Ethics Awareness Inventory and Personal Values Essay

Ethics and values coincide with one another. Values are determined by what is right and what is wrong and ethics is actually doing what is right and wrong. Everyday people are faced with making right and wrong decisions. Ethically we make decisions according to our beliefs, values, and awareness. Every decision should be made to do the right thing according to the situation. In this paper I will discuss the difference between ethics and values, and my values in my personal life. I will reflect on the Williams Institute Ethics Awareness Inventory and discuss my self assessment. I will also reflect on Kudler Fine Foods (KFF) values and how they align with my values. Then we will look at how being a part of the management team at KFF would affect my performance. Ethics vs. Values Ethics refers to standards of conduct, standards that indicate how one should behave based on moral duties and virtues, which themselves are derived from principles of right and wrong(cite1). In order to apply this definition to practical decision making it is necessary to specify the nature of the moral  obligations considered intrinsic to ethical behavior.(cite1) There are two aspects to ethics: the first involves the ability to discern right from wrong, good from evil, and propriety from impropriety; the second involves the commitment to do what is right, good and proper(cite1). Ethics is an action concept; it is not simply an idea to think and argue about (cite1). The terms â€Å"values† and â€Å"ethics† are not interchangeable(cite 1). Ethics is concerned with how a moral person should behave, whereas values simply concern the various beliefs and attitudes that determine how a person act Running head: ETHICS AWARENESS INVENTORY AND PERSONAL VALUES Ethics Awareness Inventory and Personal Values Selisecia Royster University of Phoenix Management 521 Christie Matthews July 30, 2009 Ethics Awareness Inventory and Personal Values Ethics and values coincide with one another. Values are determined by what is right and what is wrong and ethics is actually doing what is right and wrong. Everyday people are faced with making right and wrong decisions. Ethically we make decisions according to our beliefs, values, and awareness. Every decision should be made to do the right thing according to the situation. In this paper I will discuss the difference between ethics and values, and my values in my personal life. I will reflect on the Williams Institute Ethics Awareness Inventory and discuss my self assessment. I will also reflect on Kudler Fine Foods (KFF) values and how they align with my values. Then we will look at how being a part of the management team at KFF would affect my performance. Ethics vs. Values Ethics refers to standards of conduct, standards that indicate how one should behave based on moral duties and virtues, which themselves are derived from principles of right and wrong(cite1). In order to apply this definition to practical decision making it is necessary to specify the nature of the moral obligations considered intrinsic to ethical behavior.(cite1) There are two aspects to ethics: the first involves the ability to discern right from wrong, good from evil, and propriety from impropriety; the second involves the commitment to do what is right, good and proper(cite1). Ethics is an action concept; it is not simply an idea to think and argue about (cite1). The terms â€Å"values† and â€Å"ethics† are not interchangeable(cite 1). Ethics is concerned with how a moral person should behave, whereas values simply concern the various beliefs and attitudes that determine how a person act Running head: ETHICS AWARENESS INVENTORY AND PERSONAL VALUES Ethics Awareness Inventory and Personal Values Selisecia Royster University of Phoenix Management 521 Christie Matthews July 30, 2009 Ethics Awareness Inventory and Personal Values Ethics and values coincide with one another. Values are determined by what is right and what is wrong and ethics is actually doing what is right and wrong. Everyday people are faced with making right and wrong decisions. Ethically we make decisions according to our beliefs, values, and awareness. Every decision should be made to do the right thing according to the situation. In this paper I will discuss the difference between ethics and values, and my values in my personal life. I will reflect on the Williams Institute Ethics Awareness Inventory and discuss my self assessment. I will also reflect on Kudler Fine Foods (KFF) values and how they align with my values. Then we will look at how being a part of the management team at KFF would affect my performance. Ethics vs. Values Ethics refers to standards of conduct, standards that indicate how one should behave based on moral duties and virtues, which themselves are derived from principles of right and wrong(cite1). In order to apply this definition to practical decision making it is necessary to specify the nature of the moral obligations considered intrinsic to ethical behavior.(cite1) There are two aspects to ethics: the first involves the ability to discern right from wrong, good from evil, and propriety from impropriety; the second involves the commitment to do what is right, good and proper(cite1). Ethics is an action concept; it is not simply an idea to think and argue about (cite1). The terms â€Å"values† and â€Å"ethics† are not interchangeable(cite 1). Ethics is concerned with how a moral person should behave, whereas values simply concern the various beliefs and attitudes that determine how a person act

Computer Hackers Essay

The sub culture group of hackers has been around since the 1960s. The underground sub culture of hacking has evolved into a mainstream open community. Some famous hackers like Eric Corlery, Gordon Lyon, Gary McKinnon, and Kevin Mitnick have done their fair share of infiltrating network bases all over the United States. These people have a unique mindset that allows them to crack these codes set up by government officials. Eric Raymond tries to classify this group of people as crackers because they crack codes of computers but the community wanted to keep the name hackers. Regardless of the name the community of people is smart and can break down your computer at anytime. A hacker is a person who finds a weakness in a system and exploits it. Some motivation for hackers can be money, challenge, or pure adrenaline rush. There is a difference between a cracker and a hacker. Crackers are normally considered when people are involved with computers. There are several types of hackers all over the world. White hat hackers breach security for no reason at all. The term white hat means ethical hacker. A black hat hacker breaks into secure networks to destroy data or to make the networks not useable for those who are allowed to use it. Black hat hackers have a process called pre hacking to help them determine which network to hack. The hacker first looks for an open port to gain access to. After that is done the hacker will find ways to get vital information about the network to get into the system. Hackers will even go above and beyond to engage activities like dumpster diving. Dumpster diving is when people actually dive into a dumpster to get information like documents that can help them breakdown the network. A grey hat hacker is a combination of white hat hacker and black hat hacker. A grey hat hacker will surf the internet just to crack the network and charge the administrator to set up a firewall. Basically the hacker sets up the administrator without letting them know that they broke into their system. A social status among hackers is the elite hacker. These hackers are the most skilled in their field. Script kiddie hacker is the hacker that attempts to hack with pre packaged software. A neophyte is a non experienced hacker who really does not know what they are doing. They are new to the whole sub culture of hacking. A blue hat hacker is one who is outside of the security consulting firm who looks for places that have been exploited to patch up the weakness. Some attacks a hacker use are network enumeration, vulnerability analysis, and exploitation. There are techniques like vulnerability scanners, password cracking, and packet sniffer, spoofing attack, and rooting attack. A vulnerability scanner is a tool used to quickly check computers on a network for known weaknesses. Hackers also commonly use port scanners. These check to see which ports on a specified computer are open or available to access the computer, and sometimes will detect what program or service is listening on that port, and its version number. Password cracking is in essence guessing what the password could be to the administrator server. A packet sniffer uses data packets to catch the store data in the computer. Also hackers used techniques like intimidation, helpfulness, and name dropping to get people within a company to give out information regarding the servers so they may be able to attain the network information. At times these hackers come out successful. With so many worms and viruses like the Trojan horse a hacker can infiltrate your server and get all your information. There have been programs like Norton and MacAfee to help cut down on hacking. This sub culture like the thrill of breaking down walls and seeing what they are not suppose to see. Between people not being smart about certain things they do online and the hacker for setting them up, this issue of hacking can be a big problem. Not everything that is hacked is bad because government plans have risen to show what bad things they have created to ruin America. At the end of the day make sure you log out your account and get antivirus software to keep your account, your  account.

How Accurate Is It To Describe The Government Between 1822-30 As Liberal Tories? Essay

