High Scope in Education free essay sample

A key part of the High Scope approach is that the development revolves around certain activities that can help children grasp certain cognitive concepts. As stated in our book â€Å"the cognitively oriented model is based on the premise that children are active learners who construct their own knowledge from meaningful experiences† (Essa, 2007, p. 146). One main reason High Scopes theory is so hands on. In others words High Scopes educational approach emphasizes active/hands on learning. Active learning means students have nonstop, hands-on experiences with people, objects/materials, events, and ideas. Children’s interests and choices are at the heart of High Scope programs. They build their own knowledge through interactions with the world and the people around them. Children take the first step in the learning process by making choices and following through on their plans and decisions. Teachers, caregivers, and parents offer physical, emotional, and academic support. In an active learning setting, adults expand children’s thinking abilities with diverse materials and nurturing interactions. We will write a custom essay sample on High Scope in Education or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page High Scopes approach was built for children to gain knowledge with independence, responsibility, and confident. High Scope’s approach allows children to become ready for school and ready for life. Environment: The classroom environment in which the children are surrounded by each and every day is one of the most crucial parts of the High Scope Model. The classroom is where the children spend their entire day, if the room wasn’t set up with the child’s emotional and physical development in mind the High Scope Model would not work accordingly. In the High Scope environment there must be areas of the room that are divided up into different sections that allow the children to engage in different types of play;   each area serves a different purpose in the area of development. There are a few characteristics in the High Scope environment that are a necessity, these being: a welcoming room for the children, it must also provide enough materials for all of the children, it must encourage different types of play, and last but not least the room should provide materials that reflect the diversity of children’s family lives (High Scope, 2012). Some of the areas that you can typically find in a High Scope classroom are; block area, house area, arts and crafts area, sand/water area, reading area, and outdoor area (High Scope, 2012). All of these areas have a great significance on the growth and development on the child, without these areas the child would be lacking in one or more areas of development which could ultimately be detrimental to his or her healthy growth and or development. Teacher(s): AMBER’S SECTION Missing Student(s): High/Scope takes the learning process beyond traditional academic subjects by applying methods that promote independence, curiosity, decision making, cooperation, persistence, creativity, and problem solving in young children†(HighScope, p. 63). The students in the High/ Scope Approach learn six major content areas in their first 3 years at a school with this curriculum. Those six major content areas would be, approaches to learning, social and emotional development, physical develo pment and health, communication, language and literacy, cognitive development, and lastly creative arts. As the children progress and enter Preschool they add three more content areas to their curriculum and those areas would be in mathematics, science and technology, and social studies. During Preschool a High/Scope curriculum setting, they are trying to build school readiness, so the children can move on and continue their growing education (http://www. highscope. org/Content. asp? ContentId=63). The students in a High/Scope classroom are actively learning alongside their teachers. The students in a High/ Scope classroom pick what they want to learn that day and they are given time to do it and they report back to the class what they have learned and why it is important. This gives each child the individuality to work at their own pace and not be rushed if something is harder for them than for other students. This way the student’s feel that they are all equally important and they see that no one student is getting a particular amount of attention. Daily Schedule: In a High/ Scope school setting consistency is the key to readiness. Consistency in the classroom helps the children gain a much stronger understanding of time. In the classroom the day would be started with a morning greeting, following this morning greeting would be planning time, which is when the teacher walks around the class and asks the students to pick out something that they want to work on throughout their work time. The teacher will record what each child is working on and will keep track of when they finish and how long it took them, along with how much assistance they needed for that specific task. The work time takes up a rather large portion of the day and it is then followed by recall time. Recall time is when the class comes together as a whole and each child talk about what they have worked on for the day as well as what they have learned. These three concepts, planning time, work time, and recall time, are known together as the plan-do-review cycle. This is the main and the most important part of the day in a High/Scope classroom. Other parts of the day that aren’t as important yet are still important would be small group time, large group time, cleanup, meals, as well as naps depending on which setting you are in (Essa 2007). A possible High/ Scope Approach daily schedule could look as followed: 8:00 to 8:15| Arrival of students | This time would be spend putting their jackets away and backpacks and getting their desks ready for the day| 8:15 to 8:20| Transition to school work| This time would be spent talking about their weekend or the day before, what they did and letting them talk to each other. | This time would be known as the plan-do-review cycle: 8:20 to 8:35| Planning time| This time would be spent by each child picking out what they want to work on during work time (10 to 15 minutes). 8:35 to 9:25| Work time| This time would be spent with the children working on their materials while the teacher goes around and provides assistance if needed (45 to 60 minutes). | 9:25 to 9:40| Recall time| This time would be spent reviewing and going over what each child has done during work time (10 to 15 minutes). | Then the students would go back to working together or in small groups: 9:40 to10:00| Small group (s)| This time would be spent with children in small groups working in centers and work with the teacher (roughly 20 minutes). 10:00 to 10:45| Outside play| This time would be spent with the children exploring the outside, and exerting energy (45 minutes). | Then the students will participate in another plan-do-review cycle: 10:45 to 11:00| Planning time| This time would be spent by each child picking out what they want to work on during work time (10 to 15 minutes). | 11:00 to 11:50| Work time| This time would be spent with the children working on their materials while the teacher goes around and provides assistance if needed (45 to 60 minutes). 11:50 to 12:05| Recall time| This time would be spent reviewing and going over what each child has done during work time (10 to 15 minutes). | Then the children will have time to eat and rest up a bit: 12:05 to 12:50| Lunch time| This time would be spent setting up and the distribution of lunch, and the children eating (45 minutes). | 12:50 to 1:00| Rest time | This time would be spent resting and relaxing after lunch, also used as a bathroom break (10 minutes). | :00 to 1:20| Large group time| This time would be spent with the whole class sitting at the rug while the teacher teaches a lesson or reads a book aloud to the class (20 minutes). | 1:20 to 2:05| Outside play| This time would be spent with the children exploring the outside, and exerting energy (45 minutes). | 2:05 to 2:15| Student dismissal| This time would be spent getting their backpacks ready and waiting for their buddies to pick them up and take them to their bus (10 minutes). | 2:15 to 2:55| Team planning| This time would be spent creating a lesson plan for the next day and what we lan to teach within the week (40 minutes). | Parent Involvement: As educators it is important to involve parents with the education of their children. Therefore parent involvement is one of High Scopes goal as it is for any approach. High/Scope provides parents with multiple opportunities to become involved in their child’s program, whether they volunteer in the classroom, serve on policy-making and/or advisory committees, contribute to a parent newsletter, or attend meetings and workshops. As a group we designed a parent’s monthly newsletter and letter share activity. Our newsletter informed parents of our monthly classroom actives, upcoming book fair, sight words, our letter share day, and nights for parent activity night. We also made a parent flyer for Flip It. Our Flip It activity is a training session offering the flip it approaches to challenging behavior. Parents are encouraged to participate in program activities with children or trainings offered by the teachers. To stress the importance of parent involvement, parents are often invited or encouraged to participate in a variety of activities with children. Evaluation of the Model: The High/ Scope Approach has been portrayed in many different ways. There is controversy between whether this approach works or if it doesn’t work. There is also debate about whether this approach works because it doesn’t contain excess materials to make the classroom work. Many points are in the air about this, and there is much research that either backs this information up or tears it down. In the article The HighScope Model of Early Childhood Education, the author states that this specific approach doesn’t need one to go out and buy specific materials to make the classroom work, as in other approaches like a Montessori classroom. This model is a prime example of being culturally and developmentally appropriate practice in this field of education. In the article High/Scope program briefing paper, the author talks and compares this approach with the EPPE and the Galinsky analysis that they came up with. The EPPE and the Galinsky analysis states â€Å"High/Scope evidences all of the elements of the quality early childhood programs that have been identified. (Cahir, p. 8)† This is important