Advantages and Disadvantages of a Multi-Racial Society Essay

Nowadays 99% of the modern world countries have become a multiracial society, whether it is relative to their language, religion , culture, or traditions . Also universities , schools and other societies have become multiracial, it is not necessary for the whole country . And today with all aspects of economical, social and other types of growth , it is distinguishably linked to the globalization and the immigration of people to other countries, which has become more and more common . But can a multiracial community exist with no problems attached ? A multiracial society is very rich in culture heritage , where you get the opportunity to learn about other cultures. A multi-racial society is also a multi-linguist society so people living in such societies benefit from the richness of languages and are thus able to speak different languages , there is also a wide variety of traditions, customs and festivals that are being carried out in such countries. In addition with the fusion of cultures food becomes national, people are able to eat a wider variety of food, learning to prepare them in different ways, even celebrations of festivals become national. In addition a multi-racial society teaches people how to respect and understand the religion and cultures of others. Therefore this leads to tolerance. Moreover multi nationality makes the country more dynamic because there are people who come from different places and this can help to develop new ideas about how to make our lives better. In these multi-racial societies very often there are misunderstandings, which lead to conflict . Fanaticism is another factor, which creates conflicts in a multi-racial society. These conflicts and divisions between people is further increased by politicians who practice racial and ethnic politics, only to obtain votes. Fanaticism also encourages people in becoming racist which then leads to intolerance and misunderstandings. Not to mention that sometimes some religions in some societies get stereotyped in an insulting way, which creates clashes between two cultures or more . To conclude I will say that peace remains very fragile, it can break at any time. So we should not let anyone gamble with it. We should neither allow ourselves to be manipulated by the governments nor the people in power.

Factors That Affect Enzyme Reaction Rate

Lab Report Factors That Affect Enzymes Reaction Rate Name of lab: Effects of temperature, pH, Enzyme Concentration, and Substrate Concentration on Enzymatic Activity Introduction: Enzymes are the most important types of proteins, they act as catalysis (speed up chemical reactions). If enzymes didn’t exist, biochemical reactions would act to slowly and they couldn’t keep up with the metabolic functions. Enzymes have a three-dimensional structure that is really complex. This structure consists of one or more polypeptide chains, they form an active site, which is an area in which the substrate eventually will fit.The four factors that affect the activity and reaction rate of an enzyme are temperature, pH, enzyme concentration and substrate concentration. Research Question/Hypothesis: The hypothesis is that when the temperature is higher than 40? C, the enzyme catalysis will increase. That the enzyme activity with the pH effect is that if it isn’t at the optimum pH v alue there will be a total loss of the enzyme activity. As the change in enzyme concentration increases the activity rate will increase if there is a proportional amount of enzyme concentration and substrate.Variables: Independent: pH, enzyme concentration, substrate concentration and enzymatic activity. Dependent: the reaction rate Control variable: temperature and amount of substrates and enzymes added. Materials: Phosphate Buffers Beaker Catechol Potato Juice Parafilm Test Tubes Procedure: To study the effect of temperature: 1. Three different test tubes where filled with 3mL of phosphate. 2. They were set in three different temperature settings. First tube was placed in an ice-water bath for ten minutes, the second in a room temperature until 21?C was reached, and the third tube was placed in a beaker of warm water. To study the effect of pH: 1. The pH values of pH 4, pH 6, pH 7, pH 8, and pH 10 was used to fill five separate test tubes with 3 mL each. 2. To each test tube, ten drops of catechol and potato juice were added, each tube was covered with Parafilm, and inverted several times to mix the contents. After letting each tube stand for three to five minutes the tubes were inverted at one minute intervals. To study the effect of enzyme concentration: 1.The steps include four test tubes that were labeled A, B, C, and D. 2. The contents added to tube A are 3mL plus 20 drops of pH 7 phosphate buffer, but no potato juice. To tube B, 3 mL plus 15 drops of pH 7 phosphate buffer and 15 drops of potato juice. The amount of pH 7 phosphate buffer added to test tube C are 3 mL plus 10 drops of potato juice. To test tube D, 3 mL of pH 7 phosphate buffer and 20 drops of potato juice were added. 3. Then, each tube was covered in Parafilm and inverted several times to mix the contents.After doing so, 10 drops of catechol were added to each tube and covered with Parafilm and inverted several times to mix the contents. 4. After allowing each tube to stand for three to four minutes the tubes were mixed at one-minute intervals. To study the effects of substrate concentration: 1. Eight test tubes that were involved. 2. These test tubes were labeled 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32, and 48. Next, each test tube had a certain amount of phosphate buffer and catechol was added to each. 3.To test tube #1: 5 mL plus 47 drops of pH 7 phosphate buffer and 1 drop of catechol; test tube #2: 5 mL plus 46 drops of pH 7 phosphate buffer and 3 drops of catechol; test tube #4: 5 mL plus 44 drops of pH 7 phosphate buffer and 4 drops of catechol; test tube #8: 5 mL plus 40 drops of pH 7 phosphate buffer and 8 drops of catechol; test tube #16: 5 mL plus 32 drops of pH 7 phosphate buffer and 16 drops of catechol; test tube #24: 5 mL plus 24 drops of pH 7 phosphate buffer and 24 drops of catechol; test tube #32: 5 Ml plus 16 drops of pH 7 phosphate buffer and 32 drops of catechol; and test tube #48: 5 mL of pH 7 phosphate buffer and 48 drops of catechol. 4. Then, each tube was c overed with Parafilm and inverted several times to mix the contents. Also, to each of the tubes, 30 drops of potato juice were added and covered with Parafilm and inverted several times to mix the contents. The test tubes set at room temperature for five minutes and were mixed at one minute intervals.