When we use the word Liberal, its intended meaning is open to opinion. The person or group is very open-minded and open to change. The Tories during 1822-30 appeared to be very Liberal at this time. They appeared to be changing their minds on a number of issues, such as Religious Freedom, Political Rights and Free Trade. They also appeared to be changing their attitudes about people’s freedom of expression. The Six Acts, created to prevent people grouping together, in fear of a revolution. This Act was abolished as the masses appeared to be content with life, and not in an uproar with the country. The Tories appeared to be Liberal with the supposed arrival of new men into the Cabinet. Lord Goderich was introduced as Chancellor of the Exchequer. William Huskisson became President of the Board of Trade. With George Canning also becoming Foreign Secretary. These new men brought with them new ideas and propositions to the House of Commons. Compared to the previous men they appeared brilliant. But the truth was these men were not new at all. They were simply back-benchers from the Cabinet, rarely seen doing anything. They were brought forward into the main Cabinet in order to please the people. Compared to the old Cabinet they were nothing new, but to the people they appeared radical and open to change. Really it was just their better ability of conveying ideas to the Commons, which made them appear brilliant. All their supposed new ideas were also nothing new. They were all ideas that had been thought up years ago, from the years of Pitt. These ideas were postponed due to war or economic crisis, and the new Cabinet simply set the ball rolling again. On the Economic side of things, a lot changed. The Corn Laws were placed on a sliding scale by 1828, ensuring cheaper food prices for all. Duties on trade relaxed. With reduced costs for materials, it paved the way for wage increases in the workplace. With lower taxes, foreign countries were ready to trade with Britain. Compared to the previous Protectionism trade of previous years, this appeared absolute Free Trade. And with the Reciprocity of Duties Act and relaxation of the Navigation Acts, trade seemed to be booming. But these changes weren’t totally Liberal. The sliding scaled for the Corn Laws may have reduced the cost of corn, costs remained high. Rather that 80s a quarter, it was reduced to 70s. It may have seemed to be paving the way to new, cheaper living, but very little changed. Although trade was rather free, compared to previous years, it still remained tightly controlled. Free Trade only appeared in order to benefit the Government, not in order to help the people. The Exchequer received increased income from the heightened trade. But most importantly it reduced the increasing problem of smuggling, which was a big problem during the times of high taxation in trade. The cheaper costs of materials for factories and other such workplaces, did not create the wage increases expected. People still suffered with a low wage and poor living conditions. Socially the country experienced great change. The Penal Code was rewritten. Sentences for crimes were lessened, to ensure the Law was easily enforceable. Previously many people were seen not guilty due to the high penalty of death for such minor offences such as stealing. The Gaols Act cleaned up the prisons of the country. Trade Unions were once again legal, and allowed people to discuss disputes with their manager over items such as pay and work hours. But these Trade Unions were not allowed to strike, thus making them rather powerless. Such reforms in the Penal code and new Acts such as Gaols, were in fact not new at all. They were all thought up during the time of the Napoleonic Wars, and were placed on the back-burner of Governmental issues. But with the â€Å"new† group of people in Cabinet, now was the time to pass these changes. Politically little changed. Nothing was changed about the electoral system itself except for Grampound. In 1821 Grampound was disenfranchised. It lost its MPs because it was a rotten-borough. The seats were moved to Leeds by the House of Commons. Leeds being a large industrial city. But the House of Lords intervened and forced the seats to go to Yorkshire instead, where they knew there would be little opposition from the people. This goes to show that despite all changes the House of Lords still had overall power in the Government. Ironic since they are the only ones who are not voted into Parliament. Lord John Russell gets 164 votes for his reform Bill but the Commons still opposed to the proposition, believing that the people were content with what they had and that there was no need for reform. Religiously nothing would have happened if it wasn’t for Daniel O’Connell. If he had not won the vote in the bi-election, despite him being a Catholic, this would not have happened. In 1829 Catholic Emancipation was finally allowed, which gave the Catholics and Non-Conformists the same rights as Protestants in the country. The Government only allowed it due to the fear of rebellion in Ireland, which they could not allow no matter what. Also the Test of Corporations was repealed in 1828. In conclusion the Liberal Tories were in fact the same as they had been in previous years. They were no more Liberal than before. The only reason the appeared Liberal was due to the apparent new men on the Cabinet, whose ability to speak well in the Commons, made them appear very liberal. Almost all ideas they brought forward had been created in the days of Pitt. They just re-ignited the flame and set the ball rolling again. The only things that may have appeared very Liberal would have been the passing of Catholic Emancipation and the idea of Free Trade. But these two ideas were only created to appease problems the Government faced. The uprising and possible rebellion in Ireland forced them to pass Catholic Emancipation. While the increasing problem of smuggling and evasion of trade duties, meant the Government needed to relax the laws on trading. Also compared to the Whig Reformers of 1830-41, they could not possibly be called Liberal Tories

Theory of Knowledge for the IB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Theory of Knowledge for the IB - Essay Example The second definition goes beyond the original reason for the invention of machines. Instead of just aiding us in our daily tasks by being "extensions" of our bodies in performing their tasks, machines, especially since the time when a machine called computers are invented, become performers of tasks independently of its user. As long as its actions are programmed in such a way that it can now perform tasks without the presence or the real-time control of humans. They have become very sophisticated that they can surpass what we can do. Mechanical cranes can lift manifold times the maximum weight that the strongest living human can. Assembly line robots can accomplish a task way beyond a team of fastest human workers of that particular job. And, in 1997, a supercomputer named Deep Blue defeated the then world chess champion, Garry Kasparov. The power of machines exponentially increases our capacity to produce goods and services. It is understandable that they can outshine our mechanical abilities. But in terms of our mental faculties, machines such as Deep Blue has been programmed to outsmart our rational faculties. This presents a question that we are to resolve in this paper. Can a machine know Before going further, we must first define what the verb "to know" means. In English this word has several definitions. In the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Fourth Edition) " know" has eight definitions: "1. To perceive directly; grasp in the mind with clarity or certainty. 2. To regard as true beyond doubt. 3. To have a practical understanding of, as through experience; be skilled in 4. To have fixed in the mind: 5. To have experience of: 6a. To perceive as familiar; recognize: b. To be acquainted with: 7. To be able to distinguish; recognize as distinct: knows right from wrong. 8. To discern the character or nature of:" The definitions above give us different aspects of the word "know." By these we can say that "knowing" something starts when we perceive a thing by our senses, processing this acquired information to a point that we become acquainted with those things and ends up with the capability of the "knowing" person to distinctly distinguish or recognize that thing from others. The emergence of the Information Age has introduced machines that can "think" independently. They, such as supercomputers, can grasp and process data at astounding speeds. In a fraction of a second, they can perform mathematical operations that a human can do in hours or even years. With this capacity, they can really perform rational activities, at least to a certain extent. But can we say that this supercomputer's ability to process data is already an act of knowing given the definition of "know" above For me, I believe that machines cannot fully know. They may perform mental tasks of humans with rapidity and precision way above that of humans. But still they cannot totally know things as per defined by dictionaries. If we use the definitions above, they fall short of thoroughly knowing something. To prove this, let us consider the first definition "To perceive directly, grasp in the mind with clarity or certainty." Computers are designed to perceive and grasp data to help us in our tasks. Word processing programs, for example, are created for us to write a letters and other documents in a precise and neat manner. It can receive data coming

Is the EU a declining global power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Is the EU a declining global power - Essay Example The European Union has been in the forefront in influencing policies, both in Europe and other parts of the world. The organisation has been a strong agent of change that has determined the fate of many nations within and outside Europe. Among other aspects, the organisation has actively participated in enhancing trade within Europe and ensuring that there is harmonisation of trade policies within the European nations. This has led to the establishment of the Euro as a currency, which is widely used when carrying out business transactions in Europe. Despite the dominance of EU and its notable strength as a global superpower, the organisation has been experiencing some challenges that have contributed to its decline as a global power (Prys, 2010: 480). The eurozone, which mostly comprises of the leading states, which make up the European Union, have been faced with immense challenges that have threatened to cause the fall of the European Union. The individual challenges faced by the states separately have had a negative impact on their production systems and economic growth. As a result, this has led to the decline of the entire union since the member states contribute significantly to the continuity of the union. The aspects of innovation and enterprise that once took centre stage in the EU have faced significant challenges; they have been frustrated and their advancement hindered by a number of factors (Hothi, 2005: 12). For the last three decades, the economic growth rates in the European Union have declined significantly as compared to the rates of growth in other regional actors. This case demonstrates that the EU has declined as a global power since it has faced difficulties in competing with other regional powers.

Online Educational System Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Online Educational System - Lab Report Example This will offer the facility to effectively meet the requirements of students, teachers, and management. In addition, this will also offer the better fulfillment of needs of the online communication, data transfer, security, and privacy. The University of Grantham online system needs to be based on the number of groupware applications. In the development of these applications, each development team needs to work on a specific area of the overall system development. In this scenario, the inter-communication among all teams is really essential. However, at the time of the system merger, we can face some compatibility problems. These problems can emerge due to different development style, programming approach, and a communication interface. Therefore, when these groupware applications have combined the problems regarding the combined operational compatibility could arise. In this scenario, to resolve such problems we need to offer a better and enhanced communication interface to all development teams of the groupware applications. In this way, the inter-communication will offer effective management of the major compatibility problems. For the development of the University of Grantham online distant learning system, we will require a lot of groupware applications. The main groupware application is email based communication application. This will offer the communication facility to all the users of groupware application. Then the next main groupware application we will require is about the newsgroups and mailing list. This will facilitate the presentation of current events regarding the education. This will also provide the facility of distributing any current news to the students and teachers. Another groupware application that is required is about the video communication.  This will offer the facility to share the video lectures at the online website for the students.  

Integration of ERP Systems in Accounting Practice Essay

Integration of ERP Systems in Accounting Practice - Essay Example This paper illustrates that beginning the early 1990s, the world has embraced technological advancement in literary all fields of application, including business management and organization. A prime example of technological adoption is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in business management. ERP is software for business management that enables organizations to use an integrated applications system for the business management. The software integrates all paradigms of business operation, including manufacturing, development, marketing, and sales. ERP software incorporates various enterprise software modules that an organization may decide to purchase, depending on its technical capabilities and business needs. Particular ERP modules focus on specific areas of business processes, such as marketing or development. Among the popular ERP include those that tackle material purchasing, product planning, accounting, distribution, human resource, distribution, inventory control, marketing, a nd finance. The consistent growth of the popularity of the ERP methodology, businesses, and organizations are increasingly adopting the use of ERP for management and organization, particularly in the accounting field. In their case study on the introduction of an ERP system in an Ivy League University, Wagner, Moll, and Newell outline an array of accountability and management control issues associated with the system, including dependency of the ERP systems on the entanglement of technology and users (socio-material assemblage). Others include the probability of ERP packages not to capture management accounting despite the particularity of the design, affordability, and power of community practice that influence the integration of the accounting logics within the system. Moreover, the study highlights the possibility of employee resistance in cases of incompatibility with practice legacy logic, and the need for reconfiguration, which is in misalignment with traditional system develo pment theories and vendors (Wagner and Newell, 2004:314). Another significant challenge that the ERP systems face is different context of use concerning the scope and type of modifications made in the post-roll-out phase, a factor that may influence the relational and on-linear nature of accounting literature. Summarily, the main problem result from misalignments legacy practices in the adopting organization and best practise embedded in the ERP systems. The authors of the study attribute the above problems are particularly common in packaged software implementation, thus necessitating early detection of any misalignments in system configuration and selection. Nonetheless, the authors acknowledge that complex and externally regulated misalignments tend to surface much later in the implementation phase, citing the case of the one of the Ivy League Universities (hereafter â€Å"Ivy†) as an example. Empirical evidence from recent studies indicate that conflicts and intense effor ts surface in the early stages of custom-built software development-use cycle, but in tailor-made software, these issues only surface at the later stages of implementation (Pouloudi and Whitley, 2000:341). Consequently, this highlights the need to address misalignment issues in the post-roll out phase. Indeed, the case study focuses primarily on this particular stage, highlighting the turnaround processes that address the misalignment and the subsequent emergence of a working ERP system. It is important to note that a working ERP system is essentially one that is different applicant within the organization use and accepts, but not necessarily the ideal one from any particular perspective (Yeow and Sia, 2000:15). The â€Å"

