Analysis Of The Book Cold Mountain - 1296 Words

Charles Frazier’s first novel, Cold Mountain, has earned him a great amount of notoriety. From having a film adaptation of his novel in 2003, to receiving a National Book Award in fiction in 1997. Cold Mountain opens with a quotation from a journal entry by Charles Darwin: â€Å"It is difficult to believe in the dreadful but quiet war of organic beings, going on in the peaceful woods and smiling fields.† And indeed, Frazier’s acclaimed novel describes a war of beings built of flesh and blood–of course not only in the sense of the Civil War. While man’s lone task in war is to destroy the opposition, Frazier’s novel is also dedicated to the struggle which an individual must face in order to survive in a natural environment. From Frazier’s standpoint, the usage of this particular quotation could be a confirmation of Darwin’s influence on his literature. The term naturalism describes a category of literature that applies scientific principles of detachment and objectivity to its reading of human beings. The literary movement of naturalism got its foundation from Darwin’s theory of evolution. In his novel, Frazier makes use of real historical backgrounds and geographical locations. Combined with a style following realism, amidst extensive passages of naturalistic descriptions. There are clear similarities between Darwin’s conclusions and the plot of Cold Mountain. Naturalism in literature often employs that one’s social environment or heredity generally determines one’sShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Book Cold Mountain 1155 Words   |  5 Pagesauthor of Cold Mountain, exemplifies quite a few examples of symbolism. From the crows to the roads, and even the title itself, the novel shows show many different points of symbolism. As the book goes on, the amount of symbolism appears, making the character and the symbolism more understand and attention grabbing towards the reader making them not want to put the book down. When people think crows they think annoying black birds that try to steal food from gardens, but in Cold Mountain, it is aRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Cold Mountain By Charles Frazier1002 Words   |  5 PagesHannah Brown Mrs. Dittmar American History First Quarter Book Report (Cold Mountain) 9 October 2014 Cold Mountain a novel written by Charles Frazier, the book gets it’s name from a town that Inman and Ada two of the most important characters meet up in. This novel takes place in 1864, about three years after the Civil War had began. The Civil War starts for a few reasons, but the biggest reason was slavery. Throughout the story Frazier explains the hardships of the Confederate troops. Inman whoRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Cold Mountain 1298 Words   |  6 PagesLiterary Analysis Charles Frazier’s first novel, Cold Mountain, has earned him a great amount of notoriety. From having a film adaptation of his novel in 2003, to receiving a National Book Award in fiction in 1997. Cold Mountain opens with a quotation from a journal entry by Charles Darwin: â€Å"It is difficult to believe in the dreadful but quiet war of organic beings, going on in the peaceful woods and smiling fields.† And indeed, Frazier’s acclaimed novel describes a war of beings built of fleshRead MoreEssay on Main Themes in The Green Mile1473 Words   |  6 PagesOne of the main themes in â€Å"The Green Mile† is death. It encapsulates the whole novel, leaving the reader to think deeply about their fate. It’s an obvious theme, considering the story takes place on death row. However, further analysis reveals a deeper meaning than men dying in the electric chair for their crimes. â€Å"And I think about all of us. Walking our own green mile; each in our ow n time.†(Pg 434) Paul said. The reader will discover that the Green Mile itself is a metaphor for death. Paul comparedRead MoreEssay on Mountains More Dangerous than Everest1156 Words   |  5 Pageshardest mountain in the world to climb and other mountains that pose greater challenges. Everest to one would be seen as dangerous because the height is very intimidating. When first told of the mountain height being 29,029 feet, people automatically assume that is what defines a mountain as challenging. Hence to the public and non-climbers, Everest is a treacherous mountain. Also, the first time climbers of Everest consider it dangerous because one will always remember the dangers the mountain posedRead MoreThe Seventh Tower1231 Words   |  5 PagesTitle: The Seventh tower The Fall Author: Garth Nix Type: Science Fiction Publication date: 2000 Number of Pages: 195 Plot Summary This book is a Science fiction book that is the fist of a series of books called The Seventh Tower. It starts out with a boy by the name of Tal Graile-Rarem receiving word that his dad was missing on a mission that he was doing for the queen. And that is when every thing goes down hill. This is because his dad has the only good sunstone that will allowRead MoreBulgaria Essay1353 Words   |  6 Pages​Bulgaria is a very interesting country from the Black sea to the Balkan mountain range. In this paper I will discuss the complex terrain, urban terrain, key infrastructure and how it affects the people of Bulgaria. I will also be addressing the military history and how it helped shape the culture. Finally we will cover weather analysis and civil considerations following the layout of ASCOPE (area, structure, capabilities, organizations, people, and events). ​The country of Bulgaria has an areaRead MoreThe Great Warming By Brian Fagan1073 Words   |  5 PagesThe Great Warming is a book written by Brian Fagan that encompasses the environment and history pertaining to most of the human race between A.D. 800 and 1300. Not only does the book give a new dimension to world history by looking at climate history, but it also provides the reader with an ominous warning of the impact that climate change may have on the human race in the future. Fagan references many civilizations in the book that were affected by the rise in surface temperatures. He goes in depthRead MoreThe Mother Of The Novel Frankenstein By Mary Shelley1202 Words   |  5 Pagesnightmares about her deceased child that would prove to be, what seems, a substantial influence to her writings. One dream in particular was recorded in her journal, saying that, â€Å"Dream that my little baby came to life again--that it had only been cold and that we rubbed it before the fir e and it lived† (Bulkeley). Shelley’s anxieties about not being able to produce healthy children could easily be seen in Frankenstein as a lonely scientist creates a creature by unnatural means. However, these dreamsRead MoreHot and Cold: Warmth in Poetry Essay1234 Words   |  5 PagesHot and Cold: Warmth in Poetry Poetry is one of the more mysterious denizens of the literary world. A poem can be anything, from a three-lined poem known as a haiku to a giant epic poem like the â€Å"The Odyssey.† They can be rhyming or non-rhyming, long or short, sensible or nonsensical. Even lyrics in songs can be considered poetry, seeing as how they are rhyming and flow so well. The parameters for a poem are wide, the requirements few; but no matter what style or author you read, from Homer to Doctor

The Apologue Of Faith And Faith - 979 Words

The Apologue of Faith and faith Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown (1835), is a primary prototype of an allegory. There are populous references to Faith in the symbolic oriented composition, but there is an underlying connotation of Faith. Hawthorne introduces the reader to a newlywed couple, Young Goodman Brown and Faith, as the wife is aptly named. The significance of the wife’s name and the religious references to faith will be explicated accordingly. â€Å"Poor little Faith.† (Hawthorne 234), is more symbolic than a supposed character, however, the quote conveys her as a character to evoke the allegorical context. Faith is symbolic of actual faith due to the way Brown spiels about her: â€Å"Is that any reason why I should quit my Faith†¦show more content†¦These key lines in the work serve as the turning point of the short story, it is also interesting to note that Brown does not realize that it is all a dream, until it is too late for him. The transition signifies Brown’s squandered love for his wife, and it is evident through his lack of affection for her and spiels about her. â€Å"Faith! Faith!† â€Å"Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One!† (Hawthorne 239). Brown is going to attempt to salvage what is left of his marriage by trying to get Faith to resist the devil’s temptations, but if she obeyed he did not know. According to Bible hub it states in the book of Genesis, chapter three, verse one, that the devil tempts Eve to taste the forbidden fruit, in return insulting God’s will. When the devil has Faith in his grasp, like Eve she crumbles under the pressure according to Brown. The serpent also represents both Eve and Brown’s inquisitive characters, which leads them to the temptation of the devil’s reign in this dream. â€Å"Often, awaking suddenly at midnight, he shrank from the bosom of Faith, and at morning or eventide, when the family knelt down in prayer; he scowled and muttered to himself, and gazed sternly at his wife and turned away. (Hawthorne 240). Here Hawthorne transitions again to Brown’s changed life after the dream and the above quote

Reflections of a Culture Past Essay Example For Students

Reflections of a Culture Past Essay The poem, Beowulf was supposedly written in the tenth century, but it was most likely told before then, orally, for centuries. There is little information about the author, on when Beowulf was first created or about the original version of the story before it was written. However the poem does, however, give us great insight into the cultural views and ideals of the Anglo-Saxon people who would have composed and told this tale. This includes their political, social and moral views. Beyond this, Beowulf gives us an even greater insight into this society of constant fight and war. Interwoven throughout almost every aspect of their culture and the poem are very strict moral codes and values. Those morals and values affect the ideals, beliefs and changes taking place in period. In the time of the Anglo-Saxons, men shared a common idea of heroic and traditional values that each person should follow. They admired men with outstanding courage and loyalty. Anglo-Saxon men achieved that by completing daring deeds, withstanding harsh conditions and by beating the odds. If a person showed such traits, despite where they came from, they were entitled with a great matter of respect. The traits that they valued were those of a hero. True heroes of the period had to maintain a balance between personal glory and maintaining the good of his people. However one didnt become a hero just through great accomplishments. They also had to be exemplary individuals with traits such as: loyalty, virtue, valor, wisdom, honor, dignity, heart, strength, and a sense of justice. The character Beowulf is the embodiment of those ideals. The easiest to see of these is strength. Men of that time period were fearless, fame seeking and most of all, courageous. Those who acquired such qualities would boast of their feats for all to hear. Other obvious virtues that Beowulf carried were those of honor and dignity. He displays admirable honor throughout the poem, but the time it was most apparent to me, is when he is in conflict with Grendel. He states to Grendel, Since you have no weapon of iron, nor shall I. The Anglo-Saxons living in the time of Beowulf had their own set of beliefs. For instance they believe that even if things were good, bad things were right around the corner, so they celebrated every chance they received. Also they did not believe in the afterlife. To them, the only way to experience life after death was to live on in the memories of others. One could only fulfill this goal by being known for ones generosity, courage, and strength. This belief, along with others, I believe shaped their ideals and had influence in the poem. In the time of the Anglo-Saxons and the writing of Beowulf, two large changes are taking place. One is the conversion from a predominantly Paganism religion closer to that of Christianity. However, I believe that the Christianity portrayed in this poem is more closely tied in with Moses Old Testament teachings of revenge and equality than Christs teachings of peace, love and forgiveness. Another change is the Individualistic society that was finally beginning to replace tribal systems, in which no individual is seen as more important to the success of the tribe than any other. Beowulf displayed the severe change in that respect, helping to demonstrate some of the new unspoken rules the society was following. Even though Beowulf was changed and passed down through Anglo-Saxon people several years before it was finally written, it still delivers a poem that opens a window in the lives and events of the time. Their society underwent constant struggle and change, along with strong code of ethics, beliefs, and values. The poem holds symbolism, archetypes, contrasts, religion and culture that allow the reader to understand the world in which Beowulf lived.

