Teachers And Teaching In The Uae Education Essay

On Sunday, 07 February 2010 an Education Policy Forum took topographic point in the Dubai School of Government titled â€Å" Teachers and Teaching in the UAE. † The session included 4 panellists: Dr. Ian Haslam, Vice Chancellor of Emirates College for Advanced Education, Dr. Jane Truscott, Academic Programme Coordinator for Madares Al Ghad, Ministry of Education, Dr. Peggy Blackwell, Dean, College of Education, Zayed University, and, Jill Clark, Principal Curriculum Advisor for Early Years, Centre for British Teachers in Abu Dhabi. The panel was headed by the Moderator Dr. Natasha Ridge, Research Fellow, Dubai School of Government. The forum discussed the challenges and troubles to building an first-class instruction work force with quality, instructors ‘ fulfilment and satisfaction degree with the preparation and instruction they get, and how the preparation of instructors is altering instruction in the United Arab Emirates. Dr. Haslam started his treatment by inquiring what are the challenges to constructing a quality learning work force in the UAE? What are the challenges to raising the quality of the current instructors? What are the clear regulations and ordinances? He mentions the Singapore Model. Dr. Haslam focuses specifically on the significance of cooperation between schools and other larning establishments in public society. He mentioned that they need more work forces in ( ECAE ) as it is dominated by adult females. He talked about the 11,000 instructors who performed really ill on IELTS and had really low tonss. He added that most of the instructors do non hold pre-teaching preparation. Dr. Haslam emphasized the importance of constructing partnership between the province and the schools. He mentioned an of import point that if the pupils are underperforming, it is the instructor to fault and if the instructor is underachieving it is the Head of the Institution to fault. He said there need to be alteration and development in the procedure of how instructors are recruited and how it is extremely of import to maintain advancing by puting in research in instruction and professional development. The 2nd panellist was Dr. Jane Truscott. She started off by stating that Madares Al Ghad has 44 schools all over the Emirates with the same budget and resources as the remainder of the Ministry of Education schools. There are 3 chief ends of Madares al Ghad: to make a first educational system, to increase the capacity of UAE instructors, she says â€Å" the instructors are our resource for effectual instruction † , and to increase linguistic communication proficiency of class 12 alumnuss. She discusses the category room methodological analysis and as to who chooses the course of study. She negotiations of the importance of traveling to a modern category room where pupils can work in groups and where critical thought and collaborative acquisition takes topographic point. The pupils should larn new engineerings, she adds and to go experts with greater liberty and duty. The pupils have to go independent instead than dependent on the instructors. She so moves to discourse the chal lenges that face the instructor and how the quality of instructors is to be improved, how teacher preparation is transforming instructors in the Madares Al Ghad Schools. She talks about how to better the system overall and how to back up the mechanisms for the instructors to back up their attempts to do alteration. The tierces panellist, Dr. Peggy Blackwell spoke about some challenges that are confronting the instruction profession. The first thing she mentioned was the demand of a acquisition centre for instructors. She adds, the instructors need initial readying in the university and professional readying outside the university. The instructors have to cognize what they are learning and how to reassign the content to the pupils. Blackwell discusses the ends which are: to give the instructor the nucleus cognition for their calling and professional development, for every instructor to learn in a manner to optimise the cognition for the pupils. She talks about the importance of research and how course of study is of import for learning. Teachers should cognize about kid development and reliable appraisal of pupils. What could be the challenges? she discusses. There are a figure of challenges: Geographic scattering, non plenty support, non plenty follow up and work with the instructors, the Emira ti pattern of a short school twenty-four hours and school twelvemonth and many more. She so moves to the recommendations which are: the governments should present enfranchisement and licensing given to instructors when they complete professional criterion, a research Centre, learning Arabic linguistic communication is critical and how to learn it and to pay attending to what the pupils have to state and their feedback. Last, Jill Clark starts off by speaking briefly about the what the Centre ‘s mission and the alterations and transmutations initiated by the Centre for British Teachers in Abu Dhabi over the past 4 old ages in a figure of schools in Abu Dhabi. She said that Abu Dhabi invests a batch of money to develop the schools and to back up the instructors and a batch of schools have had good support ( substructure, equipment, etc†¦ ) from Abu Dhabi Education Council. These developments and alterations included doing the schoolrooms a more exciting topographic point to analyze, supplying entree to engineering in the schoolroom and extra instruction equipments and stuffs. She mentions the importance of civilization and heritage and how indispensable that the kids remember the UAE values and history. The English linguistic communication should be developed and that instructors should make this strong bond with the students and develop active larning communicating with the parents. Clark s discusses the major purposes of the Centre which are to make to the criterion of International Education, to develop on Humanistic disciplines, physical instruction and wellness, bilingual development, larning in context ( active acquisition ) and job resolution, instructors have to travel for lessons after school for English, regular appraisals of acquisition and developing practical patterns. She concludes by saying that the consequences until now have been really successful. After the four panellists finished their treatments, the moderator of the session, Dr. Natasha Ridge, opened the floor for inquiries and she concluded by reemphasizing the necessity to originate original and new learning methods to hold the students engage good. At the terminal of the forum, it was agreed that important partnerships need to be promoted between the state, the instruction mechanisms and other authorities organic structures to sketch indispensable policies that affects the development of kids.

