Pure High Note Essay

A Pure, High Note of Anguish† by: Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Kingsolver’s â€Å"A Pure, High Note of Anguish,† expresses her painful grief in seeing innocent people die without having done anything to deserve it. To Americans, Kingsolver says â€Å"There are no worse days, it seems,† referring that 9/11 is the worst thing that’s ever happened in the world. Kingsolver symbolizes the children dancing in the street as the hatred that other countries have against the United States. Kingsolver believes asking, â€Å"Will this happen to me? is the wrong question because almost always people die without having done anything to deserve it. To Kingsolver, people almost always die without having done anything to deserve it. To this I agree. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D. C. , including more than 400 police officers and firefighters (History). As of June 2006, 1577 Louisiana residents had been confirmed as deceased as a result of Katina (Sharkey). Motor vehicle crashes in the United States result in more than 40,000 deaths per year (Hitti). Each year globally, 12. million people learn they have cancer, and 7. 6 million people die from the disease (CDC). As most people would think, every one of these victims are innocent people who do not deserve to die. As seen above, these causes of deaths can be from attacks, natural disasters, accidents, and diseases. Death is something that occurs in nature and it is both inevitable and final (Cole). No one knows when, where or how they will die. The only thing that is certain is no one deserves to die. Kingsolver states â€Å"There are no worst days, it seems,† meaning that this is the worst thing that has ever happened in the world. Maybe it was the worst thing to happen in the world at that time, but for all of history no. On December 26th, 2004, in Southeast Asia an earthquake occurred out at sea in the Indian Ocean, which immediately caused a deadly tsunami to happen. An estimated 230,000 people died (Wikramanayake). Do we Americans believe that is the worst thing to ever happen in the world? Of course not because we think 9/11 is the worst thing to ever happen to us. â€Å"September 11, 2001, stands as the defining event of the 21st century. It was the worst day of my life and the best day. It was the worst day because of the incomprehensible death, destruction and evil. September 11 was also the best day because it put on display the very finest human instincts — compassion, courage, kindness, selflessness† (Giuliani). These are the words of former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani, who was the mayor during 9/11. Kingsolver’s child was wondering why there were children dancing in the streets after the news of 9/11. I actually thought the same and remember vividly watching when this occurred on the news. Kingsolver symbolizes these children dancing in the streets as people showing their hatred towards the United States. Everybody knows there has been much anti-Americanism in the Middle East (Tooley). Yet it is undeniable that many Middle Easterners have good reason, from their perspective, to hate the USA (Tooley). In Iraq, for example, it would be amazing indeed if the ferocious death rate among civilians — especially children — since the embargo and the steady number of civilian casualties from our continued bombing had not created feelings of hatred which would give cause for celebration now (Tooley). Kingsolver and others believe that our country needed to learn how to hurt from these attacks. I believe that is true and that we have also overcome the hurt. Al Qaeda’s intentions of these attacks were to break the United States down. But I believe that it only made the United States stronger as a nation and more aware of threats against us. Psychologically, the nation joined together in a unity that had not been seen since the end of World War II (Jensen). When it comes to our national security and our awareness of the threat from Islamic extremists, we are better prepared than we were but not as prepared as we should be. Our intelligence base is better and our airport security is better, for all its frustrations,† (Giuliani). â€Å"Will this happen to me? is the wrong question, I’m sad to say. † The question should really be, when will this happen to me? That question is unknown to everyone. No one can predict the moment of death (Scott). People wake up each day and have no clue what will happen to them.

Innocence of Liesel Meminger Essay

Innocence is something that all of us know and relish. It is something sweet and peaceful that we all deem precious. In the novel ‘The Book Thief’, one little girl possesses this trait, in a very surprisingly place. In the heart of Nazi Germany, Liesel Meminger’s innocence is easily distinguished. In the story, Liesel Meminger is forced to adapt to a new family and environment due to her past traumatic experiences. Throughout part one of the book, Liesel shows her juvenility on numerous occasions shown by her interactions with others, in what she says, and through her attitudes. Rosa Hubermann was walking around their neighborhood to show Liesel her job, collecting clothes from the wealthy to iron. Upon arrival at a house, Rosa Hubermann told Liesel, â€Å"‘You go.’ Liesel was horrified. A giant brown door with a brass knocker stood atop a small flight of steps. ‘What?’ Mama shoved her ‘Don’t you ‘What’ me, saumensch. Move it.’† (The Book Thief, Hardcover Pg.42) This shows that Liesel is juvenile because she is terrified at her mama’s orders even though the job is simply to collect clothing. Also, she was in such disbelief at her mama’s decision when she was forced to retrieve the clothing because she never thought her new mama would put her in a position to bring her tremendous discomfort. Liesel is performing her usual routine, cleaning the spat saliva off the front porch from the mouth of Frau Holtzapfel. â€Å"†¦once in a while some stars had the nerve to rise and float, if only for a few minutes. On those nights, she would stay a little longer and wait. ‘Hello, stars.’† (The Book Thief, Hardcover Pg.45) Due to Liesel’s young imagination, she takes the time to converse with the stars. Any adult would not even regard the stars let alone talk to them because they have lost the innocence found in childhood, but Liesel is different and takes the time to do such things. Still in disbelief of her brother’s recent death, she is on her knees at her brother’s icy cold grave, digging in denial. â€Å"Somewhere in all the snow, she could see her broken heart, in two pieces.† (The Book Thief Hardcover Pg.24) This shows how Liesel is innocent because when all she loves is seized in that graveyard she is lost and does not know what to do. It was the cold graveyard, the thought of her mom leaving her forever in the midst of her younger brother’s death that overwhelmed Liesel to a broken heart. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is important to read because it reveals something special in an very unexpected place. Germans who lived in Nazi Germany are still to this day commonly stereotyped as being ruthless and hate filled. Liesel has given a previously unseen perspective of these times, a look through the eyes of an innocent child that knows nothing of bitter hatred and antagonism. This is all easily perceived through her interactions with other characters , her own dialogue, and attitudes.

Annual report about apple company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Annual report about apple company - Essay Example In order to provide differentiated and unique products, the company engages in innovation each year providing their consumers with products that use groundbreaking technology whose introduction to the market is backed by an effective marketing and advertisement strategy. Consequently, a combination of these approaches ensures that Apple Inc’s products become synonymous with cult-brands. Nonetheless, it is important to identify the objectives of the company in order to understand the marketing and advertisement strategy that the company uses to promote its products. Through providing innovative hardware, software, services, and peripherals, the company’s objective is to bring out the best user experiences by providing differentiated and unique products in terms of design and the operating systems, which sets them apart from the competitors (Apple Inc. 2012). For this reason, the innovation the company engages in provides consumers with new products and services that are superior in quality while being easy to use, provide seamless integration, and provide innovative designs. In effect, innovation has helped the company gain competitive advantage in the industry since its strategic approach ensures that the company produces differentiated products that provide it with a competitive edge whose innovations are not as unique and differentiated as Apple products. In the contemporary society, it is evident that information and technological innovations keep on evolving with various companies frequently producing new product offering. For this reason, companies operating in this sector face stiff competition due to these new products and services on offer. Nonetheless, a good marketing strategy ensures that Apple Inc. is able to compete effectively in the competitive business environment while also maintaining a competitive edge over its competitors. In order to effectively position the company to consumers in this competitive sector, the company has focu sed their marketing strategy by providing products with appealing designs, focused their product offering, and provided designs and products that are easy to use for their consumers (McDonald and Keegan 2002). Other than offering differentiated products, Apple Inc. practice market segmentation by dividing their marketing offering into five distinct segments. These segments are the consumer segment, Small and Medium-sized Business segment, education segment, enterprise segment, and government segment with each market segment provided with unique products from the company that meet the needs and preferences of consumers in each segment (Apple Inc. 2012). Under the education segment, the company offers products to consumers in educational institutions with the products on offer providing them with the requisite knowledge and set of skills that enhance their learning. In addition, the company offers special pricing for consumers in this category. On the other hand, government agencies a lso offer various products and services that specifically meet their needs and objectives of offering services to the public in a seamless approach. Similarly, other segments of the markets that the company offers are unique to the company seeking to provide products meant for each market segment with these products meeting the specific needs of the customers under

What Is The Relationship Between Whiteness And Racism Effects of Essay

What Is The Relationship Between Whiteness And Racism Effects of Racism and Sexism. Binary Logic of Race - Essay Example Western society has a shameful and recent legacy of slavery and is a country stratified by race, gender and class. For some, like renowned African American author, scholar and social activist, bell hooks, the United States is a country with a strong tradition of institutionalized racism which permeates all aspects of modern America society (see hooks' Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism, 1981). Importantly as well, the United Kingdom has a colonial legacy in which racist ideas about civilisation governed its colonial conquests. For many in the UK as well as in the United States, racism is an ever-present aspect of the social condition and is built upon a rigid social code, a white/black binary which has its roots in a belief that whiteness is superior to all other types of skin tones. The following will explore racism today and the relationship between whiteness and race in modern society.... variety of factors can account for this disparity, low birth weight remains the most prominent cause of a higher infant mortality rate amongst black babies. In fact, black babies in America have a 300% greater likelihood of being born with a low birthrate relative to their white counterparts. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found a variety of socio-economic causes for the phenomenon of low birth weight, including poverty, poor nutrition, a lack of knowledge about pregnancy and the challenges associated with it, and access to proper medical facilities. The disparity in black-white successful birth ratios in America thus can be attributed to social forces and socio-economic differences amongst black and white Americans (Carmichal and Iyasu, 1998; Kogan, 1997) Binary Logic of Race The binary logic of race is inherently hierarchical and people of mixed racial parentage or individuals who are bi-racial are somewhere in-between the artificial and socially constructed binary so pervasive in modern American society. How do mulatto people identify within the rigid constraints of the racial binary How is racial identity redefined by individuals who, through no fault of the own, do not fit into the supposedly neat and compact racial categories society seeks to impose on them Most importantly, how are people who are mulatto freed from the binary concept of race and how do these people define their own unique racial identities Seeking to answer these questions and further analyze the social construction of identity today, this essay will discuss readings from Reddy, Walker, Senna and Williams with an eye to the social construction of race and racial identity. The specific focus will be on how the artificial binaries of race and race hierarchy are navigated and