Banking Sector Reform Essay

From the 1991 India economic crisis to its status of third largest economy in the world by 2011, India has grown significantly in terms of economic development. So has its banking sector. During this period, recognizing the evolving needs of the sector, the Finance Ministry of Government of India (GOI) set up various committees with the task of analyzing India’s banking sector and recommending legislation and regulations to make it more effective, competitive and efficient.[1] Two such expert Committees were set up under the chairmanship of M. Narasimham. They submitted their recommendations in the 1990s in reports widely known as the Narasimham Committee-I (1991) report and the Narasimham Committee-II (1998) Report. These recommendations not only helped unleash the potential of banking in India, they are also recognized as a factor towards minimizing the impact of global financial crisis starting in 2007. Unlike the socialist-democratic era of the 1960s to 1980s, India is no longer insulated from the global economy and yet its banks survived the 2008 financial crisis relatively unscathed, a feat due in part to theseNarasimham Committees.[2] Contents [hide] * 1 Background * 2 Recommendations of the Committee * 2.1 Autonomy in Banking * 2.2 Reform in the role of RBI * 2.3 Stronger banking system * 2.4 Non-performing assets * 2.5 Capital adequacy and tightening of provisioning norms * 2.6 Entry of Foreign Banks * 3 Implementation of recommendations * 4 Criticism Background During the decades of the 60s and the 70s, India nationalised most of its banks. This culminated with the balance of payments crisis of the Indian economy where India had to airlift gold toInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) to loan money to meet its financial obligations. This event called into question the previous banking policies of India and triggered the era of economic liberalisation in India in 1991. Given that rigidities and weaknesses had made serious inroads into the Indian banking system by the late 1980s, the Government of India (GOI), post-crisis, took several steps to remodel the country’s financial system. (Some claim that these reforms were influenced by the IMF and the World Bank as part of their loan conditionality to India in 1991).[3] The banking sector, handling 80% of the flow of money in the economy, needed serious reforms to make it internationally reputable, accelerate the pace of reforms and develop it into a constructive usher of an efficient, vibrant and competitive economy by adequately supporting the country’s financial needs.[4] In the light of these requirements, two expert Committees were set up in 1990s under the chairmanship of M. Narasimham (an ex-RBI (Reserve Bank of India) governor) which are widely credited for spearheading the financial sector reform in India.[3] The first Narasimhan Committee (Committee on the Financial System – CFS) was appointed by Manmohan Singh as India’s Finance Minister on 14 August 1991,[1][5] and the second one (Committee on Banking Sector Reforms)[6] was appointed by P.Chidambaram[7] as Finance Minister in December 1997.[8] Subsequently, the first one widely came to be known as the Narasimham Committee-I (1991)and the second one as Narasimham-II Committee(1998).[9][10] This article is about the recommendations of the Second Narasimham Committee, the Committee on Banking Sector Reforms. The purpose of the Narasimham-I Committee was to study all aspects relating to the structure, organization, functions and procedures of the financial systems and to recommend improvements in their efficiency and productivity. The Committee submitted its report to the Finance Minister in November 1991 which was tabled in Parliament on 17 December 1991.[6] The Narasimham-II Committee was tasked with the progress review of the implementation of the banking reforms since 1992 with the aim of further strengthening the financial institutions of India.[4]It focussed on issues like size of banks and capital adequacy ratio among other things.[9] M. Narasimham, Chairman, submitted the report of the Committee on Banking Sector Reforms (Committee-II) to the Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha in April 1998.[4][9] Recommendations of the Committee The 1998 report of the Committee to the GOI made the following major recommendations: Autonomy in Banking Greater autonomy was proposed for the public sector banks in order for them to function with equivalent professionalism as their international counterparts.[11] For this the panel recommended that recruitment procedures, training and remuneration policies of public sector banks be brought in line with the best-market-practices of professional bank management.[4][6] Secondly, the committee recommended GOI equity in nationalized banks be reduced to 33% for increased autonomy.[4][12][13] It also recommended the RBI relinquish its seats on the board of directors of these banks. The committee further added that given that the government nominees to the board of banks are often members of parliament, politicians, bureaucrats, etc., they often interfere in the day-to-day operations of the bank in the form of the behest-lending.[4] As such the committee recommended a review of functions of banks boards with a view to make them responsible for enhancing shareholder value through formulation of corporate strategy and reduction of government equity.[11] To implement this, criteria for autonomous status was identified by March 1999 (among other implementation measures) and 17 banks were considered eligible for autonomy.[14] But some recommendations like reduction in Government’s equity to 33%,[13][15] the issue of greater professionalism and independence of the board of directors of public sector banks is still awaiting Government follow-through and implementation.[16] Reform in the role of RBI First, the committee recommended that the RBI withdraw from the 91-day treasury bills market and that interbank call money and term money markets be restricted to banks and primary dealers.[6][14] Second, the Committee proposed a segregation of the roles of RBI as a regulator of banks and owner of bank.[17] It observed that â€Å"The Reserve Bank as a regulator of the monetary system should not be the owner of a bank in view of a possible conflict of interest†. As such, it highlighted that RBI’s role of effective supervision was not adequate and wanted it to divest its holdings in banks and financial institutions. Pursuant to the recommendations, the RBI introduced a Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) operated through repo and reverse repos in order to set a corridor for money market interest rates. To begin with, in April 1999, an Interim Liquidity Adjustment Facility (ILAF) was introduced pending further upgradation in technology and legal/procedural changes to facilitate electronic transfer.[18]As for the second recommendation, the RBI decided to transfer its respective shareholdings of public banks like State Bank of India (SBI), National Housing Bank (NHB) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to GOI. Subsequently, in 2007-08, GOI decided to acquire entire stake of RBI in SBI, NHB and NABARD. Of these, the terms of sale for SBI were finalised in 2007-08 itself.[19] Stronger banking system The Committee recommended for merger of large Indian banks to make them strong enough for supporting international trade.[11] It recommended a three tier banking structure in India through establishment of three large banks with international presence, eight to ten national banks and a large number of regional and local banks.[4][9][11] This proposal had been severely criticized by the RBI employees union.[20] The Committee recommended the use of mergers to build the size and strength of operations for each bank.[12] However, it cautioned that large banks should merge only with banks of equivalent size and not with weaker banks, which should be closed down if unable to revitalize themselves.[6] Given the large percentage of non-performing assets for weaker banks, some as high as 20% of their total assets, the concept of â€Å"narrow banking† was proposed to assist in their rehabilitation.[11] There were a string of mergers in banks of India during the late 90s and early 2000s, encouraged strongly by the Government of India|GOI in line with the Committee’s recommendations.[21]However, the recommended degree of consolidation is still awaiting sufficient government impetus.[16] Non-performing assets Non-performing assets had been the single largest cause of irritation of the banking sector of India.[4] Earlier the Narasimham Committee-I had broadly concluded that the main reason for the reduced profitability of the commercial banks in India was the priority sector lending. The committee had highlighted that ‘priority sector lending’ was leading to the build up of non-performing assets of the banks and thus it recommended it to be phased out.[10] Subsequently, the Narasimham Committee-II also highlighted the need for ‘zero’ non-performing assets for all Indian banks with International presence.[10] The 1998 report further blamed poor credit decisions, behest-lending and cyclical economic factors among other reasons for the build up of the non-performing assets of these banks to uncomfortably high levels. The Committee recommended creation of Asset Reconstruction Funds or Asset Reconstruction Companies to take over the bad debts of banks, allowing them to start on a clean-slate.[4][22][23] The option of recapitalization through budgetary provisions was ruled out. Overall the committee wanted a proper system to identify and classify NPAs,[6] NPAs to be brought down to 3% by 2002[4] and for an independent loan review meachnism for improved management of loan portfolios.[6] The committee’s recommendations let to introduction of a new legislation which was subsequently implemented as the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 and came into force with effect from 21 June 2002.[24][25][26] Capital adequacy and tightening of provisioning norms In order to improve the inherent strength of the Indian banking system the committee recommended that the Government should raise the prescribed capital adequacy norms.[9] This would also improve their risk taking ability.[11] The committee targeted raising the capital adequacy ratio to 9% by 2000 and 10% by 2002 and have penal provisions for banks that fail to meet these requirements.[4][6] For asset classification, the Committee recommended a mandatory 1% in case of standard assets and for the accrual of interest income to be done every 90 days instead of 180 days.[14] To implement these recommendations, the RBI in Oct 1998, initiated the second phase of financial sector reforms by raising the banks’ capital adequacy ratio by 1% and tightening the prudential norms for provisioning and asset classification in a phased manner on the lines of the Narasimham Committee-II report.[27] The RBI targeted to bring the capital adequacy ratio to 9% by March 2001.[28] The mid-term Review of the Monetary and Credit Policy of RBI announced another series of reforms, in line with the recommendations with the Committee, in October 1999.[14] Entry of Foreign Banks The committee suggested that the foreign banks seeking to set up business in India should have a minimum start-up capital of $25 million as against the existing requirement of $10 million. It said that foreign banks can be allowed to set up subsidiaries and joint ventures that should be treated on a par with private banks.[4] Implementation of recommendations In 1998, RBI Governor Bimal Jalan informed the banks that the RBI had a three to four year perspective on the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations.[27] Based on the other recommendations of the committee, the concept of a universal bank was discussed by the RBI and finally ICICI bank became the first universal bank of India.[18][29][30] The RBI published an â€Å"Actions Taken on the Recommendations† report on 31 October 2001 on its own website. Most of the recommendations of the Committee have been acted upon (as discussed above) although some major recommendations are still awaiting action from the Government of India.[31] Criticism There were protests by employee unions of banks in India against the report. The Union of RBI employees made a strong protest against the Narasimham II Report.[20] There were other plans by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), representing about 1.3 million bank employees in India, to meet in Delhi and to work out a plan of action in the wake of the Narasimham Committee report on banking reforms. The committee was also criticized in some quarters as â€Å"anti-poor†. According to some, the committees failed to recommend measures for faster alleviation of poverty in India by generating new employment.[3] This caused some suffering to small borrowers (both individuals and businesses in tiny, micro and small sectors). Reception Initially, the recommendations were well received in all quarters, including the Planning Commission of India leading to successful implementation of most of its recommendations.[32] Then it turned out that during the 2008 economic crisis of major economies worldwide, performance of Indian banking sector was far better than their international counterparts. This was also credited to the successful implementation of the recommendations of the Narasimham Committee-II with particular reference to the capital adequacy norms and the recapitalization of the public sector banks.[2] The impact of the two committees has been so significant that elite politicians and financial sectors professionals have been discussing these reports for more than a decade since their first submission applauding their positive contribution Prime Minister’s address at RBI Platinum Jubilee Celebrations| The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh addressed the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Reserve Bank o f India in Mumbai today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s address on the occasion: â€Å"It is indeed a great pleasure to be here in Mumbai for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Reserve Bank of India. For me, this is also a very special moment of nostalgia. I spent some very memorable years in this institution as its Governor. My wife and I cherish the memories of many new enduring friendships that we made during those memorable days. I also recall with deep appreciation the role played by the Reserve Bank in helping the Government of India in the implementation of the agenda for economic reforms when I was the Finance Minister of India at a very difficult time in our country’s economic history. To return as Prime Minister for the Platinum Jubilee of this great institution is indeed an emotionally moving experience for me. When I took over as Finance Minister in 1991, I was convinced that the economic liberalisation and reforms could only succeed if complemented by broad based reform in the banking and financial sectors. I turned to my old friend and former RBI Governor Shri M Narasimham to Chair a Committee to make recommendations on this very important issue. The Report of the Narasimham Committee outlined a comprehensive agenda of reform which served as a blue print of what we needed to do in subsequent years. It would have been difficult to implement those reforms had they not received enthusiastic support, as they did, from the Governor of the day, Shri S. Venkitaramanan and Dr. Rangrajan. Subsequently as Venitramanan’s successor Dr C. Rangarajan took the financial reform agenda further forward in many critical areas, including especially the ending of automatic monetisation of the government’s deficit. As with economic reforms in general, financial sector reforms in India were implemented at a gradual pace. We were often criticised for our incremental approach which critics often complained was far too slow. But few would deny that we have accomplished a great deal over the years and Reserve Bank has made important contribution towards this. We have successfully eliminated stifling controls on industry and investment. We have opened the economy to foreign trade, lowered tariffs and switched over to a market determined exchange rate. We have liberalised capital controls enabling the economy to absorb substantial inflows of capital in the form of both FDI and FII flows into the stock market. In recent years, foreign investment has also become a two way flow as many Indian companies have established a presence abroad through investment or acquisition. All of this has been achieved without experiencing a serious macro economic crisis or severe inflation over an extended period. Most importantly, the real economy has clearly prospered. The rate of growth of GDP has increased steadily over the past two decades, culminating in an unprecedented 9 percent growth per year in the four year period just before the global financial crisis. Poverty too, has declined steadily, though this is an area where much more remains to be done. The Reserve Bank of India has played a major role in this transformation. It has been a lead player in banking and financial sector reforms and has acted as a confidential adviser to the Government on many other issues relevant to the complex task of macro economic management in an increasingly open and liberalised economic environment. Indeed, it is one of our great institutions of which we can all be truly proud. The past two years have been difficult years for governments and central banks all over the world. Excessive credit expansion and asset price inflation both fuelled by so-called â€Å"financial innovations† of dubious value, and a lax regulatory environment led to an accumulation of risk that was not adequately understood and ultimately produced a severe crisis. India was relatively insulated from these developments because our financial system was much less integrated with the global system. However, the RBI deserves credit for having been prescient about the dangers posed by property bubbles. The action taken by Governor Reddy, who is present here, well before the crisis to tighten bank credit against real estate, limited bank exposure on this account. When the crisis exploded in September 2008, the RBI rapidly reversed its earlier tightening of credit to meet the new and changed circumstances. The CRR and the repo and reverse repo rates were rapidly lowered in a series of quick steps. Some initiatives were also taken to enhance access to bank credit by Non Banking Finance Companies. Signs of panic withdrawals from some private sector banks in the initial weeks of the crisis were met with strong reassurances by both the Government and the RBI that our banks were sound and would be fully supported. Ensuring that the Indian financial system remained stable in these very difficult times was a major achievement in financial and economic management. I would like to compliment Governor Subbarao and his team at the RBI for the role they played in this period.