Book Report on `A Young Woman’s Mathematical Journey In Code

They say some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. In case of Sarah, did she achieve greatness? The answer to this question is both yes and no! How she can achieve greatness, where was the time for it?She was just sixteen, a tender age not even good enough to fall in love, and yet the word ‘great’ was firmly implanted on her. Was greatness thrust upon her? The answer to this question is firm ‘No!’   The part of the statement that befits her is that she is born great. Her illustrious mathematical journey had arrived at the sterling landmark at that young age.This work is both knowledge and enjoyment. The brilliance of the students comes to the fore at the Undergraduate and University levels. That is the time when the Professors spot the intelligent, brilliant and the brilliant among the brilliant students. But Sarah’s extraordinary brilliance must have been spotted when she was in the kindergarten. This is so, because, her father was a renowned Professor of Mathematics.Academic studies do matter for students like Sarah, but such genius children invariably study in the College of Self-Education, where their mind is their Principal. Their initiative, their Professors! Their hard work, their tutors! They are ambitious and industrious. They decide upon a project; start, act and finish.â€Å"The eldest among five children, Flannery went to high school at Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal in Blarney, where she gave a science fair presentation on cryptography. In researching RSA encryption, she created her own encryption algorithm, which earned her an Esat Young Scientist Exhibition and later an Intel Fellows Achievement Award.She went to college at the University of Cambridge, graduating in 2003 with a degree in computer engineering. Now she works for American video game developer Electronic Arts.†(Planet†¦)In brief, what the book is about†¦.This book is the mathematician’s deli ght. How the serious subject like mathematics, can be interspersed with humor. Her introduction to the book itself fascinates and kindles curiosity. By reading it, you realize why she attained instant fame which she richly deserves.In introduction she gives details about public-key cryptography, the RSA algorithm and the alternate algorithm that she created. The lucid style and control on the language required to deal with mathematical explanations is the strong point of the book.Genius has nothing to do with the age. Therefore, forget for a while that a teenager is the author of the book, yet you can not forget that lovely and inspiring face of the author in the cover page of the book! Unless known in advance, you will find it difficult to believe that she is the owner of such a brilliant brain. You probably think that this book is the creation of an experienced Professor, well researched from a long list of bibliography.The book begins in an orthodox style. Instead of saying somet hing about the author straightaway, the book gives description with pages of family background. That again is about mathematics, because her father was the Professor of mathematics.   A long section, titled, â€Å"Early Challenges† follows. This is where the challenges for the readers are thrown. They are recollections of her past.The mention of about a dozen puzzles is made. She owned them from her father, told for the benefit of Sarah and her brothers. David Flannery, their father was the mentor of mathematics as well. The description for each puzzle is given along with an invitation for the reader to try to solve the same, before trying to locate the solution provided in the book elsewhere. Your chances of success are not very bright. A black-board in the dining room!That is bound to happen when you have four sons and a daughter, all interested in the serious study of mathematics. On the blackboard, new puzzle was recorded each day for them to work on. Like, â€Å"Given a five-liter jar and a three-liter jar and an unlimited supply of water, how do you measure out four liters exactly?†Some got into more difficult concepts: â€Å"How might you determine the average earnings of a group of people in a room (at a class reunion, perhaps) without any individual's divulging his or her salary?† the second puzzle has the latent message, which forms part of the theme all through the book.That is to try getting information and hiding information. With such intelligent invitations the readers become part of the proceedings in the book. It is no effort to score over the reader but to win the reader in a positive style. It is to encourage him, and no to affront one with the exhibition of intelligence. Those who think that this is a book on the subject of mathematics which is bound to have the serious start will have peasant surprise to be greeted with mind-boggling puzzles.Fame and Publicity and thereafter†¦.She received instant fame, became a celebrity in mathematics overnight, but she was humble about her achievements. Here she speaks beyond her age refuses to expand like the balloon with inflated ego. â€Å"I have no doubt that I am not a genius,†she declares.