Muslims and America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Muslims and America - Essay Example One of the mostly viewed episodes or films in the US is â€Å"30 days: Muslim and America.† The episode was directed by an American, Morgan Spurlock. The film has one main character, Dave, who is a Christian and goes to live in a Muslim family with an aim of learning the Islamic culture. The film has a variety of thematic constituents including religious discrimination, hatred, culture and several others. The episode situates the viewers in a crazy world of terrorism blames and hatred. It makes one think of existing religious differences and conflicts in the American society. Moreover, it probes some reasoning and comprehension of the conflict. By using an American, Dave, who has also the same perception, it is quite predictable that whatever he will face in the Muslim society is violence. This perception however changes when Dave, the Christian American, finds out a total different story in his 30 days of stay in Dearborn, Michigan where most Muslims in the US stay. The episode also situates the viewers in a position where they can easily tell who the wrong one is between the groups, Americans and the Muslims. This is through following carefully Dave’s experience while living in Muslim communities in Dearborn and Michigan. The presence of Mosque and Quran aids in forming more ideas concerning the Muslim society. Dave learns of the friendly nature of the Muslim people and gets convinced that all the evils that people do say about the Muslims are false. For one to comprehend the phenomena in the episode, it is advisable that he or she avoid developing any form of attitude or mental rigidity on certain ideas. Otherwise; the episode will seem like a dream to him or her. Everything will seem to be false. For instance, a viewer with a rigid or static belief that Muslims are terrorists or are always bad people will never gain, or learn any lesson from the episode. One has to develop a neutral mind and love for all; in short, it is better for a viewer to put himself or herself in the shoes of professional judicial persons like judges before venturing into the episode. One must also understand that different groups of people have different cultural behaviors and beliefs. Therefore, an individual should not view or perceive anything done by his or her neighbors as evil and condemn it (Arshad, 2003). Culture is a very crucial aspect of every society and each person should respect one another’s for the purpose of creating a leeway to p eace discovery. The episode situates or positions the viewers in different ways. First, Spurlock has employed a lot of symbolism in a bid to place the viewers in a Muslim society (Arshad, 2003). Through the use of Mosque, Muslim dressing styles, and eating styles, he has indeed made most viewers, I included imagine being in a Muslim society experiencing and learning their cultures. He has also used the interviewing method on both two sides to get their opinions concerning one another. An example of such is the interview of an old man by Dave (Zelizer, 2007). The man tells him that all religions are bound by one common thing or person who is God. The man goes ahead to state that there is only one God with different names. He quotes that â€Å"when one takes one life he destroys humanity† from the Quran (Spurlock, 2011). Spurlock has also employed certain words, editing styles and images to encourage us viewers form certain ideologies. The words like, Jesus Christ and Mohammed, Bible and Quran, have been used in the episode to encourage viewers to form and maintain neutrality throughout the episode. He has also used images like the mosque and Camels (in form of cartoons) to represent a Muslim society in Asia (Zelizer, 2007). The episode also talks much about mistreatment; it does not mention any problems caused by the Muslims to the Christians. However, since the Muslim

Sexuality is said to be both sacred and ordinary. Would there be any Essay

Sexuality is said to be both sacred and ordinary. Would there be any problems with persons understanding sex only as sacred, or - Essay Example This can be estimated from the fact that in our society, 4 per cent to 5 per cent of the juvenile girls are raped by their fathers, 33 per cent to 50 per cent of the women become the victims of completed or attempted rape and 1 in every 4 girls and 1 in every 9 boys experiences sexual abuse once in the childhood. Thus, criminals are using sex as a major means of violence in the society. A vast majority of women that become the victims of rape tend not to disclose the offence to their relatives or police with the fear of embarrassment and shame. They think that if they do file a case against the offender, it would highlight their sexual identity. Sexual abuse leaves the victim with scars in the mind for the whole life and is one of the major causes of depression among people in America. Much of the widespread sex-based violence can be attributed to the consideration of sex as a very sacred topic that can not be discussed openly. Such an understanding of sex is providing the criminals with innumerable opportunities of creating violence. Besides, consideration of sex only as ordinary and non-sacred topic is no less harmful for the society. This is so because consideration of sex as an ordinary matter is just not consistent with the level of secrecy and personalization ingrained in it. Sex essentially brings two people extremely close to each other physically. If sex is considered ordinary, people would be encouraged to doing sex in public which is against all standards of religion, ethics and humanity. Animals do sex in open. It is the superiority of mankind that makes human sex in public a very heinous idea.

Fidel Castro Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fidel Castro - Research Paper Example The objective of this study presented in the research paper is to prove that effective visionary leadership style of Fidel Castro helped him to bring sustainability ion the country. In addition to this, the researcher provides some examples of his activities and contribution for the country to prove that he was one of the great leaders that have ever produce by Cuba. Fidel Alejandro Castro is one of the popular Cuban politicians and communist revolutionaries. He was born on 13th August, 1926. He became the prime minister of Cuba in the year 1959. He remained prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976. Moreover, he became president of his country in the year 1976. He remained president of his country from 1976 to 2008. However, he known among the people around the globe due to his effective visionary leadership style that helped his country to achieve sustainable growth rate even in some emergency and distressed situation. In addition to this, he also took some other responsibilities of his country. He served Cuba as the Commander in Chief of revolutionary armed force of Cuba from the year 1959 to 2008. However, he drew several examples of appropriate role and responsibility of a leader by helping his country by implementing effective leadership style. The researcher then concluds that his vision and his developed steps or actions can be considered as example of both visionary and democratic leadership style that helped his nation to attain social and economic sustainability and prosperity.

Professional Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Professional Development - Essay Example On the other hand, knowing my weaknesses would push me to work hard to turn them into strengths. Being able to communicate well with others in both verbal and written forms will help me establish a network of people who can support me and help me towards achieving my goals. Good communication is key to harmonious and fulfilling relationships. Creativity is one skill which will make me stand out from the rest because I will be able to come up with fresh ideas and strategies that would work out for my future clients. Being creative is one quality that is becoming increasingly in demand these days. 1. Self-Awareness Knowing oneself – one’s own personality, traits, attitudes, views, strengths and weaknesses based on one’s family and cultural background and previous life experiences is a very important skill to master in business. In order for me to get a good self-analysis, I turned to self-assessment tests so I can see myself from an objective point of view. Self-As sessments Self-assessments are effective ways for individuals to evaluate themselves to see how far they have come in terms of progress in one area or another and to know their strengths and weaknesses. Self-assessments can come in various forms. Some are simple reflective practices while others entail taking some tests. For this Professional Development Plan (PDP), I took 3 self-assessment tests namely the Myer-Briggs (MBTI), the DISC and the Learning Styles Inventory (see appendix for results). From the test results of my self-assessments, there were a lot of surprising revelations, agreements and disagreements as well in relation to how I know my self. The following are the interpretations of the results of the tests. MBTI (Myers-Briggs test) This theory measures psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The preferences indicate the differences in people based on the following: How they focus their attention or get their energy (Extraversion o r Introversion) How they perceive or take in information (Sensing or Intuition) How they prefer to make decisions (Thinking or Feeling) How they orient themselves to the external world (Judgment or Perception) The Myer-Briggs Test Results say I have strong tendencies toward the ESFJ and ENFJ personality types. Both types share the dominant functions of the letters E and F or Extraverted Feeling. This means my dominant function is feeling oriented towards the outer world. I focus on building harmony in the world around me, creating positive atmosphere and good rapport with people. I look after their welfare and go out of my way in overcoming differences of opinion and finding ways for people to agree. I invest much on building positive relationships, motivating others to be happy in each situation. . The ESFJ and ENFJ differ in Sensing/ Intuition. This means I can respond differently to information I receive depending on my preference. If it is clear facts I want to know or accuracy in description of details, then my preference is for Sensing. However, if I prefer to deal with ideas, and venture into unknown territories so I can generate new possibilities, then my preference is for Intuition. My profile also prefers dealing equally with ideas/information and people/things. I prefer dealing equally with facts/tangible things and possibilities/intuitions. I prefer to base my decisions on values rather than logic. My

What are the consequences of a state break-up in the Arabian Gulf from Essay - 1

What are the consequences of a state break-up in the Arabian Gulf from USA prospuctive - Essay Example A joined military is yet another objective that has a dominant place in GCC’s agenda and has thus strengthened the Arabian Gulf. The nature of GCC changed however since US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and its objective became more economy-oriented rather than providing security to civilians. Since disputes happen among any two bodies obeying nature of superiority and thus conflicts have risen often in the Council meetings. Saudi Arabia is the largest country in GCC and holds a spiritual importance for Muslims all over the world. It has long term disputes with UAE and Qatar; disputes which have now multiplied with the rise of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and ISIS and ISIL in the Arabian Peninsula. High point arrived when Qatar was ejected from the GCC (Critchlow 2014). The council was created to maintain harmony, but it had failed to do so thus providing opportunity to the U.S to interfere in state matters and provide opportunities to the countries to adopt the methods proposed by American visionaries and government. The United States has always encouraged Gulf countries to act collectively and enforce security measures against Qaeda-affiliated military groups acting in Syria. This is in favor of their military plans against terrorism in the Arab world. The GCC’s plan to eject Qatar has met disapproval as Qatar houses the Al Udeid Air Base and Combined Air and Space Operations Center that aided US during wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (Saab 2014). United States has strong alliance with Saudi Arabia but it needs to develop a new level of cooperation as both have different values and priorities but common interests (Cordesman 2014). Hence the Gulf countries and the United States of America both need to avoid state-breakup in the Arabian Gulf du e to their own different reasons. The U.S has to support GCC in order to maintain security and eliminate Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS) which poses a threat to its national and international security.

Mergers And Acquisitions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Mergers And Acquisitions - Essay Example Usually, mergers and acquisitions are primarily driven by the objectives of growth and survival. A large company will seek to acquire a smaller company for the purposes of benefitting from certain synergies in various aspects of the business operation. This may include an expanded market segmentation or technological development. Companies with nearly the same market profile may merge to enhance the level of efficiencies of operation and minimize on operational costs. On the other hand, smaller companies may be willing to be acquired by bigger firms due to a hostile market environment or unpalatable market forces (Sherman, 2012, p. 67). In essence, mergers and acquisitions are aspects of business strategy. In business, there exists the possibility of a mismatch between strategy and reality. Errors of judgment by directors may lead to ill-conceived mergers and acquisitions particularly resulting from the effect of misguided information or the flux nature of the global market forces. I t might be important to analyze the rising cases of failure from this perspective. Why Directors Prefer Mergers and Acquisitions Despite the recorded failures, corporate directors have continued to pursue mergers and acquisitions with remarkable determination. Usually, the pursuit of these goals is strategic in the sense that they aim at achieving a certain goal in the business operation. The synergistic benefits of engaging in mergers may tend to surpass the possible risks involved (Moeller & Brady, 2011). Directors often decide on mergers basing on certain strategic goals. Decisions are taken after cost-benefit analyses are conducted with regard to the possible risks involved in the purchase. A merger or an acquisition may present the most appropriate alternative to the growth and expansion alternatives available for the company (Sun, 2012). For instance, a company may want to expand its technological infrastructure within a specified period of time. Some of the factors to be cons idered include times, cost, and reliability of the development. The firm may choose to enlist the services of experts to carry out this particular development. Alternatively, the firm may choose to enter into a merger or engage in an acquisition with a firm that is already established in terms of technology with a sound technological infrastructure (Buckley & Ghauri, 2002, p. 22). This move would have saved the firm a substantial amount of money, which would be directed to alternative areas of development. Another reason why boards of directors still engage in mergers and acquisitions is to be seen in terms of expansion strategies. Market discourses of globalization and liberalization have brought about stiff competition in most areas of business operations. Mergers and acquisitions provide the most effective way for a company to consolidate its hold on a certain market segment with the short-term and long-term objective of locking out external competition (Lucks, 2007). When two la rge corporations enter into a merger, they are most likely to expand their market reach and intimidate other firms that may seek to operate in their business niche.  