Assessment 2 (6 assignment into 1) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Assessment 2 (6 assignment into 1) - Essay Example The formula for computing surface area of pyramids shall be provided, with the teacher demonstrating how to substitute values in the formula. The students will be given exercises to practice computing for surface area of pyramids which will be checked as a class at the end of the lesson. the concept of solid shapes and their surface areas. They should be aware that there are formulae to be followed in computing for the surface areas of various shapes and know how to substitute values and finding missing values using the formula. The Lateral Area is surprisingly simple. Just multiply the perimeter by the side length and divide by 2. This is because the sides are always triangles and the triangle formula is base times height divided by 2 Using the formula: 1/2 Ãâ€" Perimeter Ãâ€" [Side Length] + [Base Area]. The teacher illustrates to the class how to use the formula and substitute the necessary values on the blackboard, then does a few exercises with some students she may call on. Later on, students are grouped according to their abilities, given various number problems to solve for the surface areas of various pyramids. Kozioff, et al (2000) contends that the teacher can more easily monitor the progress of the students when they work in smaller groups with more or less the same guidance needs. Killen (2003) emphasized the need to practice students’ newfound skills and in this particular case, it is the computation of the surface area of a pyramid following a prescribed formula. At the end of the session, everyone comes together to compare their answers. It will be necessary to call on students to demonstrate on the blackboard how they came up with their answers to check if they followed the correct proced ure in using the formula. Should there be errors, the teacher throws the question to the class as to where it went wrong, but if students cannot figure it out, then she shows

An Appeal Letter for My Suspension Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An Appeal Letter for My Suspension - Assignment Example I admit that I had a difficult time when trying to submit my papers through the internet. I do not mean to make justifications for the overdue submission, but I would like to clarify the situation. I recognize that I had plenty of time to tackle my pieces. Nevertheless, I completed the papers on time. However, I encountered some difficulties while I was trying to send my papers. The delayed submission of my papers was mainly because of the internet problem. I had to wait and by the time of resolving the internet problem, it was already late. I had the hard copies with me, but since you do not accept them, I had to wait and this made me submit the papers late. I know I ought not to have waited until the end to submit the paper, but I also had other personal problems that led to the late submission. I could have handled the assignment so well if my mother had not gotten very ill. While I was in school, my problems at home still affected me since I could not focus on my assignments. I recognize that ought to have informed you about it early enough, but I thought I could handle the issues but I failed. I like my course and this university and it would be very important for me to graduate from this school since finishing a college degree is fundamental within my family. If you withdraw the suspension, I will focus more on my studies and submit all my assignments on time. I promise that I will take fewer hours to complete my assignments and manage my time wisely so that I can beat deadlines. This will enable me to submit my assignments very early to avoid internet problems at the last minutes of papers submission in future. In addition, I have talked with my advisor, and I promise to follow his advice concerning communicating with my instructors early enough in case I encounter any problems. Additionally, I will get a tutor for those courses, which I find hard. Therefore, I have acquainted myself with the tutors at the college.

Canadian Cinema Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Canadian Cinema - Essay Example Mostly, his films follow a non-linear plot structure meaning that events are placed in a sequence manner to bring out emotional reactions from the audience by withholding key information. Most of his films end with opretic emotional and are mostly rooted in the romantic search through intimacy. David’s style in filmmaking involves exploring people’s fears of body transformation and infection. He tries to combine psychology with physical. From the viewer’s point of view, of of Egoyan’s work has been highly influenced by cronenberg’s sense of remoteness from emotions in his style and narrative. Line of specialization Atom Egoyan is one of internationally recognized figure is known as a stage director and a film maker. On the other hand, David Cronenberg is a known as an actor, film maker and screenwriter. The only similarity between these two Cinema Icons is that they are both filmmakers. Career and commercial success Egoyans career can be classified as pre and post Exotica. Prior to Exotica, the first major release in America, Egoyan was only recognized in Canada for his ultra-low budget films which the government subsidized partially. Such films include Next of Kin (1984), Speaking Parts (1989) and Family Viewing. Exotica, was first produced in the year 1994. The release of Exotica in 1994 made him gain local and international recognition as it marked a transition point in his artistic work. In 1997, he made another film that gave rise to international recognition called The Sweet Hereafter based on an American Novel by Russell Banks. The film made him the winner of 8 GENIE Awards in Canada. In 1998, he was nominated for two awards at the Hollywood academy awards after the release of the sweet hereafter ... In 1998, he was nominated for two awards at the Hollywood academy awards after the release of the sweet hereafter Awards David Cronenberg has several awards. In 2004, he was named 2nd best director in the history of genre by the science Fiction magazine, strange Horizons. In the same year, he was listed 9th among world’s best 40 directors by the guardian. In the year 2007, he was named 17th greatest director by the Total Film. Aton Egoyan has won four awards at the cannes Film and Toronto International festivals. In april 2012, he received TARA Awards. History of studio D It was created as a branch of the National film board to make films and documentaries for and about women in Canada. This happened in 1974 when Kathleen Shannon gave this idea as a recommendation to the Canadian parliament. Kathleen had joined NFB in 1956 and was among the more influential persons who fought for the improvement of the status of women in the board. Initially women occupied a minority role at t he NFB and were give duties as support stuff instead of key roles such as film directing and production. In that year 1974 with the anticipation of the a world’s women day she presented the idea of creating a new studio that would be dedicate to women and their contribution in the film making, to the board. This created a motivating factor for the women working at the NFB to demand for changes and pressurize the government and the public sector to reconsider and improve on the position of women in these institutions. Shannon was then appointed as the pioneer executive producer of the studio d. Some of the things that set studio D films aside from other NFB films Iconic women documentaries production films created by NFB since it was dedicated to development of films

Reaction Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

Reaction Paper - Essay Example Einstein then concludes that scientific discovery invokes a high-leveled religious awareness that is above the religion that other people understand (Letters, p. 1). After reading the letter, I imagined a persuasive, sensitive, and informed communicator. He uses a neutral and impersonal approach to judge the scientists’ idea about religion. He does not criticize opinions of the scientists. He also does not directly agree with them but says that the scientists’ opinions on religion do not agree with that of the common people. The scientists however know that religious power is present. This idea is true because scientists have not succeeded in explaining all occurrences. The failure therefore shows that there are some forces, beyond scientific knowledge, and the scientists know it. I also liked his neutral approach that is sensitive to the children who are still immature in thinking. This is because he succeeds to eliminating possible dilemma that could disturb the children’s

Graphics Communications Industry Essay Example for Free

Graphics Communications Industry Essay Graphics Communications Industry, according to the College of Technology at the University of Houston, is defined as the processes and industries that create, develop, produce, and disseminate products utilizing or incorporating words or pictorial images to convey information, ideas, and feelings. Its products make possible learning, enjoyment, enthusiasm, and business. These products like books, magazine, maps, invitation, etc. are part of people’s daily life. Graphic Communications includes those market sectors that exploit the technologies of printing, publishing, packaging, electronic imaging, and other associated industries. They are often referred to as the graphic arts, print, or imaging industries. Graphic communication companies are entrepreneurial and innovative. Ideas are created on the computer and carried through different stages that can include the Internet as well as printed forms of several types and variations. Due to the emerging technological advances, companies in the business have expanded services such as creative design, e-commerce, web page design and hosting, mailing, fulfillment, and a multitude of services that provide parallel marketing beyond the major printing activity. (Education Summit for the Graphic Arts 1) The field of Graphic Communications is obviously a technology-based system. It includes the developing technologies of computer-age press, image generation, data repurposing, designing and posting internet web pages, interactive multimedia, digital photography, electronic digital imaging, and desktop publishing. Furthermore, it offers a lot of career opportunities. Thus, it contributes a lot to the economy. It needs millions of people in a range of challenging technical, creative, or professional activities. They vary from small companies with a few workers to large plants with several hundred people on multiple shifts. Almost all companies have acquired modern computerized equipment and stay updated with technology changes taking place in the industry. The top ten leading states in total number of graphic communication employees are California, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Michigan. (Education Summit for the Graphic Arts 1) REFERENCES: â€Å"Graphic Communications Industry. † (2006). College of Technology, University of Houston. 7 April 2009 †¹http://graphics. tech. uh. edu/industry/industry. php†º â€Å"The GraphicCommunication Industry: A Quick Overview. † (April, 2008). Education Summit for the Graphic Arts. 7 April 2009 †¹http://teched. vt. edu/gcc/HTML/CareerInfo/PDFs/GraphicCommunicationOverview. pdf†º