Contemporary Issues Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Contemporary Issues - Research Paper Example However, public opinion continues to largely support the retention of the Death Penalty in America. The Death Penalty, or Capital Punishment, continues to remain one of the most controversial subjects in the criminal justice system throughout the world. Proponents and opponents of the Death Penalty tend to be passionately vehement in supporting the validity of their respective positions, and the debate continues to rouse strong views in contemporary society. State legalized executions have been institutionalized as a part of the legal system in several nations. Despite repeated calls by the United Nations Human Rights Commission for the global abolition of the Death Penalty, about seventy-eight countries retain Capital Punishment as a penalty in their criminal justice systems. As of 2008, China is the leading imposer of the Death Penalty in the world (1,718), followed by Saudi Arabia (102), Iran (346), the United States (37), Pakistan (36) and Iraq (34). These countries account for 95% of Capital Punishment in the world (DPIC, 2010). The history of the Death Penalty can be traced to the earliest genesis of a legal system in human history. It dates back to the Babylonic Code of Hammurabi in the eighteenth century B.C. and was incorporated in the Seventh Century B.C.s Draconian Code of Athens, the Fourteenth Century B.C.s Hittite Code and in the Fifth Century B.C.s Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets. The frequency of Capital Punishment, and the crimes which were considered to merit the Death Penalty, varied over the following centuries, and the practice was introduced in America by the European settlers, largely influenced by Britain. The first recorded execution in colonial times was that of Captain George Kendall, in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608, on charges of espionage. Cesare Beccarias 1767 essay, On

Working Relationships between the National Health Service and the Essay

Working Relationships between the National Health Service and the Independent Sector in the UK - Essay Example According to the study despite its small share in the market, the independent sector in the UK has had a significant effect on the NHS. For instance, it has helped ensure that NHS preserves the quality while minimizing costs. Debate concerning the independent sector indulgence in NHS regularly gives the image that the sector’s portion of activity in NHS is more crucial in scale than it is in the case. Presently, the independent sector indulgence (excluding mental health, dentistry, and GP practices) remains principally static at approximately 5% of the conventional clinical services. The aforementioned figure does not include GP and dentistry practices. It is important to note that GP practices are privately owned small business and they conduct 98% of NHS general practice activities despite regarding themselves as a portion of the NHS. Study conducted recently indicates that there are close to 315 independent GP practices of the total 8,300 practices in England. Within the co nventional clinical services, the main type of activity is the elective care. This paper declares that elective care in this case entails non-emergency and pre-arranged care, which also includes scheduled surgery. As stated before, 3.5% of the procedures are conducted by the independent sector, either by specialist treatments centres or in private hospitals. Despite having a small share of the entire market, impact of the participation of the independent sector for several decades has been considerable, especially in some specialists, for instance, in orthopaedics and ophthalmology. In these two specialists, there are had been far-reaching benefits in terms of patient satisfaction, cost, and quality and the market share have been higher. The Benefits of Working Collaboratively With Other Members of the Multidisciplinary Team With the increased number of people seeking health care, there is a need for the different partners in the health care to collaborate and work in tandem for the achievement of a common objective, that is, the provision of better health care services. According to NHS Partners Network, the independent sectors do have a smaller share in the provision of primary care.

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 23

Assignment - Essay Example The better looking components of the GDP were housing, business investments in software and equipment and increased consumer spending. Consumer spending is a key element for the betterment of the economythis year as seen it augmented at a 2.2% rate as compared to 1.6% in the third quarter. This was most probably because the personal income had increased by 2.8 percent in December 2012 (bea.gov) 1c. According to the Federal Reserve officials the downfall in economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2012 seems to be mainly due to ‘weather-related disturbances and various other temporary factors. However budget tightening is also a leading factor in the economic fall this quarter such as military spending that went down at a rate of 22.2% (Mitchell, 2013). The situation is likely to move towards betterment as the consumers are becoming more confident as prices of homes is increasing which gives them a feeling of security. As companies in the U.S invest more in equipment and software and consumers spending power growing, the economic situation might get better in 2013. 1d. The U.S economy was in trough in 2009 but it seems now that currently it is just about to enter the expansion phase. With the all the positive energy of the economy experts and their hopes up we might just see a bright future after all. 2b. There have been many reasons for the increase in value of Euro. People are now much relaxed about the death of the currency as the crisis no longer seems to be a threat so investors are not selling the currency in exchange for the dollar. As the U.S economy seems to topple as seen in the fourth quarter of 2012, the Euro has gained strength since the report. 2c. An ascending Euro is very useful for the Euro zone countries for obvious reasons such as a strong economy. There also a disadvantage to a strong Euro; as the currency ascends it threatens the export industry as the trading partners find it over expensive. For more developed countries the

Changing the BIOS Clock Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Changing the BIOS Clock - Essay Example Event logs in Windows 7 and Vista have a total default size of 20Mb while in Windows XP the total default size on event logs is 512 KB. The event logs work in the same way in Windows XP, Windows 7 and Vista as they tend to fill up according to the order of events. The log will go back to the beginning when it is filled up with events. In such a case, it implements an overwriting process based on the old events. In instances where the BIOS clock has been changed, discrepancies in the order of events will be evident. Logs are recorded according to the time they occurred. Ordering entries of event logs by file set and parsing the event logs is a practice that will determine whether system clock has been altered. When the dates jump backward and forward again, it provides evidence that the system clock has been altered. On the other hand, if no activity is recorded when parsing and ordering the events log entries, it indicates the system clock has not been altered. If the BIOS clock has been altered in Windows 7 or Windows Vista, the altered time will also be recorded in the event log as event ID 1. Evidence regarding the creation or accessing files during changing of the BIOS clock can be found in a computer within the link files. Link files usually contain recorded dates and time when files had been accessed. The values are recorded when the operating system starts to operate at the beginning of a session. All link files from the same session will have a similar sequence value (Whitfield 2012 p.4). Sequence numbers within object IDs will enable arranging of files in a chronological order. In cases where the computer clock has been altered, the times, as well as the dates, will be anomalous. In Windows XP, the sequence number will be recorded when the system is booted so, in instances where the clock has been tampered with and moved forward and backward, evidence may be obtained from the sequence value as the system would have recorded the order in which specific files had been accessed originally. The system records dates and times when a computer is booted at the beginning of the session. An object ID will be created, and a similar date will be recorded for all object IDs created in the boot session. The sequence value will also be the same in that booting session. In cases where the clock has been changed to an earlier time period, an increment will occur in the sequence value in the next booting session while the date in the object ID will appear out of synchronization (Parsonage, 2008 p 15). References Parsonage, H. 2008. The Meaning of Link Files in Forensic Examinations. Retrieved from http://computerforensics.parsonage.co.uk/downloads/TheMeaningofLIFE.pdf Whitfield, L. 2012. Detecting CMOS Clock Changes. Retrieved from http://www.forensic4cast.com/category/tech/ DQ 2: Honey Net Challenge Question 1: Who is Joe Jacob’s supplier of marijuana and what is the address listed for the supplier? Joe Jacob’s supplier of marijuan a is a person named Jimmy Jungle and his address is identified as 626 Jungle Avenue #2 Jungle, New York 11111. Evidence regarding the name of Joe Jacob’s supplier can be obtained from a letter in the floppy disk. The letter is a deleted word document from Joe Jacob to his supplier of marijuana. In the letter, the address and the name of the supplier can be clearly seen.  