The effects social media has on teenagers Essay Example for Free

The effects social media has on teenagers Essay Argument 1 A new study released by researchers at The Miriam Hospital’s Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine shows a link between social media use and poor academic performance illustrating that: Freshman women spend upwards of 12 hours a day using some form of social media, And nearly four in 10 college students said they could not go 10 minutes without checking one of their mobile devices meaning that when they are preparing for a test or completing homework, every 10 minutes they are stopping to check their model devices, resulting in them getting caught up in their social life’s rather than them putting all of their focus into their school assignments, Students try to multitask rather than just but their full attention into their assignments Since social media is still comparatively new, researchers are unable to know the long-term effects. However, if the effects of other entertainment are considered, such as the time spent watching TV. Studies show that it results in a negative impact on attention and academic performance. Resulting in a decrease in grades and learn to read late and slower. Argument 2 If teenagers are used to only having to type the words that they want to say to the individuals, when they are face to face with them they will not be used to having to respond right away When they are in important life  situations, such as a job interview they will not be able to seem as good of a candidate if they are unable to give good, solid answers on the spot as the Youtube video made by Ms. deGuzman called â€Å"I Forgot My Phone† suggested having all of these devices at are finger tips may actually cause us to feel more alone, unable to connect with people on are face to face way leading to us feeling like we never have really good company. Read more: Effect of social media on youth essay Argument 3 Amanda Forest, a graduate student in the department of psychology at the University of Waterloo, has found that individuals with low self-esteem often express a lot of negative emotion on their face book profiles. Resulting in a number of people not reaction to well, making angry and hurtful comments. Overall not being as liked as the people with high self-esteems. This therefore, can further damage that individual’s perspective of themselves. Larry Rosen, professor of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills also found that preteens and teenagers using face book are more prone to anxiety, depression and other psychological disorders A team of researchers from Chicago University’s Booth Business School, led by Wilhelm Hofmann, have found that Face book and social media websites may be as addictive as alcohol or cigarettes. As people fear that they will miss out on the latest gossip of who is dating who and what party is going on that night. Oh and god forbid they miss the thousand selfie that their bff posed.

Evolution of Environmental Policies and Agreements 1971-2011

Evolution of Environmental Policies and Agreements 1971-2011 The energy use (EN) and its integration property vary under the influence of different factors. Among various elements such as abundance of energy resources and energy intensity, the environmental policy is the factor that has had increasing effects on the EN. The energy sector and environmental concerns are inherently interdependent and policies in one sector have direct impact on the other. This appendix very briefly reviews the evolution of world environmental agreements and policies during the period of our study.[1] The world environmental system has undergone a significant development in the course of past four decades. It has especially improved by the public recognition of the environment as a vital concern of humankind and adoption of numerous Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). The seminal step was the first United Nation conference on the environment, which was held in Stockholm in 1972. It created a momentum in drawing the public attention to the environmental issues and commitment for taking action. During the last forty years, the MEAs and policies on the environmental issues have evolved in several dimensions while there has almost been continuity in terms of principles. First, there has been a gradual development of the MEAs on environmental protection, with adoption of a large number of conventions and treaties. Nevertheless, after the 1992 Rio Earth Summit the attention shifted more from institution building to implementation, consolidation, and compliance. Yet, majority of conventions, especially at the early stage, have theme, sector, or territory approach, which resulting in treaties overlap or clash. Besides the treaty congestion caused by separate negotiation fora, secretariats and funding mechanism, most of conventions fail to effectively integrate environment standards into other policy areas. It remains one of the most pressing challenges of policy makers’ to design policies that may reconcile interdependencies of pursuing competitive economic growth, social concerns, sustainability, and environmental protection. The second dimension is characterized by recognition of the environment as public global goods. As it is manifested in the Stockholm Declaration, protection of the environment is beyond the interest of the individual countries or specific reciprocal relations and should be respected as part of the public interest of world community. However, there are important differences in understanding of countries on some fundamental concepts like sustainable use of natural resources and sustainable development. The industrialized countries in one hand and the developing countries on the other hand have different views on the policies and measures to adopt, type of commitments to take, and how to share responsibilities. More interestingly, even approaches and policies of industrialized countries, e.g. US and EU members, are significantly different. While the US is traditionally inclined to rely on market mechanism and private sector, the EU, as a leading global player that has some of the worldà ¢â‚¬â„¢s highest environmental standards, tends to act more actively and initiate progressive policy responds. The third trend that can be distinguished is the increasing role of civil society and private sector in MEAs and environmental policy making at national and international levels. In the recent decades there have been significant moves in the societies to call for more transparency, more social conscience and more compliance with the environmental agreements. The Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), as the representatives of civil society, have been increasingly active at national and international levels. Their participation has influenced negotiating, implementing, monitoring and enforcing MEAs. At the same time, there have been pressures from governments, NGOs, and business community leaders to ensure that private sector takes greater accountability and responsibility for its actions. Therefore, in the recent decades, the public policy process has been moving toward more interactive models, where public entities seek to develop partnership with the private sector to manage comple x policy challenges. A famous example of this partnership is the â€Å"green economy†, which is deemed as one of important tools available for achieving sustainable development. Forth, it is generally accepted that science is the best way to evaluate the environmental risks and examine the adverse impacts of human activities. Thus, science and scientific evidence have been increasingly becoming more important in the process of environmental policy making. However, there is no consensus on how to apply the scientific evidence into environmental standards. The integration of science into environmental policies and governance even become more controversial when countries choose contradictory approaches in interpreting the scientific evidence according to their own interest. The different approaches in interpretation of scientific evidence shows science cannot be a good substitute for a liable policy response. Science is only expected to present unbiased and transparent evidence and ensure that policy makers are fully aware of all potential risks. Although MEAs has been significantly developed with adoption of a large number of conventions and treaties, the current international governance system cannot guarantee that all states at the global level will be willing and able to comply and respect the agreed international environmental standards. It urges to improve the quality and effectiveness of global environmental governance. Undoubtedly, it is a challenging and contentious task since there are areas that directly touch the sovereignty of states in managing their natural resources and pursuing their development strategies. To circumvent these concerns, there should be a new move to devise and develop the concept of â€Å"responsible sovereignty†. The concept of â€Å"environmentally responsible sovereignty† can urge states to use their powers in a way that are more aligned with the general interest of the international community and help to protect the global environment. References Hey, C. (2006). EU Environmental Policies: A short history of the policy strategies. In European Union Environmental Policy Handbook: A Critical Analysis of EU Environmental Legislation; Scheuer, S., Ed.; European Environmental Bureau: Utrecht. Bakker, C. and Francioni, F (2014). The Evolution of the Global Environmental System: Trends and Prospects. in The EU, the US and Global Climate Governance; Bakker, C. and Francioni, Eds; Ashgate Publishing. Orlando, E. (2014). The Evolution of EU Policy and Law in the Environmental Field: Achievements and Current Challenges; in The EU, the US and Global Climate Governance; Bakker, C. and Francioni, Eds; Ashgate Publishing. Baker, Susan (2002). The Evolution of European Union Environmental Policy. From Growth to Sustainable Development?, in Susan Baker et al. (eds.), The Politics of Sustainable Development. Theory, policy and practice within the European Union, London, Rutledge, p. 91-106. Von Homeyer, Igmar, (2009), â€Å"The Evolution of EU Environmental Governance†, in Joanne Scott, ed., Environmental Protection. European Law and Governance, Oxford, Oxford University Press, p. 1-26. [1] This part is heavily adapted from Bakker and Francioni ( 2014).

