficient response to the structure of their information costs. But then, a change in information costs must induce a change in organizational structure. In particular, IT has changed the costs of processing and transferring certain types of information (e.g. quantitative data), but has done little for other types (e.g. implicit knowledge or skills). IT changes the structure of organizations by facilitating certain information flows as well as by turning knowledge that used to be specific into general knowledge. By developing a taxonomy of information types and identifying the differential impacts of new technologies on their transferability and importance, we can take a significant step towards applying the simple insight that information and authority should be co-located [11] . Intra-organizational networks and workgroup computing facilities reduce the information costs of teamwork and hence make it a more efficient solution to the organizational design problem. Client-server computing technology lowers cross-functional (as well as geographic) barriers. IT (when applied properly) streamlines the types of information that used to be the raison d’etre of middle management  quantitative control information  and turns it into general knowledge that can be readily transmitted to, and processed by, people other than those who originally gathered the data. A reduction in the number of management layers and the thinning out of middle management ranks is the predictable result. Similar considerations apply to enterprises that cross firm boundaries. As a simple example, consider the organization of trading activities [12, 13, 14] . Traditionally, trading took place on the floor of an exchange, which was the locus of numerous pieces of specific knowledge, ranging from the hand signals indicating bids and offers to buy and sell a security to traders’ facial expressions and the â€Å"atmosphere†on the floor of the exchange. Under that structure, much of the information pertinent to trading is specific and localized to the floor. Thus, when an investor instructs her broker to sell 1,000 shares of a given stock, the broker transmits the order to the floor of the exchange and only the floor broker attempts to provide â€Å"best execution†. The decision rights (here, for the trading decisions) are naturally delegated to the decision maker who has the pertinent specific knowledge, and since that knowledge resides on the floor of the exchange, the floor broker is best suited to have the decision rights. Technology, and in particular â€Å"screen-based†systems, turns much of the specific knowledge on the floor (i.e., bids and offers) into general knowledge. This shifts decision rights up from the floor to the brokers’ screens. The inevitable result is the decline of the trading floor and the increased importance of brokers’ trading rooms. The demise of the trading floor in exchanges that turned to screen-based trading (such as London and Paris) is a natural outcome of the shift in the locus of knowledge. More generally, markets  in particular, electronic markets –transform specific knowledge into general knowledge [15] . Ironically, even as IT has sped up many links of the information processing chain and vastly increased the amount of information available to any one decision-maker, it has also led to the phenomenon of â€Å"information overload†. This can perhaps best be understood by a generalization of the Jensen and Meckling framework to include finite human information processing capacity. As more information moves from the â€Å"specific†category to the â€Å"general†category, the limiting factor becomes not what information is available but rather a matter of finding the human information processing capacity needed to attend to and process the information. Computers appear to have exacerbated the surfeit of information relative to processing capacity, perhaps because the greatest advances have occurred in the processing and storage of structured data, which is generally a complement, not a substitute, for human information processing. As computer and communications components increase their speed, the human bottleneck in the information processing chain becomes ever more apparent. Information overload, when interpreted in light of this framework, can provide an explanation for the increased autonomy and pay-for-performance that characterize a number of descriptions of the â€Å"new managerial work†(cf. [6] ). Economizing on information costs means that more decision rights are delegated to line managers who possess the idiosyncratic, specific knowledge necessary to accomplish their tasks. Shifting responsibility from the overburdened top of the hierarchy to line personnel not only reduces the information processing load at the top of the hierarchy, but also cuts down unnecessary communications up and down the hierarchy. This blurs the traditional distinction between â€Å"conceptualization†and â€Å"execution†and broadens the scope of decision rights delegated to lower level managers. By the Jensen-Meckling [10] framework, any such shift in decision authority (and in the associated routing of information) must also be accompanied by a change in the structure of incentives. Disseminating information more broadly is ever easier with IT, allowing line workers to take into account information that goes well beyond the formerly-narrow definitions of their job. Meanwhile, providing the right incentives for the newly â€Å"empowered†work force is an equally crucial element of the current reorganization of work. Agency theory predicts that performance-based â€Å"pay†is necessary when decision rights are decentralized (otherwise, the agents may be induced to act in ways that are inconsistent with overall organizational goals). It therefore follows that incentive-based compensation is appropriate for better-informed workers [16].5 Thus, the confluence of better-informed workers, an empowered workforce and more incentive-based pay is