Advantage and Disadvantage of Electrical Pre-fabricated cable Dissertation

Advantage and Disadvantage of Electrical Pre-fabricated cable - Dissertation Example Regardless of mixed reactions, it has been known for long periods of time that the preassembled electrical components have several benefits and problems. This research paper has, therefore, identified both the advantages and disadvantages of employing pre-fabricated electrical cables and other electrical components in electrical installation. The research paper has also explored the impacts of prefabrication technology on electrical installation and construction industry at large. In addition to identifying the advantages and disadvantages of employing pre-fabricated electrical cables, research paper has investigated the current trends in the use of prefabrication technology. The paper has also discussed how the prefabricated electrical cables are applied or used in the construction and electrical installation industry. In order to achieve its objectives, the research involved both secondary and primary data. With the regard to primary data, qualitative research was carried to gather the perceptions of public (particularly those who have some on knowledge on prefabricated and on-site fabricated electrical cables) and contractors regarding the advantages and disadvantages prefabricated electrical cables. In this case, a number of electricians and contractors were interviewed in the quantitative research part of the dissertation. In the case of the secondary data, qualitative research was carried out on the organizations that produce (manufacture) these prefabricated electrical cables. ... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I take this opportunity to acknowledge with great thanks the contributions that have been made towards the completion of this research by my Supervisor. I further take this precious time to acknowledge the contribution made by friends, classmates and family members towards the contribution made towards the completion of this project (dissertation). TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.INTRODUCTION 8 1.2 Research Aims and Objectives 9 1.3 Research problem statement 9 2.LITERATURE REVIEW 10 2.1 Description of Terms and Expressions 10 2.1.1 Prefabrication 11 2.1.2 Modularization 11 2.1.3 Preassembly 12 2.1.4 Industrialization 12 2.1.5 Prework methods of manufacturing 13 2.1.4 Advantages of prework methods of manufacturing 13 2.1.4 Disadvantages of pre-work methods of manufacturing 15 2.2 Trends and historical development of Prefabrication of electrical cables 16 2.2.1 Challenges that have faced prefabrication of electrical components 17 2.2.2 Trends and evolution of prefabrication 19 2. 3 Prefabricated Components in general 19 2.3.1 Advantages of Prefabricated components in general 20 2.3.2 Disadvantages of the prefabricated components in general 21 2.4 Prefabricated electrical cables. 22 2.4.1 Advantages and disadvantages of using prefabricated electrical cables and components 23 2.5 Application of Prefabricated electrical cables 26 2.5.1 Prefabricated electrical wiring systems 26 2.5.2 Merits of Prefabricated electrical wiring systems 27 2.5.3 Demerits of Prefabricated electrical wiring systems 30 2.5.4 The Basics of Prefabricated (Modular) electrical wiring systems 31 2.5.5 Perceptions associated with the adoption of Prefabricated wiring systems 33

Strategic Management of Chevron Corporation Case Study

Strategic Management of Chevron Corporation - Case Study Example The company has established an extensive social network. It takes seriously its role across the globe. It has a strong network of retail gas stations which consist of Chevron, Texaco and Caltex. Its operations range from producing oil to manufacturing petrochemical. In countries where Chevron does business, it is a strong supporter of programs that support the community. It works with local and national governments and other organizations to provide basic human needs, education and career training, support for local businesses. It has a university partnership program which works with colleges and universities around the world to provide scholarships and grants to outstanding students. Chevron is helping most countries diversify their economies by investing in all aspects of the energy industry. It aids countries gain self reliance as it enables them produce commodities that they would otherwise import. It works closely with leaders in its operational countries to select social infrastructure projects for funding such as schools, hospitals and electrical projects. The company works to add value to businesses and communities around the globe. It supplies the countries with professional and versatile task forces through spreading knowledge and skills in entrepreneurship. Competitor analysis Chevron Company mainly faces competition from industries dealing with petroleum refining, manufacturing of chemicals, alternative power generation, gas stations and electrical utilities. Its main competitors are ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips, BP p.I.c. and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. It has used strategic planning and corporate management to establish itself on top of the energy industry. Its E-business applications have greatly added to its measure of success. In the modern globalized world, the success of companies will be measured by how well they have leveraged E-business applications to beat competition (Thierauf & Hoctor, 2003). Supplier analysis Chevron has developed some of the world’

Issues, Challenges and Strategies in Successful Implementation of an Essay

Issues, Challenges and Strategies in Successful Implementation of an HRIS Project - Essay Example This article presents a critical analysis of the need for HRIS, features required in HRIS, design & acquisition issues, cost benefits, implementation issues and acceptance issues. Gardner and Lepak et al. (2003) presented that the new role of HR professionals is more of "strategic partners to the business" whereby they are expected to understand the business objectives of the organization and align the HR practices with the business goals defined to fulfil the objectives. Hence the business objectives expand into the HR objectives & related goals that are essentially defined to enhance employee contribution by providing them essential guidance, resources & support and to manage essential transformations & changes required in maintaining the fundamental culture of the organization. The authors argue that IT systems act as the catalyst for human resources professionals in achieving HR goals. Enterprise Resource Planning systems integrate various functional (departmental) information systems across the company such that the information from all departments can be integrated and organized for unified MIS reporting to the senior management enabling them to take quick & effective decisions (Gupta & Kohli. 2006). Human Resources is one of the key departments of an organization and hence HRIS need to be an integral part of ERP. The key result areas for all employees are defined by their respective functional managers but closely monitored by the HR function by virtue of key performance indicators. Kaplan and Norton (1996) developed the balanced scorecard system that helps organizations to design & implement a performance measurement system in such a way that individual performance measures can be tangibly mapped with organizational performance. The author hereby argues that such an integrated framework requires the performance management system to be an integral part of the E RP such that performance appraisal cycles can be carried out by respective supervisors of the employees but human resources function can closely monitor the KPI metrics and map with other soft aspects of the individual in terms of punctuality, knowledge & skill enhancement, trainings, additional certifications achieved, etc. The integrated information of functional KPIs and soft aspects can help the HR function to assess the overall performance of the employees and identify employee development needs as well as take decisions on promotions, increments, rewards & recognitions. 3.0 Requirement Analysis for an

How calcium is absorbed in the body Essay Example for Free

How calcium is absorbed in the body Essay Calcium in the diet of a teenager is actively absorbed in the small intestine and transferred into the intestinal capillaries. Describe the route this calcium would follow to end up in the upper arm. Describe in detail the role of calcium at the neuromuscular junction as well as its role in the mechanism of muscle contraction and relaxation of the triceps. Considering the function of calcium in bone growth, explain in detail how the humerus would grow in length. Calcium in the diet of a teenager is absorbed in the small intestine and transferred to the intestinal capillaries. It diffuses into the bloodstream through the gastric vein into the hepatic vein and then through the common iliac vein into the superior/inferior vena cava that brings the blood into the right atrium of the heart. The sinoatrial node which is located in the right atrial wall, would send an electrical impulse through the heart, causing it to contract. This would then trigger the AV node (which is located between the septum between two atria) to contract as well. When the AV node contracts it sends an impulse through the AV bundle and into the purkinje fibers (which in return causes the entire heart to contract). After going through the right atrium, when the heart contracts it opens up the tricuspid valve, therefore pushing the calcium into the right ventricle. When the heart contracts again (SA node contracts again through AV bundle and purkinje fibers) it causes the pulmonary semilunar valve to open and enters the pulmonary trunk and pulmonary arteries which then brings the blood into the lungs. Then it goes through a systemic loop (the tissue capillaries of the lungs) , which takes the now oxygenated blood and returns to the heart via the pulmonary veins from the lungs. Then from the pulmonary veins the blood enters the left atrium (SA node will contract, causing AV node to contract, sending impulse through the AV bundle, ending at the purkinje fibers) and calcium forces through the bicuspid valve, and into the left ventricle. Then the heart contracts, and (SA node/AV node/AV bundle/purkinje fibers) causing contraction and blood travels through the aortic valve and then into the aorta. From the aorta, the calcium in the blood goes into the right and left subclavian artery and branches down to the axillary artery, and then towards the bra chial artery. From the brachial artery, the oxygenated blood containing calcium in it, goes to the muscles of the upper arm (the brachii muscles) and gives nutrients to the tissue cells. Calcium plays an important role in muscle contraction. Firstly, an action potential arriving at the acon triggers the release of the neurotransmitter called acetylcholine (ACH) at the neuromuscular junction. The acetylcholine (ACH) binds with the muscle receptor and sodium ions (Na+) are released, which triggers the action potential in the muscle cell. The action potential transmits through the sarcolemma. The calcium (Ca+) ions are then released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The calcium ions bind with troponin (making it change shape) which makes the troponin release tropomyosin. The myosin then binds to the actin. With the hydrolysis of ATP the myosin head changes shape and a cross-bridge is formed causing the muscle cell to contract. This cycle repeats itself until the contraction is done, or when there is nor more calcium or ATP energy. Once the triceps muscle is relaxed then the calcium gets back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum. During relaxation of muscle cells, the level of calcium in sarcoplasm is low and the troponin holds the tropomyosin in position to block myosin-binding sites on actin. During contraction of the muscle cells, a muscle action potential opens calcium channels in the sarcoplasmic reticulum and the calcium flows into the cytosol. The growth of bones can happen through two different types of ossification which include: intramembranous ossification and endochondral ossification. The process for the growth of a long bone like the humerus, the process of endochondral ossification is used. This takes place on the epiphyseal plate (made from remaining hyaline cartilage) in the metaphysis area of the bone. There are four zones on the epiphyseal plate: a) the resting zone which contains the chondrocytes, b) the zone of proliferation where the chondrocytes divide and push the resting cartilage outwards, c) the zone of hypertrophic cartilage where the chondrocytes enlarge and lengthen the diaphysis, d) Zone of calcification- where dead chondrocytes and new one matrix is created. At the end of the growth period, the epiphyseal plates  are completely ossified and the epiphyseal plates close around the age from 18-25. The epiphyseal plates then become the epiphyseal lines. The calcium is a necessary dietary requirement for proper bone growth, development in the body, and to prevent bone deterioration or an example of a disease called osteoporosis.