because they are stating that this program is a well round and highly educational approach. The program that the High/ Scope Approach was originally intended for has proven that there is a decrease in the amount of crimes, that have become of the students that had this curriculum. As stated in the article The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40, the author states â€Å"the Perry Preschool program played a significant role in reducing overall arrests and arrests for violent crimes as well as property and drug crimes and subsequent prison or jail sentences over study participants’ lifetimes up to age 40. (Schweinhart,p. )† I found this to be very interesting because I did not find other approaches to having any information like this. There are six core standards. Each standard describes in a few sentences what well-prepared teachers should know and be able to do. It is important to note, that the standard is not just that candidates know something â€Å"about† child development and learning, the expectations are more specific and complex than that. A seventh programmatic standard describes requirements for early childhood field experience and clinical practice. The following, illustrate how the HighScope approach meets NAEYC requirements for curriculum standards through 7 standards. For the purpose of this assignment we well recognize the following: Standard one, Promoting Child Development and learning, standard two, Building Family and Community Relationships, standard three, Observing, Documenting, and Assessing to Support Young Children and Families, standard four, Using Developmentally Effective Approaches, standard five, Using Content Knowledge to Build Meaningful Curriculum, and finally standard six, becoming a Professional. Standard One PROMOTING CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING- Teachers prepared in early childhood degree programs are grounded in a child development knowledge base. They use their understanding of young children’s characteristics and needs, and of multiple interacting influences on children’s development and learning, to create environments that are healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging for each child. NAEYC) The High Scope model meets the need of standard one by developing hands on learning and by creating. The High Scope curriculum also guides teachers to plan for children’s engagement in play (including dramatic play and blocks) that is integrated into classroom topics of study. Standard two BUILDING FAMILY AND COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS -Teachers prepared in early childhood degree programs understand that successful early childhood education depends upon partnerships with children’s families and communities. They know about, understand, and value the importance and complex characteristics of children’s families and communities. They use this understanding to create respectful, reciprocal relationships that support and empower families, and to involve all families in their children’s development and learning. (NAEYC) High Scope suggests as educators it is important to involve parents with the education of their children. Therefore parent involvement is one of High Scopes goal as it is for any approach. High/Scope provides parents with multiple opportunities to become involved in their child’s program, whether they volunteer in the classroom, serve on policy-making and/or advisory committees, contribute to a parent newsletter, or attend meetings and workshops. Standard three OBSERVING, DOCUMENTING, AND ASSESSING TO SUPPORT YOUNG CHILDREN AND FAMILIES Teachers prepared in early childhood degree programs understand that child observation, documentation, and other forms of assessment are central to the practice of all early childhood professionals. They know about and understand the goals, benefits, and uses of assessment. They know about and use systematic observations, documentation, and other effective assessment strategies in a responsible way, in partnership with families and other professionals, to positively influence the development of every child. (NAEYC) The High Scope The curriculum guides teachers to integrate assessment information with curriculum goals to support individualized learning. A staff member regularly uses a child observation measure of proven reliability and validity to assess children’s developmental progress. High Scope also supports documentation as an assessment. Standard four USING DEVELOPMENTALLY EFFECTIVE APPROACHES- Teachers prepared in early childhood degree programs understand that teaching and learning with young children is a complex enterprise, and its details vary depending on children’s ages, characteristics, and the settings within which teaching and learning occur. They understand and use positive relationships and supportive interactions as the foundation for their work with young children and families. Candidates know, understand, and use a wide array of evelopmentally appropriate approaches, instructional strategies, and tools to connect with children and families and positively influence each child’s development and learning. (NAEYC) According the High Scope well-prepared early childhood teachers make firm use of various learning formats based on their understanding of children as individuals and as part of a group, and on alignment with important educatio nal and developmental goals. A flexible, research-based repertoire of teaching/learning approaches to promote young children’s development. This would include making the most of the environment, schedule and routines. High Scope is huge on daily schedule and routines. In a High/ Scope school setting consistency is the key to readiness. Consistency in the classroom helps the children gain a much stronger understanding of time. In the classroom the day would be started with a morning greeting, following this morning greeting would be planning time, which is when the teacher walks around the class and asks the students to pick out something that they want to work on throughout their work time. Standard five USING CONTENT KNOWLEDGE TO BUILD MEANINGFUL CURRICULUM Teachers prepared in early childhood degree programs use their knowledge of academic disciplines to design, implement, and evaluate experiences that promote positive development and learning for each and every young child. Candidates understand the importance of developmental domains and academic (or content) disciplines in early childhood curriculum. They know the essential concepts, inquiry tools, and structure of content areas, including academic subjects, and can identify resources to deepen their understanding. Candidates use their own knowledge and other resources to design, implement, and evaluate meaningful, challenging curriculum that promotes comprehensive developmental and learning outcomes for every young child. (NAEYC) This program illustrates the plan-do-review process, a critical and unique part of the HighScope Curriculum that builds on children’s interests and intrinsic motivation. During plan-do-review, children learn to take initiative, solve problems, work with others, and accomplish their goals. In doing so, children see that they can make things happen and that their choices and ideas are respected. This helps them develop self-confidence and a sense of control and independence. High Scope also implemented discipline areas in learning goals, art and music, etc. Standard six BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL- Teachers prepared in early childhood degree programs identify and conduct themselves as members of the early childhood profession. They know and use ethical guidelines and other professional standards related to early childhood practice. They are continuous, collaborative learners who demonstrate knowledgeable, reflective and critical perspectives on their work, making informed decisions that integrate knowledge from a variety of sources. They are informed advocates for sound educational practices and policies. (NAEYC) Teachers are responsible for planning lessons that help students learn through hands-on activities and experiences. The teacher in a high scope classroom should be encouraging adult to child interaction as well as facilitating learning through the students’ exploration. For example, sitting down with children at the block area and encouraging children to find out what happens when the stack gets too high, or what happens when you put a small block on the bottom and large on the top. Teachers should develop lessons that interest the students that way students are motivated to explore and learn in that particuluar setting In conclusion, The High Scope curriculum focuses on the ability of children to actively learn. Students are encourgaed to learn by engaging in hands-on experiences as well as interacting with adults, other children, materials, and events. Students are also at the center of planning. Teachers plan activities based on student interest and there is a schedule of the day so students know what to anticipate. Annotated Bibliography/References: Schweinhart, L. (2010). The highscope model of early childhood education. HighScope Educational Research Foundation, Ypsilanti, Michigan 1-19. This article gives you a great detailed background of the High/ Scope Approach, which I found very helpful when looking for research. This article also talks about the role of teachers, the daily routine, as well as the role of parents and the community. I would highly recommend this article for use. Weikart, D. (2010). The youth program quality intervention (YPQI) study. Retrieved from http://www. cypq. org/products_and_services/research This article gives one a better understanding of the YPQI program and how it is related to the High/ Scope approach that we are talking about. This isn’t one that I would highly recommend but it is not bad. Stone, R. (1997-2012). High/scope: educating children for life. Retrieved from http://www. communityplaythings. co. uk/resources/articles/high-scope. tml This website was very interesting because it is based off of a classroom that follows the High/ Scope Approach to education. You could see a lot of information and how it personally worked for them. I think this is a great website and I would recommend it. Cahir, p. (2008). High/scope program briefing paper. Early Childhood Australia INC, 1-15. I would recommend this paper because it is very interesting because it is from Australia, and i t was very interesting to see how different their educational approach would be from ours and it isn’t that different. Schweinhart, L. (n. d). The high/scope perry preschool study through age 40. High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 1-21. I found this article to be very useful, the information and how it was laid out made it very easy to maneuver. I would highly recommend this article. This information that is contained in this article will help your opinion for this particular approach. http://www. highscope. org/ This was by far the most helpful resource for this paper, this website has a ton of information in all the different areas. It was very easy to navigate and I would highly recommend the use of this site. Essa, E. (2007). Introduction to early childhood education, annotated student’s edition,sixith edition. University of Nevada, Reno : Wadsworth Cengage Learning. This book was very help in finding information on this approach. It also had information to compare and contrast all the other approaches and it was easy to find all that needed to be looked at. I would highly recommend using this book as well. www. NAEYC. org Used for standards 1-7 information