Which One Is Better Studying Local or Abroad free essay sample

One will know how another culture approaches daily life unusual challenges. Studying abroad, a new academic subject interest or perspective on major may emerge because an abroad university allows to learn subject that are not available at local university. By studying abroad obviously give resume that nice boost and improves post- graduate employment prospects. Nowadays, employers always seek collage graduate who have spent time studying abroad as they want employees with an international knowledge base as well as foreign language skills.Some skills for marketable for employment include cross- cultural communication skills, analytical skills, teamwork, flexibility, an understanding of cultural contexts, the ability to adapt to new circumferences and deal with differences, a developed view of the world outside. By studying abroad, one will experience a different education system. Abroad university are much less focused on grades because they care more about learning to increase understanding and knowledge. Thus, one can expect to have less one-on-one Interaction with lecturers. We will write a custom essay sample on Which One Is Better Studying Local or Abroad or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page By article from Mary M. Dwyer, Ph.D. And Courtney K. Peters (201 0), Cynthia Operas (1 981 ) said that studying abroad will open students eye by experience of living and studying in another country. These intercultural benefit are not fleeting but continue to impact participants lives long studying abroad. Miasma Mustang (2010) states that the public Service Department (SD) offers of scholarships for undergraduate studies overseas Will be phased out from next year. However candidates for undergraduate studies at top foreign universities such as Oxford and Cambridge may still apply for such scholarships.According to the Prime Ministers Department Diktat Series Mood Nanas Abdul Aziza, the move was aimed at increasing the number of scholarships for those studying at local universities and to address complaints that there were not enough scholarships for outstanding Isis Planner Malaysia (SUM) students. He again said this would not affect the operand scholarship that 300 scholarships awarded by the SD entirely on merit, regardless of race. Zinnia Raffia (2010) said that scholarships and places in universities is getting to be more predictable than the monsoon give impact in changin g global weather pattern.The outcome of interviews and applications this year is announced. We can hear students missing out on places for medical, dental or secure places at university. Zinnia added that about intrinsic recurring situations give us despair. The arguments about scholarships and university places is that some undeserving students are depriving others. Parliamentary debates occurred among its members underlined the point and tend to suggest it is a racial issue as there will be arguments among politicians.

buy custom The International Students essay

buy custom The International Students essay Introduction The international students pay higher amount than the local students pay for education in the US Universities. Fee Payment in the universities is based on whether one is local or an international student with the local students paying lesser amount than international students. Its unfair for the US intuitions to base their fee charges on the nationality rather than considering other factors such as economic background. As a matter of fact, the influence that the US has in the world should be used to aid students searching for education. The US economy is the biggest in the world therefore it should aid in reducing the poverty level in other countries through educational aid. For that reason, the US universities should make adjustment and consider other factors in charging fee foreign students. The US universities should reduce the fee that they charge the foreign students. Basically the international students play an important role in fostering the research in the higher education research. For instance the career interest of the international students and the US students might not the same all together. The top students in the US tend to choose to study courses in Business and law whereas students from other countries such as China prefer Engineering as the best course therefore presence of these determined students raise the education level of the Americans in such disciplines .The international students are clearly the major drivers in realizing researches in the universities since to them; it is a golden opportunity while the natives take it as a normal learning. Therefore the international students bring encouragement or rather a challenge to the US students. Science has been an area being dominated by foreign students and shun by the best local students; Presence of foreign students therefore raising the standards of education of the natives espe cially on the research. As evident in many US universities, the contribution of foreign students to the research in universities has been outstanding. They have made several economic based researches therefore aiding in national building (Dessoff). The success in the research therefore advances the American innovation in the science. Therefore the foreign students play an important role in carrying the image of the US internationally. The US is then accredited for the work done by the international students which would have gone to other county other than the US. If the universities offer a lower rate fee on the international students, more top brains will be channeled to the US universities therefore increasing the benefit the country gets from the research. The country will be credited for being the best in science yet its actually the contribution of the foreign students that makes everything look good. The students studying in the US are basically the ambassadors of US in their country of origin. Their presence enhance the image of the country international since they preach the good culture of the US internationally therefore changing the bad perception that the US receive in the international community (Dessoff). The US then gains a global image free through the influene of the students. Apart from the US international students participation as ambassadors internationally, they take participate in intercultural exchange with their US counterparts therefore bringing understanding of different cultures among the US students. Basically the image of the country is important as far as security as economic values are concern. For example the goods manufactured in America can be used market by the students back in their home of origin. They can do it by using the products or taking the products therefore creating avenues for the American business internationally. Then it is unfair for the ambassadors to be punished with the heavy fee on the studies yet they do a greater job for the Americans (Anderson).The government should consider their national contribution since its quite important to appreciate their contributions apart form from the fee they are being charged. US universities are facing competition in key academic areas such as science and technical fields from upcoming economies such as China. The amount of fees charged by the US universities reduces students enrollment from other countries. These students instead search for education in other countries such as China. With the trend, the US universities will be overtaken in research and innovation (Dessoff).The influence of the Chinese and other science based economies in education should worry the US education systems since it might the image of being the best destination for the best brains. The competitors offer subsidized education to the foreigners therefore driving the away slowly the US education market as the best destination instead they heads to other markets. Basically the revolution in technology is delicate and requires innovators in your side. It is unfortunate for the US to loose the image being the destination for the top brain to other countries(Anderson). The high fee being charged will only suit the rich foreigners therefore not ripping the best from the foreigners therefore the market remains just normal. Other countries on the other hand create the best offers to the foreigners the best price for their education in a lower cost than in the US. The international students pursuing disciplines as in the business and as well as other art sectors play an important role in making the US culture an used in the international market therefore making the language in business and other sectors be based in the US norms. An international student form the US University becomes professions in the major sector of economy in their countries of origin therefore selling the American system in their countries. The adoption of the American systems is important for the US businesses in penetrating in the international markets. The international students in the United States play an important role for the US in international community. Increase in the number of students from the international community means the country is recognized internationally (Anderson). In that case US gain not only from the fee paid by the students but also in marketing US system of business and policies. International Students faces among other the problems in settling on the teaching modee in the universities. The universities dont have special treatment of these students therefore a consideration should be given when setting the fee structure for the students. It is unfortunate for them to struggle in adapting the university atmosphere yet they very high fee. The instructors dont merge with students as they try to cope with the difference in the culture in the university. Therefore the universities should consider the challenges of the students as they set out the fees structure for them (Zunz, and Oil). For the research in the universities to increase, the fees charged on the international students should be reduced by the US government. According to a report, the number of international students in the post graduate education program is much less therefore the enrollment of the international students mostly lies on the undergraduate program. The fees on the post graduate education are higher therefore most of the international students may not afford the fee. Basically, most of the advanced researches are done by the post graduate groups therefore lack of subsidized education undermines the research and the contribution by the international students in the universities; Therefore level of education in the universities might reduce. The foreign students studying in the universities may loose morale of doing research because of the treatment therefore reducing their level of concentration (Zunz, and Oil). The students studying in the US universities are relatively from poor countries or rather countries below the US economically. Their sources of fee might be hard sought compared to the students from the American families. Though they might be good enough academically, their contribution may not be realized due the higher fee being charged. Education is being compromised for economic values other than the purpose meant for. As indicated by Knight, higher turnout out of the international students does not only affect the United States by maintaining revenue to the intuition but also exposes America to diverse talents in students and faculty. It is therefore better to reduce the fee that each student pays for their university education therefore increasing the foreign admission of students in the universities (Knight). Conclusion The importance of reducing the amount of fees on the international students in US universities is wide. It ranges from the educational importance to the wider economy of the US. Basically the country benefits a lot from the foreign students in the contribution in the research sector and the propagation of the US policies on the international community. For the US to maintain the power of being the best education destination in the world, it should be ready to sacrifice the fee being charged on the foreign students and rather concentrate on the contribution that they offer in terms of good international relations and the US economic growth in general. The US should harmonize and promote the education of the international community by being in the fore front in offering education. Therefore the US universities should collaborate in making the US education the best and affordable in the world. Buy custom The International Students essay