County Backs Plan for Inland Port in the Glades Essay Example for Free

County Backs Plan for Inland Port in the Glades Essay The commissioners in Palm Beach County found the need to support the construction of an inland port because it would give employment opportunities for the locals. Summary: A vote of 5-2 was the result of the discussion among Palm Beach County commissioners favoring the development of an inland port in the area. They believe that this would help the locals obtain more jobs that are within the county, which means easier access and less wasting of time travelling from one place to the other. Locals do not have to commute to other nearby cities for their jobs and lose precious family time. Also, this plan would help develop the county in economic terms. Analysis: While many people came to the commission chambers to support the plan, there were also activists who disliked the idea due to environmental reasons. It was very difficult to determine whose side had a better argument because the other has the welfare of the locals in mind while the other tries to defend nature and the fact that people should not just develop land over the glades. There were no words from the water district officials but the â€Å"activists said that Florida Crystals’ land sits in the middle of a potential pathway for restoration, which could recreate the historic flow of water from the lake to the Everglades† (Sorentrue â€Å"County Backs Plan for Inland Port in the Glades†). Conclusion: Although both sides had strong arguments as to whether or not the inland port should be constructed, it should be pointed out that the welfare of the people should be put first. The inland port would not take over the whole of Everglades and if environmental procedures were done properly so as to do no or at least minimal harm on nature, then it will be a win-win situation. The commissioners should make sure that they do not agree to this because it would bring them money but that they agree to this because it is what the people need. They also have to ensure that they do minimal damage to nature while developing the land.