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Impact of Internet Usage on the Academic Performance INTRODUCTION Problem Statement: The impact of internet usage on the academic performance of adolescent students at St. Stephens College . Statement of Problem: The study investigates how students of St Stephens College are affected by the use of the internet. St. Stephens College, located in Princes Town, Trinidad is known as one of the highest ranked academic institutions in the country. The school comprises of approximately 750 students, most of which excel at their studies. Most, if not all of the students attending the school has had some contact with the internet which could have an effect on their academic performance. It is believed that the internet helps students to be more involved academically, therefore improving the quality of work done by the student. There is also the fact that students can misuse the internet, be it cyber bullying or being distracted by it, which can negatively impact on them. Purpose of Study: This study is geared towards determining if the use of the internet by students of St. Stephens College has impacted upon their academic performance and if so, how. Educational Value:  The information gained from this study can be used to re-assess the importance and significance of the use of the internet by students. The information can help to inform individuals of how to designate their time on the internet and also help promote proper use of the internet throughout various schools or even throughout the country. Research Questions: Is there a relationship between the use of the internet and academic performance of students? Have students become dependent on the internet? Has the use of the internet promote or hinder the academic performance of students? DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS Internet A global system of interconnected computer networks which bear a variety of information and services. Academic performance- How well a student is accomplishing his or her tasks and studies. Student A person studying to obtain a higher education LITERATURE REVIEW The internet is a global linking of devices that allow information transfer. The internet was established in the early 1960s by the U.S department of defence (Schneider, Evans and Pinard, 2006) for military purposes. It is a fact that the internet is one of the greatest advancement in the world of information technology as it has become a useful instrument that has fostered the process of making the world a global village. The Internet provides an environment in which millions of people participate and engage in the creation and exchange of information (Rose Fernlund, 1997). It allows for the exchange of information and for interaction among individuals in real time, making transport and distance no longer a problem. There are approximately 2.4 billion people on earth who has access to the internet with over 70 percent of them using the internet at least once a day. This amounts to a total of 144 billion emails being sent every 24 hours (internet world statistics, 2012). What started out as a hobby for some computer literate people has become a social norm and way of life for people around the globe (Boyd, 2007). The Caribbean consist of approximately 42 million people, 32.4% of which, use the internet (internet coaching library , 2012). Internet use has become very popular in many areas as well as in education in recent years. Accordingly, Internet access in schools has increased greatly over the last 20 years (Berson, 2000). In a research article, Ying-Fang Chen and Samuel S. Peng (2005-2006 academic year juniors) A study done on a variety of randomly selected University students in Taiwan showed that heavy Internet users and non-heavy Internet users differed significantly on a number of dimensions. Non-heavy users had better relationships with administrative staff, academic grades and learning satisfaction than heavy Internet users. Tuckman (1975) defined academic performance as the apparent demonstration of understanding concepts, skills, ideas and knowledge and proposed that grades clearly depict the performance of students. Heavy users were more likely than non-heavy Internet users to be depressed, physically ill, lonely, and introverted. According to a journal of Education and Sociology done in Pakistan, Muhammad Musaud Asdaque, December, 2010. The use of the internet is one of the major factors affecting the academic performance and social life of university students. The number of hours spent on internet will affect the grades of students depending on if the internet is used for study purpose or social purposes. Many studies have been conducted regarding the type of information the end-users seek and obtain on the Internet and in which circumstances they prefer electronic sources to paper sources(Tenopir et al.2003).Also , students can gain from others knowledge and experiences, participate in chatrooms, share ideas and solutions. Teens spend approximately 2.3 hours online a day, 80 percent of that time, on social networking sites (Roiworld, 2010). Students who multi-task between social networking sites and homework are likely to have 20% lower grades than a student who does not have a social networking site in visual range (Lenhart, A, 2009, April). Also , many researchers believe that excessive use of the internet has the potential to become an addiction (Griffiths, 1995, 2000). Some, involvement on the Internet begins to have serious, negative consequences. When such consequences are minimized or ignored while Internet use increases, Internet dependence is occurring. As of 2005, it is estimated that 6% of users are Internet dependent (Villanova Counseling Center). The internet can act as a major distraction to students if not properly managed. However, some studies show that students primary use the internet for school work specifically, searching the web for information needed for school projects (Kraut et al, 1996). This in turn, can improve the academic performance of a student. METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION PRIMARY SOURCES: In order to carry out the internal assessment on the impact of internet usage on the academic performance of adolescence students of St. Stephens College, research had to be done using both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary data collection source used was a questionnaire since it allowed the person time to answer questions and it was also cost effective. The questionnaire was also used because it allowed for data to be analysed easily and was not time consuming. A questionnaire is a means of research, consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. The questionnaire used consisted of 14 questions, 3 of which were open ended questions. The open ended questions were used to obtain qualitative data from the respondents. The other 11 questions were closed ended and were used to obtain quantitative data on the topic. A total of 60 questionnaires were distributed randomly across forms 1 to 6 students. The ran dom distribution ensured that there was no bias in the selection of candidates since each person had an equal chance of being chosen. SECONDARY SOURCES: The secondary sources of data included the internet, books and texts. This was done to gain a better understanding of the problem which was being investigated PRESENTATION OF DATA Map Showing Location Of Princess Town In Trinidad figure 1 figure 2 figure3 figure 4 figure 5 figure 6 figure 7 Figure 8: Diagram showing students who use the internet for aid in research Figure 9: Diagram showing other means of research used by students INTERPRETATION OF DATA Based on the results obtained from the 60 students investigated at St. Stephens College, it was found that most students ( 68% ) partake in online activities more than once per day while only 4% of them do not partake at all. This shows that while most students do have internet access , some do not and are therefore not affect by the effects of the internet. As indicated by figure 2, a majority of the students who do have access to the internet also spend between 1 and 3 hours online everyday ( 45 ) while 12 spend more than 4 hours online. The internet is used by students in various fashions as seen from figure 3. The number of students using the internet for education, entertainment, and communicating with others are almost corresponding. Coupled with the other activities as, passing time, shopping and work/business, it can be seen that most time spent on the internet is not for educational purposes. When the data from figure 2 and 3 are combined , it can see that 33 students students spend more than 2 hours online everyday and that most of that time would be spent idle and not constructive. However , from figures 8 and 9 , it can clearly be seen that all of the students that were selected, use the internet for aid in research, while in figure 9, students use more than one souurce of research. This included 32 choosing books, 21 using newspapers and 7 use journal as their source. Figures 8 and 9 show that students do accomplish work on the internet but not all information can be sourced there. Figure 4 shows that while there are 21 students scoaring acceptable grades at end of the term examinations (60-100%), there is still an overwhelming number of students performing under par (0-60%). This includes 39 of the 60 students. The table show that there is likely a link between the use of the internet and academic performance of the students. Larger quantities of students idle online resulting in greater quantities of students scoaring below average. The location