Invitations Refusal Strategies In American And Vietnamese

Invitations Refusal Strategies In American And Vietnamese Human communication is a combination of cooperation and understanding. Success in communication depends greatly on the ability to recognize speakers communicative intentions and pragmatic meaning of their utterances. Actually, those who may be regarded as fluent in a second language owing to their phonetic, syntactic and semantic knowledge of that language may still be unable to produce language that is socially and culturally appropriate. As a result, Larina (2008) shows that numerous problems in communication occur because people do not only speak different languages but use them in different ways according to specific social and linguistic norms, values, and social-cultural convention. Many people devalue the importance of invitations refusal strategies because normally, it is a person right to say something he/she doesnt like or doesnt want to. However, it is not as simple as it is thought to be since misbehavior in this domain can result in the interlocutors feeling of being shocked, angry, or even seriously insulted. It is because every body, as a human being, expects the appreciation and respect from others. America and Vietnam are two countries with different culture so their social and linguistic norms are different as well. This paper is an attempt to provide a cross-culture comparison of ways American and Vietnamese deal with a tactful-required kind of speech act: refusing an invitation. In this paper, the similarities and differences in refusal strategies between American native speakers and Vietnamese native speakers will be discussed under three circumstances: when the invitee is at a lower status; when the invitee is at an equal status; and when the inv itee is at a higher status. To make my topic more practical, I also suggest some implications in language teaching. I hope that this paper will be a contribution to the study of cross-cultural pragmatic understanding and effective communication. Speech acts In the 1950s and 60s two philosophers of language, John Austin and John Searle, developed speech act theory from their observation that language is used to do things other than just refer to the truth or falseness of particular statements. Austins book How to Do Things with Words (1962) is the next to a series of lectures he gave at Harvard University on this topic. John Searle, a student of Austin, further developed Austins work in his book Speech Acts, which was published in 1969. Austins and Searles work appeared at a time when logical positivism was the prevailing view in the philosophy of language. They launched a strong and influential attack on this work. The logical positive view of language argued that a sentence is always used to describe some fact, or state of affairs and, unless it could be tested for truth or falsity, is basically meaningless. Austin and Searle observed that there are many sentences that cannot meet such truth conditions but that are, nevertheless, valid sentences and do things that go beyond their literal meaning. Searle and Austin argued that in the same way that we perform physical acts, such as having a meal or closing a door, we can also perform acts by using language. We can use language, for example, to give orders, to make requests, to give warnings, or to give advice. They called these speech acts. Thus people do things with words in much the same way as they perform physical actions. Paltridge (2000) provided us the definition of Speech Act: A Speech Act is an utterance that serves a function in communication. Some examples are an apology, greeting, request, complaint, invitation, compliment or refusal. A speech act might contain just one word such as No to perform a refusal or several words or sentences such as: Im sorry, I cant, I have a prior engagement. It is important to mention that speech acts include real-life interactions and require not only knowledge of the language but also appropriate use of that language within a given culture. Socio-cultural variables like authority, social distance, and situational setting influence the appropriateness and effectiveness of politeness strategies used to realize directive speech acts such as requests (p. 15). Refusal as a speech act According to Al-Eryani (2007), a refusal is a respond negatively to an offer, request, invitation, etc. Refusals, as all the other speech acts, occur in all languages. However, not all languages/ cultures refuse in the same way nor do they feel comfortable refusing the same invitation or suggestion. Moreover, how one says no may be more important in many societies than the answer itself. Therefore, sending and receiving a message of no is a task that needs special skills. The interlocutor must know when to use the appropriate form and its function. The speech act and its social elements depend on each group and their cultural-linguistic values. Refusals are considered to be a face-threatening act among the speech acts. Face means the public self-image of a person. It refers to that emotional and social sense of self that everyone has and expects everyone else to recognize. Refusals threaten the inviters face because they contradict hisher expectations and restrict the inviters freedom to act according to hisher will. On the other hand, refusals may threaten the addressees public image to maintain approval from others. Because a failure to refuse appropriately can risk the interpersonal relations of the speakers, refusals usually include various strategies to avoid offending ones interlocutors. However, it requires a high level of pragmatic competence and the choice of these strategies may vary across languages and cultures. For example, in refusing invitations, offers and suggestions, gratitude was regularly expressed by American English speakers, but rarely by Egyptian Arabic speakers (Nelson, Al-batal, and Echols, 1996). When Mandarin Chinese speakers wanted to refuse requests, they expressed positive opinion (e.g., I would like toà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.) much less frequently than American English since Chinese informants were concerned that if they ever expressed positive opinions, they would be forced to comply (Liao and Bressnahan, 1996). Politeness Politeness can be at once be understood as a social phenomenon, a means to achieve good interpersonal relationships, and a norm imposed by social conventions. So it is phenomenal, instrumental and normative by nature. According to Brown and Levinson (as cited in Politeness, 1997), politeness strategies are developed in order to save the hearers face. Face refers to the respect that an individual has for him or herself, and maintaining that self-esteem in public or in private situations. Usually you try to avoid embarrassing the other person, or making them feel uncomfortable. Face Threatening Acts (FTAs) are acts that infringe on the hearers need to maintain his/her self esteem, and be respected. Politeness strategies are developed for the main purpose of dealing with these FTAs. What would you do if you saw a cup of pens on your teachers desk, and you wanted to use one, would you say, Ooh, I want to use one of those! say, So, is it O.K. if I use one of those pens? say, Im sorry to bother you but, I just wanted to ask you if I could use one of those pens? Indirectly say, Hmm, I sure could use a blue pen right now. There are four types of politeness strategies, described by Brown and Levinson (as cited in Politeness, 1997), that sum up human politeness behavior: Bald On Record, Negative Politeness, Positive Politeness, and Off-Record-indirect strategy. If you answered A, you used what is called the Bald On-Record strategy which provides no effort to minimize threats to your teachers face. If you answered B, you used the Positive Politeness strategy. In this situation you recognize that your teacher has a desire to be respected. It also confirms that the relationship is friendly and expresses group reciprocity. If you answered C, you used the Negative Politeness strategy which similar to Positive Politeness in that you recognize that they want to be respected. However, you also assume that you are in some way imposing on them. Some other examples would be to say, I dont want to bother you but or I was wondering if If you answered D, you used Off-Record indirect strategies. The main purpose is to take some of the pressure off of you. You are trying not to directly impose by asking for a pen. Instead you would rather it be offered to you once the teacher realizes you need one, and you are looking to find one. In many ways, politeness is universal. It is resorted to by speakers of different languages as a means to an end and it is recognized as a norm in all societies. Despite its universality, the actual manifestations of politeness, the ways to realize politeness and the standards of judgment differ in different cultures. On her thesis, Nguyen, T. L (2010) points out some aspects we should consider in order to achieve the goal of politeness as following: The social background of the communicator. Generally, the more educated a man is, the more he tends to show his politeness to other people. The more he knows about the suitable ways to show politeness, the better he uses them to be polite to others. Besides, the personality of the communicator is also very important here. Good-tempered person prefers to use face-saving act while bad-tempered person prefers face-threatening act when they come across the face-losing condition. The communicative circumstances. Communication is a very complicated process. In formal occasions, people tend to use formal expressions to show politeness, esp. between the new acquaintances. While in informal states, people tend to be casual to show intimacy even if it is in the very moment they meet. And that doesnt mean impoliteness. Look at the following example: Ex 1: A man came into a bar and said to the waiter: Hi! Buddy! Gimme some whisky, would ya? Although theyve never met before, the man used very casual phrases to enclose their relationship. This is a usual way to show friendliness to strangers in similar entertaining places. The social distance. The social distance between speaker and hearer is one of the factors that determine politeness behaviors. The notion of social distance refers to the consideration of the roles people are taking in relation to one another in a particular situation as well as how well they know each other, which means the degree of intimacy between interlocutors. However, there are still some exceptions. For example, people often use family names to call their close friends, and when these people speak to each other, they will use direct offer or request. But sometimes they use very formal expressions in their speech. Look at the following example. Ex 2: Husband to his wife: Would you be so kind as to hand the bread over to me? Surely we know that the wife has just quarreled with the husband and the husband is trying to amuse her in a certain way. The cultural differences. Different culture causes different views of values, which affects the criteria of politeness and leads to differences in various aspects. +Ways to greet each others and farewells. + Ways to address terms. + Ways to praise others. + Ways to express thanksà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Directness and indirectness Directness and indirectness are basic form of expression, which are universal in all languages and culture. Directness is a style of communication in which speaker want to get the straight forward to the points. The speech interprets exactly and literally what the speaker said. The power of directness is the hearer does not have to look for what the speaker might have mean by uttering such and such sentence. Everything in their interaction is expressed explicitly. Misunderstanding hardly occurs. Indirectness is any communicative behavior, verbal or nonverbal that conveys something more than or different from what it literally means. In order to protect privacy, to minimize the imposition on the hearer and to avoid the risk of losing face, there is a preference for indirectness on the part of the speaker to smooth the conversational interaction. For example when conveying the pragmatic meaning I want you to do it, the English make special effort to diminish and soften their imposition and show their respect for other peoples privacy. An illustration of this is when someone says can you pass the salt? Here, they are not asking about your ability to pass the salt the literal meaning of the sentence but requesting you to pass the salt. This is very common in service encounters where can is often used to refer to something other than ability or permission. There are many socio-cultural factors affecting the directness or indirectness of utterances. Nguyen (1998) (as cited in Nguyen, T. M. P, p.13) proposes 12 factors that, in his view, may affect the choice of directness and indirectness in communication: 1. Age: the old tend to be more indirect than the young. 