Ethical Issues In Video Games Media Essay

Ethical Issues In Video Games Media Essay The industry of Electronic-gaming has developed into one of the most successful industries in the present technical world. According to an article issued by Entertainment Software Association (ESA, 2011), this particular industry has a huge target market of approximately USD 25 billion. The electronic-gaming industry has turned out to be one of the most successful businesses around the world. The current era is where people depend on connectivity through technology. In addition, the computer gaming industry has brought in tremendous job opportunities by providing nearly 120,000 jobs to the global business market (ESA, 2011). Meanwhile the disadvantages faced due to computer usage are also rising steadily not only in countries like USA but also in all the European countries where people are going through a lot of issues with regard to video-games. Researchers around the world are coming out with the bitter fact that most of the teenagers are being affected by the amount of violence involved in these video games which would cause psychological impacts and bring about addiction. The negative effects of video games are rising drastically along with the advancements of the technologies. Initially the target markets of the electronic gaming industry were youngsters, but nowadays people of all age categories seem to be addicted to video-games. According to the statistics of ESA (2011) it was publicized that 42% of the gamers are females and 58 % of gamers comprise of male players. At the same time another research states that about 72% of household American citizens are playing computer or video games whereas the average of 29% represent people above 50 years. Thus, the aforementioned points brings in to light that the evolution of video-games resulted due to rapid technological advancements. However, it should also be noted that there are always two sides for a coin, in this case the pros and cons involved within the industry should be looked at. The issues in relation to this particular industry can be identified as health issues, legal issues, social issues, professional issues and most importantly ethical issues that are rising on a daily basis. The major social concern associated with electronic gaming is violence and serious aggression towards the society. According to the research conducted by Jummy Et Al, (n.d) of Indiana University School of Medicine, about violent games, it was proved that playing a violent video game directly influences self-control and attention, which not only impacts the player but also indirectly affects the society as well. These kind of serious issues are attracting public awareness in an immense scale. The violence attached to the video-games has been subjected to extensive debate over the years. Jimmy et al, (n.d) also states that violent Video-games reflect a more harmful approach than violent movies and television-dramas due to the interaction between the game and the players. This social issue also opens up different perceptions where an example can be quoted as such games spread disgraceful incidents among the teenagers and children, enabling them to get used to such incidents and consider them as a normal behaviour. According to AFP (2010) a 14 years old boy killed his father by using a sledgehammer since his father had disturbed his computer game. Consequently, it can be concluded that the teenagers mind-set has been changed and dominated by violence and serious aggression. This violence he exposed to the society was because of the game that he used to play. David Walsh (2007) states that playing violent games directly stimulates physiological problems such as pro-social effects, concerns, etc. To rationalize more, we are living in a country where most of the people are with sentimental values, so feelings and behaviours are more important to us. By playing violent video-games, it first affects our feelings as human beings where we have to respect others as our culture is based on good feelings and good behaviours. As mentioned above, playing aggressive games will affect both the feelings and behaviours of humans and as a result, an individual would lose the value of humanity. In addition, Davi d Walsh (2007) signifies that 63 % of the students who are playing aggressive video-games have more tendencies to be involved in physical fights or violent activities as such which enables in changing the teenagers mind-set as per the game. Therefore as a result, playing violent video-games is a serious antagonism that would affect the society and the individual humans behaviour. For an example according to Cleancutmedia (2009) biggest story of video game related to violence history was re-written due to Danil Petric who was 23 years old, who viciously shot his mother and father where mother was dead at the incident and luckily Danils fathers life was rescued. The reason for this unusual behaviour was that he was addicted to a violent aggressive game called Halo 3 which contained very violent pictures and videos. One day his father didnt let him play that particular game and this was the cause of this incident. After this incident, reporters identified that he used to play that game up to 7 hours per day. This meticulous incident proves the mentioned point above because violence and serious aggression cause many social issues since playing violent games do not only affect the individual who is playing that game, but it also affects the family that he/she belongs to and their society as well. The society can be affected due to violence and serious antagonism; therefore this point can be categorized as a social issue. Considering the above mentioned issues with the social public interests, the society is not benefited at all by playing violent video-games and they have exposed their serious aggression towards the society which have already affected the people in a harmful way and also can affect the society in future as well. As mentioned above these social concerns brought another critical aspect in to light which is known as health issues. According to Sciencedaily (2011), it demonstrated that video-games may have substantial behavioural problems such as pro-social effects and concerns, varying psychological problems and etc. To justify within this range Mitchell (2011) also favours the earlier argument saying spending lots of time with video-games lead to situations with addiction, isolation, depression, social phobias and it would directly drag that person into various physiological issues. As Sciencedaily (2011) explains, pathological gamers usually play games approximately 31 hours per week and due to those reasons it will directly affect the human physical body as well. Latest research reveals that playing games for long hours directly affects the muscles, joints and can cause back and neck pains as well. Especially teenagers who play for at least 5 hours a day will experience the above mentioned h ealth issues (Better Health, 2011). According to BBC News (2005) a South Korean person who almost played StarCraft 3 for more than 50 hours nonstop with very few breaks died due to a heart failure. Another real world incident took place in Northern China where a man who was addicted to playing online games was reported dead after spending lot of time for online gaming, and the doctors identified that his blood pumping was improper which caused that death (Spencer, 2007). By only considering these two incidents we cannot come to a conclusion but undeniably these incidents justifies that playing games for long hours can seriously cause damage to human physical body. According to Dillner (2011) video-games also make teenagers put on weight because they just play the video-games with full comfort and there is insufficient physical exercise. So according to her explanation it also affects the hand and fingers due to the constant contact with the keyboard or joystick. Dr. Douglas, A. Gentile who conducted many researches based on video-games addiction and human psychology, argued that spending lot of time in playing games or anything cannot be clarified as addiction. He also states that it might be a symptom of addiction (Dr.douglashn, n.d). His research clearly agrees that addicted gamers reflect serious issues with society since they dont like to make friends, lack of socialization and also there are possibilities of them having many health issues as well; for example sleep disturbances, headaches etc. In this modern world people are also concerned about personal health in that way spending too much time on video-games will eventually cause a darker tomorrow as health issues directly affects the society in a harmful way. Hence, the above mentioned points identify health issues to be one of the main concerns of electronic gaming. Video games have positive and negative sides while looking into social issues. By considering the above given examples it was clearly pictured, showing how a society is affected by various violent and aggressive video-games. According to Professor Mark Griffith (n.d.) of Nottingham Trent University, video games are proved to be a distraction for those undergoing painful cancer treatments. In a study which was conducted in year 2004 by Butch Rosser, a surgeon of Laparoscopy, he studied the surgical skills of surgeons playing video games and surgeons who did not. It was astonishing to know from the results, that surgeons playing video games were faster in action and made lesser mistakes during work than those who did not play video games. Video games that include simulation of real world scenarios are becoming popular. A game called Americas Army introduced by United States, replicates a real wartime experience which is going to help and train new recruits. It is a known fact that violent aggressive video games do not positively contribute to an individual or societal development. But such games could stabilize violence as a familiar and acceptable option in order to deal with conflicts. In this case there are various positive video games being introduced in order to educate youth about some of the societal issues around the world. Examples of such games would be: Food Force, Darfur is Dying, UNICEF World Heroes, Peter Packet and etc. These types of games could serve as valuable tools in educating our youth about ways in which video-games could bring in positive societal changes by increasing the helping tendency, reducing violence and etc. When it comes to the ethical aspect of video-games it is not straight forward as the above mentioned social issues. Addiction to these aggressive games could be classified as the most debated ethical concerns during the past decade. According to Jimmy Dan et.al (n.d), some of the Video-games such as Mortal combat, Warcraft and Grand-theft-auto are highly addictive. In the same report they have disclosed a real example of how addiction affects an individuals life. These real stories justify that addiction to violent games affect negatively for a particular individual. Arguments might arise as to why people are addicted to violent video-games. According to ESA (2011)s research, it reveals that only 3.8 % people buy video games based on strategy, fight category represent 8.4% buying behaviour, whereas 15.8% of people buy shooting based video-games. These statistics simply exhibits the buying behaviour and most importantly a considerable percentage likes to buy action or fight category b ased video-games rather than buying a normal game. As already mentioned game developers target the teenagers and they produce insistent games because most of the teenagers are drawn towards them. Consequently, targeting a specific age group and producing violent video games directly violates the universal ethical principles such as respect for others, honesty and fairness. To sustain and survive in the electronic-gaming market, the developers will not stop creating such aggressive video-games since it has a huge demand. But really is it wrong to create or develop violent video-games? Are playing and creating such violent video-games the only factors that affect the social responsibility of a person? These video-games provide a virtual world to do things that we cannot do in our real world. It gives an opportunity to experience these things in a virtual manner without harming anyone. But then again considering the above mentioned issues, the society is not benefited at all by playing violent games. They have exposed their serious aggression towards the society which has already affected the people in harmful ways in the past and this can affect the society in the future as well. As mentioned previously, ethical issues can be addressed in both ways but according to the studies and incidents just because the industry targets on achieving greater profits its ethically wrong to encourage abnormality in people. Even to validate this action we can use deontological theory. The ethical concerns have brought in another very crucial aspect which forms the cheats for video-games. According to Morch (2003) cheats in most of the games happens in MMOG (Massive Multiplayer Online Games) such as WarCraft III and Air Warrior. Cheating opens up different perceptions such as, if the players could use cheats and if the game is easier to play why do we have to play without cheating? Is it ethical to cheat the game where the other players do not use cheats in their games? Many researches were conducted to rationalize that particular argument. According to Morch (2003) it clearly says that 35% of the online games were being hacked in 1997 and undeniably now it is expected to rise more because nowadays technology is much more advanced than the good old days. According to Aboukhadijeh (2009) hackers or cheaters are a real challenge to the game developers and these people are violating the ethical principles such as respecting others, treating others as equal, honesty and acting with integrity. Hackers or cheaters who are cheating in video-games are taking unethical advantage over the particular game, by undertaking various strategies. Importantly after cheats and bugs were released into the society the value of a particular game would gradually decrease. Besides Morch (2003) mentioned that due to modifying original game into cheatable game the value will reduce significantly. For example, after the launch of a game called Battlefield in 1942, the game market was very high but after sometime it drastically went down due to cheats. According to Morch (2003), it mentions that usually game cheaters use two different methods to cheat in games such as cheating by conspiracy or cheating by modifying games software or data. They simply do this fo r different purposes where some game cheaters make fraudulent money in some game competitions. Because of these unethical practices the virtual gaming world is being destroyed constantly and also by cheating or getting unethical advantage over the game process is directly violating several ethical principles such as fairness, equality, honesty etc. In order to justify, deontological theory also says that cheating in video-games action itself is wrong. So cheating in any form of the game is clarified as an ethical issue because there is no regulation for its avoidance. When it comes to Law and Regulations for video-games it represents many faces in todays world. Video-games related to legal issues have many aspects and first legal concern would be selling highly adultery content games to under aged. This concern is debated all over the world but no country has been able to fulfil all the hauls in selling adultery content to under aged. Outlaw (2008) indicates that due to technological improvements and various other facilities gaming industry have witnessed a lot of criticism on various social attributes, politics etc. Selling adultery content to under aged can affect the retailer who knowingly sells it. According to Outlaw (2008), previous law was not a successful one because the percentage for retailers for defending their side was high. In the same article it mentions that 87% of teenagers playing highly adultery contented video games. And in the particular case of Online retailers caught selling adult games to under-age boy (Hussain, 2013), the online sellers have sold adultery games to an under aged boy. These distributions of sexual video-games among under aged children directly violates Video Recording Act of 1984 (UK) under section 7 (classification certificates section), under section 2 both (A) and (B) and it also violates PEGI (Pan-European Game Information) rating system 2011 (UK). Hantsweb (2012) indicates that some game companies who produces heavy sexual behaviour related content, criminal activities, horrific pictures and video clips in their video-games has to submit it to the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) and then obtain a certification before the game can be released to the market. Even in this case most of the companies undervalue this process and they simply reduce the age range instead of submitting the video for BBFC. Hence, this is another anxiety that arises in courts and opens to society, therefore not submitting the games for BBFC classification can be guilty and the company will have to pay around GBP 20,000 as penalty or they might even have to accept 6 months of imprisonment. The above mentioned legal issues can have another perception where the games are based on extreme content of nudity and continuous disturbing sceneries in any form. In order to protect gaming industry from various bad influences and crimes, certain countries such as UK, USA and many European countries build their own voluntary regulations such as PEGI (Pan-European Game Information) etc. Nevertheless, extreme nudity within the video-games may affect the laws and regulations by creating a computer game that contains extreme nudity and violence. This may directly affect the countrys civil constitution. So if the game contains of any nudity or extreme violence, it will clearly violate Digital Economy Act 2010 (UK), Section 2 of the Video Recordings Act 1984 (UK) Conditions relating to video games (section 2- a, b, f and h) and can be penalised accordingly. Mitchell (2010) mentions that heavy rain game was officially banned from U.A.E due to extreme nudity and violence but initially it was approved by PEGI. Various researchers highlighted that these games initially got the approval from PEGI but were banned in the country because that game may affect the civil regulations which are prevailing in the country. GamesLatest (2010) gives another example that God of war III was also officially banned from Dubai due to high level of nudity and violence. These electronic games create a huge number of negative ethical impacts as shown in the above context, but there are a comparable number of positive impacts as well. Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating is a method where positive impacts could be brought in where parents could identify which game is good and suitable for their children. It is the responsibility of the government to implement an improved rating system with greater features given to the extent of violence and aggression in the games. This scheme would educate parents and help them use the rating tool and to identify the best suitable games for their children. Along with these social, ethical and legal issues video-games do have professional issues as well. First professional concern would be in terms of the developers point of view relating to the current computer rating system which is critical for identification of that particular game. As already mentioned the developers make their game for a target group of people; for example, ESA (2011) states that most teenagers enthusiasm is towards buying an action or fight based computer game. Therefore it sets the conditions for the developers to consider that particular segment in addressing their developing agendas. Onyett (2010), mentions that top 10 video-games contains 7 action games and among that 7 action games, five are rated as 17+. This clearly demonstrates the video-game customers buying behaviours. Many video-games are being miss-rated for their own benefits and some of them are miss-rated accidently as well. According to Sinclare (2006), ESRB has miss-rated the best-selling Elder S crolls IV: Oblivion game as Teen and then they have rerated it as Mature. The customers who would have bought the game already would have been affected by its miss-rated content. This has clearly breached BCSs code of conducts under Public Interest Section (A) and Under Duty to the profession Section (A). In this case they have been only concerned about their business benefits and they have neglected the concern towards the public. Another critical concern about professional issues is when creating video-games, do the game developers follow professional code of conducts. Vitally some video-game developers build their video-games to address various hidden things. According to Clark (2008), it is stated that in a game called Muslim Massacre, virtual people represented by the players in the game as soldiers and enemies were characterized as Muslims. The development of this kind of games directly affects a particular ethnic community. This clearly violates BCSs code of conducts under public interest section A and B. Maintaining the professional code of conduct would prevent negative issues and bring in positive issues which would enhance good professional practices. Video-games have been a great invention to virtualize the real world scenarios and it gives people an opportunity to do almost anything in these virtual environments. By referring to the issues mentioned above we may conclude that video-games do have issues related to social, ethical and professional aspects to address. In order to minimize the negative impacts caused by electronic games, parents will have to implement necessary steps before the child gaining bad experiences by playing video-games. A method of prevention by parents could be by confining their children playing aggressive video-games before they fall into the stage of addiction. Another way of handling these types of circumstance is always to convert the childs necessity by providing an alternative game instead of violent video games. The best preventive method to create a change in the childs mind is that the parents ability to educate their own children about video-games and essentially what so ever the game is, pare nts should allocate a specific time period for their children to play. This can reduce the children getting addicted to video-games. Addictive situations could also be prevented by not letting a person alone when he or she is playing a video game, as it could bring in addiction and isolation. Members of the family or parents being around would be a reminder of the real world and would prevent the player being consumed by the virtual environment. Further it is also advisable that parents have a control over the type of games that are purchased and given to the children. In addition research and case studies denote that most of the people living alone would have a higher chance of getting addicted into these video-games. Moreover medical science proves that an individual could involve in certain activities like chatting with friends instead of being alone which could reduce the addictive situation. The modern world is driven by technology and there is very less human interaction. Outd oor games and gathering among friends and family have reduced by a large scale enabling teenagers to draw a circle around them and be in isolation. Companies are driven purely by profit-making motives and there is less importance given for ethical and professional conduct. The benefit and welfare of the society at large is ignored. The electronic gaming industry at its initial stages had more strategy games that provide greater space for creativity and strategic thinking. Eventually the movie industry moved towards heightened violence and to be in line with the trend companies included more and more violence within these video games as well. Hence manufacturers of these games should take into consideration the damage that is caused to the community and develop games in a way that is less harmful to the human psychology. Regulators and professional bodies should also ensure that appropriate certification is given prior to these games being released to the market. Stringent penalties should be put in place for companies that violate these laws. Finally, the gaming industry, just as all other commercial industries, would have profitability and sustainability at its core but achieving its objectives in an ethical and professional way should be as equally important so that a better society can be nurtured.