Black and Minority Ethnic People in Prison

Black and Minority Ethnic People in Prison For every Afro-Caribbean male on campus there are two in jail. (Phillips, 2004). Sir Trevor Phillips memorable claim is interesting on two levels. First, in how it highlights the strong evidence that Black or Minority Ethnic (BME) persons form a disproportionately high section of the prison population in England and Wales. Secondly, as an example of the polemical terms in which this question is often debated. In this essay I will seek to get behind the rhetoric. Whilst Sir Trevor may have chosen (or embellished) his statistics for rhetorical purposes, there is a disproportionately high number of BME prisoners. Home Office statistics  [2]  show some 27% of the prison population in England and Wales identified themselves as being from ethnic minority groups  [3]. These figures should be approached carefully if one is trying to consider incarceration rates in the resident population. Foreign nationals accounted for 38% of the BME prison population (Ministry of Justice, 2009). However, even excluding the impact on the statistics of foreign nationals, the differences in incarceration rates are startling, particularly for British nationals who self-identify as Black  [4]  : 6.8 per 1,000 compared to 1.3 per 1,000 for White people  [5]   more than five times more Black people in prison per head of population than White people. Similarly, there were more people of mixed ethnicity in prison per head of population than White people, with a rate per 1,000 of 3.7. However, this substantial overrepresentation was not shared by other non-White ethnic groups. People from Chinese or Other Ethnic backgrounds were least likely to be imprisoned, with a rate of 0.5 per 1,000. The rate for people from Asian groups  [6]  was also higher than for White persons but significantly lower than for the Black or Mixed groups at 1.8 per 1,000 population. The differences in these rates are so marked that there is clearly a question to answer here: why are Black people, and certain (but not all) other ethnic minorities more likely to be incarcerated than their White fellow-citizens? Three broad explanations present themselves as possibilities: disproportionate criminality: that persons of BME ethnicity commit a disproportionately high percentage of crimes; disproportionate detection and prosecution: that they are disproportionately more likely to be caught, charged or prosecuted with such crimes; and disproportionate conviction and sentencing; that they are more likely to be convicted, or if convicted more likely to be imprisoned or imprisoned for longer. Of course, the truth could combine these explanations but it is important to establish which of them is most salient, and to delve more deeply into the causes underlying such explanation. Are BME people just more likely to offend than White people? The simplest explanation for the disproportionately high number of BMEs imprisoned is that BME individuals are more likely to commit crimes. If we assume that there is a direct relationship between arrests and criminality, and we accept police reported crime levels, there is strong evidence to suggest that BMEs are more likely to commit crimes than Whites. (Here we are using the Home Office crime definitions, encompassing violent crime, intimate violence, acquisitive crime, vandalism and criminal damage, fraud, racially or religiously motivated crimes, and drug offences.) In 2007-8, 82% of all arrests were of people of white appearance, with 9% Black, 5% Asian and 1% classified as Other (Ministry of Justice, 2009). This can be compared the governments estimates for the ethnic makeup of the general UK population in 2006/07 where 88.7% are White, 2.7% Black, 5.5% Asian and 1.5% Other (Gask, 2008). Whilst the arrest numbers for White, Asian and Other ethnicities were roughly proportional to their prevalence  [7]  in the population, Black people were 2.5 times more likely to be arrested than the population as whole. If we accept a strong correlation between arrest and criminality rates, then we may conclude that Black people, but not other ethnic groups, are more likely to offend than Whites. This requires an explanation and broadly three types of explanation have been propounded: socio-economic, family factors and historical/cultural factors (including policing strategies). The association between socio-economic disadvantage and involvement in crime is well-established (Home Office Report). According to Beckers (1968) analytical framework, crime rates reflect the risks and costs of being caught, and the disparity between potential gain from crime and the associated opportunity cost. Those with least to lose are more likely to offend. Economists have interpreted measures of income inequality as indicators of the distance between the gains from crime and its opportunity costs (Fajnzylber et al, 2002). This view is supported by statistics associating UK homicide rates with poverty (Dorling et al, 2005). Black African and Caribbean groups make up approximately 2.5 times the proportion of the population in the most deprived areas of the country as for England as a whole (Jacobs Tinsley, 2006). Relative poverty appears to provide a good explanation why Black people might be more likely to commit crime, and in particular economic crime  [8]. It seems likely also that the unemployed are more likely to engage in criminality. The adage that the devil makes work for idle hands is supported by the literature  [9]. It is therefore significant that Home Office statistics on unemployment rates found that Black men suffered almost three times more unemployment than White British or Irish men (Home Office, 2005). Poor educational achievement is a symptom and cause of socio-economic disadvantage. Some argue that educational underachievement is also independently a major cause of criminality. The failure of the education system to educate our black boys provides a breeding ground for disaffection that undoubtedly leads many (not all) to seek alternative means to obtain a good standard of living or gain respect from their peers (Home Office, 2003). Certainly poor education is associated with delinquency. Maguin Loeber (1996) showed through their meta-analysis of studies of this relationship that children with low academic performances offended more frequently, committed more serious offences, and persisted in their offending. However, whether poor education is an independent cause is not established the merely correlational role of education was argued by pioneering analysts in the 1830s (Feldman, 1993). It may be that poor education affects delinquency indirectly by limiting employment opport unities, which in turn leads to more probability of criminal behaviour. If educational underachievement causes criminality then it is pertinent that Blacks participate far less in higher education than Whites (Bhattacharyya et al, 2003)  [10]. Furthermore, Black people are far likelier to be excluded from school (Department for Education and Skills, 2006)  [11]. There is an established association between school exclusions and involvement in crime  [12]  and, whilst it is unclear whether criminality leads to exclusion from school or vice versa, either way the evidence of more school exclusions amongst Black people supports the proposition that Black peoples disproportionate incarceration arises from disproportionate criminality. If education is a factor, however, it is unclear whether fault lies with the educational opportunities available; the allegedly low value that Black (or more specifically Afro-Caribbean) males place on formal education or other factors. Family and parenting factors provide another possible explanation of the overrepresentation of BMEs in prison. BME children are more likely to grow up in single-parent households; for example, 54.5% of mixed White/Black Caribbean children grew up in lone-parent households (Home Office, 2003). This has been shown to have a negative impact on later life outcomes. Kellam et al (1982) found that Black children from mother-only families were more likely to be judged by their teachers as maladaptive, than other groups. More specifically, a high proportion of BME children are born to teenage mothers (Higginbottom et al, 2005).  [13]  Jaffee et al (2001)s 20-year longitudinal study showed that the offspring of teen mothers are at particular risk for adverse outcomes including early school leaving, unemployment, early parenthood, and violent offending. Another possible family factor is that, the high proportion of BME adults already in the criminal justice system may feed back into offend ing behaviours among young people. Criminal and antisocial parents tend to have delinquent and antisocial children  [14]. Furthermore, concentrated incarceration in impoverished communities breaks familial ties, weakens parents social-control capacity, weakens economic power, and sours attitudes towards mainstream society, increasing the likelihood of offending (Clear, 2007). Taken together these socioeconomic, educational and family factors seem to provide a fairly full explanation of any greater level of criminality among Black or BME groups. However this has not prevented other theories being advanced. One suggestion is that we should blame urban Black culture, especially music and film, for providing role models who glamorise violence, and encourage criminal lifestyles. The Home Office suggests (Home Office, 2003) that active social exclusion comes about when young people lay claim to particular identities and make choices about lifestyles which compound their disadvantage and their existence on the margins of society, and quotes evidence that the arrival of American TV on St Kitts led to a sharp rise in gang violence, drugs and murders  [15]  and of links between music videos and criminal behaviour, especially gang behaviours such as of South London gangs having music production arms advocating violence against rivals. Pitts (2006) reports how gangs film robberies and use the footage to promote their music. However, as an explanation this is not as convincing as those discussed above. It is not obvious why BME youths should be more susceptible than White youths to music glamo urising criminality. It seems more likely that a popular culture that gives endorses criminality is a reflection, rather than a cause  [16]. Others prefer to blame White society, or more specifically colonialism. During the 1960s Fanon popularised a model which conceptualised the relations between Blacks and Whites in post-colonial societies (Fanon, 1963). The model has recently become revived by scholars such as Agozino (2003) and Gabbidon (2010). The colonialist model argues that past colonial repression, can cause crime in the present. Tatum (1994) argues that the victims of social, economic and political oppression will develop feelings of alienation to which the criminality and violence is an adaptive response. The model predicts that the colonised will become estranged from their own culture, and begin to self-hate both as individuals and at the group level. Racial groups become estranged from each other, and racial violence increases, based on a mutual lack of trust and as individuals try to fight back and reclaim their culture and identity (Tatum, 1994). Pouissant (1972) argues that this internalisation of anger c an explain the increasing Black on Black violence in Afro-American societies in particular. It is certainly easy to see that past colonialism, can be linked to social structures of oppression that persist into the present (Feagin Feagin, 2003, p. 35). Past economic, political and social subordination has left lasting imbalances in post-colonial societies and these differences in status, cause segregation, which leads directly to a negative impact on crime and perception of crime level (Massey Denton, 1993). Crime rises as the ethnic minority becomes increasingly separated from good basic services and employment opportunities (Wilson, 1998). However, it seems easier (and to accord better with the principle of Occams razor) to attribute greater criminality to greater disadvantage, and the greater disadvantage to history than to rely on group-wide psychological theories based on historic grievances. Direct tests of the components of the colonial model only show limited support (Austin, 1983) for the theory (although proponents of the theory argue that colonialism should be seen as an antecedent variable, and thus these tests may lack reliability (Bosworth Flavin, 2007)). Besides the difficulty testing this theory, the colonial model does not explain the diverse responses different groups have to similar forms of alienation why would ethnic minorities feel more alienated than lower-class Whites? Nor do they explain why a society that produces Malcolm X can also produce a Martin Luther King. Are black and ethnic minority individuals more likely to get caught and charged with criminal offences? After exploring reasons why BMEs might commit disproportionately high levels of crime, it is important to note that the statistics showing disproportionate criminality are highly contested. I began the previous section with the important caveat If we accept a strong correlation between arrest rates and criminality rates, but this proposition is contentious. Any statistics generated by criminal justice agencies provide only partial information about the nature of offenders, as the vast majority who commit crime are never caught or processed by the criminal justice system: individuals diverted from the criminal justice system will not feature in such statistics (Ministry of Justice, 2009). There is evidence to suggest that there is reporting bias in the reporting of certain crimes amongst certain ethnic minorities. Although some authors have suggested that mistrust of the criminal justice system may lead to less reporting of intra racial crimes, especially within ethnic minority groups, other evidence suggests that racial biases lead to disproportionately greater crime reporting in BME groups. For example, statistics suggest a higher propensity for black women to report sexual offences. Although this could indicate higher levels of sexual crime in Black communities, equally it could reflect lower tolerance of sexual misbehaviour by Black women or underreporting of sexual offences in the wider community (Home Office, 2003). Furthermore, statistics are also often skewed by the focus of law enforcement. A crack down on street crimes in BME-dominated areas, will distort the statistics (Chambliss et al, 2004). One way to evaluate the validity of the arrest data, and answer our second question is to consider discrepancies between self-reported and official crime rates. If such discrepancies are found, the most likely explanation would be a racial bias in the police force or Crown Prosecution System. Unfortunately the evidence here is inconclusive. Sharp Budd (2005)s analysis of the 2000 Offending Crime and Justice Survey seems to evidence a disparity between self-reported, and official criminal activity: White respondents and those of mixed ethnic origin generally self-reported the highest levels of offending  [17]. Asians and those from Other ethnic groups reported significantly lower levels of offending  [18]  than Whites, or those of mixed ethnic origin, on all offences, except robbery (Sharp Budd, 2005: 9). Black respondents were significantly less likely to self-report