consistent with our thesis that IT is a key driver of the new organizational paradigm. Furthermore, the theory of incomplete contracts suggests that the analysis can be extended to include interorganizational changes such as increased reliance on outsourcing and â€Å"networks†of other firms for key components [17] . Here again the shift can be explained in incentive terms: one ultimate incentive is ownership, so entrepreneurs are likely to be more innovative and aggressive than the same individuals working as â€Å"division†managers. Both within and across organizations, then, changes in information systems are accompanied by changes in incentives and in the organization of work. 3. The Special Issue The papers in this special issue attest to the role of information systems in the structure of modern enterprise and the blurring of the differences between inter- and intra-firm transactions. Starting from the firm’s level, Barron’s paper studies how a firm determines its internal organization and how IT affects this determination. Barron considers a traditional firm, with well-defined boundaries that are endogenously determined by considering flexibility and scope of control. Ching, Holsapple and Whinston broaden the scope of the enterprise to the â€Å"network organization† a construct obtained by tying together a number of firms that cooperate through a well-defined communication mechanism. Specifically, they use a bidding protocol to manage the relationship between suppliers and producers. Beath and Ang examine another form of inter-firm cooperation, the relational contract, in the context of software-development outsourcing. They show how relational contracts embody a relationship that can be characterized as a network consisting of two organizations. Whang studies a more subtle form of networking  information sharing between buyers and suppliers. Bakos and Brynjolfsson examine the impact of incentives and information costs on the nature of buyer-supplier relationships. They show that committing to a partnership with a small number of suppliers can be an optimal strategy for a buyer because it will maximize the suppliers’ incentives for non-contractible investments such as information sharing, innovation or quality. The papers thus present a spectrum ranging from a study of the boundaries of the traditional firm through different forms of networking to explicit buyer-supplier relationships. A common theme is the organization of work so as to reduce overall information costs not only within an organization but across them as well. The surviving enterprise is often (though not always) the one that attempts to reduce information costs while capitalizing on the comparative advantage of the participating organizations. This calls for â€Å"opportunistic cooperation†that benefits the members of the network for as long as they cooperate. IT reduces the costs of such cooperation by facilitating communication and increasing the flexibility of the participating organizations. Using the Jensen-Meckling terminology, different network participants can make more effective use of their specific knowledge when the costs of transferring and processing general knowledge are reduced. Further, technology enables the development of markets that, by their very nature, transform specific knowledge into general knowledge. Thus, the bidding and communications protocols proposed by Ching, Holsapple and Whinston in their paper â€Å"Modeling Network Organizations†effectively transform the specific knowledge inherent in the production technology of the competing suppliers into general knowledge that encompasses not only prices but also their reputations. From this perspective, IT is key to the development of network organizations. In his paper â€Å"Impacts of Information Technology on Organizational Size and Shape: Control and Flexibility Effects†, Barron builds a stylized quantitative model to study the impact of IT on the structure of organizations. Examining flexibility and scope of control, he identifies sixteen different cases with different patterns of the actual causality between IT and firm structure. Barron shows that simplistic statements regarding the impact of IT are not as straightforward as one might imagine due to the interaction of size, scope and flexibility. His results suggest that the impact of IT is rather complex, and that further specification is necessary prior to making predictions on the impact of IT on organizational size or shape. â€Å"Hierarchical Elements in Software Contracts†by Beath and Ang focuses on the contractual structure of outsourced software development. This is an interesting example of the new organizational paradigm because of the key role of information systems in any organization. Effective software development hinges on cooperation, communication and joint management which are at the heart of the new organizational paradigm. Beath and Ang examine the mechanisms used to govern outsourcing projects as specified in their outsourcing contracts. They suggest that the relational contract, which converts an arms-length transaction into a joint project with governance and resolution procedures that resemble those used by firms internally, is an effective way to accomplish this. Thus, while Ching, Holsapple and Whinston view bidding and explicit reputation formation as the alphabet of the network organization, Beath and Ang view actual contract clauses as the key linguistic constructs. The paper shows how the structure of the contract is driven by the attributes of the project as well as those of the parties to the transaction. In â€Å"Analysis of Economic Incentives for Inter-Organizational Information Sharing†, Whang addresses the question of information sharing in non-cooperative buyer-supplier settings. Whang studies this question for two different models. He first shows that due to adverse incentives, suppliers will not be willing to share information regarding their costs. The situation is