Goya :: Essays Papers

Goya His name, Francisco Goya, born in 1746, one of Spains most innovative painters and etchers; also one of the triumvirate—including El Greco and Diego Velà ¡zquez—of great Spanish masters. Much in the art of Goya is derived from that of Velà ¡zquez, just as much in the art of the 19th-century French master Édouard Manet and the 20th-century genius Pablo Picasso is taken from Goya. Trained in a mediocre rococo artistic milieu , Goya transformed this often frivolous style and created works, such as the famous The third of May, 1808, that have as great an impact today as when they were created. Goya was born in the small Aragonese town of Fuendetodos (near Zaragoza) on March 30, 1746. His father was a painter and a gilder of altarpieces, and his mother was descended from a family of minor Aragonese nobility. Facts of Goya's childhood are scarce. He attended school in Zaragoza at the Escuelas Pias. Goya's formal artistic education commenced when, at the age of 14, he was apprenticed to a local master, Josà © Luzan, a competent although little-known painter in whose studio Goya spent four years. In 1763 the young artist went to Madrid, where he hoped to win a prize at the Academy of San Fernando. Although he did not win the desired award, he did make the acquaintance of Francisco Bayeu, an artist also from Aragà ³n, who was working at the court in the academic manner imported to Spain by the German painter Anton Raphael Mengs. Bayeu (the brother of Goya's wife) was influential in forming Goya's early style and was responsible for his participation in an important commis sion, the fresco decoration of the Church of the Virgin in El Pilar in Zaragoza. In 1771 Goya went to Italy for approximately one year. His activity there is relatively obscure; he spent some months in Rome and also entered a composition at the Parma Academy competition, in which he was successful. Returning to Spain about 1773, Goya participated in several other fresco projects, including that for the Charterhouse of Aula Dei, near Zaragoza, in 1774, where his paintings prefigure those of his greatest fresco project, executed in the Church of San Antonio de la Florida, Madrid, in 1798. It was at this time that Goya began to do prints after paintings by Velà ¡zquez, who would remain, along with Rembrandt, his greatest source of inspiration.

Autism Essay -- Health, Dolphin Assisted Therapies

In a deep, dark blue ocean, an astonishingly beautiful and colorful creature with a crescent moon body shape swims through shimmering waves of light. This mysterious animal goes to a seashore everyday to meet his life-long best friend who, unlike itself, has two legs instead of long, slippery, streamlined flukes. Now, they are sharing one of the best moments in their lives. This is the scene I have always seen in my dream whenever I wish to have a dolphin friend with whom I can freely swim and interact. When I see their eyes, it seems like dolphins are reading my mind, and I also feel like I can read their minds, too. It is uncommon for a person to get an opportunity to interact with that lovely creature and get a feeling of healing. However, some psychologists recommend children with autism to spend some time with dolphins because they believe that a dolphin has psychologically and educationally therapeutic effects. Considering the high number of autistic children in the United Sta tes, I want to delve into, not only how using dolphins in therapies for autistic children in the United States affects their educational abilities, but also how in some ways dolphin-assisted therapies reflect people’s greed to use an innocent creature for their own interest. What is autism? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, autism is defined as â€Å"a variable developmental disorder that appears by age three and is characterized by impairment of the ability to form normal social relationships† (Webster 65). Whenever I see the definitions of different disorders, I am always curious about the standards of different illnesses. For example, for autism, the definition says that autistic children commonly have difficulty in having normal social relation... ...om drowning† (Williamson 477). Likewise, parents tend to believe that dolphins would save their children from autism. However, does using an animal for our own purposes acceptable? Does DAT, in some aspects, reflect people’s greed to use an innocent creature for their own interest? Cathy Williams, in her article, suggests that â€Å"DAT can present a significant risk to the health and welfare of dolphins used in programs† because unlike autism children, â€Å"their conditions may be neither inspected, nor regulated† (Williamson 477). Furthermore, sometimes the stress of their confinement prevents them from behaving normally and it often makes them ill and results premature death. Dolphins have no freedom. Somehow they are brought to a place where they are â€Å"held in captivity† (Williamson 477). Do humans have a special right to do this to an animal without any permission?

Typhoid Fever :: science

Typhoid Fever Introduction: Typhoid fever is a bacterial infection of the intestinal tract and occasionally the bloodstream, and is from the Salmonella species. Risk of infection is greatest for travellers to developing countries who will have prolonged exposure to potentially contaminated food and beverages. Typhoid fever is a bacterial infection of the intestinal tract and occasionally the bloodstream. Symptoms: Fever as high as 103Â ° to 104Â ° F (39Â ° to 40Â ° C). , Severe headache , Insomnia, Nose bleeding, Either diarrhoea or constipation, Weakness, Stomach pains, Loss of appetite, A rash, Chills, Sore throat, And in some cases, rose coloured spots may appear. Preventive Measures , Isolation of infected person, usually only people who cant control their need to go to the toilet, eg: babies, and some disabled people., Personal Hygiene, Hand washing before eating , Clean and careful food preparation , Drink safe water , Safe Water , Sanitation. If you drink water, buy it bottled or bring it to boil for 1minute before you drink it. Bottled carbonated water is safer than uncarbonated water. Ask for drinks without ice unless the ice is made from bottled or boiled water. Avoid icypoles and flavoured ices that may have been made with contaminated water. Eat foods that have been thoroughly cooked and that are still hot and steaming. Avoid raw vegetables and fruits that cannot be peeled. Vegetables like lettuce are easily contaminated and are very hard to wash well. When you eat raw fruit or vegetables that can be peeled, peel them yourself. (Wash your hands with soap first.) Do not eat the peelings. Avoid foods and beverages from street vendors. It is difficult for food to be kept clean on the street, and many travellers get sick from food bought from street vendors. Bread is safest when served fresh from the oven. Avoid moist grain dishes (like rice) that have been allowed to sit at room temperature for long periods of time. Don't swim or fish in polluted waters, and don't eat fish that may have been caught in such waters. As a last resort, if no source of safe drinking water is available or can be obtained, tap water that is uncomfortably hot to touch may be safer than cold tap water; however, proper disinfection or boiling is still advised. Mode of Transmission: Salmonella Typhi only lives in humans. Persons with typhoid fever carry the bacteria in their bloodstream and intestinal tract.