lexicographer - definition and examples

lexicographer - definition and examples Definition A lexicographer is a person who writes, compiles, and/or edits a dictionary. Lexicographer examine how words come into being and how they change in terms of pronunciation, spelling, usage, and meaning.The most influential lexicographer of the 18th century was Samuel Johnson, whose Dictionary of the English Language appeared in 1755. The most influential American lexicographer was Noah Webster, whose American Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1828. See Examples and Observations below. Also see: Ambrose Bierce on Lexicographers American Spelling and British Spelling Corpus LexicographyEtymologyAn Introduction to Noah WebsterLexicographicolatryLexicographyOxford English DictionaryReading the Dictionary: Ammon Sheas Lexicographical ExerciseSamuel Johnsons DictionaryWebsters ThirdWhich Websters Dictionary Is the Real Thing? Examples and Observations Lexicographer. A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original and detailing the signification of words.(Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, 1755) Lumping and SplittingDictionaries are . . . based  on an oversimplification which posits that words have enumerable, listable meanings that are divisible into discrete units. Such constructs come in handy because dictionary users tend to work best with clear-cut  distinctions and categories that we like to classify into distinct, well-defined boxes.  One of the key questions the lexicographer  then faces is related to the distinction between lumping and splitting. The former term refers to the slightly different patterns of usage that are considered as a single meaning, while the latter happens when the lexicographer separates slightly different patterns of usage into distinct meanings. The burning question whether the lexicographer should apply a lumping or a splitting st rategy does not just apply to monolingual dictionaries, however. A related question for bilingual lexicographers is whether sense divisions should be based upon the source language or the target language.(Thierry Fontenelle, Bilingual Dictionaries.  The Oxford Handbook of Lexicography, ed. by  Philip Durkin. Oxford University Press, 2015) Homonymy and PolysemyA major problem for the  lexicographer is  provided by the distinction between homonymy and polysemy. We speak of homonymy when two lexemes share the same word-forms . . ..   We speak of polysemy when a single lexeme has two (or more)  distinguishable meanings. There is no generally agreed criterion for distinguishing between the two. EAR  organ of hearing and EAR  spike of corn may be treated as two distinct lexemes . . . and usually are in real dictionaries on the basis of distinct etymologies, although diachronic information should not  in principle be used to determine synchronic linguistic structure.  On the other hand, many speakers feel that an ear of corn  is called that because it resembles the ear on someones head, and implicitly treat EAR as a single polysemous lexeme. In the writing of any dictionary, a decision has to be taken as to how to distinguish between these two.(Laurie Bauer, Word. Morphology: An International Handbook on I nflection and Word-Formation, ed. by  Geert Booij et al. Walter de Gruyter, 2000) A Descriptive Approach to LanguageEven when they must make choices, lexicographers are attempting to provide a factual record of the language, not a statement about correctness of its usage. However, when people see one form highlighted in a dictionary, they interpret it as the one correct form and subsequently infer that any other form is incorrect. Furthermore, many who read and reference dictionaries take these decisions to be comprehensive and inalterable standards. In other words, even though lexicographers take a descriptive approach to language, their work is often read as prescriptive.(Susan Tamasi and Lamont Antieau, Language and Linguistic Diversity in the US: An Introduction. Routledge, 2015) A Proscriptive ApproachModern-day lexicography has produced convincing arguments in favour of a proscriptive approach (cf. Berenholtz 2003). Although it is possible to employ such an approach in printed dictionaries, it is an approach ideal for internet dictionaries. The proscriptive approach allows the lexicographer to present the user with a variety of options, e.g. different orthographic forms of a given word or different pronunciation possibilities. No single form is prescribed but the lexicographer indicates his or her preference by recommending one or more forms. By doing so the alternatives are not demonised but users get a clear indication of the form recommended by the expert.(Rufus H. Gouws, Dictionaries as Innovative Tools in a New Perspective on Standardisation. Lexicography at a Crossroads: Dictionaries and Encyclopedias Today, Lexicographical Tools Tomorrow, ed. by Henning Bergenholtz, Sandro Nielsen, and Sven Tarp. Peter Lang, 2009) Samuel Johnson on Lexicography and LanguageWhen we see men grow old and die at a certain time one after another, from century to century, we laugh at the elixir that promises to prolong life to a thousand years; and with equal justice may the lexicographer be derided, who being able to produce no example of a nation that has preserved their words and phrases from mutability, shall imagine that his dictionary can embalm his language, and secure it from corruption and decay . . .. The language most likely to continue long without alteration, would be that of a nation raised a little, and but a little, above barbarity, secluded from strangers, and totally employed in procuring the conveniences of life.(Samuel Johnson, Preface to A Dictionary of the English Language, 1755)

Human Trafficking Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Trafficking - Assignment Example Williamson). International brokers and agents play a significant role in the displacement of human from one place to another or from one country to another. Most of the times, children and women are displaced from one place to another or from one country to another on the promises of bright future and better job opportunities which may be unachievable for them within their own country. However, this group comes to know the reality the time they reach their destination and realize that they have been deceived by the agent and learn the exact nature of the work; they are expected to do in future. Soon they realize that escaping from the situation can be difficult and dangerous for them. Child Labor: Child labor is also a form of illegal abuse and a forced labor that may cause adverse affects on the physical, mental, moral and social development of children and it may hinder the process of their education. According to an observation made by International Labor Organization that there a re approximately 246 million children around the world who are engaged illegal drug trade, forcibly involved in youth militia and armed conflicts, child prostitution and pornography or involved in debt bondage and other illegal activities. Emergence of Youth Militia: In major parts of Africa, children are forcibly recruited in diamond mines and to serve in civil and political wars. The political and civil instability in Sierra Leone has given rise to the army of child soldiers who have maintained their power and authority in the region. This army of children is brutally involved in the killing of thousands of innocent lives, rape, sexual abuse, illegal drug trade and sexual slavery. In third world countries, children and youth have played an important role in giving rise to youth violence. This emerging power of youth is also termed as the establishment of â€Å"Urban youth culture.† In other parts of the world such as Gulf-region which includes Palestine, Israel, Iraq and ot her Middle Eastern countries, we cannot neglect the political and civil instability which has also contributed in the formation of youth militia. Thousands of Palestinian children have lost their lives while transporting, throwing or exploding bombs or other explosive materials. Several groups have been established which comprised of young combatants against Israeli oppression. Furthermore, when mentioning the emergence of youth militia, one cannot ignore the rapid emergence of â€Å"Child Martyrs†. These child martyrs have given a new name to suicide terrorism which is the results of wars. Recruitment of child soldiers is a part of international law which is constituted on the basis of law of wars. According to this law, regulation of child soldiers under lawful recruitment is appropriate only if they are supervised or commanded by someone. It also states a particular age and criteria for the recruitment of child soldiers however; the law does not support the unlawful recrui tment of minors or the use of children in any civil or international war. Human Slavery: Human slavery is a part of human trafficking which allows the illegal trade of human especially women and children for different purposes. Human slavery exists in almost all the cultures and it has been there in the history from ages. Children and women are used forcibly and unlawfully in different

Healthcare Communication Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Healthcare Communication - Research Paper Example The strategies to enhance healthcare communication take their basis from the basic elements that outline effective communication, encouragement that the provider incorporates and the cultural differences that have a good or bad say within the communication domains. All of these points would be discussed at length within this paper. Effective communication is always in line with the requirements of communication. This would mean that there are no hiccups experienced at any level and that there would not be difficulties in deciphering the different levels of communication which are coming through across the channels. The effective communication domains therefore look at the wholesome basis more than the individual links and this is the reason why effective communication is hailed by people from varied strata of life. Effective communication will always be able to take care of the healthcare communication tenets because it addresses problems on a one to one level and does not skip any important areas. This is the need of the hour and more so when it is concerned with saving one’s life. When one understands that how the basic elements of effective communication are bracketed differently than the rules which are outlined by the healthcare communication realms, what transpires is how much following is possible within the latter because effective communication can always be taken up as a role model within the related mix of things (Guo 2009). The need is to understand where the missing link is present and what best mechanism can be employed to make sure that anomalies are at their minimal, and if possible, nil. The difference of the basic elements of effective communication from the most basic ones of healthcare communication, once compared, should always be close to being labeled as negligible because this would in turn be a good omen for the healthcare providers and indeed the patients. Many differences would mean immense