of internet usage usually used by students are shown on figure 5. Most students use the internet either at their homes oor by a family members home. This accounts for 52 of the 60 students. The home is a place where most students relax and feel free and this may lead to them allocating more time idle on the internet as compared to a student who uses the internet at school where the use of the internet is controlled. The large quantities of students using the internet at home may be directly linked to the below average end of term examinations grades. Many of the students indicated that the internet was useful when it came towards academic work (95%), while the other 5% said otherwise according to figure 6. On figure 7, almost equal quantities of students both disagree and agree with the statement that the advantages of the internet outweigh the disadvantages. A total of 23 students agreed while 22 students disagreed , 15 students were neutral about the topic. The data shown from both figures 6 and 7 indicate that while large quantities of students do believe that the internet is useful towards academic work , it is easy to be distracted and held at an disadvantage instead of focus and be at an advantage . DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS The main objective of this study was to carry out an investigation about the impact of internet usage on the academic performance of students at St. Stephens College. The findings from the research done, inficated that the increased quantity of students using the internet corresponded to the high numbers of students whith low academic scores. This also corresponded to the research article done by Ying-Fang Chen and Samuel C.Peng (2005-2006) as their candidates who had heavy internet usage performed poorly with respect to academics. From the research done it was also found that students with internet access spend more time online, idle than doing assignments. Therefore students without internet access would spend more time constructive. One of the objectives of the research was to determine if students had become dependent on the internet . Althought many students admitted that the internet does help with research, many of them also refer to sources such as books and journals. This data lead to the conclusion that while students are quite heavily dependent on the internet , they are not totally dependent and are capable of using varyous sources for research. Overall, the results of this study compared to the literature review show that students are more negatively impacted upon by internet use as the internet, althought helpful at times, it a distraction to students. CONCLUSION The research study has clearly outlined the impact of the internet on the students of ST. Stephens College. It can be concluded that althought internet usage does have its benefits, the internet impacts more negatively on students as they are more distracted by online activities and spend less time doing work. Also, it can be concluded that althought students are heavily dependent on the internet, they are not fully dependant since they are capable of using various sources for information. LIMITATIONS Firstly, the sample for the study was selected from only one institute, therefore generalization of the findings to the total population is limited. Also, the study investigates the impact of the internet on academic performance. Other variables such as health, gender and social well-being may also affect performance, therefore future studies should not be as limited. RECOMMENDATIONS To improve the study done, more questionnaires could have been distributed to improve the accuracy of the study. Also, some students could have been interviewed to obtain a better qualitative report. To reduce the negative effect of the internet on students, schools can inform parents to manage supervise their childs internet usage to ensure that time is not wasted. BIBLIOGRAPY: APPENDICES Questionnaire This questionnaire is designed to evaluate the relationship between internet usage and academic performance. Your cooperation in completing this study, your honest answers to the following questions would be greatly appreciated. As all responses are confidential, please do not sign your name. What is your age? ____________________________ Gender? Male Female How often do you use the internet? More than once per day Once a day Not at all Per week On average how many hours per day do you spend on the internet? Less than 1 hour 1-2 hours 2-3 hours More than 3 hours Where do you use the internet? Home School Family members home Cafà © Library What do you primarily use the Web for? (Please check all that apply.) Education Shopping/gathering product information Entertainment Work/Business Passing time Communication with others (not including email) Gathering information for personal needs Do you use the internet for aid in research? Yes No If so please state why. _______________________________________________________________________ How much does the internet help you academically? Very little Not at all A moderate amount Very much Do you use any of the following as means of research other than the internet? Books Newspapers Journals The advantages of the internet outweigh the disadvantages. Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree How do you perform in your end of term exams? 0-25 marks 45-60marks 35-45marks 60-85marks 85-100 marks Do you believe that the internet can have an effect on academic performance? _________________________________________________________________ If so please state why?

Danielle Steel’s The Ring - A Blend of Fiction and History Essay

Danielle Steel’s The Ring - A Blend of Fiction and History Can a plot, setting, and characters in a fictitious story be derived from actual historical events and can the two blend together? The unique writing style of Danielle Steel merges true historical events with fiction in a manner that leaves the reader emotionally touched. In her story, The Ring, Steel does not show a partition between fictitious characters and factual historical events. In fact, the two are intertwined so well that the reader can imagine the fictitious characters as real characters during a horrific period of our history, World War II. In fact, historical setting has a very significant impact on this work of fiction. Without the historical setting this story could not take place. The Ring by Danielle Steel follows a chronological order of the emergence of World War II in Germany, bringing along with it economic turmoil, political disorders, and the general insecurity and fear. This particular story is a direct result of history, which Danielle Steel blends very well with fiction. Though the characters are fictitious, they fit perfectly into the historical setting. For instance, Ariana, the protagonist in The Ring, has witnessed firsthand the human-made death and destruction of World War II, just as many victims had seen during the actual war. Even when she goes with her husband, Manfred, to the Opera house, she is reminded that the war is still occurring in Germany. â€Å"Even on Christmas night the war was with them†¦ and in the distance they could hear the bombs†(Steel 164). Ariana has also se en the atrocities as a result of the emergence of the war. For instance, when she is looking for her husband, she comes upon â€Å"a stack o... ...can see past their origins and cherish their country of birth, America. Finally, Danielle Steel has successfully captured the interlaced merger of historical events with fiction. The two flow so naturally in The Ring that it is as if the fictitious characters were real characters in real historical situations. So, the blending of history and fiction comes very much alive in this story, revealing Steel’s creativity that has placed her above most internationally renowned novelists. Works Cited The Ring. By Danielle Steel. Dir. Armand Mastrianni, Perf. Michael York, Jon Tenney, Tim Dekay, James B. Sikking, and Julie Cox. Lifetime Special Presentation, May 27, 2002. Class Film. NJIT. LIT 350-121. Summer Semester, 2002. Steel, Danielle. The Ring. New York: Delacorte Press, 1980.

Kingdom Fungi

Chapter 21 Notes: Kingdom Fungi! Name_________________________ 21-1: The Kingdom Fungi A. What Are Fungi? Fungi include MANY DIFFERENT types of organisms From tiny yeast cells To the one of the largest organisms in the world! Fungi are: Multicellular (except for yeasts) Eukaryotic Heterotrophic Decomposers: decompose dead and decaying material -Recyclers! -Secrete enzymes OUTSIDE bodies – Absorb digested nutrients Hyphae: long, slender, root-like filament Septa: cross-walls across hyphae (not in all hyphae) Mycelium: mat of interwoven hyphae o Large surface area = max food absorptionFruiting body: reproductive structures, like mushrooms o Many can develop from same mycelium o â€Å"fairy rings† Entire mycelium is haploid! o (1 set of chromosomes) B. Structure & Function of Fungi Fungi cells have cell walls -Contain carbohydrate â€Å"chitin† also found in exoskeletons Unlike plants: -Fungi DON’T have chlorophyll -Fungi have chitin in cell walls (plants hav e cellulose) C. Reproduction in Fungi Most fungi reproduce BOTH asexually and sexually Asexual Reproduction: Sporangia at the tip of sporangiophores produce haploid spores Fragmentation (breaking off) of hyphae can also produce new mycelia Sexual reproductionFungi form hyphae of opposite â€Å"Sex† o Called â€Å"+† & â€Å"-â€Å" The + & – hyphae fuse and form gametangia: o Makes gametes o Form a diploid zygote o Zygote undergoes meiosis: haploid once again! D. How Fungi Spread Fungal spores travel VERY easily in the air All they need is a good â€Å"landing place† with moisture & food Some fungi have special adaptations for spreading spores 21-2: Classification of Fungi A. 4 Phyla of Fungi: Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota Deuteromycota Named for their reproductive structures! B. Phylum Zygomycota â€Å"Common molds† o On bread, cheese, etc. Black bread mold: Rhizopus stoloniferReproduce asexually (spores) & sexually (zygospores) C. Phylum Ascomycota â€Å"Sac Fungi† o Conidia form spores asexually o The ascus contains diploid spores in sexual reproduction Examples: yeast, cup fungi D. Phylum Basidiomycota â€Å"Club Fungi† 16,000 species: mushrooms, puffballs, bracket fungi, morels Club-shaped reproductive structure Spores form in basidia: o On the â€Å"gills† underneath mushroom cap Many wild mushrooms are poisonous! E. Phylum Deuteromycota â€Å"Imperfect Fungi† Fungi with NO KNOWN sexual stage Reproduction only asexually Ex: Penicillium; also pathogens like ringworm, athlete’s foot 1-3: Ecology of Fungi A. Fungi as Heterotrophs Most fungi are decomposers or saprobes Others are parasites (live on/in a living host) And others are symbionts: live in symbiosis with other organisms Pleurotus ostreatus is actually a carnivore captures & eats roundworms ALL fungi, though, are heterotrophs! B. Fungi as Decomposers External digestion: Fungi decompose matter by secreting enzymes o break i t down into simple organic molecules Fungus then absorb those molecules C. Fungi as Parasites Plants and animals (humans) are subject to fungal diseases Plants: o Corn smut o Mildew o Wheat rustHumans & animals: o Athlete’s foot o Yeast infections (Candida albicans) o Ring worm o Cordyceps (kills grasshoppers) D. Symbiosis Symbiosis is a â€Å"mutualistic† relationship in which BOTH partners benefit Lichens = algae (or cyanobacteria) + fungus o On rocks, dry environments Mycorrhizae = plant roots + fungus o -80% of plants might have these o Fungi help the plants get water & minerals o Plants provide fungi w/ energy E. Fungi & Food! Many foods are made using fungi! Yeast (Saccharomyces) is used to make bread, beer, wine Cheeses (Brie, Blue, Roquefort) are made using mold (Penicillium)