offending than White respondents across all offence categories, except burglary and the supply of drugs  [19 ]. White respondents and those of Mixed ethnic origin self-reported overall similar levels of offending, but those of mixed ethnicity were more likely to be serious offenders 27% versus 21%, although this may be subject to some non-response bias (Sharp Budd, 2005: 9). However, such self-report surveys suffer conceptual and methodological difficulties. Respondents may be untruthful and there may be an ethnic bias to the extent to which answers are honest. Whilst in the UK it is generally accepted that self-report surveys are reliable and valid measures of delinquency (Farrington, 2001), studies elsewhere suggest that ethnic minority groups are less likely to provide accurate answers to questions on criminality. Hindelang et al (1981) found that Black males were three times less likely to admit to offences, even when they were already known to the police. To overcome this problem Sharp Budd (2005) asked respondents how truthful they had been in completing the survey. Although there was little difference by ethnicity in the percentage of respondents claiming to have been honest (around 95%), slightly fewer older Black respondents said they were totally truthful, and overall, Black individuals were less likely to report honesty when answering problem s about drug use. Of course, answers to these questions could themselves be affected by a social desirability bias individuals may not want to admit to lying but, these general trends replicated the findings of other self-report studies, such as Flood-Page et al (2000). Another flaw in this evidence is that it shows only the percentage of individuals involved in any kind of crime. It may be that the smaller than expected percentages of BME individuals admitting to offending, commit a greater percentage of crime and therefore provide more opportunities to be caught. The evidence, therefore, is not strong but does suggest that BME people are less likely to be involved in criminality than Whites and yet are arrested disproportionately. We must ask then why would BME individuals be more likely to be caught and charged with criminal behaviour? Bowling Phillips (2002) suggested that this could be explained by institutional racism amongst the police. The charge of police racism has been levelled particularly at the Metropolitan Police.  [20]  The finding of institutional racism made at the Stephen Lawrence enquiry was generally accepted and TV documentaries such as the Panorama series have helped establish this as a wide-spread perception that is obvious and self-evident. For example the former Home Secretary, Jack Straw pronounced: Any long-established, white-dominated organisation is liable to have procedures, practices and a culture that tends to exclude or disadvantage non-white people. (Straw, 1999) Other commentators dismiss the idea that the police are institutionally racist. The earlier (1981) Scarman report supported a bad apple theory: that racial prejudice occurred amongst only a minority of officers (Neal, 2003). Racial prejudice does manifest itself occasionally in the behaviour of a few officers on the street. It may be only too easy for some officers, faced with what they must see as the inexorably rising tide of street crime to lapse into an unthinking assumption that all young black people are potential criminals (Macpherson, 1999: 16). Whilst the bad apple theory is not now prevalent, it is important to be careful not to extrapolate individual (or group action) or racism towards the whole institution. Some argue that reports such as the Morris Report (2004) have conflated individual racism to institutional racism (Lea, 2000; Stenson Waddington, 2007). Lea argues that the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, in particular, examined the specific actions of individual officers a nd unscientifically extrapolated from this a conclusion that the police force itself is racist. It has been argued that the negative interpretation of institutional racism has further increased tension between police and ethnic minorities (Foster et al, 2005). In fact, the direct evidence that institutional racism leads to disproportionate arrests of BME people is mixed. Jefferson, Walker Seneviratne (1992) studied differences in treatment in individuals arrested in Leeds, and found conflicting evidence. By analyzing the (police-perceived) race, sex, age, offence and address of everyone arrested or stopped in the city over 6 months in 1987, they found that Blacks were over-represented (7% of those arrested, compared to 3% in the population), Asians were proportionately represented and Whites were under-represented. However, when the neighbourhood ethnic balance was controlled for, Blacks were only over-represented in White areas. In Black-dominated areas, Whites were in fact over- represented. However, the information was based on where offenders lived, not where they offended. Furthermore, the low Black arrest rate in Black areas maybe due to mistrust of police in intra-racial crimes (Jefferson et al, 2002). If we turn to indications of differential treatment by the Police in relation to actions other than arrest, patterns do emerge. Newburn, Shiner Hayman (2004) analysed the propensity to be strip-searched in custody, finding that on average, Afro-Caribbeans suffered twice the number of strip-searches as Whites, whilst Arabic or Oriental people had a virtual halving of the probability of being strip-searched (Newburn et al, 2004: 689). Other studies have considered possible police ethnic biases in relation to stop-and-search arrests. Overwhelmingly the data suggest that BMEs are significantly more likely to be stopped than Whites. In 2006/2007 Blacks were seven times more likely to be stopped and searched, and Asians were twice as likely to be stopped as Whites (Jones Singer, 2008). However, the validity of these findings can be questioned. Bennetto, 2009 observes that police officers may just be more likely to record stops made of BMEs than those conducted on White people, but it seems unlikely that such misrecording would persist so consistently across forces, and over the last five years, particularly with the strong incentives on the police not to display racism. A more telling criticism is that stop-and-search data involves an invalid comparison it compares the ethnicity of the whole population with that of those stopped, rather than looking at the proportion of those stopped within the available population those who are out at times, and in places where stops are likely to occur (Fitzgerald Sibbitt, 1997). Indeed, Jefferson et al (1992) found a statistically significant low-to-moderate correlation (r=0.20) between number of evenings out and annoyance with police. Although Pavey (2008) counters this by arguing that it is unlikely that Black people are mo re available to be stopped in some areas than others, it is not outlandish to suggest that in some cultures may be more normal than others for people (particularly young men) to hang round on the street rather than staying in. Others counter this criticism by observating that, even if the ethnicity mix where and when the searches are made is different to that in the general population, it does not disprove police racist motivation the police might have chosen when and where to conduct such stops is based on where BME youths congregate (Home Office, 2003). This argument would be convincing if it could be backed by evidence that police decisions on where to operate are based on something other than their assessment of when and where crimes are most prevalent, but I am not aware of any such evidence. Are Black and Ethnic minorities unfairly dealt with by the justice system? The evidence of institutional racism in the justice system is also mixed at best. Although Hood (2008) argues that the over-representation of Afro-Caribbeans in prisons is a direct product of their over representation among those convicted of crime and sentenced in the Crown Courts, a recent study of almost 16,000 jurors found that although BME individuals are 3.5 times more likely to face a jury verdict, relative to their representation in the global population, jury verdicts showed only small differences based on defendant ethnicity (Thomas, 2010)  [21]. This indicates that one stage in the criminal justice system where BME groups do not face persistent disproportionality is when a jury reaches a verdict. The evidence that BMEs are likely to suffer more punitive sentences than White people is superficially more persuasive. Black young offenders accounted for 11.6% of custodial sentences, despite only accounting for 6% of total offences (Home Office, 2003). However this does not prove unfairness whilst it could reflect biased sentencing, it could equally have other causes, perhaps that BMEs are likelier to commit crimes that justify a custodial sentence. Jefferson et al (1992) found that apparently racially-based differences in outcome of arrest could be otherwise explained. Although in juvenile cases, Blacks were twice as likely to be tried in a Crown Court as Asians or Whites, most were being tried jointly with an older co-defendant, necessitating the Crown Court, and six of the twelve Black subjects included in this data were arrested in one incident. Also the Home Office statistics say nothing about prior convictions, which may affect sentencing. Although evidence that Whites are more likely to re-offend  [22]  suggests that this may not explain disproportionate custodial sentences for BME people, studies which take account of prior convictions find no evidence of racially biased sentencing. Mair (1986) found that Blacks and Wh ites who had committed similar offences, and had similar criminal records, had the same chance of a custodial sentence. Jefferson et al (1992)s regression analysis of data collected in their Leeds study found that when offence type and previous convictions were taken into account, there were no differences in sentencing or length of custodial sentence between different ethnic groups  [23]. Furthermore, once imprisoned, there is evidence to suggest that there is no racially-explained difference in the availability of parole. Although Hood Shute (2000) found that both Blacks and Whites were less likely to be granted parole than South Asian/Chinese prisoners, this is not necessarily due to ethnic bias. Moorthy et al (2006) argued persuasively that this could be better attributed to other characteristics associated with release. The clearest explanation of the disparity in sentencing is that BME individuals are likely to be engaged in different types of crimes than Whites, and more specifically are more likely to be engaged in crimes that have a high likelihood of incarceration, or even mandatory prison sentences. Young people of different ethnic groups do appear to have different profiles of offending behaviour. Jefferson et al (1992) found that BME individuals were more likely to be arrested under charges of violence and theft, whereas, Whites were more likely to be charged with burglary or damage. This is corroborated by Home Office statistics which suggest that. BME individuals seem to be overrepresented for certain crimes notably robbery and drugs offences (Home Office, 2003), and are more likely to be involved with firearms and gang violence, whereas white people are more likely to commit and be convicted of less serious offences, for example criminal damage or property offences like burglary. The pro pensity for BMEs to be engaged in drug offences in particular goes a long way towards explaining the relatively high percentage of custodial sentences given to BMEs. Drug offences typically have longer custodial sentences than those for even the most violent crimes, even for importing relatively small amounts of drugs.  [24]  There is a substantially higher proportion of Black inmates serving drug-related sentences (Home Office, 2003).  [25]  This is particularly true for female prisoners (Chigwada-Bailey, 2003)  [26]. Of the women in prison for all offences, 40% were convicted of drug offences (Home Office, 2003). Furthermore, this is not only the case for foreign nationals; over half of all Black British women prisoners incarcerated in 2005 were due to drug offences (Fitzgerald, 2007: 56). Although levels of drug use among 16 24 year olds are lower for Black youths than those from White or mixed backgrounds, there is evidence to show that Black people disproportionately misuse certain drugs, specifically crack cocaine (Sangster, Shiner, Sheikh, Patel, 2002). Almost half of arrestees reported using crack cocaine are Black: young White offenders at Feltham Young Offenders Institute are more likely to have opiate problems, whereas Black youths are more likely to have problems with crack cocaine (Home Office, 2005). There is also evidence that cannabis misuse is a particular problem among ethnic minority communities. The 2001/2 British Crime Survey found that people from a mixed white and black Caribbean background were also most likely to have used cannabis in their lifetime (54%), compared with only 30% of Whites (Home Office RDSD, 2008). Furthermore, there is evidence that BME people are disproportionately more likely to be involved in supplying drugs. Despite accoun ting for only 11% of all Londoners, 67% of those accused of supplying crack cocaine are Black (Home Office, 2007). Conclusion The relationship of race to criminality is perplexing. Many commentators in the field have a particular political point to make, and much of the debate is conducted in terms that are more interested in promoting a particular agenda than reaching the truth. Often statistics are gathered for particular reasons. Since 1991, the Criminal Justice Act has required police officers to monitor the ethnicity of people they stop and search and these have been gathered in the context of a force desperately keen to shrug off a racist label. It is difficult to see that this would not have had an effect on the quality of the data. In other contexts, data are deliberately withheld or not collected, for example the Press is discouraged from referring to ethnicity when reporting crime  [27]. Where information is collected, different studies categorise ethnic groups in different ways, some including and some excluding foreign nationals. However with all these caveats, the conclusion that best seems to fit the facts is that in England and Wales, BMEs do as a group disproportionately commit crimes that are more likely to lead to custodial sentences than other ethnic groups but this disproportionality all but disappears if we factor in socio-economic disadvantage, educational levels reached, and family factors, and there is no need to reach for more complex explanations such as post-colonial angst or police racism. In particular, the evidence supporting the pervasive view that police racism causes disproportionate arrests is unconvincing, especially as if it were true it would mean that we would need to find explanations why BME groups must have a lower level of criminality than one might expect given the socio-economic disadvantage, educational levels and family factors that apply. Astonishingly, there seems to be no paper that directly looks at crime rates by race, when socio-economic status is controlled for. Such a paper would be a major step forward to moving this debate from the polemical onto a scientific basis. Of course su