The media institutions operate under advance capitalism Essay Example for Free

The media institutions operate under advance capitalism Essay Today, just a handful of firms are responsible for most of the information that people sees, hears or reads. Most disturbing of the concentration of ownership is the unregulated and near-complete control over information in the hands of a small number of very powerful corporations. These big corporations of mass communication and media are becoming more and more influential our lives. The media institutions operate under advance capitalism. The information that we get is selected and framed to serve particular political and economic interests, such as commercial needs and corporate needs, but not individuals interests. The effect of TV, dairy newspaper, magazines and internet so far has largely been to increase the political crises and profit motive. If communication and media are abused, they can be used against society, and changing our world in a very negative way. Western democracies have free-market economies, in which individuals are at liberty to produce and consume according to their own interests.1 In our society, our democracy is based on the free exchange of information, on an open market place of ideas. Many communication activities have been returned to private hands from the public ownership due to the privatization and deregulation. There are several reasons for the concentration of ownership and the cut down of government regulation. Firstly, revenue-strapped governments have become eager to assign more and more areas of the economy to market forces.2 Some government action can lead to a less efficient allocation of resources and slow down the development of the economy. For example, regulatory agencies fixed the prices can only allow the corporate to earn a normal rate of return. In addition, due to the changing of economy, many small firms expand their power by selling to local market, merge up by a bigger corporation. The powerful corporation can fix the prices and control output to maximize the profits, which can benefit the economy growth. They can even cut prices to drive the other competitors out of the business. Implementing the intercept requirements could harm the competitiveness of our country products in the global market. Secondly, the growth of the technology allowed the market to expand without bound. For example, the Internet is a new method of communication and a source of information that is becoming more popular, which everyone can access it from anywhere and anytime. The government cannot interfere with what we see and hear makes it more and more difficult for national governments to assume control of cultural production. Thirdly, peoples sense of belonging to the national community has changed.3 People do not want to put more power in the hands of the government. They think government involvement creates even more problem than they can solve. Sometime can lead to a less efficiently, wasting time and money. The deregulations of the mass communication and media have threatened the public interests. The factors of concentration of ownership, the profit motive and advertisers interests are the main key to determining the production and the content of news and media. The press and the media are responsible for reporting news, issues and events as clearly as possible. Since we are educated about what is happening in the world around us and updated on issues that we care. Any distortions can cause the information to be misinterpreted or completely wrong, result in the misinforming of the public. However, based on the capitalism, large media corporations make profit by selling the audiences to the advertisers. For example, the economic structure of a newspaper is that it sells readers to other business. They are not really trying to sell newspaper to people. They just try to increase their readerships in order to increase the advertising rate.4 They are not trying to provide what people want to see, but to communicate the public to a large number of companies or businesses. The media content is depending on the advertising company, which can affect both the content of news as well as the process by which news is created. We have to think deeply about the questions such as: How all these factors affect peoples lives? What purpose does peoples lives serve as? Can we continue to gain the absolute truth? However, the sad thing is many people do not know or concern the horrors that control and power can bring to our society. Corporate journalism and corporate control of the cultural, information and entertainment complex have always existed. The media has been increased the political crises around the world. Take 911 as an example, the U.S. media devoted huge coverage to the attacks and their aftermath, but omitting a critical and accurate discussion of the context.5 The way which news broadcast, print, radio and Internet present news has a great effect on our emotion or feeling. Many Canadians are indignant as much as the Americans are when we heard that thousands people were killed by an airplanes hit in the World Trade Center. They support U.S to start the war against Iraqi because they are deeply influence by the mass media. The truth is, beside the reason of revenge and the elimination of terrorism, is the over taking of the petroleum a one of the reasons too? Countrys culture industries can be overwhelmed by foreign influence. The United States has always had stringent restrictions on foreign investment in its telecommunications and media sectors.6 Another negative effect of the mass media is the influence of the advertising have on us. Is advertising deceptive? Does it create or perpetuate stereotypes? Advertisements are everywhere in television, newspapers, magazines and internet. These media not only reflect our society, it also constantly reinforces certain ideas and human being.7 Companies and businesses often overwhelming the benefits and advantages of their products. They are willing to stretch and distort the truth, just to convincing people to buy their product. They may hide some facts such as the expensive price. For example, BMW ads amplify the amazing horsepower and the superior performance of their vehicles but will not mention how costly they are. Nike ads are accused of implying that their shoes will give a consumer athletic ability. The result is customers usually buy the things that they really do not need. Children most likely ask their parents to buy the toys and clothing after they have seen the commercial on the TV. It has created a stereotype, such as boys prefer to play robots and girls love dolls. Also, teenagers have become top consumers in todays society, so advertisers have focused on getting their business. Teens like to purchase new items to keeps up with the changing trends. Therefore, advertisers use their view of teens to create ads. Some ads may have bad effect on teenagers, such as alcohols and cigarettes. Although the concentrations of ownership, deregulation and technology have threatened our public interest, we can still able to learn about the choices that we face and make reasoned decisions. We have choice to see, to read, and to hear what we wanted to. It is up to the consumers to make wise choices and develop shopping skills that are intelligent. The one event may give rise to several news. People should learn to make an analysis of the truthfulness and express their own feeling but not influence by the media. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Chodos, Murphy, Hamovitch, Lost in Cyberspace, James Lorimer Company, Publishers, Toronto, 1997. Chomsky, Noam, Understand Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, The New Press, New York, 2002. Ermann, Williams, Shauf, Computers, ethics and society, Oxford University Press, New York, 1990. Gay, Martin k., The New Information Revolution, ABC-CLIO, Inc., California, 1996 Lorimer, Gasher, Mass communication in Canada, Oxford University Press, Canada, 2001. Mckibben, Bill, The age of missing information, Plume, Penguin Books Ltd, 1992. INTERNET RESOURCES: Global Media Markets and Citizen Information http://faculty.washington.edu/bennett/Media_Markets.htm Ansolabehere: Media Deregulation http://bostonreview.mit.edu/BR23.3/ansolabehere.html 1 Lorimer, Gasher, Mass communication in Canada, Oxford University Press, Canada, 2001, p.205. 2 Lorimer, Gasher, Mass communication in Canada, Oxford University Press, Canada, 2001, p.205. 3 ibid p.206 4 Chomsky, Noam, Understand Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, The New Press, New York, 2002, p.16. 5 Chomsky, Noam, Understand Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, The New Press, New York, 2002, p xiii. 6 Chodos, Murphy, Hamovitch, Lost in Cyberspace, James Lorimer Company, Publishers, Toronto, 1997, p.93. 7 Mckibben, Bill, The age of missing information, Plume, Penguin Books Ltd, 1992, p.17.

Emily Dickinsons Poetry :: Biography Biographies Essays

Emily dickinson's Poetry In Emily Dickinson's Poetry she has a great interest with brief encounters and transition states of mind. Dickinson's depicts many of her brief encounters in great detail. Even if it was only a passing moment, Dickinson does not omit any aspect of her sightings. An example of a passing moment which she develops into great detail would be Dickinson's first sighting of the bird in "A bird came down the walk" Here ED expands on the birds actions and movements. Her description of the bird in flight takes up many lines. Instead of simply telling us the bird took flight, she elaborates on the beauty and grace of his flight. The actions of the birds are awe - inspiring to her. "And rowed him softer home" "Than oars divide the ocean....." Dickinson's attitude to passing moments is quite complex, as she does not interpret them simply as a "passing moment" but an extraordinary descriptive event. Another example of a passing moment would be in "A narrow fellow in the grass" In this poem Dickinson's keen observation of passing moments is clearly observed. She notices every movement of the snake even though his movements are very sudden and fast. Initially the snake is characterized as transient or passing swiftly. These movements appear to be very sudden but Dickinson goes into more detail and as a result the essential nature of the snake is clearly defined. "The grass divides as with a comb" "Whip lash" "wrinkled and was gone" The snake's brief passing seems much longer to Dickinson whereas it was a very quick movement. By using he word "Whiplash" to describe the snakes actions we can see how sudden the experience must have been. She tells us how she was frightened to the core of her being: "Without a tighter breathing "And Zero at the bone" Dickinson does not treat this as a quick passing moment but an experience, which she elaborates on. This aspect of her work also occurs in "I felt a funeral in my brain" An example of this would be her stream of consciousness which is clearly illustrated with Dickinson' s urgent repetition of `And "

Streetcar named desire: reality

A Streetcar Named Desire: Illusion Replacing Reality â€Å"Human kind cannot bear much reality' (Eliot 14). Tennessee Williams' â€Å"A Streetcar Named Desire† is an artistic demonstration of T. S. Eliot's observation. In Streetcar, Blanche, a woman in crisis, visits her sister Stella and brother-in-law Stanley in New Orleans. Blanche is from an upper-class background but has fallen on hard times, both economically and emotionally. Stanley is from a lower-class background with a cruel streak a mile wide. What ensues is a conflict of epic proportions between Stanley and Blanche, with Stella torn between the two.Each character operates ithin his or her own alternate reality. Through Stella, Stanley and Blanche's self- deception within this conflict, Williams demonstrates how and to what extent individuals create their own realities in order to maintain the fapde of an existence they deem acceptable. Blanche, more so that any of character demonstrates an individual's ability to live in an alternate reality. Blanche creates an illusion that helps her cope with the type of person she has become because of tragedy she experiences.Blanche's husband commits suicide after she makes a cruel statement to him when she discovers his affair with a man. Blanche deals with her guilt and loneliness with destructive behavior: she drinks excessively and engages in sexually promiscuous behavior. Ultimately, Blanche is run out of town and comes to live with Stella with nowhere else to go. The facts behind Blanche's story are sordid. But she does not acknowledge them or even live in a reality where they exist. â€Å"After all, a woman's charm is fifty percent illusion† (2. 29). Blanche creates an illusion where she remains a proper Southern lady who is wanted by rich gentlemen. She arrives at Stella's house wearing pearls, white gloves and a hat, â€Å"looking as if she were arriving t a summer tea or cocktail party in the garden district† (1. 14). She clings t o her Southern aristocratic roots and labels Stanley a â€Å"brute† because of his social status (4. 2). She will not acknowledge that she has fallen on hard times, but instead adopts a reality as it â€Å"ought to be† (9. 43).She strives to convince others to adopt her reality to reinforce her fantasy world (â€Å"l misrepresent things to them. I don't tell the truth, I tell what ought to be truth†) (9. 43). For Blanche, an alternate reality is not Just desirable or more acceptable, it is necessary. Blanche needs the illusion because she annot exist without it. She cannot see herself as she truly is and go on. When Stanley shatters the illusion, Blanche is destroyed along with it. Like Blanche, Stella also creates a false reality to make her existence acceptable.Stella's alternate reality does not permeate her life like Blanche's. But, it is equally destructive. Stella creates an illusion of Stanley as a loving husband to maintain her illusion that everything i s fine in her marriage. Stella's illusion of Stanley is evident on two occasions†when she returns to Stanley after he beats her and when she refuses to believe that Stanley has raped Blanche. When Stanley beats Stella, Stella's self-deception becomes evident. It is clear at that point that Stanleys cruelty extends to Stella in their marriage.Blanche tries to convince Stella to leave Stanley. Ironically, Blanche, who clings to illusion herself, tells Stella that she must, â€Å"Pull (her)self together and face the facts† (4. 48). Stella, however, opts for her illusion. She returns to Stanley and maintains the illusion ot ner nappy marriage. Stella again opts tor ner alternate reality when she refuses to believe that Stanley raped Blanche. Stella recognizes that he cannot maintain the illusion of what her marriage is if she believes Blanche. So, she makes a conscious decision to reject Blanche's story and maintain her illusion.At the end of the play, Stella explains her d ecision to her friend Eunice: â€Å"l couldn't believe her story and go on living with Stanley† (1 1. 40). In reply, Eunice states, â€Å"Don't ever believe it. Life has got to go on. No matter what happens, you've got to keep going. † (1 1. 41). Eunice's reply suggests that she recognizes that Stella is deceiving herself about Stanley in order to maintain the illusion of her marriage. Stella's statement also suggests a degree of awareness that the illusion of her marriage would be destroyed if she accepted Blanche's story.Stella is only able to maintain her false reality by rejecting the truth about a brutal rape against her sister. Through Stella actions, Williams demonstrates the extent that an individual will go to in order to maintain an illusion. Both Stella and Blanche's lives are mired in illusion. Williams suggests that perhaps Stanleys is as well toa lesser degree. Williams betrays Stanley as a forthright man who speaks truthfully and plainly. From the time e meets Blanche, Stanley is obsessed with revealing Blanche's lies and deceptions.But, ironically, even Stanley creates an alternate reality that he is better able to accept. After he has driven Blanche insane by his brutal rape, Stanley goes to his family and presents the image of a loving husband and father as Blanche is taken away. Stanleys alternate reality mirrors the one that Stella has created. In his illusion he is a loving father and husband rather than a cruel bully. So, through Stanley, Williams demonstrates that even those who are firmly seated in reality engage in self-deception to maintain an acceptable fapde.Williams' message in Streetcar seems to be that humans tend to make their own reality when the real one is not to their liking. Blanche, Stella and even Stanley toa lesser degree create false realities. Their illusions cloak actual realities which they are unable or unwilling to bear. The illusions they create allow them to adopt an existence that is acceptable to them†one that is in no way similar to the truth of their lives. Works Cited Eliot, T. S. â€Å"Burnt Norton. † Four Quartets. New York: Mariner Books, 1968. 14. Print. Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. New York: Signet, 1974. Print.