US Proposed Plan for Reducing Security Threat by Mexican Drug Cartels

US Proposed Plan for Reducing Security Threat by Mexican Drug Cartels Introduction Terrorism in the modern world has become a big threat to the security of the world and especially the US citizens which is the largest economy in the world. Mexico is a major loophole that can be used by these terrorists because of its border with the US which is very porous. There are several means through which terrorist activities are being carried out around the world.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on US Proposed Plan for Reducing Security Threat by Mexican Drug Cartels specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More One of the ways is Cyber warfare, which has been said to be causing a lot of tension in the US. For instance by stealing intellectual property or commercial espionage are carried out by use computers and information technology. However, the Mexican cartels have not been noted to extensively use cyber warfare to terrorize people. Nevertheless Cyber warfare is still a security risk to US as a nation. This is because there are increased incidences of cyber terror, cyber espionage, hacking and cybercrime in the modern world. The risk that the cyber crime presents is hard to assess therefore its very dreadful as a time bomb waiting to explode. There are more frightful security threats that are posed by Mexican drug cartels. For years now, Mexico has come to be associated with distribution of largest volumes of drugs to the US. This is done by groups of organized crime gangs called cartels. They usually dominate large regions where they base their main operations and they cause unlawfulness in these areas because of their crime activities. They mostly engage in violent activities, drug abuse, and even manipulation of political support. There are a number of cartels that operate in Mexico and their activities often spill into the US. The major cartels include Sinaloa Federation, Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas, Juarez cartel, Tijuana, and Beltran Leyva (Oscar, 2004, p. 67). Most of the conflicts being experienced across Mexico are attributed to the operations of these cartels. They basically cause such conflicts so that they can exploit the unstable conditions of lawlessness to do their businesses because in such a condition, they are able to transport and distribute their merchandise without police interference. They can evade police tracking and they control their own trafficking routes when there is no policing structure in place. Mexican drug cartels pose the greatest security threat to US because the two countries border each other and the even on instability in one of them, it’s likely to spills to the neighbor. Furthermore the border has been very porous with many drug cartels operations being done across these areas. The cartels are very dangerous and a reason to be scared because they accept firearms and other weapons in exchange of their drugs (Oscar, 2004, p. 67).Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your fi rst paper with 15% OFF Learn More The cartels train their recruits in rigorous military skills especially use of the weapons that they purchase both legitimate and those illegitimately acquired. Furthermore the cartels are able to attract the best talent and brains into their gangs because of the handsome salaries that they offer including other luxury goods like gold jewelry and cars. The drug cartel business is so lucrative that some military personnel even quit their jobs to join the cartels. From statistics, it’s been estimated that about 2.5% of the defense person have joined and continue to join these cartels. Besides the sale of the drugs like marijuana, heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine, they also smuggle a great number of weapons into Mexico since for them to be able counter the police and their rivals, they require the best weapons and very sophisticated arms. given that the most heinous crimes take place in area controlled by the cartels, these or ganized gangs are able to smuggle weapons through to the US ranging from small arms to very large shipment of armory (Oscar 2004, p. 69). This means that since terrorists are looking to the slightest chance to smuggle their weapons to the US, they can work together with these drug barons to sneak deadly weapons to the US like nuclear war materials. By enhancing their relationships with prisons and the police, the cartels have increased their network in the US to a point where they can easily move or ship their products to distribute them to a very large area. South-western areas of the US are such risky areas that even the National Drug intelligence centre has revealed extensive business deals of gangs like Mara Salvatrutha and Latin King. Comprehensive Strategy for Fighting Background It’s now clear that the drug cartels in Mexico are causing serious mayhem in the country and the war between them and the government has gradually trickled into the US through the porous south- western border. The consequences of this have been that, there are increased murders in these regions sometime of innocent people and kidnapping of the US citizens. Among the notable incidences was the death of Robert N. Krentz who was just killed by a drug peddler while on his farm in Arizona. The US president was forced to 1,200 American National Guard troops to the areas to intensify security. This was a good indication that the US is yet to implement a proper plan of combating such crimes across its border with Mexico, though it was a good reaction for that incidence (United Nation, 2010, para. 3). The dreaded war between Mexican government and the drug cartels will remain to be a threat to the US security for a long time unless the US law makers take up an all-inclusive approach to deal with the violence. These means the US government should step up the effort to secure its borders, crackdown cartel operation in the vulnerable areas and also to assist Mexico in strengthening it s domestic capacity to fight the cartels, convict the gangs and imprison the drug cartel members (United Nation, 2010, para. 3).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on US Proposed Plan for Reducing Security Threat by Mexican Drug Cartels specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The escalating drug trade is extracting a terrible toll on the US citizens (Chu William, 2009, p. 104). It threatens their lives, the wellbeing of their families, their economy and even their supposedly inalienable freedoms. The illicit drug trade is also a serious threat to the entire National Security because the networks of the drug cartels have a very great potential of destabilizing and corrupting the government and weakening the public safety in the areas that are vulnerable in America. The illicit drug businesses give the cartels great amount of ill-obtained profits and despicable alliances that are built during their operations are used to facilita te terrorist activities and organized crime across the world (Chu William, 2009, p. 104). The US government needs to confront these threats by using combined strategies with Mexico. The combinations of the resources should include law enforcement investigation, diplomatic negotiations, economic sanctions, outlawing, developing proper institutions based on disrupting the drug cartel networks especially the markets, institution appropriate financial programs and investigations and establishing federal, local, and state enforcement cooperation (Chu William, 2009, p. 108). The government should intensify the existing law enforcement initiatives that include High Intensity Drug trafficking area (HIDTA), the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and DEA among others. The government should work to improve its interagency coordination and technology enrichment. These undertakings will strengthen the US defense system on its border. Internationally, the government should strive to form alliances with other governments especially Mexico itself so that the processes of interdiction, law enforcement and international development agencies all seek to combat the drug cartels and cut down their profits across the world (Chu William, 2009, p. 109). Cooperation with Mexico is the main ploy for the effort to fight these drug cartels. This cooperation is likely to effectively disrupt the illicit supply of the drugs since its from the source that a great volume of drugs can be stopped before they are sold into circulation in smaller packages considering that the drug traffickers have established big and well organized cartels with adequately trained men, some being ex-soldiers and the type and number of weapons they can access because of the money from larger profits from the trade, the cartels pose a serious threat even to the police force (United Nation, 2010, para. 3). However to ensure that they are fought and buried, it’s only pertinent that the US and Mexico r each an agreement to work together. They should have a plan that is sensible, feasible and has measurable milestones for success or failure. This way the fight against organized crime especially arms smuggling, human trafficking, drug trafficking and possible terrorism will be dealt with at the simultaneously.