2. Sex: females prefer indirect expression. 3. Residence: the rural population tends to use more indirectness than the urban. 4. Mood: while angry, people tend to use more indirectness. 5. Occupation: those who study social sciences tend to use more indirectness than those who study natural sciences. 6. Personality: the extroverted tend to use more directness than the introverted. 7. Topic: while referring to a sensitive topic, a taboo, people usually opt for indirectness. 8. Place: when at home, people tend to use more directness than when they are elsewhere. 9. Communication environment/setting: when in an informal climate, people tend to express themselves in a direct way. 10. Social distance: those who have closer relations tend to talk in a more direct way. 11. Time pressure: when in a hurry, people are likely to use direct expressions. 12. Position: when in a superior position, people tend to use more directness to their inferiors. These factors help to determine the strategies as well as the number of semantic formulae used when speakers perform the act of refusing. Comparison of refusal strategies in America and Vietnamese Basing on the data collected from Nguyen, T. L (2010), I will focus on three situations in which American and Vietnamese refuse the invitations from inviters who have higher, equal and lower status than theirs respectively. (1), (2), (3), (4) means position of the utterance is presented. When the invitee is at a lower status. The components which are typically found in Americans way of refusals when the invitee is at a lower status are (1) Gratitude/appreciation + (2) Excuse/reasons/explanation + (3) Positive opinion. For example, when a student declines a professors invitation of having lunch with his/her family, he/she might answer as following: Thank you. I have already eaten. Its so nice of you to ask. [(1) Gratitude + (2) Reason + (3) Positive opinion] 2. Thank you but I just had lunch. [(1) Gratitude + (2) Reason] 3. I just ate at the Indian restaurant down the street and I got a little indigestion, thank you though. [(1) Reason + (2) Gratitude] Vietnamese native speakers tend to use the formula: (1) Thank you + (2) Addressing term + (3) Offer for alternatives or a promise for future acceptance. For example: Cà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m Æ ¡n già ¡o sÆ °, Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™ khi khà ¡c em sà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ½ dà ¹ng bà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¯a cà ¹ng gia Ä‘Ã ¬nh thà ¡Ã‚ ºy à ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡. (Thank you, professor. I will join with your family next time.) [(1) Gratitude + (2) Addressing term + (3) Promise for future acceptance] 2. Cà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m Æ ¡n già ¡o sÆ °, mà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ i thà ¡Ã‚ ºy và   gia Ä‘Ã ¬nh cà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ © dà ¹ng bà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¯a tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ± nhià ªn à ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡. (Thank you, professor. Be yourself with you family.) [(1) Gratitude + (2) Addressing term + (3) Alternaitves] 3. Em cà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m Æ ¡n thà ¡Ã‚ ºy, thà ¡Ã‚ ºy dà ¹ng bà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¯a tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ± nhià ªn, em ngà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Å"i uà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœng nÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºc trà   Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £i thà ¡Ã‚ ºy cÃ…Â ©ng Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £c à ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡. (Thank you, professor. Be yourself. I will drink some tea to wait for you.) [(1) Gratitude + (2) Addressing term + (3) Alternatives] According to the results above, both American and Vietnamese use expression of gratitude/appreciation in their refusals; However, gratitude maybe in different orders (either at the beginning or at the end of the utterance). One noticeable difference occurs in this component of refusal is that Vietnamese prefer offering a promise in the future to maintain the relationship between the professor and the student. Vietnamese speakers are somehow less likely to give a straightforward respond to decline the professors invitation. In contrast, Americans often say directly the reason why they cannot accept the invitation by saying I have eaten or I just had lunch. Besides, Americans only use their popular addressing term you and I while Vietnamese tend to use many addressing terms such as Professor or Mr. in the conversation between the professor and the students. When the invitee is at an equal status. The second case involves the speaker refusing an inviter who has equal position with him/her. When refusing a classmates invitation, American normally use this formula: (1) Regret/excuse + (2) Offer of alternatives or a promise for the future acceptance. For instance: Im really sorry. I have another commitment. I am generally available. Can we set it up for another time? [(1) Regret + (2) Reason + (3) Offer an alternative] 2. What a pity. I already have plans. Please let me know the next time you go and I would love to come along. [(1) Regret + (2) Reason + (3) Promise for future acceptance] Meanwhile Vietnamese semantic formula is (1) A promise for the future acceptance/ an offer of alternative + (2) reasons as following: Ä Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™ là ¡Ã‚ ºn sau nhà ©, là ¡Ã‚ ºn nà  y mà ¬nh bà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ­n mà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¥t rà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Å"i. Ä Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Å"ng à ½ chà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©? (Perhaps next time, Im busy now. All right?) [(1) Promise for the future acceptance + (2) Reason] 2. Ä Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™ bà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¯a khà ¡c Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £c khà ´ng? Hà ´m nay mà ¬nh mà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¯c hà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ c rà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Å"i. (Can we set it up for another time? I have to study today.) [(1) An offer of alternative + (2) Reason] These examples show that both Americans and Vietnamese rarely say no directly to their friends even though they are in equal status. Mostly, Americans use regret like Im sorry/what a pity to start their refusal. This style is culturally and socially important and appropriate in America. In contrast, Vietnamese may feel that it is less necessary to express their regret due to the familiarity and close social distance. It reflects traditional thinking of Vietnamese that in close relationship, people should be open, friendly and informal with each other. Although both two groups tend to use the excuse and reason to soften their refusal, there is slightly different in the order between Americans and Vietnamese. Whereas Vietnamese people offer alternatives or promise for the future acceptance before giving their excuse as a way to reduce threatening face of inviter, Americans use excuse first and follow other alternatives in the future. When the invitee is at an upper status. In the last situation, the speaker, who is at a high social status, declines an invitation to go to the spa with the staff. American speakers refuse this kind of invitation by saying patterns like (1) regret + (2) reason/excuse/explanation. For example: Sorry, Ive made plans. [(1) Regret + (2) Reason (subjective reason)] 2. That sounds lovely. But I have far too much to work right now. Thank for inviting me. [(1) Positive opinion + (2) Reason (subjective reason) + (3) Gratitude] Vietnameses responses are more complicated and detailed. The usual formula is (1) Gratitude + (2) Reason Cà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m Æ ¡n cà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ­u nhÆ °ng mà ¬nh khà ´ng Ä‘i Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £c. Mà ¬nh khà ´ng muà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœn cà ¡c nhà ¢n vià ªn khà ¡c hià ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™u nhà ¡Ã‚ ºm. Thà ´ng cà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m cho mà ¬nh nhà ©. (Thanks, but I cant go with you. Im afraid to be misunderstood by other staffs. Sympathize with me!) [(1) Gratitude + (2) Reason (objective reason) + (3) Sympathy) 2. Cà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £m Æ ¡n cà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ­u rà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¥t nhià ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ u nhÆ °ng cuà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœi tuà ¡Ã‚ ºn nà  y mà ¬nh phà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £i tham dà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ± Ä‘Ã ¡m cÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºi cà ¡Ã‚ »a Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©a bà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡n mà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¥t rà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Å"i. (Thank you so much but Im going to attend one of my friends wedding at the weekend.) [(1) Gratitude + (2) Reason (objective reason)] Once again, regrets are favored by Americans when refusing an invitation. Vietnamese, however, produce many thanks as gratitude first and state reasons later. In this case, although Vietnamese bosses are at higher status than invitees, most of them say thank you to their staff in order to appreciate their staffs good will. There is a striking difference between American and Vietnamese speakers when giving reasons for their refusals. Americans often give their subjective reasons like Im so busy, Ive made my plan to inform the inviter that they cant go. Because one of American culture values is to respect individual freedom. Therefore, if the invitees give their own personal reasons, the inviter will accept their refusals and are not curious about real reasons anymore. Meanwhile, Vietnamese tend to use objective reasons to soften the face threatening act of the refusals. Conclusion America and Vietnam are two countries with different linguistic and cultural features. However, in cross-culture linguistic, beside the differences due to socio-norm dissimilarities these two countries still have something in common. When taking strategies in refusing an invitation into consideration, we can find out main similarities and differences as following: Similarities: When refusing an invitation, American and Vietnamese speakers usually use indirect strategy with most communicating partners. Both of them avoid saying no directly to their interlocutors whether they are at high, low or equal status. The common tendency is that Americans and Vietnamese give a variety of reason to avoid losing their inviters faces. Differences: Americans produce much more expression of regrets and reasons to refuse invitations. Typically, regrets often follow reasons in an utterance of refusals. Americans tend to give their subjective reasons in most cases. Vietnamese counterparts are fond of offering alternatives or a promise for acceptance in the future to make the inviter feel released. They also try to give the interlocutors the objective reasons to soften the face threatening act. Teaching implications The results of this thesis demonstrate that refusing in general and refusing an invitation to be specific is a complex task because it requires the high level of communicative competence. In order to avoid pragmatic failure, speakers need to understand fully both socio-cultural strategies used by most native speakers and the rules for their appropriate implementation. Therefore, I have some following teaching recommendations for L2 teachers: Prepare authentic materials for learners because learning a second language also means learning a second culture. Students should have a chance to get familiar with materials that are closely related to the daily activities of the country of the language they are learning. Teach language forms and functions parallel and contextually in both formal and informal situations in order to develop the learners sociolinguistic ability in an L2. Encourage students to perform different speech acts in an L2 in different situations of social status, social distance, and with reference to the gender relation between the speakers and interlocutors. Organize activities that students can have chances to communicate with both native and non-native speakers of English.