Software Engineering

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PROJECT – I INTRODUCTION: The goal of this paper is to analyze about three major software projects namely †¢ The London Ambulance System †¢ The Virtual Case File †¢ The Automatic Baggage System By analyzing these software projects and the software engineering principles followed, the key factors responsible for the software projects failure can be understood. Each of these projects has failed miserable as they didn’t follow proper software engineering principles. In this term paper the following projects have been studied and reason for their failures are identified.Finally there is a comparison off all the three software projects studied. The methodology followed in writing this term paper is reading the following reference materials available in the internet and extracting the key points for the failures of the software projects. The papers referenced for writing the following term paper are 1. H. Goldstein. Who Killed the Virtual C ase File? IEEE Spectrum, Sept. 2005, pp. 24–35. 2. Statement of Glenn A. Fine, Inspector General, US Dept. of Justice, 27 July 2005. 3. A.Finkelstein and J. Dowell. A Comedy of Errors: the London Ambulance Service Case Study. 4. Report of the Inquiry into the London Ambulance Service (February 1993), by A. Finkelstein, 5. Richard de Neufville. â€Å"The Baggage System at Denver: Prospects and Lessons,† Journal of Air 6. Barry Shore. â€Å"Systematic Biases and Culture in Project Failures,† Project Management Journal CONCLUSION: The conclusion after studying these three papers, for any software projects the good principles of software engineering should be followed. The software development process should be properly planned with achievable and realistic deadlines. All the three projects had poor planning with unrealistic deadlines. †¢ Great importance should be given to the requirements gathering phase and it should not be changed during the middle of the d evelopment †¢ Developers should develop the projects with proper coding standards so that there is no issue during the integration of different modules. †¢ Time critical projects should require critical and solid reasoning as well as good anticipation of problems and perform risk management. The schedule of the software projects should have good portion of time in testing the software product developed. †¢ Finally, as far as possible keep the complexity of the system to manageable levels and tested effectively. LONDON AMBULANCE SYSTEM In October 1992 the Computer Aided Despatch (CAD) system developed by Systems Options was deployed for the London Ambulance System (LAS). The goal of the software system was to automate the process of the ambulance service for the London Ambulance System (LAS) in the city of London, United Kingdom.The implemented project was a major failure due to variety of factors. The Each component of good state of the art has been ignored, each guid eline of the Software engineering has ignored by the management and authorities’ neglected basic management principles. The working of the LAS can be summarized as: the system gets request by phone calls and sends ambulance based on nature, availability of resources. The automatic vehicle locating system (AVLS) and mobile data terminals (MDT) was used to perform automatic communication with ambulances.Some of the major reasons for the failure of the London ambulance system can be stated as: †¢ The deadline given for the completion of the project was six months. The project of such big magnitude cannot be completed within a small deadline. †¢ The software was not fully developed and incomplete. The individual modules were tested, but the software was not tested fully as a integrated system. †¢ The resilience of the hardware under a full load condition had not been tested before the deployment of the software. The flash cut over strategy was used to implement the system which was a high risk and moreover it didn’t have any backup systems to revert on failure. †¢ Inappropriate and unjustified assumptions were made during the specification process of the project. Some of the few assumptions that were made are : ? Complete accuracy and reliability of the hardware system. ? Perfect location and status information. ? Cooperation of all operators and ambulance crew members. †¢ Lack of consultation with the prospective users of the system and subject matter experts. The Software requirement specification was excessively prescriptive, incomplete and not formally signed off. †¢ The London Ambulance system underestimated the difficulties involved in the project during the project blastoff phase. †¢ Inadequate staff training. The crew members were not fully trained on the operation of the new software and their prior experience was not used in the newly developed software. The Report of the Inquiry into the London Ambulance Service by Anthony Finkelstein also gives us more information about the failure of the system. Some of the are listed below as follows: It states that â€Å"the CAD system implemented in 1992 was over ambitious and was developed and implemented against an impossible timetable†. †¢ In addition, the LAS Committee got the wrong impression, that the software contractor had prior experience in emergency systems; this was misleading in awarding the contract to systems options. †¢ Project management throughout the development and implementation process was inadequate and at times ambiguous. A major project like this requires a full time, professional, experience project management which was lacking. The computer system did not fail in a technical sense, the increase in calls on October 26 and 27 1992 was due to unidentified duplicate calls and call backs from the public in response to ambulance delays. †¢ â€Å"On 4th November 1992 the system did fail. This was cause d by a minor programming error that caused the system to crash†. VIRTUAL CASE FILE SYSTEM The primary goal of the Virtual case file (VCF) system was to automate the process of FBI paper based work environment, allow agents and intelligence analysts to share vital investigative information, and replace the obsolete Automated Case Support (ACS) system.In ACS tremendous time is spend in processing paperwork, faxing and Fedexing standardized memo. Virtual case file (VCF) system was aimed at centralizing the IT operations and removes the redundancy present in various databases across the FBI system. In September 2000 the FBI Information technology upgrade project was underway. It was divided into three parts. †¢ The Information Presentation Component †¢ The Transportation Network Component †¢ User Application Component The first part involved distribution of new Dell computers, scanners, printers and servers.The second part would provide secure wide area networks, al lowing agents to share information with their supervisors and each other. The third part is the virtual case file. The Virtual Case File system project was awarded to a US government contractor, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). The FBI used cost plus – award fee contracts. This project was of great importance because the FBI lacked the ability to know what it knew; there was no effective mechanism for capturing or sharing its institutional knowledge. This project was initially led by former IBM Executive Bob E. Dies. On 3th December 2003, SAIC delivered the VCF to FBI, only to have it declared dead on arrival. The major reasons for the failure of the VCF system can be summarized as: †¢ The project lacked clearly defined schedules and proper deadlines, there was no formal project schedules outlined for the project and poor communication between development teams that was dividing into eight teams to speed up the project completion. †¢ The softwa re engineering principle of reusing the existing components was ignored. SAIC was developing a E – mail like system even though FBI was already using an off – the – shelf software package. The deployment strategy followed in implementing the system was flash -cutover. It is a risky way a deploying a system as the system would be changed in a single shot. †¢ The project violated the first rule of software planning of keeping it simple. The requirement document was so exhaustive that rather of describing the function what it should perform it also stated how the functions should be implemented. †¢ Developers coded the module to make individuals features work but were not concerned about the integration of the whole system together.There was no coding standards followed and hence there was difficulty in the integration process. †¢ The design requirement were poorly designed and kept on constantly changing through the development phase. The high level documents including the system architecture and system requirements were neither complete nor consistent. †¢ Lack of plan to guide hardware purchases, network deployments, and software development. †¢ Appointment of person with no prior experience in management to manage a critical project such as this was grave mistake, appointment of Depew as VCF project manager. Project lacked transparency in the work within the SAIC and between SAIC and the FBI. †¢ Infrastructure including both the hardware and network was not in place to test thoroughly the developed virtual case file system by SAIC which was essentially needed for flash cut off deployment. †¢ The requirement and design documentation were incomplete, imprecise, requirement and design tracings have gaps and the maintenance of software was costlier. †¢ According to the report by Harry Goldstein, â€Å"there was 17 ‘functional deficiencies’ in the deployed Virtual Case File System†.It didn’t have the ability to search for individuals by specialty and job title. All these above factors contributed to the failure of the Virtual Case File System which wasted a lot of public tax payers’ money. AUTOMATIC BAGGAGE SYSTEM The automatic baggage system designed for the Denver International Airport is a classic example of a software failure system in the 1990’s. With a greater airport capacity, the city of Denver wanted to construct the state of art automatic baggage handling system. Covering a land area of 140 square kilometer the Denver airport has 88 airport gates with 3 concourses.The fully automated baggage system was unique in its complexity because of the massive size of the airport and its novel technology. The three other airports that have such systems are the San Francisco International Airport, International airport in Frankfurt and the Franz Joseph Strauss Airport in Munich. This project is far more complex than any other projects, because it has 12 times as many carts as in exiting comparable system . The contract for this automatic baggage system was given to BAE automated systems. In 1995 after many delays, the baggage system project was deployed, which was a major failure.The baggage carts derailed, luggage was torn and the system completely failed. But the system was redesigned with lesser complexity and opened 16 months later. GOALS OF THE PROJECT: The system calls for replacing the traditional slow conveyor belts with telecars that roll freely on underground tracks. It was designed to carry up to 70 bags per minute to and from baggage check-in and checkout at speed up to 24 miles/hour. This would allow the airlines to receive checked baggage at their aircraft within 20 minutes. The automatic baggage system was a critical because the aircraft turnaround time was to be reduced to as little as 30 minutes.The faster turnaround time meant more quickly the operations and it increases the productivity. The installers are quoted has having planned â€Å"a design that will allow baggage to be transported anywhere within the terminal within 10 minutes†. PROJECT SCOPE: The International airport at Denver three concourses and initially it aimed at automating all the three concourses. But later the concourse B was alone designed to be made automatic. The project was later redefined to handle only outbound baggage. It does not deal with the transfer of bags. STAKE HOLDERS:The major stake holders in the project can be identified as: †¢ The Denver International Airport Management. †¢ The BAE Automated Systems. †¢ The Airline Management. The project blastoff according to Robertson & Robertson states that during this phase it has to identify all the stakeholders and ask their inputs for the requirements. In the ABS System the Airline Management was not made to involve in the blastoff meetings to provide their inputs and excluded from the discussions. As well as the risk should be anal yzed properly during the blast off which was also a draw back in this system.This was a