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Comprehensive Plan The Mexican drug cartels apparently control very big areas across Mexico and their illicit activities are being felt across the world especially in the US. In 2009, about 9,000 people were killed in drug related raids. This year had the worst incidences since President Felipe Calderà ³ declared war on drugs trade. The current US government should be praised for its efforts in combat the cartel activities by continuing what president Bush had left in place. However the government now greatly blames the US drug use, arms law and the current policies that seem to be ineffective (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009, p. 15). The Mexican president declared war on the drug cartels after assuming office in 2006 so that he could contain the havoc that the cartels were causing across the country. That venture was not an easy one and up to now, over 23,000 people have died in drug related operations with over 4,000 of them dying this year, 2010. Calderon seems t o be very tough on his stand against the cartels and seemingly, the cartels are now branching out to other illegal businesses like kidnapping and extortion. Since the fights and drug trade basically take place along the US-Mexico border, the violence usually affects the US citizens who are faced with fear of kidnapping, armed gangs and brutal killings ineffective (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009, p. 15). As the two countries struggle to finish the cartels, the cartels on the other hand are struggling to find new survival means and they are shifting to other illegal businesses as mentioned earlier and also expanding their networks to the northern parts of US. It’s estimated that the currently, the Mexican drug cartels have connections with over 20,000 street gangs across the United States. These gangs occupy the major cities in west and northern America. Implementing the plan to fight cartels will be a joint venture between the US and Mexico so that the two nations can be sure that the situation is seriously contained. Basically Mexico is not a failed state yet. The government is still in control of its military and other machinery that the state requires to ensure the security of its citizens (United Nation, 2010, para. 4). This is what has allowed the US Agencies to work in collaboration with their Mexican counterparts regarding security operations over the recent past. This is portrayed as a very positive prospect for the future. The following steps are crucial for the plan to function effectively; Identifying and Understanding the Problem: the main problem with the Mexican drug cartels is the insecurity that they cause across the two countries and the possible social impact of drug abuse on the communities. From this cause, Mexico and the United States are required to venture into collaborative attack on the cartels. The attack should be based on the information available from reliable sources like the National Intelligence Estimates (NIE ) (US Department of Justice 2010, p. 45). The US intelligence community should be mandated to provide the information on the cartels especially the amount of threat posed, that is, if it can be quantified. The National Drug Intelligence Center will also offer deeper predictive analyses on the crimes. For this reason, therefore a baseline for the future can be drawn where security operations will be based. All the cooperation plans will be adequately informed (United Nation, 2010, para. 5). This means that the NIE will have to create standard classified information and even the unclassified information just to ensure that the public is adequately educated to be knowledgeable about the nature of the threat. Curbing the Supply of Weapons to Cartels: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) claims that the drug cartels in Mexico acquire thousands of deadly weapons every year from Arizona, Texas and California (Carpenter, 2009, p. 6). Out of the traceable weapons that have been recovered, 90 percent of them were bought in the United States (US Department of Justice 2010, p. 45). This therefore means that if the governments manage to stop this supply, they will have managed to cut off about 90% of the Mexican source of arms to the cartels. Though the gangs can still find some weapons elsewhere this is a step in the right direction. The US should struggle to close all the possible loopholes like ensuring that there are background checks when purchasing guns. It’s estimated that over 40% of the guns acquired by the cartels are usually from selling points that do not carry out background checks during the purchase. ‘Gun shows’ should be closed because they are possible loopholes and that would make the United States much insecure (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009, p. 15). A study by the Republican Pollster Frank Luntz indicated that a very big population of the US citizens (over 87%) supported background check of firea rms at their selling points. A second step would be to increase the amount of pressure to be enforced on the law breakers. The US government should give the ATF more resources for its works of investigating the arms dealers who could be linked to the weapons that are found in Mexico ineffective (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009, p. 17). It’s been found that merely one percent of the federally licensed arms sellers are responsible for selling 60% of the guns that are associated with drug related crimes (United Nation, 2010, para. 7). The ATF should then crackdown the small number of gun sellers who habitually break the law and demonstrate that there is zero tolerance to unlawful dealings in crime whether by mistake or knowingly sell the guns to Mexican gangs (Carpenter, 2009, p. 6). The US should also illegalize the smuggling of guns from the country and impose a very serious sentence for that crime. Whereas there are specific provisions of the Gun Control Act that state that smuggling weapons into the country is an illegal activity, smuggling weapons out is not clearly illustrated as an offense. This means the crime is generally punishable under general smuggling statute (Warner, 2010, p. 83). Therefore if a special statute provision is provided to append harsher repercussions for smuggling weapons or selling them knowingly to gang members and cartels that eventually end in Mexico would go a great length in limiting those illicit activities. The US Should Stem Cash Flow to the Cartels: it’s estimated that between 20 and 29 billion US dollars cash obtained from the US from the sale of drugs is smuggled back and almost half of it immediately gets into the informal economy of that country after evading detection by authorities (US Department of Justice 2010, p. 45). An operation that was conducted in 2009 by Operation Firewall in an attempt to curb flow of cash and laundering led to seizure of over 200 million US dollars and over 190 arre sts in the united states and other countries. This is just a tip of the iceberg, if this is compared to the amount of cash that is smuggled across the US-Mexico border, the Mexican law is ineffective (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009, p. 19). This is why there needs to be joint effort to block this cash flow. This would also be a good start and will still have to be expanded to address the root cause of the problem. The US financial intelligences capacity has to have the ability to understand all the financial flows in the areas that most affected or even interdict money and other laundering deals (Carpenter, 2009, p. 6). More resources should be provided to the Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit so that it can deal with numerous cases per year. When more monetary and training resources are devoted to the activity, the results are likely to be efficient (Warner, 2010, p. 83). A joint training program between the US and Mexico especially the US Financial Intellige nces, Treasury Department’s and the Mexican UIF will be able to guarantee effectiveness of the venture. The US policy makers should assess the remittances from the US either legal or illegal are the leading sources of revenue to Mexico where they create a weak economy. Restricting the Operation Capacity of the Cartels: the US government should struggle to create a border security surge, so that the border is transformed into a very secure zone free of cartel operations. Both president Calderon and President Obama have great visions for their countries especially survival in the 21st century and sealing their permeable border into a place of controlled movement (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009, p. 20). The idea of a 21st century border is a great one though it would take several years to eventually accomplish. This is expected to improve security, but in the meantime, there is need to cause great boundary security surge to bring order along the border. The main goa ls would be to increase the number of the national guards to be allocated specific responsibilities so that all possible gaps are covered as reviewed by agencies dealing with border information (Warner, 2010, p. 86). The operation will also seek to expand the resources of the homeland security and justice department so that they can afford the best technology when needed. And finally there should be increased sources for the state and local police forces in the states that border Mexico. Increased Intelligence: there need to have more collaborative ventures more than ever before, for US and Mexican law enforcement agencies. The existing collaboration has been seen to be improving since statistics show positive results in the â€Å"mirrored enforcement reports†. The US border patrol now works together with the federal police from Mexico especially on border patrols which are often done simultaneously now. Still more can be done for the purpose of security. The two countries ca n agree to use unmanned US drones to amass information in the drug cartel dominated areas (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2009, p. 20). There is need of creating a new program that will be used to collect information by the aerial drones unarmed over US-Mexico border to cover other areas beside the current Texas border. The intelligence should then be shared with Mexican government for proper strategy formulation (Carpenter, 2009, p. 8). The two governments should also look at the possible joint especially forces established to make the raids on the cartel territories to flush out and arrests the leaders. It’s possible that arresting and extraditing the leaders to the governments for prosecution would lead to justice and also scuttle organized cartels. Mexico is already extraditing some criminals for the same reasons. However a more efficient ways of dealing with