A Generic Supervisory Of ICT Agriculture Information Technology Essay

A Generic Supervisory Of ICT Agriculture Information Technology Essay Agriculture is the most assured engine of development and a reliable key to industrialisation (Ajibola, 2007). It is the basis of development, especially in Africa and other developing countries. Increased in agricultural production is the best way of assessing that development. However, adoption of agricultural technologies is the tool of measuring the levels of achievement and production potentials. Thus, reliable means of improving the living conditions of the farmers. Priorities are therefore attached to the ways of exposing the farmers to current agricultural practices (Mando, 2002). High population increase and excessive competition on limited agricultural and related technologies, mandated various stakeholders to devise the ways of utilising agricultural resources effectively. The appropriate means of achieving that and increase productivity are through involving farmers to various decision making processes, and make them realise the ways of manipulating and combining various techniques that involved both scientific and indigenous knowledge. The use of desirable information technology that enhance horizontal and vertical exchange of ideas among farmers and other related components becomes instrumental towards increased agricultural production and improve the living conditions of the rural people. (Michiels, 2001) have defined ICT as a range of electronic technologies which when converged in new configurations are flexible, adaptable, enabling and capable of transforming organisations and redefining social relations. In related development, (Greenidge, 2003) defined ICT as those technologies that can be used to interlink information technology devices, such as personal computers with communication technologies, such as telephones and their communications . The definitions above, stresses on the need for integrating modern communication technologies with conventional ones, aimed at devising more diversified means of exchanging and sharing of ideas among individuals. However, failed to consider the printed materials, group meetings and workshops, and question and answer service as ICTs that are used frequently, conveniently filled the gaps of impersonal communication and enhances the feedback mechanisms. According to Joseph Schumpter, innovation is simply the doing of new things or the doing of things that are already being done in a new way. A definition that is more appropriate is the application of technological, institutional and human resources and discoveries to productive processes, resulting in new practices, products, markets, institutions and organisation that are improved and efficiency enhancing. (Nigel, 2006).The two generic sources of innovation in agriculture are informal system of experimentation and selection, and formal systems of research and development. These two systems are connected to national and international sector organisations. The bottom line is how to consider the two (2) approaches to innovations, i.e. central and multiple source models. The central source model emphasise on the theoretical and rhetoric concepts of formal agricultural research and extension institutions, where major technical, institutional and social innovations evolved from the syste matic work of international research centres. While the multiple sources of innovation model embrace natural and farmer selections, and considered agricultural research and diffusion processes within various political, economical, institutional and historical context through which technological changes occur. Thus, innovations evolved from various sources of farmers, international centres, extension staff, national research system and non-governmental organisations (Biggs, ). Information and communication technology is an example of private sector innovation of high priority. Agricultural extension/education considered ICT issues as the most important topics for quite a long time. (Poole, 2000) examined the conventional ICTs like radio and television as the most important means of establishing a strong link between the farmers and their respective market demands, which are their major area of interest. And the information gap among the farmers and other beneficiaries are bridged up through providing additional sources by the modern ICTs like satellite, computer, internet service providers and telephone systems. Both ICTs are used for addressing developmental issues and reducing poverty, and are adopted by target audience. Agricultural knowledge sharing created by information flow helps in developing different agricultural sectors. However, there is a significant difference in sharing of information between rural areas and agricultural knowledge centres. Accessibility of information by the targeted audiences are the responsibilities of some stakeholders and intermediary organisations(Stienen, 2007). In earlier and closely related observations by (Kenny, 2000)the accessibility of ICTs by rural people assist in devising a multi-dimensional approaches to technological uptake, poverty eradication and other related developmental issues. While (Skuse, 2001)argued that the use of ICT in addressing such issues, especially poverty eradication, depends to a greater extent on the desirable information content and infrastructural facilities. It is important to appreciate the earlier perceptions of (Chambers, 1997), that, individuals use of information and the reasons for using that information supercedes the infor mation context. He further emphasised that, in rural areas, priorities are attached to policy and decision makers than the end users. Rural areas are therefore deprived by appropriate information, which is important for initiating developmental activities. There is the need to bridge the gap in knowledge and solve some problems through information acquisition. In considering the roles of ICTs in adoption of innovation, it is absolutely necessary to examine the differences in the needs of the rural and urban people, and the benefits derived. ICT uses could be more inclined to rural areas, mainly because of the contributions they provide towards agricultural developments. The roles therefore, provided by ICT in rural areas towards improving their livelihoods are unparallel to other areas. The roles of ICT in adoption of innovation in Nigeria is related to provision of agricultural support services, improving market efficiency and weather forecast, through the use of internet and Global Service Mobile (GSM) phones, which improve farmers production potentials successfully, and reduces social isolation(Pickernell, 2004). Modern ICTs like internet, computer and mobile phones that improves rural banking systems and accessibility to credit facilities were encouraged and approved in Nigeria by the World Summit Information Society (WSIS), 2003 2005 as tools for developing rural communities (Stienen et al., 2007). The applications of ICT in Nigeria are considered vital for revolutionary role in diversification of scientific and indigenous technology. ICT abridged the gap created by geographical and cultural barriers, which are detrimental to agricultural production. Thus, information are shared effectively in post harvest technology, databases, market prices and other related information for immediate and future use, which is achieved by internet, email and world wide web to facilitate communication (Obayelu, 2010). The roles of ICT in adoption of innovation are suppose to first be considered from the integrated point of view, before addressing the roles of individual ICTs. This is particularly important due to the differences in the socio-economic status of the rural people, and the need for encouraging the participatory action community approach, which is user-driven in nature. It is important however, to appreciate the uses of combination of conventional and modern ICTs in adoption processes. To this effect, therefore, the benefits derived from the Telecentres in Nigeria and other developing countries towards exposing the rural people to more diversified ICTs need to be discussed. Kiplang at 2001, defined Telecentre as community-based centre that accommodate ICTs, including fax, telephone, computer based system with internet connection and photocopying. A few telecentres provide additional services such as postal facilities, selling of telephone cards, newspaper and refreshment. The main objectives of establishing telecentres in the rural areas is to eradicate poverty and capacity building among the rural people. Telecentres are used for sharing knowledge among the rural people. It expose the farmers to various agricultural technologies and makes them to adopt the most desirable innovation. Telecentres are widely used in Africa and other developing countries. According to Synman, 2002, South Africa established fifty-six (56) telecentres in the year, 2002 out of the projected one hundred (100) through Universal Service Agency. The average visiting clients were 140 per day, and the clients are from different areas of community-based services, like agricultural extension workers, farmers, teachers and students and health workers. Telecentres are widespread in Uganda, Senegal and Kenya, owned by Governmental and Non-governmental organisations. While some are managed by agricultural research institute, like Ugunja Communication Research Centres in Kenya (Oguya, 2001). Oke-Ogun community development network (OCDN), located in Oyo-State -Nigeria and Fantsuan Foundation ICT in North-Central are two telecentres established in the years, 2003 and 2000 respectively, by the people of those communities, provided only four (40) computers to Ago-Are town, mainly used for training rural people, without telephone services. With the intervention of Pam Mclean from the United Kingdom, internet service provider was installed through internet connection in 2004. Information about agricultural innovations becomes readily available to the farmers in the area. Pam Mclean and Carole utilised the centres, with extensive web site on solar cooking information, which is rich information source, and introduced solar cooking video project which was widely adopted in the area. Participatory action research approach was the research method used. The technology is particularly relevant in minimising deforestation and other environmental problems caused by mining, and excessiv e farming activities on forested lands in Nigeria (Carole, 2005). As earlier emphasised, agricultural information in Nigeria and other developing countries are targeted to rural areas where the farmers lives, so that, their social and economic conditions are favourably improved. To achieve this, Emerald Publishing Group of the United Kingdom established a broad band service knowledge centre in Nigeria in Ihala village of Anambra State, which had a projected population of 20,000 people. The project took up in 2007 mainly for exchange of agricultural ideas among the farmers, aided by volunteer students. Computers with internet services and customised website were installed and monitored. Social interactions, mutual exchange of ideas and information retrieval were enhanced in the village. The project was successful, with up to 61% of the participants utilising the knowledge centre website for socialisation and discussions with farmers. Participatory community approach was effectively used(Ha, 2008). The serious problem facing all the telecentres in Nigeria is poor electricity supply and lack of stability in internet services. This problem is particularly not only in the rural areas, but in the urban counterparts. The unreliable internet connection reduces the efficiency of such telecentres, especially when users are eagerly anticipating urgent response to the ways of combating a disease/pest infestation and immediate call for directions of use for newly introduced package. Farmers in Nigeria have different backgrounds, speak various languages. Standardised ICT usage cannot be applicable to all of them. The variation in the language of communication, coupled with low understanding of English, inhibits effective utilisation of ICTs. It is therefore, recommended that, software translators should be developed for proper ICT use. Linkages of such centre with universities and research institutions are not highly intensified. Only one of the available telecentre in Nigeria (OCDN) is linked through ICT with International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the university of Ibadan for certain project implementations. Combining socialisation and research activities in the same spot, makes the people to inclined more to social related activities than research. Radio is still the frequently used ICTs for adoption of innovation in Nigeria. This can be attributed to its availability than any other conventional or modern ICTs. Various adoption of innovation were successful in Nigeria through the use of radio. Combination of radio, posters, video and global system mobile (GSM) were used, with core extension programs for extending Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage (PICS) technology in Nigeria and other West African countries. The project realised that, accessibility of the rural people in Nigeria to television was very low, mainly due to inadequate supply of electricity. Radio messages were used during various events of sensitisation, demonstration, follow-up and open the bag. There was a great difference in the adoption rates between villages with and without PICS radio messages. Thus, radio messages had significantly influenced the adoption of PICS sacks in Kano and other Northern states of Nigeria (Moussa, 2009). Posters were also distributed to various stakeholders that are involved in the adoption of PICS technology, which revealed the various stages that can be used for optimal utilisation of PICS technology . A video sketch on the use of the technology in the languages that are easily comprehended by rural people in Nigeria, Niger and Burkina Faso (Hausa and French ) were transferred to the GSM phones through Bluetooth to augment the demonstrations performed in various villages. The use of GSM phones was due to the realisation of the project of the expanded use of those phones in rural areas of Nigeria and other African countries (Moussa, 2009). Integrated ICTs (Radio, posters, video and mobile phones) were used in this project and tremendously increased the rate of adoption of this technology (PICS), thereby increase in the income level of the adopters, when sold the cowpea during lean period, and more importantly improved the health conditions of the people. Radio is the most persistently used conventional/traditional communication medium that is capable of transmitting various information to different set of people(FAO., 2004). According to (Chapman, 2003), radio has the capabilities of reaching farmers, regardless of their educational status and provide relevant information in the language they can understand. They emphasised that, radio is the cheapest means of providing information with exceptional power of linking the modern and conventional technologies for improving the livelihoods of the rural people. (Okwu, 2007) argued that, radio is the most widely appropriate medium used by all research and extension systems to extend messages to rural people, with little intellectualism to reach the remote places that could not be reach by the extension workers. The sensitive assessment of great impact of radio in Nigeria is related to the findings of Iro, 2006 that, radio is the most preferred means of educating pastoral Fulani, which they found portable, even when herding. The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) utilises radio and television to introduce educational and enlighten programmes to Fulani. Educational status of Fulani is still low, despite