perfect example of failure to perform risk management. The cost estimation of the project was incorrect as it exceeded the estimated cost during the development. So, Aspects in which the project blastoffs were not addressed can be summarized as follows: †¢ The underestimation of complexity †¢ Poor stakeholder management †¢ Poor Design †¢ Failure to perform risk management There were only three â€Å"intense† working session to discuss the scope of the project and the agreement between the airport management and BAE automated systems.Although BAE automated systems had been working in the construction of the baggage system in concourse B for United Airlines, the three working session is not sufficient to collect all the requirements for the construction of the automate baggage systems. This shows clearly a poor software engineering principle because requirements are the k ey base factors for the project to be built upon. Reports indicate that the two year deadline for the construction of the automatic baggage system is inadequate. The reports that showed that project required more than two years are as follows: â€Å"The complexity was too high for the system to be built successfully† by The Baggage System at Denver: Prospects and Lesson – Dr. R. de Neufville Journal of Air Transport Management, Vol. 1,No. 4, Dec, pp. 229-236,1994 †¢ None of the bidders quoted to finish the project within two years. †¢ Experts from Munich airport advised that a much simpler system had taken two full years to complete and it was system tested thoroughly six months before the opening of the Munich airport. Despite all this information the decision to continue with a project was not based on the sound engineering principles.ABS REQUIREMENT DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION The Automatic Baggage System constructed by the Airport Management was a decision taken two years before the opening of the new Denver International Airport. Initially the concourse B meant for United Airlines was supposed to be constructed by the BAE Automated Systems and all other airlines had to construct their own baggage handling mechanism. Later the responsibility was taken by the Denver Airport Management to construct the Automatic Baggage System.The integrated nature of the ABS system meant that airport looks after its own facility and has a central control. The BAE plan to construct for the concourse B was expanded to the other three concourses which was a major change in the strategy of the airport construction. Moreover the airport management believed that an automated baggage system would be more cost effective than manual system given the size of the massive airport. During the development phase the requirements kept on changing which added additional complexity to the project. Though in the contract there was learly statement no change in requiremen t would be accommodated, they accepted the changes to meet the stakeholder needs. For example the addition of the ski equipment racks and the addition of maintenance track to allow carts to be serviced without being removed from the rails and able to handle oversized baggage. The baggage system and the airport building shared physical space and services such as the electrical supply. Hence the designers of the physical building and the designers of the baggage system needed to work as one integrated team with lot of interdependency.Since the construction of the airport was started initially the building designers made general allowances in the place where they thought the baggage system would come into place. Hence the designers of the automatic baggage system have to work with the constraints that have already been placed. For example sharp turns were supposed to be made due to the constraints placed and these were one of the major factors for the bags to be ejected from the carts. The design of the automatic baggage system â€Å"Systematic Biases and Culture in Project Failures†, a Project Management Journal is as follows. Luggage was to be first loaded onto the conveyor belts, much as it is in conventional baggage handling system. †¢ These conveyors would then deposit the luggage in the carts that were controlled by computers. †¢ The luggage would travel at 17 miles per hour to its destinations, as much as one mile away. †¢ The automatic baggage system would include around 4000 baggage carts travelling throughout the airport under the control of 100 computers with processing power up to 1400 bags per minute. However the design with the above architecture failed as it was not able to handle variable load.It was also suffering from various problems they are identified as: †¢ The software was sending carts out at the wrong times, causing jams and in many cases sending carts to the wrong locations. †¢ The baggage system continued to unload bags even though they were jammed on the conveyor belt. †¢ The fully automated system may never be able to deliver bags consistently within the times and at the capacity originally promised. †¢ In another case the bags from the aircraft can only be unloaded and loaded into the unloading conveyor belt is moving, this belt moves only when there are empty carts.Empty carts will only arrive after they have deposited previous loads; this is a cascade of queues. †¢ Achieving high reliability also depends on the mechanical and the computers that controlled the baggage carts’ reliability. †¢ Errors may occur during reading or transmitting information about the destinations. There may be various scenarios during which these errors can take place. Some of them are listed as below. 1. The baggage handler may place the bag on the conveyor with the label hidden. 2. The baggage may have two labels on it. one from the previous flight. 3. The labels may be muti lated or dirty. . The label may not lie in the direction of the view of the laser reader. 5. The laser may malfunction or the laser guns stop reading the labels. †¢ The reading of information is vital in the automatic baggage system since the whole system is dependent on the information transmitted from reading of the labels and this information must be transmitted by radio to devices on each of the baggage carts. †¢ There is no available evidence of effective alternative testing of the capability of the system to provide reliable delivery to all destinations under variable patterns of load.This variable demand made in the system is famously called as the line balancing problem. That is, it is crucial to control the capacity of the system so that all lines of flow have balanced service. This problem can be avoided by eliminating situations where some lines get little or no service, to avoid the possibility that some connections simply do not function or in other words cont rol the emptiness. This failure also was because the entire system was developed within a two year deadline and hence the automatic baggage system was not testing completely with variable loads.Lack of testing also is a major reason for this failure. These all are the major factors that led to the failure of the automatic baggage system in Denver international airport. Subsequently a much less complex system was design and implemented sixteen months later. This newly designed system had the following functionality as follows: †¢ Serve only one concourse, the concourse B for United Airlines. †¢ Operate on half the planned capacity on each track. †¢ Handle only outbound baggage at the start. †¢ Not deal with transfer bags. COMPARISON OF ABS, VCF and LAS PROJECTS All the management teams of the three projects wanted the software system to be built quickly without taking into consideration of the system requirement. †¢ Hence all the system had unrealistic deadli ne to be met. †¢ Because of these unrealistic deadlines the system didn’t follow proper software engineering standards and principles. †¢ In all the three projects during the project blastoff phase the requirements gathering activity was not proper and incomplete, due to which the requirements kept on changing during the development phase. †¢ Lack of consultation with the stake holders and prospective users. All the three projects Software requirement specification was excessively prescriptive, incomplete and not formally signed off. †¢ All the three systems were not properly tested before deployment due to lack of time and tight schedules. The timeline was not reasonable for any of the projects. †¢ There was poor communication between the developers, customers and the clients in all the projects. †¢ The identification of the stake holders and collecting requirements from the stake holders and subject matter experts was not proper and incomplete. ASPECTS |ABS |VCF |LAS | |DEPLOYMENT STRATEGY |It was deployed in a single phase|Flash Cutover strategy was used in|Flash Cutover strategy was used | | |with a major failure of the |replacing the ACS System |in replacing the existing System | | |system | | | |PROJECT SCHEDULE/DEADLINE |Had a very tight schedule of two |Over ambitious schedule |Had a very tight deadline, two | | |years to implement | |years(1990 – 1992) | |PROJECT PLANNING |Poor Planning, The system was |Poor Planning and constantly |Good Engineering practice were | | |decided to be developed two years|changing milestones |Ignored | | |before the completion of the | | | | |airport | | | |SOFTWARE REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATION |Kept on changing to meet the |Slowly changing design |On the fly code changes and | | |needs of the stake holders |requirements |requirement changes | |PROJECT BLASTOFF |There was only three intense |The project blastoff phase didn’t |It left out the view of the | | |session to colle ct the |collect all the requirements |customers and subject matter | | |requirements which is inadequate |properly |experts | |REUSABLITY |This system didn’t have any back |They already had e-mail like |The existing communication | | |up system to reuse |system which could have been |devises in the ambulance system | | | |reused but new mail system was | | | | |written | | |CODING/TESTING |The system was not tested with |The software system followed the |Backup dispatch system not tested| | |variable load |spiral developmental model and not|and the overall software not | | | |tested as a whole |system tested | |SYSTEM DESIGN |The system design was too complex|The system was not base lined and |The System design was incomplete | | | |kept on changing | | |BUGS |System was unable to detect bugs |59 issues and sub issues were |81 Know Bugs in the Deployed | | | |identified |System | |ASSUMPTIONS/ |It was dependent on computers |No major assumptions were made in |Perfect location information and | |DEPENDENCY |that controlled the baggage cars |this project |dependent on the MDT | | | | |communications | PERSONAL REFLECTION: †¢ After reading all the three projects I now understand that development of software not necessary has to be coding the software properly but there are various aspects apart from coding like requirement gathering, risk analysis, testing. †¢ The requirements gather should plays a vital role in software development and it has to be properly made in consultation with all the stakeholders, customers of the software. †¢ Understanding the complexity of the software being developed. †¢ Proper planning and schedule of events for the development activities. Deadlines for the software development should be realistic and achievable †¢ Use of any of the software engineering models for the development like waterfall model, Bohms’ spiral model, incremental work flow model or agile software development. †¢ Last but not the least the software developed should be thoroughly tested for finding out flaws in the development and fixing them. REFERENCES: 1. H. Goldstein. Who Killed the Virtual Case File? IEEE Spectrum, Sept. 2005, pp. 24–35. 2. Statement of Glenn A. Fine, Inspector General, US Dept. of Justice, 27 July 2005. 3. A. Finkelstein and J. Dowell. A Comedy of Errors: the London Ambulance Service Case Study. Proc. 8th Int.Workshop on Software Specification and Design (IWSSD96), pp. 2–4, Velen, Germany, 1996. 4. Report of the Inquiry into the London Ambulance Service (February 1993), International Workshop on Software Specification and Design Case Study. Electronic Version Prepared by A. Finkelstein, with kind permission from the Communications Directorate, South West Thames Regional Health Authority. 5. Richard de Neufville. â€Å"The Baggage System at Denver: Prospects and Lessons,† Journal of Air Transport Management, Vol. 1, No. 4, Dec. 1994, pp. 229–236. 6. B arry Shore. â€Å"Systematic Biases and Culture in Project Failures,† Project Management Journal, Vol. 39, No. 4, 2008, pp. 5–16.