Opportunities in America :: Essays Papers

Opportunities in America Amy Tan’s â€Å"Two Kinds† is a story based on the account of a young Chinese girl living in the United States with her overly pushy mother. Two kinds is about opportunity, perseverance, and accomplishment. These are the things Jing-mei learns as she grows up in what many people call â€Å"The Land of Opportunity†. In America, it is believed that you have the opportunity to become anything you would like to be. For immigrants it is believed that â€Å"you can be best anything† (553). It is the same for the mother in this story. She believes that her daughter, Jing-mei, can be anything she wishes, even a prodigy. Though this idea of Jing-mei becoming a prodigy sounds far fetched, the mother is determined to turn her daughter into something, or someone who will make the family proud. The idea of Jing-mei becoming someone is not far fetched though. The only thing she needs to have is perseverance. Many people in America have the opportunity to advance themselves in their field of work, but they do not push themselves toward their limits. Jing-mei had decided not to push herself. She was continually saying â€Å" I won’t be what I’m not† (555). This is the attitude of many people today. They do not want to be changed. They just assume to assert their own will. Many people, in the end, come to realize that with perseverance comes accomplishment. Sometimes that is enough to get them on the right track. It took Jing-mei a lot of time to really experience the realm of accomplishment. It wasn’t until after she failed so many times that she realized she must persevere to become something in life. Jing-mei finally felt the realm of accomplishment when she realized that the piano lessons her mother forced upon her so many years ago had actually stayed with her through all the years. She was surprised to find â€Å"how easily the notes came back† (562). She now understood why it was so important to her mother for her to succeed. The mother did not want all of the glory for herself. She wanted Jing-mei to experience some of it. She wanted her to be happy. Jing-mei discovered the wonderful world of opportunity, the need for perseverance and the glory of accomplishment when she sat down at the piano and played the song she had failed to play so many years ago.

Trapping a Mouse Essay -- Expository Process Essays

Trapping a Mouse Trapping a mouse is not as easy as one might think. Mice are very crafty and they have an uncanny ability to steal the bait from a trap without getting caught. I was shown at a very early age just how slick these mice could be. Consequently, I was also taught the proper way to trap a mouse. It is very important to use the right ingredients when trapping these pesky critters. This is very important to ensure a good clean kill. You should use the two-bait method. By using this time-tested procedure, you will have an approximate success rate of 80% to 100%. The two ingredients used for this type of trapping are peanut butter and Velveeta cheese. Why these two particular items? Have you eaten a peanut butter sandwich at some point in your life, or a piece of Velveeta cheese? If you have, you know how sticky and chewy they both are. These two facts are what make them the prime ingredients for luring and trapping mice. I have tried other methods over the years, but the rodent has always managed to cheat the jaws of death. He would snatch the bait and run before the trap even went off. After many futile attempts with the other ways of trapping, I'd always revert to that time proven method. My grandfather was the one who devised this two-bait method. As a child I lived in a two-family home. My family and I lived on the first floor, along with my grandparents who lived on the second. I spent a lot of time with my grandfather. You may be wondering why this whole mouse trapping endeavor came to be. Let me tell you, growing up in an Italian household there was always plenty of food around, especially bread and cheese along with fruit and nuts that were lef... ...stairs to see if it worked. As I opened the door to the apartment, there sitting at the table in all his glory was my grandfather. He was wearing an ear to ear grin that could have lit up the darkest of nights. He motioned for me to come over to him. As I got closer to him, he said, "go look behind the icebox." I walked over to it and with nervous anticipation I peeked behind. Lo and behold, there he was, the mouse that had caused so much turmoil for my grandfather, now dead, caught by a persistent old man of many ideas. Thus started the two-bait method for trapping a mouse. You must use peanut butter and Velveeta cheese. But not too much of either because you want the mouse to have to stand on the trap in order to get at the bait. Then, locate the site of those rude little mouse droppings! Once you've found that, you are ready to "Trap a Mouse!" Trapping a Mouse Essay -- Expository Process Essays Trapping a Mouse Trapping a mouse is not as easy as one might think. Mice are very crafty and they have an uncanny ability to steal the bait from a trap without getting caught. I was shown at a very early age just how slick these mice could be. Consequently, I was also taught the proper way to trap a mouse. It is very important to use the right ingredients when trapping these pesky critters. This is very important to ensure a good clean kill. You should use the two-bait method. By using this time-tested procedure, you will have an approximate success rate of 80% to 100%. The two ingredients used for this type of trapping are peanut butter and Velveeta cheese. Why these two particular items? Have you eaten a peanut butter sandwich at some point in your life, or a piece of Velveeta cheese? If you have, you know how sticky and chewy they both are. These two facts are what make them the prime ingredients for luring and trapping mice. I have tried other methods over the years, but the rodent has always managed to cheat the jaws of death. He would snatch the bait and run before the trap even went off. After many futile attempts with the other ways of trapping, I'd always revert to that time proven method. My grandfather was the one who devised this two-bait method. As a child I lived in a two-family home. My family and I lived on the first floor, along with my grandparents who lived on the second. I spent a lot of time with my grandfather. You may be wondering why this whole mouse trapping endeavor came to be. Let me tell you, growing up in an Italian household there was always plenty of food around, especially bread and cheese along with fruit and nuts that were lef... ...stairs to see if it worked. As I opened the door to the apartment, there sitting at the table in all his glory was my grandfather. He was wearing an ear to ear grin that could have lit up the darkest of nights. He motioned for me to come over to him. As I got closer to him, he said, "go look behind the icebox." I walked over to it and with nervous anticipation I peeked behind. Lo and behold, there he was, the mouse that had caused so much turmoil for my grandfather, now dead, caught by a persistent old man of many ideas. Thus started the two-bait method for trapping a mouse. You must use peanut butter and Velveeta cheese. But not too much of either because you want the mouse to have to stand on the trap in order to get at the bait. Then, locate the site of those rude little mouse droppings! Once you've found that, you are ready to "Trap a Mouse!"

The Origins of Akhenaten Essays -- essays research papers

The Origins of Akhenaten There is much that is known about Akhenaten the heretic pharaoh. More lies in speculation. Since his time, the Amarna period is one the ancient Egyptians themselves wished to forget much about Akhenaten remains unknown. What we do know is often confusing, different hypothesis piled upon each other make it difficult to distinguish what is fact and what speculation. We do know that Akhenaten, or Amenhotep IV, was the second son of Amenhotep III, an 18th Dynasty pharaoh and his Queen Tiye. Although we know he had an older brother Thutmose and several sisters, he was never shown in family portraits or records, the only documented proof we have linking him to Amenhotep III is a wine seal with his name and the inscription â€Å"estate of the true king’s son Amenhotep† . One of the theories why Akhenaten was never shown with his family is that he suffered from some sort of disease such as Froehlich syndrome (tumor of the pituitary gland) or Marfan syndrome. His elder brother the original heir to the throne died early and this could support the theory that there was a genetic defect running in the family. If this was the case however, why would the royal family hide Akhenaten from public view, if both sons suffered from the same disease? Both Froehlich syndrome and Marfan’s syndrome correspond with some of the physical characteristics Akhenaten is portrayed as having , the full lips, elongated ear lobes, long arms and fingers, misshapen head, high cheekbones, slanted eyes, paunch belly, breasts and full hips and thighs. The first to offer the hypothesis that Akhenaten suffered from Froehlich syndrome was Dr. G. E. Smith, however, some facts do not fit this hypothesis. Victims of Froehlich syndrome are usually attributed with endocrinal mutation resulting in impotency. This seems unlikely, even though Akhenaten is in some images portrayed without his sexual organs, we know he fathered six daughters and possibly a son Tutankhamen. It can be argued both that Akhenaten really looked like this or that his portrayal is simply a result of the changing art forms during the Amarna period. The evidence on hand could point either way, for example Egyptologists have argued that the fact that Akhenaten is sometimes portrayed as more or less normal looking points to his other portraits as being the result of the changing art form. The counter argument is o... ... The old gods were reinstated and Akhenaten’s son and daughter changed their names to Tutankhamen and Ankhesenamen. Under their reign, and the reign of the pharaohs Aye and Horumheb who followed them, all memories of the Amarna period were eradicated. Akhenaten, Tutankhamen and Aye were purged from the list of kings and Akhetaten was razed to the ground. It is believe that the mummy of Akhenaten was destroyed; it is certainly true that there is great difficulty concerning the burial places of Akhenaten, Tiye, Nefertiti and many other people of the Amarna period. The one thing that is clear is that the reign of Akhenaten was highly unpopular with someone in power, all though it was almost a tradition for pharaohs to cut each others names from their statues and claim them for there own, there was a deliberate attempt to pretend that the Amarna period never happened. Akhenaten The Heretic King, Donald B Redford, Princeton University Press, 1984 Moses and Monotheism, Sigmund Freud, New York, Alfred A Knopf, 1947 The Life and Times of Akhenaton, Arthur Weigall, New York G P Putnam’s Sons, 1923 Akhenaten Egypt’s false Prophet, Nicholas Reeves, Thames and Hudson, 2001 The Origins of Akhenaten Essays -- essays research papers The Origins of Akhenaten There is much that is known about Akhenaten the heretic pharaoh. More lies in speculation. Since his time, the Amarna period is one the ancient Egyptians themselves wished to forget much about Akhenaten remains unknown. What we do know is often confusing, different hypothesis piled upon each other make it difficult to distinguish what is fact and what speculation. We do know that Akhenaten, or Amenhotep IV, was the second son of Amenhotep III, an 18th Dynasty pharaoh and his Queen Tiye. Although we know he had an older brother Thutmose and several sisters, he was never shown in family portraits or records, the only documented proof we have linking him to Amenhotep III is a wine seal with his name and the inscription â€Å"estate of the true king’s son Amenhotep† . One of the theories why Akhenaten was never shown with his family is that he suffered from some sort of disease such as Froehlich syndrome (tumor of the pituitary gland) or Marfan syndrome. His elder brother the original heir to the throne died early and this could support the theory that there was a genetic defect running in the family. If this was the case however, why would the royal family hide Akhenaten from public view, if both sons suffered from the same disease? Both Froehlich syndrome and Marfan’s syndrome correspond with some of the physical characteristics Akhenaten is portrayed as having , the full lips, elongated ear lobes, long arms and fingers, misshapen head, high cheekbones, slanted eyes, paunch belly, breasts and full hips and thighs. The first to offer the hypothesis that Akhenaten suffered from Froehlich syndrome was Dr. G. E. Smith, however, some facts do not fit this hypothesis. Victims of Froehlich syndrome are usually attributed with endocrinal mutation resulting in impotency. This seems unlikely, even though Akhenaten is in some images portrayed without his sexual organs, we know he fathered six daughters and possibly a son Tutankhamen. It can be argued both that Akhenaten really looked like this or that his portrayal is simply a result of the changing art forms during the Amarna period. The evidence on hand could point either way, for example Egyptologists have argued that the fact that Akhenaten is sometimes portrayed as more or less normal looking points to his other portraits as being the result of the changing art form. The counter argument is o... ... The old gods were reinstated and Akhenaten’s son and daughter changed their names to Tutankhamen and Ankhesenamen. Under their reign, and the reign of the pharaohs Aye and Horumheb who followed them, all memories of the Amarna period were eradicated. Akhenaten, Tutankhamen and Aye were purged from the list of kings and Akhetaten was razed to the ground. It is believe that the mummy of Akhenaten was destroyed; it is certainly true that there is great difficulty concerning the burial places of Akhenaten, Tiye, Nefertiti and many other people of the Amarna period. The one thing that is clear is that the reign of Akhenaten was highly unpopular with someone in power, all though it was almost a tradition for pharaohs to cut each others names from their statues and claim them for there own, there was a deliberate attempt to pretend that the Amarna period never happened. Akhenaten The Heretic King, Donald B Redford, Princeton University Press, 1984 Moses and Monotheism, Sigmund Freud, New York, Alfred A Knopf, 1947 The Life and Times of Akhenaton, Arthur Weigall, New York G P Putnam’s Sons, 1923 Akhenaten Egypt’s false Prophet, Nicholas Reeves, Thames and Hudson, 2001