the programmes aired for educating them, the enrolment pattern of their children in Nomadic schools is very low when compared with children of farmers in the same schools. The possible explanation to this is the nature of their movements from one place to another, which could affect the reception of the radio in some areas. It can also be attributed to lack of clear information about the time when the programmes are to be broadcasted and the content of the language. With all little things taken care of, and increasing level of awareness, educational and enlighten programmes would reduce the Fulani/farmer conflict that is persistently affect agricultural production in Nigeria. However, with all the benefits of radio as conventional ICT in Nigeria, the current status of telecommunication system after the sector has been reformed, is the emergence of many private radio stations. Those radio stations are profit-oriented, attached exorbitant charges to programmes sponsored by Non-governmental organisations, with little or no consideration to agricultural related programmes. While the public radio stations are producer-driven, inclined more to programmes that are satisfying the interest of the government. Television and Video: Are important communication tools, ideals for demonstration of various techniques for easily understanding. They have an additional value of displaying motion pictures, essential for teaching and learning processes. Many farmers are reached and stimulated about the new ideas(Ifran, 2006). When appropriately used, it is a source of reliable information, but most people considered it more as entertainment tools (Kari, 2007). According to (Omotayo, 2005), video has the potentials of using undistorted messages to reach large number of farmers, since it doesnt depend on any reception/coverage patterns. Video could be use to inspire individuals to involve in various planning and implementation stages of agricultural activities. It allows farmers and extension agents to edit and document important events like agricultural shows. Telephone: There was remarkable increased in telephone lines in Nigeria when GSM was introduced in 2001. GSM lines were then 450,000, raised to over 38 million lines in 2007. The teledensity increased accordingly from 0.4 to 24 g/cm3 (Adeyinka, 2009). Telephones are available in either fixed or mobile form. Telephones are the rapidly spread ICT that cover large area in exchange of messages across various agricultural components of farmers, research and extension. According to (Shaibu, 2008) telephones are used by famers to access the agricultural markets conveniently. This helps in having knowledge about real situations in various markets, so as to enhance market efficiency and consistency. It can be integrated with computer for internet connectivity. Telephones are used by farmers to seek for immediate attention of extension agents during disease outbreak or other consultations which are prevented by geographical barriers. Nomadic Fulani are relating efficiently with veterinary assistants through mobile phones as long as there are network coverage. Computers : For agricultural information to be sufficient through web technology, established connection is needed between computers and internet service providers. Such connection is useful for generation, compilation, dissemination and exchange of agricultural information (Zaman, 2002). Internet is therefore used by farmers to realise appropriate agricultural information that can be useful to adopt and utilise various innovations.(Munyau, 2000) explained that, world wide web (www) is used as important tool for creating awareness and providing agricultural information to farmers, while email services complements the www function , through establishing interactive linkages and effective feedback mechanism. High cost of computer hard and soft wares and lack of computer literacy prevent rural people from using computer and other internet services effectively in evaluating relevant information about current technological advancements. THE WAYS ICT HELP RESEARCH AND EXTENSION IN OVERCOMING THE CONSTRAINTS OF ADOPTION OF INNOVATION IN NIGERIA: The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has divided its agricultural research institutes into five (5) agro-ecological zones, and these zones are liable for effective linkages between research and extension components. There are various senders and receivers of agricultural innovations and ideas that are involved in the communication of agricultural technologies to rural communities. Such communication sources are considered obnoxious when sent to the farmers at a later stage of agricultural production (Obayelu, 2010). There are eighteen (18) agricultural research centres in Nigeria that are solely responsible for improving the local crop varieties and developing new ones that are conducive to the existing farming situations, like rice, sugarcane, cassava, banana, soyabean to mentioned but a few.(Faturoti, 2006). Research and extension components have distinctive functions in agricultural development. The research component is responsible for providing science-based innovations, which is significant for creating the much needed change to agricultural productivity. While the extension components conveyed the innovations to the farmers for adoption, and in turn communicate the results, expectations and problems of the farmers to research component. For the roles of these components to be effective, there should be well coordinated linkage between them, which will enable each component to realise its potentials. In an effort to develop and strengthen these linkages, the FGN established various systems, like On-Farm Adaptive Research (OFAR), Farming System Research (FSR), Small Plot Adoption Techniques (SPAT) and Research- Extension Farmer- Input Linkage system (REFILS). Although, the systems are relevant in providing much needed interaction, the FGN failed to support the linkages financially. There is the need to provide effective means with less cost and highly satisfactory result. This could only be achieved through integrating ICT for reinforcing the linkages (Lawal-Adebowale, 2008). The roles of ICT in augmenting the services of agricultural research are considered significant in adoption of innovation. This can be achieved through ways in which the results of some findings generated by research institutions can be extended to farmers, which is associated with changing agricultural information systems, such that the information about new agricultural innovations can be assessed by farmers through the web-based information systems. This helps in providing access to relevant publications directly. Efficiency of agricultural research could be enhanced by making soft wares that are related to agriculture more readily available. Accessibility of research soft ware is highly intensified in International Agricultural Research Centres. It is particularly important to involve various stakeholders, so that high interactive sessions for improving information generation and utilisation among farmers can be achieved successfully. Agricultural development and improving the quality of peoples life in Nigeria and other developing countries depends to a greater extent on the viability of the nations agricultural research and extension systems (NARES). Investment in NAREs, by the FGN becomes necessary for achieving the much needed progress in agricultural development. World Bank provides sufficient loans to Nigerias agriculture, specifically to Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) and research institutions for effective performance. Nigerian Agricultural extension system passed through various stages of development from commodity focus to professional services which have vision for farmers production potentials. ADPs are available in all States, still the most dignified extension service delivery in Nigeria, involving Local Government staff for carrying out various tasks. REFILS provides the desirable linkages for various stakeholders to interact in generating appropriate technology, assigning responsibilities to the actors involved and strategise the effectiveness of the modified training and visit extension system. Farmers and private sector involvement is still low in technological development and planning of the programme, with strengthen linkage mechanism. NARES and private sector (commercial and NGOs) provides specialised roles in the linkages, while the former is responsible for technological development, the later is engaged in the provision of essential inputs and supply services of credit and marketing. The major partners in REFILS are the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the project coordinating unit (PCU). Non-Governmental organisations i.e. profit and non-profit oriented, joined extension services in Nigeria. The non profit oriented are providing extension services in a participatory inclined approach and weak linkages to NARS and public extension services. (NAERLS., 2002) ascertained that, in Nigeria, extension agents are the most effective means through which farmers have information about innovation. Until the intervention of State-wide ADP in 1980, the ratio of extension agent to farmer was 1: 2000, sometimes 1: 3000. They further realised that, the ratio ranges from 1: 848 in South Western zone to 1: 1,650 in North Western zone, with more wider range when it involves women extension agents. The ratio failed to meet the recommendation of FAO of 1:500. This therefore calls of integrating ICTs for cost effective and wider coverage of extension services that can complement the existing usage of ICTs in research and extension to overcome the problems of adoption of innovation. The inclusion of modern ICTs to complement the existing conventional ICTs becomes imperative for making the farmers more knowledgeable about the current agricultural practices for increased in productivity. According to (Arokoyo, 2002), the roles of ICT in research and extension is traced after the establishment of ADP as World Bank assisted project. The strategy utilised the T V extension services in developing effective communication system. It was achieved through the use of mobile cinema vans, moving from one rural area to another, with extension publications that are printed in the languages easily understood by the people. Successful implementation of which led to additional ICTs like radio, video and television in the mobile vans, when the bank increased the assistance. ADPs in various states extends its extension messages through radio and television programmes. National Agricultural Technology Support Project (NATSP) was established by ADP, as one of its second developmental phase in 1996, with Development Support Commission (DSC) units, which increased the viewing facilities. Through NATSP, more radio listening clubs were formed. (NAERLS., 2002) examined that, in the year, 2002, 70% of the states ADPs utilised one or more radio programs to broadcast agricultural information to farmers in their local languages that enhance proper understanding. The findings further revealed that, more than 48% of the ADPs broadcasts are relevant agricultural programmes in the television. The CTA-supported Questions and Answers service in Nigeria used by NAERLS and nine (9) collaborative institution popularly known as Nigerian Question and Answer Service (NAQAS) has revolutionalised the ICT in research and extension. Users of NAQAS are provided with information required through references, factional information referral and advisory services. In a similar development, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Communication for Change (CFC), NAERLS and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, established the Information and Communication Support (ICS) for agricultural growth in Nigeria, with aim of strengthen capacity of farmer assistance organisations to package and disseminate information to farmers, thus, enhancing information flow(Ogunyinka, 2002). The project was started in eight ADPs states. (Ogunyinka, 2002) emphasised that, the networking in the project involves all the stakeholders and farmer association. The major activity of ICS is establishment of farmer resource centre in each of the eight states. The centres are supposed to have and utilised the following ICTs; Radio and Television, Camera and Video, Computer with internet facilities, Telephone and Fax, Scanner, Photocopier and Printer, Cassette recorder/player, Generator and Lamination and Spiral binding machine. The NAQAS and ICS are established to use ICTs in improve horizontal exchange of ideas among the farmers, thus improving extension services. The information flow focus on the end-users (user-driven), in order to satisfy their needs. Establishing integrated ICTs like NAQAS, ICS and other telecentres are exceptionally significant towards providing a relevant and reliable information to the farmers living in rural areas. It is important to note that, any sustainable information development that entails using modern and conventional ICTs that is not encouraging a strong linkage between research/extension and the farmers should not have a significant impact in agricultural development. In Nigeria, the linkages between extension and farmers is highly intensified, while that, between research and farmers is relatively weak. This can be attributed to the low level of literacy for assessing information easily, on part of the farmers and weak contacts to the farmers, depending on extension component to disseminate information and more emphasis on the managerial activities. The constraints the NAQAS and ICS may likely face is the domination of accessibility of such centres by researchers and other literate individuals in t he communities. The centres are supposed to provide intensive trainings to farmers for proper utilisation of the resources. The sustainability of this and other related projects that are funded by international organisations, tend to terminates if such funding terminates. The Local, State and Federal Governments are expected to consistently monitor and evaluate the activities of such centres for achieving the desired objectives. The status of ICT in agricultural research and extension organisations in South Western Nigeria was assessed by Lawal-A., 2008, analysed that, all the eight agricultural research institutes and six extension organisations except, Osun State ADP, had computers, internet facilities and telephone system. Telex/fax machines were available in four research institutes, and two extension organisations. The result however, shows that, the ICTs were only found in some offices at the headquarters. The research and extension personnel with whom the field works are assigned have little access to such facilities. Adequate ICT infrastructure is necessary for agricultural development and the effect of such development could not be felt with the marginal improvement in ICTs infrastructural facilities (Institute., 2005). Kano State ADP is currently using mobile telephones to call for meetings, workshops and other important information to farmer groups. More than 12,000 farmer groups were formed, each group comprises of 25 members. Focus group discussion and use of existing traditional groups were the techniques used in forming the groups. Each group has a leader possessing a functional mobile phone through which the head of extension unit of the ADP contact them for important messages that deserve immediate attention. Thus, the use of mobile phones facilitates communication and established reliable linkages between the extension and rural farmers. From the discussions, it was observed that, research and extension in Nigeria are currently using integrated ICTs in motivating farmers to adopt various innovations. However, the use of effective individual ICTs are relevant for extending messages to fa