buy custom HTC Cell Phones essay

buy custom HTC Cell Phones essay Executive summary HTC is one of the cell phones manufactures in the world. Due to the high quality of their mobile phones they have high demand for their products. It is one of the most competitive mobile phone manufactures in the world in the global markets. The company puts in place certain marketing strategies to be able to sell more. There are several threats facing the HTC manufactures but the biggest threat that is facing is the completion from other cell phones and mobile phones manufactures. Many competitors in the market also sell the mobile phones like the LG handsets, Nokia, and Motorola. The HTC has certain threatens that makes it unable to achieve the set goals to increase the sales. Although HTC is faced by these threats, the firm also has opportunities to utilize to curb the threats. Producing of high quality phones that are on high demand on the world is an opportunity by the firm to increase share. The company public relations have been well managed. The brand has been able to create a good image of the firm through sponsoring of some teams. Good public relations enable a company to achieve positive attitude from the public. The company has also marketing strategies that make it increase the sales of the mobile phones. (Holson, 2008) Although is faced by many competitors, HTC manufacturers can came up with ways to increase their sales through marketing.HTC makes use of the 4ps marketing strategy. This includes manufacturing of right products, right pricing, right promotion strategies and sell at the right places. There are some things that the HTC marketing manager should do to improve the sales of the mobile phones. Cooperating with the mobile operators to give offer to customers. They should also engage in markets research to find out the consumer tastes and preferences. Introduction HTC is one of the international brands that deal with the manufacturing of smart phones. HTC was number 98, Best Global Brands rankings released by Inter-brand in 2011. It is the most successful in the manufacturing of smart phones. This is because of the quality of their cell phones that have 3G internet and wireless connections among other features. Cher Wang is the chairwoman of HTC. Peter Chou is the President and Chief Executive Officer. HTC offices are in china. China is one of the developed countries in the world. The level of technology in china is very high. This technology can be employed in the manufacturing of the phone to increase productivity. The economy of china is well established and therefore, the market for the product is readily available. The company is less likely to suffer from any financial problems. HTC mobile phones are providing users with the ability to use their phones for business. the HTC phones has the Windows Mobile operating system, allowing users to view documents created through Microsoft applications such as excel, word and Power point. (Woyke, 2009) The phones support can also support Outlook Mobile giving the users the chance to send and receive emails. The phones also have the 3G internet that enables the users to access the internet. The 3G internet is much faster than the 2G internet phone. HTC manufacturers provide the most popular handsets on the market today. HTC mainly manufactures the touch screen, smart phone and PDA mobiles. The handsets have great internet connectivity like the 3G internet and 4G internet. The phones lso have large colorful screens and have multimedia features. This has led to the company being one of the most competitive cell phone manufactures in the world. The Company Mission Statement The companys mission is to increase its sales and researching more to come up with high quality mobile phones. HTC will be selling smart phones in China under its own brand name in a partnership with China Mobile. This will increase the sales of the cell phone as this increase the market. In the year 2010, HTC sold many handsets and the sales had increased by 11% in the year 2009. HTC mission HTC has a mission is to become the worlds leading supplier of mobile and cell phones by providing uniquely designed phones. The company is working to achieving this research and development products. Threats faced by HTC Competition is one of the threats that are facing HTC.HTC is face by competition from various cell phone manufactures. This manufactures include: BlackBerry handsets are the mobile phones that are on high demand in the market. Their phones provide users with a phone that they can access their email and they have large screens for better view among other amazing features. Apple has the technology and style that they use to make their range of iPhones which have been on high demand today. They offer phone with fast internet. This is one of the largest mobile manufactures in the world followed by Samsung. Their products are on high demand. Nokia is the worlds largest mobile phone manufacturer. It sells wide range of mobile phones different sizes, with few features and others with many features. They have a large market share. Sony Ericsson is known for its highly successful function-rich Cyber shot, Xperia and Walkman handsets. It makes mobile phones that are on high demand thus it is very competitive. Samsung mobile phone sells stylish handsets with amazing features. This is the second largest mobile phones manufactures in the world. They also manufacture touch screen phones that are highly on demand. Google makes Android mobile phone with gorgeous design and they are some of the most demanded in the world. Strengths At the Mobile World Congress 1n 2011, HTC was awarded as the best manufacturer of smart phones in the Year. In April 2011.The company has a higher market share than that of Nokia and it is the third largest smart phone manufacturer phones in the world while is the first Apple then Samsung. HTC has invested in research and development a department that has a quarter of its employees. This helps it to come up with high quality mobile phones.HTC runs a software design office in Seattle where it designs the features of the phones. HTC has a research and development office in Durham in North Carolina which deals with wireless technology that is required to make mobile phones. Research helps to come up with products that match the customer needs. Research also helps to come up with unique designs and features for the phones. (Holson, 2008) The company is producing handsets that have great features that will attract customers. In year 2010, the company launched a 4G internet capable phone. This was the first 4G internet phone in the United States. Thiss phone attracted large number of customers who required high internet speed in their phones. Opportunities HTC has a wide share of the market compared to other mobile manufacture like Sony ericssion, Motorola, blackberry, LG among others.HTC began designing some of the worlds highly demanded phones that have touch screen and wireless connectivity. The company was the first to create Microsoft-powered smart phone in the year 2002. Since the company can make unique and high quality mobile phones it has a chance of been very competitive in the market. The users look for the mobile phones that have features that meet all their needs. (Macsai, 2010)The 4G internet mobile phone is suitable for users who need quick access to the internet.HTC able to manufacture them are an opportunity to increase their market share. Marketing Strategies HTL makes use of the 4ps marketing strategy. It makes high quality products that meet the consumer needs. The 4G internet phone manufacturing is a strategy aimed at meeting the customers need for faster internet in the phone. HTC is targeting the best place to sell its products.HTC has started selling smart phones in China under its own brand name in a partnership with China Mobile. China is one of the developed countries in the world and it would provide the best market for the HTC products. HTC mobile phones are sold at different prices according to the feature of the phone. The prices are set according to the quality of the product. Due to other competitors, HTC charge fair prices to avoid losing the customers and the potential customers. Public Relations Public relations are important to create a good image of the firm. Good public relations help any organization to change the negative public attitude towards the organization to a positive one. In the year 2009, HTC sponsored the HTC-Highroad cycling team. This team is currently the most successful cycling team from the year 2009 to 2011. Recommendations HTC should have a low pricing policy. This will ensure that people in the developing countries can also afford to purchase the mobile phones. HTC can cooperate with the phone operator to give offers to customers. For example, any person who buys a phone should be give a month of free calls. Research on the software they can install in the phones to come up with unique feature for the phones. To increase creativity HTC should employ any person who comes up with a fantastic idea and help the person to develop that idea. HTC should listen to the complaints of the customers to come up with the products that satisfy their needs. The customer may be requiring high quality cameras, different shapes and colors of the phones or faster internet. (Macsai, 2010) Conclusion HTC is a brand that although faced by so many competitions has a chance to be the worlds most competitive mobile manufactures. The marketing research to find out the customer tastes and the technology research to come up uniquely designed phones can enable the firm to be the most competitive.HTC has good public relations since it engages in sponsoring of events. Buy custom HTC Cell Phones essay

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A Womans Choice essays Twenty-five years after the Supreme Courts infamous Roe v. Wade decision, the majority of the American public still favors the legislation of abortion. The latest New York Times/CBS Poll shows that there have been nearly 30 million abortions preformed in the last two decades. Personally, as a young woman living in the 21st century, I strongly disagree with women using abortion as a major form of birth control. But, I do support the reproductive rights of women, to make their own decisions concerning the issue of abortion. I believe this is a very personal moral issue and that the government should not be involved in our decision-making regarding these rights. According to Carey Goldberg and Janet Elder in the New York Times article dated, January 16, 1998, In a poll that was given in 1989, when people were asked whether a pregnant woman should be able to get a legal abortion if her pregnancy would force her to interrupt her career, 37 percent said yes and 56 percent said no; In 1998, only 25 percent said yes and 70 percent said no. Also, in 1989, 48 percent thought an interrupted education was enough to justify a teenage girls abortion; that dropped to 42 percent in 1998(A 1). Based on these statistics, it appears that the majority of Americans are still in favor of abortion but with limitations. I also believe it is important for a young teenage girl to have the right to continue her education and to make her own decisions regarding an unwanted pregnancy. Whereas, a young woman with a career facing similar circumstances, hopefully, would take a more responsible approach by practicing safe sex, following through the full-term pregnanc y, or giving the child up for adoption. Taking responsibility should be an important expectation for either age group, but especially for those young adult career women who have more life experience, maturity and means of financial support. This is definitely a very diffi...