different when the information to be conveyed is regarding the expected delay or lead time. Whang shows that suppliers are better off disclosing lead-time information to buyers (when the demand curve for their product is convex). This result is consistent with our general thesis, whereas the former one introduces a note of caution: adverse incentives pose limits to the scope of information sharing among network organizations. In â€Å"From Vendors to Partners: Information Technology and Incomplete Contracts in Buyer-Supplier Relationships†, Bakos and Brynjolfsson start with the assumption that, in many cases, complete information exchange between two firms will be infeasible, so any contract between them will be â€Å"incomplete†in the sense that some contingencies will remain unspecified. They then explore how the interplay of IT and organizational structure can affect the role of non-contractible investments, such as innovation, quality and the exchange of information. For example, Bakos and Brynjolfsson show that when fewer suppliers are employed, they collectively capture a larger share of the benefits of the relationship, and this will increase their incentives to make non-contractible investments. As a result, even when search costs are very low, it may be desirable for the buyer to limit the number of employed suppliers, leading to a partnership-type of relationship, rather than aggressively bargaining for all the benefits by threatening to switch among numerous alternative suppliers. Like Whang, they show that the incentive effects of the applications of IT must be explicitly considered in any model of their effect on inter-organizational cooperation. 4. Conclusion In this paper, we have stressed the joint determination of the location of information and decision rights. The default mechanism used to achieve this co-location depends on one’s point of reference. Information Systems researchers are likely to take the locus of decision authority for granted. They will typically focus their attention on devising schemes that will efficiently organize, retrieve, sort, filter, transmit and display information for designated decision makers. In contrast, the economist is likely to focus on the allocation of decision rights and the concomitant effect on incentives.6 As we discussed in Section 2, transferring information and transferring decision authority are two sides of the same question. Because economics and information systems research evolved to address different problems, this complementarity long went unnoticed. Each of the papers in the special issue addresses a different aspect of the interplay among information, incentives and the structure of economic enterprise. In every case, insights resulted when both information and incentives were explicitly considered. Each paper contributes an additional piece to an emerging mosaic that describes not only the features of the new organization, but also gives some insight into their theoretical underpinnings. The papers in this special issue also highlight the incomplete state of knowledge in the subject area and the dearth of empirical guidance to the formulation and testing of theoretical research. We started this paper with a discussion of the computer industry as the canonical example of the new paradigm as exercised in Silicon Valley, and continued by arguing that its products actually fuel the shift to this paradigm. It is only appropriate to close the loop by examining the dictum of that paradigm as it applies to the inner workings of firms in the computer industry. A major effort along these lines in being undertaken by one of the authors and his colleagues in Stanford University’s Computer Industry Project. Understanding these changes so that they can be harnessed for productive ends remains a central challenge for the next decade of research. The rapid progress in designing computers and communications systems contrasts starkly with the uncertainty clouding organizational design. Yet, new ways of organizing will be necessary before the potential of IT can be realized. Furthermore, because the new organizational paradigms involve numerous complementarities, the trial-and-error methods which were important in the rise of the organizational forms of the past century, such as large hierarchies and mass markets, may be unsuited for making the next transition. Understanding and implementing one aspect of a new organizational structure without regard to its interaction with other aspects can leave the make the organization worse off than if no modifications at all were made. Design, rather than evolution, is called for when significant changes must be made along multiple dimensions simultaneously. Successful organizational design, in turn, requires that we understand the flow of information among humans and their agents every bit as well as we understand the flow of electrons in chips and wires. Perhaps, then, the revolution in information processing capabilities not only calls for a change in business organization, but also a re-evaluation of the historic separation between Information Systems and Economics. REFERENCES [1] Meyers, G. The Science of Management. In C. B. Thompson (Eds.), Scientific Management Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1914. [2] Kanter, R. M. â€Å"The New Managerial Work.†Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec, 1989, pp. 85-92. [3] Peters, T. Thriving on Chaos, Handbook for a Management Revolution. New York: Knopf, 1988. [4] Milgrom, P. and Roberts, J. â€Å"The Economics of Modern Manufacturing: Technology, Strategy, and Organization.†American Economic Review, Vol. 80, No. 3, 1990. [5] Jaikumar, R. â€Å"Post-Industrial Manufacturing.†Harvard Business Review, November-December, 1986, pp. 69-76. [6] Brynjolfsson, E. Information Technology and the ‘New Managerial Work’. Working Paper # 3563-93. MIT, 1990. [7] Galbraith, J. Organizational Design. 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