the deeply rooted cartel would be for the Mexican military to conduct the raid operations banked by the US (Warner, 2010, p. 88). The proficient aerial attacks and logistics of the US military are likely to meet greater goals. Help Improve Mexico’s Justice System: the Mexican justice system needs a lot of reforms for long terms achievements. The US should works hard to give support to Mexico so that it can strengthen its rule of law. Even though this could be costly for both the countries, the insecurity that currently exists is much worse. The judicial system in Mexico should put more pressure on the cartels to impede their operations (Warner, 2010, p. 89). However, the reform process will still be slow but it’s expected that the continuing efforts will have achieved these reforms by 2016. The Mexican judicial system needs more training on the monetary and financial systems for the combined effort to be effective (Carpenter, 2009, p. 9). The local and state police in Mexico also need serious training in addition to the reforms being initiated in the courts and other gover nmental institutions. The Mexican military is under thorough reforms under a program called the Meridia initiative (Carpenter, 2009, p. 13). The programs have to be expanded to meet more law enforcement agencies and the entire legal system to be professionalized. Crackdown the Markets in the US: considering that the drug cartels have over 2,500 connections in the US cities, the US citizens are threatened greatly. Severing these networks and cutting the links with the controlling cartel is not only necessary but also inevitable. This is the most essential step of disrupting and dismantling the dominant cartels (Carpenter, 2009, p. 13). The US justice department led the â€Å"Project Deliverance† which was an inter-agency (included over 300 agencies) boundary operation that was set to fight the cartels trafficking networks. The project put a lot of pressure on the distribution links in the US resulting in over 2,266 arrests and 154 million dollars were seized with 2.5 tons of c ocaine, 69 tons of marijuana among other drugs as well as over 500 vehicles. The project is a robust program that involves state securities and international agencies to disrupt cartel networks in America. Since this model was somehow a success, it can be used as a basis for disruption of cartel networks (Carpenter, 2009, p. 13). From it, new programs can be created to deal with drug cartel activities. Ultimate Operations The drug cartel problem and insecurity is a very big problem that entangles a lot to the US systems including illegal immigration, prisons, education and the law enforcement. Basically there are some factors that need to be resolved first before the ultimate operations can begin. First is the gang culture. Many Mexican do not value education considering that there are cheaper means of earning money besides going to school and developing a good career. Now the new problem is not even the Mexican but the America Mexican born in America or even illegal immigrants. Mos t of them have been found to have poor education (Smith, 2006, p. 56). For instance the education level of Mexican men who form larger percentage of illegal immigrants is very low at the bottom of the spectrum with least number of people with college degrees and most of them are high school dropouts. Even the US born Mexican youths always attach themselves to Mexico and still maintain their culture of carelessness. They are very arrogant and very aggressive committing very brutal crimes in some cases (Smith, 2006, p. 56). This problem begun as early as 1940s, as Mexicans started immigrating to US to better their lives and currently about 4% to 10% of the Mexican Youths subscribe to criminal gangs in America. The other cause of lawlessness is the inadequate reforms among law enforcement agencies in Mexico (Smith, 2006, p. 56). Basically the ability of Mexico to deal with drug cartels should be founded on the total overhaul of the judicial institutions and law enforcement agencies. In the past, the police basically preserved order and not crime resolution. They were therefore corrupt, inefficient, uneducated and dependent on crime as they even drove stole vehicles (Smith, 2006, p. 59). Corruption is one major obstacle in the fight against cartels. This is a very strong tool for the cartels because they have power to corrupt top law officers with large cash amounts, use violence and coercion and even cause serious mayhem in certain areas. The idea of money or bullet commonly phrased as â€Å"plata† (silver) or â€Å"plomo† (lead) has for so long been an effective tool for traffickers (Beith, 2010, p. 41). Government official were hence corrupt and totally engulfed in drug dealings. Political will is also been used as a weapon. President Calderon has been very aggressive in dealing with crime. For that reason, all politicians who supported him faced some threat. At times, some politicians have been killed in the past and the gangs have used them as r eference to scare other people like ‘Did you see what happened to so and so? The same could happen to you† †¦ this instills fear in people (Beith, 2010, p. 41). In 2009, Revolutionary party swept five governor positions out of the available six. This basically showed that there was a serious shift of political support from the President’s National Action party to the revolutionary party which is a little tolerant. He maybe loosing the popularity partly because of the fight he has set against these cartels (Beith, 2010, p. 46). There are three ultimate missions of the place to stop drug cartel threat to the US security. The three strategies only seek to expand cross-border bilateral cooperation based on the common enemy and shared dreams of dealing with insecurity (Carpenter, 2009, p. 13). Cooperation: the meeting between President Bush and Calderon led to a paradigm change from grudges to partnership between the two nations. This is where the Meridia initiati ve was born and it’s now a very large and comprehensive plan for fighting cartels. The program was set to run for three years and 1.4 billion dollars were spent on it (Wasler, 2010, p. 6). The basic objective was to strengthen Mexican institutions to enhance their capacities to hunt and deal with complex crime and trafficking gangs. The US has also provided its Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) personnel to help in recruitment and training of law enforcement officers in Mexico for the Mexican sensitive Investigative unit. This way, there will be great enhancement of intelligences across the countries’ departments. Another important dual venture is the Border Enforcement Security Task Forces (BEST); this is an operation task force that makes use of the intelligence obtained from the partnership to propel investigations and organize the members for intensify security on the borders (Wasler, 2010, p. 6). Containment: the objective of the US forces as they seek to ensu re security for its citizens has been to contain or stop smuggling of any kind ranging from illegal immigrants, human traffickers, illicit commodities, drugs and other unlawful activities through the borders in order to stop any problems that could be associated with these illegal dealings (Wasler, 2010, p. 7). First, the US established a special department for this purposes, the border patrol in 1924 and recently, the setting up of the Secure Fence Act in 2006. The US is now positive that it can manage to contain the drug cartels threats from Mexico to a considerable level. The border security has been modified over years through several revisions, from Southwest Border security to new 2009 law and seemingly more efficient institution called Homeland security headed by Janet Napolitano (Wasler, 2010, p. 8). The office of national drugs control policy (ONDCP) formed collaboration with DHS to fight narcotics smuggling across southwestern border. Blame America and not Mexico: itâ€⠄¢s quite evident that the US domestic drug abuse is the reason why there is production of drug in Mexico because this offers ready market. Some of its gun laws as identified earlier have big loopholes and the economy is also very open (Wasler, 2010, p. 9). Acceptance of co-responsibility yielded good results and now the cartels are feeling the pressure. Even the US former president Clinton noted that the American insatiable need for the drugs is what drives the trade. The inability to control firearms and other lethal weapon from being smuggled out of the country offers the gangs the weapons to counter government raids and other efforts to stop them (Wasler, 2010, p. 9). However, there is new readiness to contain drug cartels where several combined initiative are already in place and other laws are being prepared to make smuggling of weapons out of US illegal and also reevaluate other domestic policies that deal with drug trafficking from Mexico. Reference List Beith, M. (2010). â €Å"The Last Narco,† Grove Press, New York, pp. 40-55. Carpenter, T.G. (2009). â€Å"Troubled Neighbor: Mexicos Drug Violence Poses a Threat to the United States,† Policy Analysis, no. 631. Chu, V.S., William, J.K. (2009). â€Å"Gun Trafficking and the Southwest Border:† Congressional Research Service,† Library of Congress; Washington, DC. Oscar B. (2004). â€Å"New Traffickers Struggle for Control of Mexican Drug Trade,† Janes Intelligence Review. Smith, R.C (2006). â€Å"Mexican New York- Transnational Lives of New Immigrants,† University Of California Press; Berkeley, CA. U.S. Government Accountability Office, (2009). â€Å"Firearms Trafficking: U.S. Efforts to Combat Arms Trafficking to Mexico Face Planning and Coordination Challenges,† GAO-09-709, pp. 14–16 Retrieved from https://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09709.pdf United Nation. (2010). â€Å"Globalization of Crime: A Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment,† United Nation Publisher Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=r2QsBwNv8NMCpg=PA239dq=Zetas+and+Beltran+Leyva+conflicthl=enei=FXj2TNjQEc2r8AapoY3gBgsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultredir_esc=y#v=onepageq=Zetas%20and%20Beltran%20Leyva%20conflictf=false United States Department of Justice. (2010). â€Å"National Drug Intelligence Center,† National Drug Threat Assessment 2010. Retrieved from  https://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/prs/10ndta10.htm Warner, J. (2010). â€Å"U.S. Border Security: A Reference Handbook,† ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA. Wasler, R. (2010). â€Å"U.S. Strategy Against Mexican Drug Cartels: Flawed and Uncertain, Heritage Foundation,† Backgrounder, No. 2407.