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Unemployment in the UK - Essay Example The United Kingdom unemployment rate was far lower than the United States that got an employment rate of 4.6% in 2007 and 8.5% in 2009 as per the figures obtained by the CEPR from the OECD. Figure 1 above indicates that the unemployment rate of the UK is getting a lot better compared to the unemployment figures of both the Euro Area and the OECD countries. This is indicative of a better macroeconomic management of the UK compared to the US, Euro Area, and the rest of the OECD countries. Compared with her neighbours, UK’s management of her economy seems to be better because the gap between actual and potential output has been generally closing historically since 1995 as indicated by Begg et al. (2002, p. 359). A lower output gap means that the economy approaches the full employment level. Full employment, however, does not mean that all have work. Whether one is classified employed or unemployed largely depends on whether one is actively looking for work. For instance, based on the definition of the International Labour Organization to which the international community refer to in defining their own national concept of unemployment, the unemployed are those â€Å"without a job, want a job, have actively sought work in the last 4 weeks and are available to start work in the next 2 weeks† or â€Å"out of work, have found a job and are waiting to start in the next 2 weeks† (United Kingdom Office for National Statistics 2009, p. 4). Thus, based on this definition, one may argue that the official unemployment figures are much lower than the actual figures because some may have quit looking for work because they had consistently failed to find one. Citing OECD studies, Miles and Scott (2005, p. 143) pointed out that the natural rate of unemployment of the United Kingdom is about 5.5% recently. The 5.5% estimate is consistent with Figure 1

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SAM 445 UNIT 1 - Assignment Example There are four managerial functions an Athletic Director utilizes when planning activities for a football program. These are decision-making, planning, directing operational activities, and controlling. Planning as a managerial function in accounting perspective ensures efficient communication of the football program that outlines the goals of the university. Effective planning is achieved through budgeting process based on decisions made by managers. The budgets outline sources or inflows of economic resources as well as the uses of economics of the institution. Controlling function is a function achieved by measuring performance, comparing the real performance with the budgets and taking action where required. There are different approaches for analyzing performance. Performance will be equated to the number of wins acquired by the institution form the football games. However the process of determining the persons who performed well sounds challenging. The challenge lies among the persons to be given credit; coach, manager or the team. Poor performance is evaluated from the number of lost football games, the number of head coach fired and such like. The challenge worth argument in case of matches lost form football games is the person to be evaluated. Does the coach win or lose the games or is the team responsible for the

Landslide and Debris Flow Essay Example for Free

Landslide and Debris Flow Essay A. A landslide is when a mass of soil, rocks and other debris moves down a slope, powered by the force of gravity. Sometimes, this movement is so sudden and rapid that it causes devastating loss of life and structural damage. (http://www.health24.com/medical/Condition_centres/777-792-1461-2097,34702.asp) B. A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments. Although the action of gravity is the primary driving force for a landslide to occur, there are other contributing factors affecting the original slope stability. Typically, pre-conditional factors build up specific sub-surface conditions that make the area/slope prone to failure, whereas the actual landslide often requires a trigger before being released. (http://www.americansnetworkingtosurvive.org/Landslide.html) C. Landslides occur in all U.S. states and territories. In a landslide, masses of rock, earth, or debris move down a slope. Landslides may be small or large, slow or rapid. They are activated by storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, fires, and human modification of land. Landslide problems can be caused by land mismanagement, particularly in mountain, canyon, and coastal regions. Land-use zoning, professional inspections, and proper design can minimize many landslide, mudflow, and debris flow problems. (http://www.wilderness-survival.net/natural-hazards/landslides-mudslides/) D. Landslides are a serious geologic hazard that occurs in almost all 50 states. Every year in the United States, they cause significant damages and 25 to 50 deaths. Globally, landslides cause billions of dollars in damages and thousands of deaths and injuries each year. The term â€Å"landslide† describes many types of downhill earth movements ranging from rapidly moving catastrophic rock avalanches and debris flows in mountainous regions to more slowly moving earth slides. Some landslides move slowly and cause damage gradually, whereas others move so rapidly that they can destroy property and take lives suddenly and unexpectedly. Gravity is generally the force driving landslide movement. Landslides cause property damage, injury, and death and adversely affect a variety of resources. For example, water supplies, fisheries, sewage disposal systems, forests, dams, and roadways can be affected for years after a slide event. Landslides generally happen where they have occurred in the past, and in identifiable hazard locations. Areas that are prone to landslides include existing old landslides, the bases of steep slopes, the bases of drainage channels, and developed hillsides where leach-field septic systems are used. (http://www.survivalkitsonline.com/landslidepreparedness.html) E. Landslides occur when masses of rock, earth, or debris move down a slope. (http://emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/landslides.asp) Risks or Dangers from landslides A. The immediate risk to human life from a landslide or mudslide is being caught in its path: sand, and thick mud especially, can cause suffocation, and people can be trapped or crushed by boulders or other debris, or by buildings collapsing under the weight of the flow. (http://www.health24.com/medical/Condition_centres/777-792-1461-2097,34702.asp) B. Landslides can also disrupt power lines and water and sewerage pipes, potentially leading to electric shock and contaminated drinking-water. Roads and other transportation arteries may be blocked by debris, raising the risk for accidents and hampering access by rescue and medical services. (http://www.health24.com/medical/Condition_centres/777-792-1461-2097,34702.asp) C. Landslides, mudflows and debris avalanches frequently accompany other natural hazards such as floods and earthquakes. The October 17, 1989 earthquake resulted in many areas of unstable land throughout the County which will be further impacted by winter storm conditions . (http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/oes/landslide%20and%20mudflow.htm) D. Areas are at Risk: 1. Areas where wildfires or human modification of the land have destroyed vegetation; 2. Areas where landslides have occurred before; 3. Steep slopes and areas at the bottom of slopes or canyons; 4. Slopes that have been altered for construction of buildings and roads; 5. Channels along a stream or river; and 6. Areas where surface runoff is directed. (http://www.americansnetworkingtosurvive.org/Landslide.html) Tips on Surviving landslides A. How to avoid them:1. Be in tune with your surroundings. If you’re travelling to a new area, swot up on it and find out about the potential risks (landslides or otherwise). Check out the topography: are there dodgy-looking slopes (steep or eroded) in the area? And especially: what is the weather doing? Intense rainstorms can be dangerous, especially if there’s been a preceding period of wet weather. 2. If you decide not to leave the area, then at least stay awake if you think there’s a chance of a landslide: many such disasters have occurred while their victims were asleep. Keep a portable, battery-powered radio with you to stay in touch with any safety announcements. Move up to a second story if possible, which might help to keep you above the level of the debris. 3. Listen for unusual sounds that might indicate moving debris, such as tree branches breaking, boulders knocking, or a faint rumbling that increases in volume. 4. A trickle of mud or soil may precede the main landslide. If you are near a stream or channel, beware of a sudden increase or decrease in water flow, or a change from clear to muddy water: this could mean landslide activity upstream. If you’re driving, remember that road embankments are prone to landslides. Also watch out for fallen rocks and mud. 5. Any of the above signs mean you may have only a few minutes (or even seconds) to get out of the path of the landslide. 6. Also, beware if the following occur for the first time: a. Cracks in walls or the ground. b. Doors or windows stick. c. Outside walls or stairs lean away from the main building. d. Underground utility lines break. e. The ground bulges at the base of a slope. f. Water breaks through the ground surface. g. Fences, walls, utility poles or trees tilt. (http://www.health24.com/medical/Condition_centres/777-792-1461-2097,34702.asp) B. Preparedness 1. Reinforce the foundation and walls of your home. Identify vulnerable areas of your home and add temporary shoring, bracing or shear wall supports where necessary. 2. Install flexible rather than stiff pipe fitting to avoid gas or water leaks in the event of a landslide or mudflow. 3. Mudflow is covered by flood insurance policies from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). You can buy flood insurance even if you do not live in the flood plain. Keep your insurance coverage up to date. 4. Stockpile emergency building supplies such as ropes, buckets, large plastic bags, plywood, sandbags, plastic sheeting and lumber. 5. Maintain emergency supplies such as water, foods that require little cooking, a first aid kit, portable radio and flashlights. 6. In high risk areas, construct channels to direct the mudflows around your home or buildings. 7. If you are inside during a landslide and the building is not in peril of sliding down a hill, stay inside and get under a desk, table or other sturdy furniture. 8. If you are outside and cannot get into a sturdy building while rocks and debris tumble toward you, curl into a tight ball and protect your head. 9. Usually, you can survive a mudflow or debris avalanche only by avoiding it. If you are in a valley, get out as soon as possible once you hear rumbling from upstream or feel the ground tremble. These are signs that a mudflow may be coming your way. 10. If caught in a mudflow, try grabbing onto a large rock, tree or anything being carried along. (http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/oes/landslide%20and%20mudflow.htm) What you should do? A. Before the landslide 1. Contact your local fire, police, or public works department. Local officials are the people best able to assess the potential danger. 2. Inform affected neighbors. Your neighbors may not be aware of the potential hazard. Advising them of a threat may help save lives. Help neighbors who may need assistance to evacuate. 3. Leave. Getting out of the path of a landslide or debris flow is your best protection. Take your pets with you when you leave, provided you can do so without endangering yourself. (http://www.survivalkitsonline.com/landslidepreparedness.html) 4. Assume that steep slopes and areas burned by wildfires are vulnerable to landslides and debris flows. 5. Learn whether landslides or debris flows have occurred previously in your area by contacting local authorities, a county geologist or the county planning department, state geological surveys or departments of natural resources, or university departments of geology. 6. Contact local authorities about emergency and evacuation plans. 7. Develop emergency and evacuation plans for your family and business. 8. Develop an emergency communication plan in case family members are separated. 9. If you live in an area vulnerable to landslides, consider leaving it. (http://emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/landslides.asp) 10. Contact your local emergency management office or American Red Cross chapter for information on local landslide and debris flow hazards. 11. Get a ground assessment of your property. 12. County or state geological experts, local planning department or departments of natural resources may have specific information on areas vulnerable to landslides. Consult an appropriate professional expert for advice on corrective measures you can take. 13. Minimize home hazards. 14. Plant ground cover on slopes and build retaining walls. 15. In mudflow areas, build channels or deflection walls to direct the flow around buildings. 16. Remember: If you build walls to divert debris flows and the flow lands on a neighbors property, you may be liable for damages. Explore a neighborhood or special district project. 17. Install flexible pipe fittings to avoid gas or water leaks. Flexible fittings are more resistant to breakage. 18. Familiarize yourself with your surrounding area. 19. Small changes in your local landscape could alert you to the potential of greater future threat. 20. Observe the patterns of storm-water drainage on slopes and especially the places where runoff water converge 21. Watch for any sign of land movement, such as small slides, flows, or progressively leaning trees, on the hillsides near your home. 22. Be particularly observant of your surrounding area before and during intense storms that could heighten the possibility of landslide or debris flow from heavy rains. Many debris flow fatalities occur when people are sleeping. 23. Talk to your insurance agent. Debris flow may be covered by flood insurance policies from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). 24. Learn to recognize landslide warning signs.