Use of Satire in Voltaires Candide Essay -- Candide essays Voltaire

Successful Use of Satire in Voltaire's Candide Voltaire's Candide is the story of how one man's adventures affect his philosophy on life. Candide begins his journey full of optimism that he lives in "the best of all possible worlds," but he learns that it is naà ¯ve to say that good will eventually come of any evil.   Voltaire successfully uses satire as a means of conveying his opinions about many aspects of European society in the eighteenth century.   He criticizes religion, the evils found in every level of society, and a philosophy of optimism when faced with an intolerable world.   Candide portrays religious persecution as one of the most worst aspects of society.   Voltaire rejects the superstitious beliefs that the church endorsed.   After the great earthquake in Lisbon, the church seems to think that persecuting a few innocent civilians in an auto-da-fà ¨ will prevent another disaster.   The church should be the most civilized aspect of a society, but Candide is flogged in time to a musical procession, Pangloss is hanged, and two others are burned.   Voltaire illustrates the irony of the church as a source of violence with the warring churchmen that Candide finds in the Jesuit state in the New World.   The Spanish priests in the New World operate a government where "the Fathers have everything, the people nothing;...they wage war against the King of Spain and the King of Portugal...they kill Spaniards" (Voltaire 53).   Ironically, the priests in Paraguay also hold offices in the army.   The Baron, for example, holds the title of Reverend Father Colonel.   Voltaire stresses the irony of a official of the church that preaches "Thou shalt not kill" to be an army officer who's job is to murder.   The cruelty of Christiani... ...ught good out of evil, but because he has made his own happiness.   "'Well said,' replied Candide, 'but we must cultivate our garden'"   (Voltaire 120).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Works Cited and Consulted: Bottiglia, William. "Candide's Garden." Voltaire: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Durant, Will, Ariel Durant. The Story of Civilization: Part IX: The Age of Voltaire. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965. Frautschi, R.L. Barron's Simplified Approach to Voltaire: Candide. New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 1968. Lowers, James K, ed. "Cliff Notes on Voltaire's Candide". Lincoln: Cliff Notes, Inc. 1965. Richter, Peyton. Voltaire. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1980. Voltaire's Candide and the Critics. California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc., 1966. Voltaire. Candide. New York: Viking Publishers, 1976.

Defining a Higher Education Essay -- Expository Definition Essays

Defining a Higher Education A university education is the key to a career, not just a job; it is a higher education that stimulates the brain to handle new challenges, and the intelligence to view the bigger picture of life. Students who attend college are seeking the knowledge it takes to live a better life. Two authors who discuss their views on education in their essays are Jon Spayde, â€Å"Learning in the Key of Life† and John Henry Newman, â€Å"The Idea of University.† Both essays discuss the importance of a higher education, but each author has a different definition. In the essay, â€Å"Learning in the Key of Life,† Jon Spayde relates education from a university to the real world, and defines education as a connection between reality and ideas (62). Spayde’s main point in the essay is that a quality education is obtained through living life. According to Spayde, â€Å"There is no divide in American life that hurts more than the one between those we consider well educated and those who are poorly or inadequately schooled†(60). He denies that emphasis should be placed on tech...

Does modern technology make life more convenient Essay

Does modern technology make life more convenient, or was life better when technology was simpler? Technology today has definitely made life easier and better. As we look at the technologies, what is modern technology? Technology is part of life and it has greatly improved as time is passing; Scientists are continually working in order to develop useful products, in which facilitate our lives. Even though some people say that technology has lessened our lives’ quality, I think that it has made the world our life more convenient. Technology provides to us a faster ways of locomotion, better knowledge, communication, health issues and solution for environment issues. The computer is one important feature from technology, which is very used by people in order to increase their knowledge. Books are no longer the main way to improve the understanding of a specific matter. Universities are acquiring more and more computers to facilitate the student’s life, and to provide faste r information. Students are using a lot more the Internet, which gives to them the right information without the need of going to a library. For example, a person needs to do a research about a matter, and then instead of going to the library, this person could gather good and diverse information using the Internet. Consequently, heshe would finish hisher research faster than doing it in the library by hand. Technology is helping teachers and students to better understand the content of their subjects, and allows them to develop the teaching and studying methods in order to get more benefits; the role of technology in schools and universities has turned from a simple (computer class or IT class) into a multipurpose learning tool that can change the way we demonstrate concepts, assign projects, and assess programsThus, technology, which created the computer, has definitely helped the universities and the students to get a better knowledge.Nowadays, ways of locomotion such as car, motorcycle, train, and airplane, has facilitated our lives. Centuries ago, the main way to travel a long distance was the ship, or the horse. Today, the airplane is the most useful way to make fast travels, which gives to us more time. For example, comparing with the ship which usually crosses the Atlantic Ocean in one o r two weeks, the airplane can easily cross it in about 10 hours, and is still the safest way to travel in the world. The car and train also have become a very good way to travel, which can bring us closer to our family  and to our work. Because of this, these comfortable automobiles and airplanes have been essential to people’s lives.When we talk about communication, the television, the telephone, and the Internet come into our mind. Their uses are essential to the society, and it has become much easier to communicate by telephone than by mail. Centuries ago, the mail was the main way to communication between people, and it was really slow because it mostly had to be shipped. Therefore, the use of the mail is no longer being used, and the telephone and Internet have taken place of the mail. People can pay bills by the Internet in a safe way and phone familiars instantly. In other words, these ways of communications are a lot faster than it was centuries ago, and it has made our world a better place to live. Take the innovation of e-book for instance. Although quite a few people like to tou ch real papers, they cannot deny every year the industry of book-publishing has consumed a large amount of woods. And many scientists have proposed that one of solutions to green-house issue is preventing forests from decreasing. So, the advent of e-book makes modern people change their traditional reading habit: it allows people to turn virtual pages by tapping the screen and enables to read several books on an electronic device without carrying heavy weights. Obviously, publishers are more likely to present books or magazines through e-book instead of real papers. Due to less needs of printing books, woods can be saved for our future generations. As we know, many technological innovations have been used on researching mental or physical diseases. For example, pregnant women must do many checks during their three trimesters. Doctors use ultrasound facility to check baby’s situation and attain useful information to decide if there is any disease, such as Down’s syndrome. Consequently, if there were no technology assisting doctors to check patients’ bodies, people may struggle with unknown health problems. In conclusion, the reasons above are why I strongly agree that technology has made our life more convenient. The computer, the automobile, the telephone, other machineries for health care and those which can become our solution for environmental problems have surely been essential to us and I think that the world has so many things yet to be developed in order to help the society and make it good place to live. References: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/DA8177ED1A80D332 CA257BF0001B08EE/$File/ocpahfsv5.pdfhttp://www.searo.who.int/publications/journals/seajph/media/2012/seajph_v1n2/whoseajphv1i2p125.pdf?ua=1http://www.essayforum.com/writing-3/technology-modern-life-advantageous-57712/http://www.essayforum.com/writing-3/impact-technology-modern-life-critique-thx-2139/http://www.essayforum.com/writing-3/blessed-modern-tools-technology-7303/