The Institutionalization of th essays

The Institutionalization of th essays By the end of the 20th century the environmental movement and its issues have become a major role in the lives of most US residents. They recycle, join environmental groups, protest, buy eco-friendly products, and include the environment as part of their criteria for voting for candidates. Although the Sierra Club had endorsed Clinton in the 1992 presidential election, the organization, as well as many other environmentalists, had expressed disappointment with his first term. In the year preceding the 1996 election, Clinton returned to the pro-environment policies he stood for earlier in his administration. In August 1996 dangers to Yellowstone National Park were averted when the administration negotiated an agreement with the firm to held gold-mining rights nearby. The Clinton-Gore victory in 1998 promised to keep a pro-environmental president and vice president in office. The most domination international environmental event in 1997 was the Climate-Change Conference held in K yoto, Japan, in November. Of the many issues to be discussed by the international conference, the cutting of emissions of head-taping greenhouse gases was the most important. The Clinton administration, allied with the Republican-led Senate opposed this view, arguing that because the warming of the atmosphere opposed this view, arguing that because the warming of the atmosphere by greenhouse gases was global concern, all countries must hare in the solution. On Dec 11, 1997, the Kyoto Conference reached an agreement, known as the Kyoto Protocol that set legally binding limits on the man-made emissions of greenhouse gases from 38 industrialized countries. President Clinton agreed to sign the Kyoto Protocol, but he would not submit the agreement to the Senate for its constitutional role of advice and consent until key developing countries agreed to participate meaningfully in the effort. April 1998 had seemed to be a high point for environment...

Please write a summary of I BELIVE IN THA HOLY SPIRIT vol. 3 pp Essay

Please write a summary of I BELIVE IN THA HOLY SPIRIT vol. 3 pp. 174-214 written by Yves Congar. I mean only this part fro - Essay Example Anselm decided that the Greeks and Latins were on the same page when it came time to discuss Trinitarian doctrines. Augustine stated that the Greeks believed in one essence and three substances while the Latin people believed in one essence or substance brings three persons. Augustine stated that the difference is only in the wording, however, Abelard believed that this difference was crucial in deciding how well the Greeks practiced their faith. Abelard stated that "hypostasis" was a dangerous word to Jerome. There had been a problem in the way that Greeks followed the doctrines on the Holy Spirit according to the non-Greek religious leaders. These non-Greek religious leaders felt it impossible that the Greeks were genuine when their vocabulary was inappropriate. They believed that the Greeks did not practice in the right way since the vocabulary they used tended to be so radically different, that it was impossible that they followed the right path. The non-Greek religious groups fe lt that this was only a vocabulary issue and that they did still believe in the Holy Spirit in the right way, however, it was too difficult to think that if there is a vocabulary error, there must also be a method in practicing faith error as well. During Anselm's time, it was believed that most of the doctrines were in agreement between the Latin people and the Greeks. Wording seemed to be the only problems encountered by Anselm's opinion of how the Greeks practiced. Thomas believed that the wording was incredibly different but the meanings were almost the same. The Greeks deny the procession of the Holy Spirit a Filio, however they concede it in its antecedent. This problem has lasted since the year 325 and it is now the fourteenth century. This dispute is quite strong still by the fourteenth century and no conclusions have yet been made about whether the Greeks and Latins can come to an agreement of how they practice their faith. Alexander Hales came up with his own opinion and h is comments about how the Latins and Greeks differ are as follows: Augustine (Latin leader at the time) considered the inner structure of the spirit and therefore maintained that it was from the mens that the cogitatio or word proceeded and the latter was followed by the spiration of the affectus. The Damascene (Greek leader at the time), on the other hand, considered the external word so that the point of departure was the intellect, followed by the word, which emerged as a word with a breath, which was connected in an immediate way to the intellect. The spirit, then, was Spiritus Verbi, non a Verbo. Alexander believed that these were the opposing views between the Latins and the Greeks of how the word and the Holy Spirit were related. Bonaventure was a commentator and he came up with an interesting perspective about this controversial debate. The first part is the fact that both the Greeks and the Latins agreed on the aspects of faith in divine revelation found in the scriptures. The second part is concerning the fact that the Greeks and Latins differ in their viewpoints on categories and terminology. The third and final aspect is that of the teaching in a formula which led to the controversy in the first place. He actually figured out where the similarities and differences were and wrote them out to help clear this debate once and for all. The items they both agreed on are as follows: the scriptural basis of the procession and the spirit belongs to the son and is sent by the son. The Latins

A raisin in the sun Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A raisin in the sun - Essay Example African-Americans suffered racial discrimination, which was present, since the times of slavery where they were subjected to inhumane acts by White people. The play, by Lorraine Hansberry, depicts the battles that African-Americans had to go through in the early 1900s in the fight for equality in society. Discrimination was promoted by White American supremacists who advocated for segregation of minority races in society. The black African-American population bore the greatest blunt of racial discrimination in the American society. Segregation was effected in all sectors of life in schools, public transport, jobs and housing. The play highlights the Young family’s struggle with racial discrimination, and the hardship they went through for buying a house from a white man in a white neighbourhood. The play has a cast that is composed of Walter Lee who is unhappy with his current job and dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. He is a dreamer who believes that money can solve all of the family’s problems and buy them happiness. Ruth is a character who is depicted battling poverty and domestic troubles frequently. She is also depicted as a peacemaker who is willing to do anything to protect her family. Beneatha is a character who displays feminist perspectives in the play. ... She thinks that money is not something that makes a family happy. She is depicted as a nurturing mother and stands firm in her beliefs. As the head of the family, she demands that members of her family respect one another as well as take pride in their dreams. Linder is the only white character in the play who acts as the representative for the white community. He goes to great lengths to keep black African-Americans out of the white neighbourhood. His actions are best depicted when he offers the Young family a deal to reconsider moving into his all-white neighbourhood. This shows his determination in ensuring that his neighbourhood is free from ‘blacks’ who are perceived as pariahs in society (Loos 213). The play addresses themes of the essence of dreams as a supposition that was famously proposed in a poem wrote by Langston Hughes. He wrote about dreams that were neglected or postponed and ponders if those aspirations wither like raisins in the sun. This is illustrated by Walter’s desire to have money so that he can afford to cater for his family. The display of dreams and aspirations for a better life is not confined to one race, but it can be recognised in people of all backgrounds. The underlying motivation to yearn for a better life is universal irrespective of race, and it varies in different people. Walter’s notion of the American dream is the ideology of materialism which places much emphasis on the importance of money and the things it can acquire. In play, Hansberry shows how Walter envies Charlie Atkin’s dry cleaning business because it makes an annual income of $100, 000. Walter is blinded by his desire to acquire riches and partners with people of questionable characters who end escaping with all of