Revolutionizing Elearning As Young Students Collaboratively Study Education Essay

With the altering life style in the society, how pupils live outside school becomes a challenge in bettering the educational system ; a process that has continuously evolved along with the promotion of scientific discipline and engineering. Gone were the yearss where school was thought to be a mere schoolroom and a instructor to educate immature heads, instead it besides includes modern installations, engineering, course of study and advanced instruction methods. Parents have now more options in taking the sort of instruction to give to their kids. But instruction per Se is besides sometimes defined depending on parents ‘ ability to pay, life style and even work agenda. This research aims to integrate the three factors that affect larning in the kingdom of modern society: the course of study, the method and the electronic platform. While larning system has endlessly been altering, the demand to supply more antiphonal and suiting learning bundle to immature scholars still exists. But are younger coevalss ready to travel for a full-online acquisition? Can you conceive of few old ages from now, school will no longer be schoolrooms but right at our ain place and the used-to be school edifice will be used to ease the face to confront socialisation of the immature scholars? Children will travel to ‘school ‘ to play with other childs and travel place ‘to continue larning ‘ though the aid of larning facilitators who could be parents, professional instructors or coachs and the usage of electronic platforms like computing machine, cyberspace and other engineerings. Learning at place is non a new manner of larning but it began since Renaissance epoch and modern instruction has acknowledged this as an option. One of the options offered by most private establishments is called homeschooling, a authoritative manner of larning but redefined with modified course of study, attack and oftentimes with the integrating of engineering. It is a untraditional manner of larning compared with common schoolroom acquisition, where a parent or coach or professional instructor act as a facilitator-consultant and a scholar stay at place to analyze. This construct was revived in the United States by John Holt ( 1964 ) who felt unhappy with the public school system and subsequently followed by Raymond Moore, a devout Christian and ex-missionary. For most developed states like the United States of America and the United Kingdom, homeschooling is patronized by parents for different grounds. Even for households who migrate abroad seek to happen the best place school for their kids as they still try to settle down or suit in with their working agenda and in the community. Homeschooling, an Alternate There were research surveies on the advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling to turning phase of kids and the socialisation facet is seen to be a common job. This may non be true to all particularly for parents who involve their kids with community activities and other particular involvement categories such as dance category, music, athleticss and others but these would be excess cost. How do most homeschooling ‘teach ‘ pupils at place? There are two types of homeschooling, foremost, parents buy faculties and stuffs and they themselves teach their kids or engage a coach to make it on their behalf ; and 2nd, parents enroll their kids to distance learning plans. Accredited homeschooling establishments have set their criterions to run into their state ‘s regulated course of study instruction as benchmark. Normally, the scholar or pupil takes standardized tests to be measured for an upgrade and/or earn his/her sheepskin. The distant acquisition could take to developing societal accomplishments of scholars. Socialization accomplishments play a important function in the society and if this facet is seen as one of the disadvantages of homeschooling, so possibly, it is non the homeschooling construct that affects the holistic development of kids but the learning procedure and attack. Revolutionizing How Children Learn This research survey focuses on place schooling teaching method in telecollaborative attack utilizing English as medium of direction and e-learning tools in instruction and acquisition. It aims to examine the effects of the said attack in replying the common diagnosed job in homeschooling which is the developing societal larning accomplishments of scholars due to remote or isolated and independent attack in larning. It besides aims to measure whether immature scholars are prepared to full-online larning utilizing engineering as tool while developing their cognitive, socio-affective and psychomotor spheres. Homeschooling in Asiatic States Why English Language? Although the survey focuses on the telecollaborative attack in homeschooling utilizing engineering as tools, English as the map linguistic communication is considered important in developing societal accomplishments as scholars are exposed to planetary practical community. The intense demand brought by the promotion of engineering and globalisation, reenforcing the usage of this linguistic communication has become one of the pushs of the Ministry of Education in many Asiatic states to get by with the altering gait of planetary economic system and learning.A But how long does it take for not native talkers attain English linguistic communication proficiency in academic context? In East Asia, kids learn their native linguistic communication non merely at place but even in schools since about all topics is taught in their native linguistic communication except for English lesson. English is the most studied foreign linguistic communication in the People ‘s Republic of China, Japan , South Korea and Taiwan ( Republic of China ) . In PR China, English is a needed linguistic communication get downing with the 3rd class, although the quality of direction varies greatly and most Chinese citizens do non talk it good. The survey of English is besides required in India, where it is used for official communicating. In Nepal, about all topics are taught in English, except for Nepali literature ( Modern Language, Wikipedia 2007 ) . In the Philippines, English linguistic communication has become the primary medium of direction and required to utilize to non less than 70 % of the clip allocation for all larning countries in all twelvemonth degrees ( Department of Education Order no. 36, Series 2006 ) . Based on the survey in the most successful school learning English as 2nd linguistic communication to pupils in California, the unwritten proficiency takes 3 to 5 old ages to develop, and academic English proficiency can take 4 to 7 old ages ( Hakuta, et.al 2000 ) . An premise was besides made by Epstein ( 1977 ) of Washington Post that linguistic communication acquisition depends on the gait on how English is introduced to a pupil under a bilingual plan. Another in deepness survey of 2nd linguistic communication acquisition was made by Van Lier ( 1998 ) where in his observation he wrote: Many of the early instance surveies of immature kids emphasized the successes of the 2nd linguistic communication acquisition procedure. The research workers frequently marveled at the celerity with which these immature kids learned to discourse in the 2nd linguistic communication, sometimes in a affair of months. These findings concur with the sentiments of the general population that larning linguistic communications is an easy and natural undertaking for immature kids. They merely ‘pick them up, ‘ as it were. However, when we look a little more closely at the inside informations of linguistic communication usage as reported in these instance surveies, we can see a few general forms emerge. In none of the instance surveies, whether of immature kids, striplings or grownups, are any important developments of complex grammar reported within the first twelvemonth, or even in the 2nd twelvemonth. Rather, all surveies speak of formulaic vocalizations, colloquial schemes, and a extremely simple codification. This simple codification is sufficient for mundane societal contact, and frequently gives the feeling of astonishing colloquial eloquence in these contexts, but it is non the elaborate, syntactically and lexically complex codification of the adept linguistic communication user. A A A A A A This gives us an feeling that colloquial proficiency in geting English as 2nd linguistic communication may non compare academic proficiency of the linguistic communication which is the basic kernel for success in formal establishments ( schools ) .A Immersion has been used as scheme in most Asiatic states like China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia Thailand and few selected metropoliss in the Philippines. However, the fact that one develops colloquial linguistic communication accomplishments, it still helps in set uping resonance as one builds societal web.Theoretical BackgroundTelecollaborative Approach refers to the method applied in the instructional design that involves scholars working with their equals in the schoolroom and with equals at a distance through on line or practical coaction. Telecollaborative came from two blended words: Tele means â€Å" at a distance † and Collaborate means â€Å" portion the labours † ( literally, â€Å" co-labor † ) ; â €Å" tele-collaborative † is a larning undertaking in which the participants â€Å" portion the labours † of larning â€Å" at a distance † through the assistance of information and communicating technology.A They may portion those labours through electronic mail, newsgroups, treatment forums or a figure of other online tools and larning environments. A A A A A A This instructional design is anchored on different larning theories, rules and surveies. A A A A A A Constructive Pedagogy is an attack based on premise that cognition is developed ( constructed ) by the person through actively take parting in the cognitive procedure, societal procedure and rational procedure. It, promotes a more open-ended acquisition experience where the methods and consequences of larning are non easy measured and may non be the same for each scholar ( Mergel, 1998 ) . Harmonizing to Smorgansboard ( 1997 ) , as influenced by other theoreticians like Bruner, Ulrick, Neiser, Goodman, Kant, Kuhn, Dewey, Habermas, and Jean Piaget, Constructivism creates real-world environment that employ the context in which acquisition is relevant ; focal points on realistic attacks to work outing real-world jobs ; provides tools and environments that help scholars construe the multiple positions of the universe ; displacements paradigm of the teacher to a manager and analyser of the schemes used to work out jobs ; stresses conceptual interrelation by supplying multiple representations or positions on the content ; negotiates and non imposes instructional ends and aims ; utilizes rating as a self-analysis tool ; and makes larning internally controlled and meditated by the learner.A A A A A A A Another larning theory aligned to constructivism is David Kolb ‘s theory known as Experiential Learning, foremost published in 1984 when his thoughts have had a dramatic impact on the design and development of womb-to-tomb larning models.A Harmonizing to his theory, experience is the beginning of larning. Kolb and Fry ( 1983 ) created celebrated theoretical account out of four elements: a. ) concrete experience, B. ) observation c. ) contemplation, and d. ) program, the formation of abstract constructs and proving in new state of affairss. The celebrated experiential larning circle patterned after Kurt Lewin ‘s, explores the cyclical form of all larning from Experience through Reflection and Conceptualizing to Action and on to AA farther Experience.A A A A A A A The 3rd theory considered by the research worker is Judith Harris ‘ Learning Framework. Harris ( 1998 ) is noted for her seminal activities in telecomputing where schoolrooms are connected worldwide through the assistance of internet entree. The activity constructions are interpersonal exchanges, information aggregation and job resolution. The research worker adopted the learning model of Judi Harris to enable scholars to associate with state of affairss within and outside their ain context, to pass on and to associate outside the schoolroom through the assistance of information and communicating engineering. A A A A Two surveies conducted were found to hold used one or two of the mentioned theories such as constructivism, experiential theories and telecomputing framework.A These involved different schemes in learning linguistic communication both in primary and in secondary schools.A Most of these schemes used engineering in learning particularly in developed states like United States of America and Europe. A A A Apple Classroom of Tomorrow ( ACOT ) of United States of America and Project Method in School Projects through E-Learning ( PROMISE ) of Europe conducted a separate survey about effectual schemes in learning English linguistic communication. A A A Harmonizing to the research conducted by Apple