Financial Aid Essay

The role of financial aid in college access and success is immense. Lack of adequate financing of education make many students from low income backgrounds fail to realize their educational aspirations (Reindl, 2007). It is from this premise that obstacles which accompany financial aid to low income students come to fore. The influence of aid on the enrollment persistence of students consists of interrelated factors which include timing, amount and type of aid and how they correlate with persistence among other attributes that relate to students (Pascarella & Terenzini 2005) Although it is prudent to consider the positive implications of financial aid to needy students, especially those of the minority groups that have felt sidelined for long, the question of how best to carry out the financing should be looked into. Many a student in higher education fails to achieve high academic performance due to their inability to focus on academics prompted by frustrated efforts to get financing. Financiers of the education of such student need to look into their procedures to be followed by students seeking financing of their education. This is in terms of the conditions to be satisfied by the needy students as well as the length of time the financial assistance will take before the recipient gets his / her college account credited. The reason for this is that not all institutions have provision for late arrival of the aid. The implication therefore if the aid delays is that the student will be forced to be out of the institution for some time, a matter which may make them fail to do their exams, tutorials, researches and vital lessons. In the long run such students will have low aggregate points and consequently failing to achieve their r personal educational and life goals. When the aid delays, or when the procedures to be followed in securing one prove to be too taxing, students get undue stress. This has far reaching implications both in terms of their health and general academic performance. In the long run, assistance will be a problem added to their financial incapacitation (Immerwahr 2003). Literature review Several researches have been undertaken on the problems that students under finance aid scheme face. Most of them point to the fact that financial aid can be an impediment and not a solution to students’ academic issues related to finance especially if the student fraternity is not informed of the availability and procedures In his journal â€Å"With diploma in Hand: Hispanic High School Seniors Talk about Their Future†, Immerwahr, J. (2003) uses interviews to highlight the challenges that these students faced in college as far as financial aid among other things are concerned. He interviewed 50 Hispanic High School seniors in San Antonio, Santa Clara Tucson, Chicago and New York. His findings were that many students on financial aid had difficulties at the end of it all because the aid was unpredictable making the students to be stressed. This is echoed by Stampen and Cabrera, (2007) who used questionnaires and interviews in their quest to know the effects of financial aid packaging on attrition and Pascarella and Terenzini (2005) in their journal How College Affects Students: A Third Decade of Research who use the same methods to expound on what affects students in college. A variety of issues are raised including the moral and social growth for some and despair for those dependent on finance aid which in most cases is unpredictable. Students may also fail to estimate how much in terms of amount of aid they require. The amount they get can be less than what is sufficient for them to complete their education. The aid that they get can be in the form of loans, work study opportunities or grants and scholarships. In the case of work study opportunities, the students may not get sufficient time for their studies as they are required to work also. This creates a lot of stress on the aid beneficiaries according to Voorhees (2005). Voorhees used on campus surveys in drafting his Student finances and campus? based financial aid: a structural model analysis of the persistence of high? need freshmen. Bias in aid allocation translates into variables exhibited by students in terms of their academic performance (Titus, 2006; Rubin, 2004). Using propensity score matching, it was established that there is a significant difference between financially aided and unaided students. Results based on five thousand freshmen at a public university in the US and retention in second year before and after noting their GPA and math experience showed that there is a relationship between aid influence and enrollment persistence (Adelman, 2004; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005) When looking at the issue of aid extension to low-income students, it is imperative that women be also assisted. This is because they are more likely to be affected more than their male counterparts, in most cases being affected by stress when they fail to secure aid in time to enhance their studies. Financial aid influences the retention of students based on their estimated family contribution. The challenge here is that those students whose families’ contribution is less than $4000 have higher chances of getting lower GPA’s (Adelman, 2004; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005) Methodology and Findings Since there are individual disparities that may affect the performance of the students who may be getting the same financial aid, this study used propensity score matching model which cater for the variables that may be of demography nature, or pre-college experiences. The new freshmen were categorized into those that get aid in form of loans or grants and those that do not get any aid at all. The two groups were then subjected to a comparison, that is, those that get aid package vis-a-vis those without any aid in their first year. The group that did not get any aid was called untreated. The methodology used (estimated propensity score) helps in ridding the bias based on self-selection. The effects of aid bias may not be fully accounted for using this method of study (Titus, 2006; Lunceford & Davidian, 2004) as other unaccounted for reasons may come into interplay. The amount that the students are able to get from their families affect the outcome of the study. It categorized the students in terms of those who could pay for their education and those who could not. In the findings that have been tabulated, the columns that are unmatched show the effect of aid without making a match of students on propensity for aid assistance. The matched average effect column is used as a control for the bias in aid selection. The matched average untreated and matched average treated give the probable retention results if the aided student(s) had not been aided or if the unaided one had received some financial assistance. Matched students with an average possibility of receiving aid are more likely to persist into their second year of studies compared to those with low aid chance. This study furnishes separate estimates by EFC in gauging the influence that financial aid has on student retention. An EFC of 4000 dollars and less encompasses students from low- income background eligible for grants. These students got an aid of between $2000 and $ 3000 in their first year while middle income students with $ 4000-10000 receive between $ 800- 900 aids. Those with Expected Family Contribution (EFC) of more than $ 10000 receive less to no aid at all, only relying on merit-based aid. They however show a greater possibility of remaining in college in their next academic year as compared to their aided counterparts who have higher remaining need after using their aids to pay for schooling. There is no correlation between the net persistence of students with $ 4000-$10000 EFC in their GPA or math experience and the aid they receive. Gift aid for those with high EFC increases their persistence by 18% meaning that the more EFC these students have, the better they work towards their academic endeavors (Dowd, 2004). The following are the tabular summaries of the information obtained from the study. Not all parts of the study have been tabulated but only the seminal ones. From the literature analysis and the results of this study, some issues are apparent: Financial aid to low- income students may greatly hamper their studies if we look at the securing of the finances. If the aid delays, the students get stressed up and may therefore not concentrate in class. Those who do not know the whole procedure get more problems because their studies are hampered. The effect of the Expected Family Contribution on the capability of the learner to proceed to the next year has been shown. The less the EFC a student is capable of raising, the lower their performance and possibility of proceeding to the next year. Those with EFC of more than 10000 dollars show no effect if not given an aid but show considerable possibility of proceeding to the next year and also of passing well. References Adelman, C. (2007). Do we really have a college access problem? Change (July? August): 48? 51. Bodvarsson, O. B. & Walker, R. L. (2004): Do parental cash transfers weaken performance in college? Economics of Education Review 23: 483? 495. Caison, A. L. (2006): Analysis of institutionally specific retention research: A comparison between survey and institutional database methods. Research in Higher Education 48(4): 435? 451. Dowd, A. (2004): Income and financial aid effects on persistence and degree attainment in public colleges; Education Policy Analysis and Archives, 12(21). Herzog, S. (2005): Measuring determinants of student return vs. dropout vs. transfer: a First-to-second year analysis of new freshmen; Research in Higher Education 46 Immerwahr, J (2003): With Diploma in Hand: High School Senior Talk about Their Future. NCPPHE (8): 883? 928. Lunceford, J. K. , and Davidian, M. (2004): Stratification and weighting via the propensity score

Ah, Woe Is Me

In the beginning of this short story we are introduced to Sarah, an aging black servant living in South Africa. She works hard for an upper-class white family and spends all of her money on education for her three children who are sent to a boarding school. They come home once a year at Christmas, and the first time the narrator meets the children, she is surprised at their well-mannered behaviour. She finds, however, that Sarah is a bit harsh towards them, and she comments on this. Sarah tells her that it is better to learn the lesson now and grow to accept ones fate later. In the course of the following year, Sarah must give up her job because of her legs, and one day her daughter comes to the house. Slowly she tells her story to the narrator. How the younger brother is working now, and how she is taking care of Sarah. The narrator offers her some clothes and some money and invites her inside for a cup of tea. When she is about to leave, she starts crying and can only mutter that her mother is very ill. Unsure of what to do, the narrator hands her a handkerchief. The setting in this story is South Africa in the 1950s. Apartheid and segregation are words that describe the conditions under which the blacks (the native Africans) live perfectly. The blacks nearly have no rights and must accept being oppressed by the whites. Sarah is only one of many poor blacks who only just manages to earn a living by working as a servant for a rich white family (the narrator). Slavery does not exist anymore, but it can be difficult to distuingish the life of a slave from that of a native African in the 50s except from the fact that they do after all get paid for their work. Sarah is very concerned about her children getting a good education. She probably wants them to have a better life than she has had so far, and while that is a very noble thought, the facts speak against it. Her children do not at this time have a very good (if any) chance of getting a good solid education because it is very expensive, and their mother does not make that much money. Even if she did make enough money, her legs are bad, and at the end of the story, she has to give up her job (and thus take her children out of the boarding school) because she cannot afford to pay for the school. This is what could look like the final blow to her childrens future success in life. No education means no chances of getting a better life in South Africa (and just about everywhere else, too). But what if she did have enough money to give her children a proper education – would that guarantee the children a good future life I gravely doubt it. As I said before, the blacks live almost like slaves, and as such, they do not have the opportunity to climb the social ladder. All in all, Sarahs hopes and dreams for her children are all very noble, but, unfortunately, at that time and place, very unrealistic. The narrator does not treat Sarah any better than most other white people in South Africa at this time. While she allows Sarahs children to stay in her house during Christmas, I think the only reason she does it is because she tries to escape her own bad conscience. It is Christmas after all. Throughout the rest of the year, she does not even think about helping Sarahs children financially so they can stay in school. Even though she presumably has more money than Sarah will ever see, the thought of helping her servant out does not strike her at any point in the story. Her servant is her servant, and servants children are not someone she thinks about. This point is also very clear to see when one reads the description of the narrators thoughts about Sarahs children. She is surprised at how well they behave, how good their manners are; as if she was expecting a horde of wild animals instead of normal human beings. She is undoubtedly not the only one to think this way about the blacks, they were considered animals by many white people at that time. However, the narrator seems to excuse her treatment and behaviour towards Sarah and her family with ignorance (see lines 99-103). I find it hard to believe that this ignorance really existed, but it is possible that it did, because the whites and the blacks were so distinctly segregated by the apartheid system. Yet I find it hard to believe that the narrator was completely unaware of Sarahs almost inhuman standard of living. Surely, even though apartheid almost divided the whites and the blacks into two separate worlds, she must have known something about the conditions under which Sarah and her children lived, and that it was getting worse as the days went by (because of the mothers bad legs). When Janet, one of Sarahs two daughters, comes to visit the narrator in the end of the story, the narrator once again displays her ignorance about the blacks, but this time she openly admits it. Janet is, of course, in an unpleasant situation when she stands in the back yard of her mothers former employer. Everyone has some pride in themselves, and standing in the back yard, asking for alms is, of course, very degrading to a proud person, no matter who that person is. Janet has probably tried being in a similar situation before, but now that her mother is unable to provide for the disintegrating family (her father has lost his job and her sister has married and moved away), the life and death of her family depends solely on her and her brother who are the only ones working. Janet is of course very depressed and sad, but she cannot give up now. Her last hope is that the narrator will help her out, and, fortunately, she does. The handkerchief is actually the first thing the narrator has ever done to help Sarahs children. It is not until that point in the story Janet realizes just how bad things are with Sarah and her family. Of course, one could again be tempted to think that it was only her bad conscience that made her give Janet the clothes, but there is no way to be sure. I am, however, inclined to believe that the narrator has finally realized how immense the difference between the â€Å"black world† and the â€Å"white world† really is. However, the things she gives Janet (some money and the handkerchief) will not last long, and what will Janet do then Come back for more, of course. I am not saying that the narrator is doing something bad, but I do not think she realizes that Janet will probably come back again. It is like giving a stray cat some food; it will always come back for more. The question is if the narrator would give Janet more money if she came back, and if it would be any help at all. The first question is easy: Yes, she would give her more money if she came back – her conscience forbids her to do otherwise. The second question is a bit more difficult to answer. Of course the money is an instant help to Janet and her family, but only a very insufficient one. The few dollars (or whatever currency they use in South Africa) she gives Janet will only provide the family with a meal or two, and after that they will be back to where they started, and would have to beg for more money. Now, I am not saying charity does not help, but I do not think it helps as much as many people would like to think it does. In many cases, it only puts off the sufferings. The apartheid system has officially been abolished in South Africa today, but I think old habits die hard, so to speak. I am sure there are still blacks like Sarah and her family who have to subordinate to the richer white population even though – officially – apartheid does not exist there anymore. Societies do not change overnight, especially not when one group has to give up its right and privileges and share them with others (whom they dislike). Sarahs story is undoubtedly not the worst example one could find, but no one knows what happened after the scene in the narrators back yard.