Classroom of Tomorrow ( ACOT, 1998 ) , the cardinal accomplishments of reading, authorship, and arithmetic remain the basiss of schooling and pupil acquisition. Surveies have shown that pupils with everyday entree to engineering larn these basic accomplishments faster and better when they have a opportunity to pattern them utilizing engineering and are more motivated to larn when engineering is portion of their day-to-day school experience. Surveies show that one time pupils become familiar with engineering, they rapidly develop proficiency in its usage. This opens up an exciting new universe of larning possibilities for them, and their possible for achievement skyrockets. Students gain new accomplishments and go familiar with new engineerings that will assist fix them for future success in an progressively technological universe. Even the most basic tools can assist immature scholars become more productive. A A A Researchers involved in the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow undertaking revealed that third-grade pupils found it easier to compose with a keyboard than with a pencil or a pen. Because authorship was easier, they wrote more. By composing more, they learned to compose better. Their battle to larning undertakings with engineering led them to this betterment. As a consequence, they spend more clip acquisition and practising the basic undertakings than pupils who approach the same undertakings in a traditional paper-and-pencil mode. A A A A A A In Europe, K. Antilla, M.A Erickson and S. Holme-Larsen conducted Project Method in School Projects through E-Learning ( PROMISE, 2005 ) .A They found out that many of the participants of the computing machine supported job based acquisition were positive about the technological attack. They said that the pupils love to make computing machine supported collaborative undertaking work because it was different from how they usually work.A The merchandise orientation was non what attracted the kids, but the procedure of larning on how to happen information and how to make the research.A However, the troubles on the lingual and cultural facets of communicating with aliens were the important barriers on this project.A Many respondents found that the deficiency of personal lingual competency was a heavy barrier, whereas professional educational facets such as instruction, acquisition, pupils ‘ function in the schoolroom pattern less of import. Several participants declare that their over all feeling was that their pupils were happy to take part in multinational computing machine supported collaborative acquisition ( CSCL ) undertakings. They considered it as a benefit and gave new inspiration to instructors and pupils who were involved in such undertakings. A A A A A A Both ACOT and PROMISE stated that engineering played as an of import subscriber in learning scholars to compose, read and even work with equals. However, what were emphasized were non the technological facets entirely but the procedure involved utilizing engineering as tools in learning pupils made them execute better.A Although diverseness in linguistic communication, civilization, and deficiency of engineering tools in some countries became barriers in Europe, still the acquisition undertakings were found to be good. A A A A A A The 4th theory considered for this survey was Mc Grath ‘s Mentoring Framework, a model that directs wise man or the instructor to take the propositional cognition of the mentees or the pupils to procedural cognition through providing, taking or demoing. It process scholars to go brooding practicians of cognition. The terminal end of this model is to do scholars skilled in using their acquisition at the terminal of the procedure. This model was adopted in the National English Proficiency Program of Department of Education in 2003. It was a mentoring plan designed for instructors to better their presentation and treatment accomplishments, art of oppugning and giving of undertaking instructions accomplishments. A A A A A A The last theory considered and found to be the baseline of the theoretical model is the Social Network Theory where a map of all of the relevant ties between the nodes is being studied ( Barnes, 1954 ) .A This theory refuted the traditional sociological surveies where single attributes matter more than the relationship. Alternatively it was the antonym, where relationship ties matter most and where single attributes affair less ( Burkhardt, 1994 ) .A A A A A A A With the promotion of engineering, societal networking engineerings play an of import portion in pupil motive, keeping and learning-especially in distributed acquisition environments. Social networking engineerings and media are of import tools because of their ability to further interaction and communicating between pupils. This is particularly of import in on-line acquisition communities, where pupils may hold limited face-to-face clip to construct a support web with their equals ( Baird, 2005 ) and homeschooling is one of the authoritative illustrations. A A A A A A Derek Baird wrote that a cardinal component of a societal web engineering like Flickr was its uniqueness on its platform design.A Online coaction and community are interwoven as chief constituents. Though it was non originally designed for instruction, it was found to be utile. Baird said that one of the chief booby traps of presenting new engineering into the schoolroom ( on-line or otherwise ) is the hazard of holding the engineering frustrate the user to the point that it distracts them from their original acquisition end. Apec Cyber Academy Program, Taking IT Global, ejournals and other educational online site are some illustration of societal web tools that areA of import because their ease-of-use allows the pupil to maintain his/her focal point on geting new accomplishments, constructing on bing cognition while at the same clip developing authorship, package, and beef uping societal ties within their learning circle. A A A A A A An application of societal web theory was studied by Kern, R. and Warschauer, M. ( 2000 ) where they presented the development of linguistic communication learning utilizing computing machine. In their paper, they presented the theories behind the computing machine assisted linguistic communication acquisition ( CALL ) and the development of network-based linguistic communication instruction ( NBLT ) as one signifier of CALL.A Harmonizing to the writers, NBLT is linguistic communication learning that involves the usage of computing machines connected to one another in either local or planetary webs. Whereas CALL has traditionally been associated with self-contained, programmed applications such as tutorials, drills, simulations, instructional games, trials, and so on. It represents a new and different side of CALL, where human-to-human communicating is the focal point. Language scholars with entree to the Internet, for illustration, can now potentially communicate with na tive talkers ( or other linguistic communication scholars ) all over the universe 24 hours a twenty-four hours, seven yearss a hebdomad, from school, place, or work. Learners can pass on either on a one-to-one or a many-to-many footing in local-area web conferences and farther multiplies their chances for communicative pattern. Finally, the fact that computer-mediated communicating occurs in a written, electronically-archived signifier gives pupils extra chances to be after their discourse and to detect and reflect on linguistic communication usage in the messages they compose and read. A A A A A A However, still instructors remained disbelieving in the usage of this scheme ( Cotton, 1995 ) . As footing, few research surveies have been conducted as to computing machine and linguistic communication acquisition. Some illustration of this was the academic study of instructional usage of engineering in 1995. It showed that 59 % of foreign linguistic communication plans and 65 % of ESL plans used no signifier of computing machine engineering in their classs and puting linguistic communication instruction at the underside of the list of academic countries surveyed. A A A A A A In this survey, the reappraisal of NBLT of Carla Meskill ‘s and Krassimira Ranglova ‘s research ( 2000 ) on the execution of new technology-enhanced English as Foreign Language ( EFL ) instruction in Bulgaria was cited. Meskill and Ranglova showed that the usage of computing machine webs was portion of a broader conceptualisation of the linguistic communication plan that resulted in a more â€Å" socio-collaborative † attack to acquisition, a greatest illustration of the fact that engineering is non merely a machine, or even merely the usage of a machine, but instead a wide signifier of societal organisation. Part of the reappraisal is the sum-up of findings on how engineering, content affair, and activities were integrated in the literature-based course of study through the usage of audio tape, harmony plans and manner draughtss, word processing, and email coactions. In their findings, pupils under NBLT significantly gained higher in reading, vocabular y, grammar and authorship. A A A A A A Teachers reported that the new course of study required pupils and instructors likewise to radically change their apprehension of what it is to larn a linguistic communication. Because of the cardinal displacement in position required by the new course of study, teachers reported an initial daze followed by gradual and favourable accommodation to this new independent and participatory manner of larning. Likewise, instructors felt their ain accommodation experience, though ab initio rather hard, eased by the instantly discernable benefits reaped by their pupils. A A A A A A Students reported a really enthusiastic response to the new course of study. They reported this â€Å" response-based † attack to literature affecting email exchanges with American university pupils to be highly helpful in footings of motive, assurance, and overall English linguistic communication development. Interestingly, though non alone in the literature, merely half of the pupils found the equal redacting component of the course of study helpful. A A A A A A Cited surveies provided grounds for the viability of computing machine engineerings as tools to back up linguistic communication larning ends and the socio-collaborative procedure. It is believed that through these theories, Constructivism, Experiential Learning, Telecomputing, Mentoring Frameworks and Social Network Theory, scholars in Asia under homeschooling plan would go socially adjusted and academically developed as other pupils in a regular school plans.Research AimsThis research aims to examine the followers: Readiness of immature scholars for full-on-line acquisition Effectiveness of telecollaborative attack in advancing critical, brooding and societal accomplishments Effectiveness and functionality of the e-platformsSignificance of the StudyTechnology has been portion of our turning modern society. Using it to the full benefits of every citizen begins with the right instruction that we provide to our younger coevals. How we gear them to take our future civilisation is every bit important as gestating the appropriate acquisition teaching method and tools that pedagogues use before really implementing it in the acquisition procedure. Hence, this survey considers the possible important effects of full online larning through homeschooling plans and prepares responsible stakeholders for its possible effects to avoid any inauspicious possibilities from repeating in the hereafter.Research MethodologyA A A A A A The research worker will utilize Experimental and Qualitative Research as methods. A qualitative research is a method in which the research worker attempts to analyze of course happening phenomena in all their complexness ( Fraenkel and Wallen, 1 998 ) .ProceduresA A A A A A The respondents are selected in-between school pupils ages 10-12 from Taiwan and the Philippines. The survey period is divided into three major phases: Preparation of course of study and rating tools, e-platform and schemes ; Actual experiment phase ; and Evaluation and Analysis. Below is the research undertaking ‘s mileposts and mark period.Research Target Milestone and Time Frame: 2 Old agesPhaseTIME FRAMEMilestone1st 2 months Datas Gathering Homeschooling in Taiwan and in the Philippines Standard Curriculum and Assessment Ministry of Education ‘s School Policies Respondents 2 months Curriculum Design and Assessment Tools Preparation ( placing specific larning aims and topics to be used ) 6 months E-Platform Design and other Technology Tools Preparation 1 month Random Sampling and Test of E-tools 2 hebdomads Concluding Choice of Respondents 2nd 8 months ( within the school twelvemonth of the respondents ‘ states ) Experiment Phase 8 months Datas Gathering 3rd These phases are inclusive of the experiment period where there will be an on-going analysis until it reached the concluding decision and presentation. Datas Analysis Evaluation Consultation Pulling of Conclusion Research Final Presentation