â€Å"I am not being falsely modest. Through my father’s classes I have seen examples of true genius and I know I do not possess that ‘insight’ that distinguishes geniuses from those regarded as merely intelligent.†(p. 243). Those who read the book were sure about her impending success in the world of mathematics. She was the worthy mathematics daughter of a worthy mathematics Professor.Next to puzzles†¦.She attempts the most original aspect of the subject of mathematics problems that take her to the position and fame sky-rocketing. Overnight she is a world-figure as for mathematics. The subject matter for any national level competition has got to be the unique one. She was to enter the Esat Irish Young Scientist’s Co mpettion-1998.The project on cryptography was done by her at the suggestion and instance of her father. Her project will throw light on various cryptographic techniques, providing the account of the famous RSA algorithm. The mention and discussion of all these things is initiated at page 40 of the book, she discuses learning the relevant mathematics and the programming involved.Then her father takes over the mathematical literature for the next 110 pages, and you catch up with Sarah again in page number 150.These pages contain mathematical exposition authored by David Flannery. They provide the basics of cryptography, and to understand it, is not the easiest of the propositions. He introduces thoroughly RSA algorithms at this stage.When Sarah takes over at page number 150, she is at the threshold of the fame that is about to engulf her young personality. She gets tremendous response for her project that fetches her several prizes, and she is inspired to prepare for another ambitious and prestigious entry –the Rafe Jones at Brown University.She is on the second step of the ladder of success. She undergoes a week-long internship at a Dublin cryptography company, and notices several techniques. Thereafter, she devises an alternative algorithm to the RSA and that is the flagship issue of her new project.The results achieved by her are astounding. Her method is simple matrix multiplication instead of the relatively cumbersome modular exponentiation of the RSA. Her algorithm runs twenty times faster. It is christened by her as the Cayley Purser algorithm, the 19th century British mathematician Arthur Cayley as also Michael Purser, the mathematician whose ideas caught her imagination during her internship.She runs in to the thick of the issues now-she proves how the new algorithm is secure from certain kinds of attacks and it becomes the mathematical odyssey for her, wherein she is required to explore and master the cobweb of not too familiar mathematics. Such a situation is the testing time for any student of mathematics.It was probing the new waters for the first time with lots of hopes of positive results, but also with the fear of disappointment, should anything go wrong, at the most unsuspected moment. Mathematics is such a subject where there is no scope for errors. You have got to be accurate, as otherwise the whole edifice built by you step by step will collapse.â€Å"All of this was an unusual experience for me,† she writes, â€Å"but I had a great feeling of excitement. I think it was because I was working on something that no one had worked on before. I worked constantly for whole days on end, and it was exhilarating† (p. 208).To get the worthy solution, you need to have a strong problem. That was the situation Sarah, luckily found she in. The thesis problem provided lots of enthusiasm to her to go ahead. With the finalization of the thesis problem, she considered her to be lucky.The problem was of her creation a nd she was bent upon to own the responsibility to solve it herself. She began to put extra efforts and worked desperately to find the authentic solution.She reaped the dividends for her sincere efforts, she was able to prove that Cayley Purser algorithm had strong defenses and it can withstand successfully attack from a large family. She provides the detailed description to judge her new project, both algorithm and proof, in the 1999 Irish Young Scientist competition.An inventive mind is always excited about any new achievement-you decide on a problem for you and then solve it successfully. Same was the case with Sarah.When you smell success, when you have positive indications that you are nearing solution, the excitement is all the more. At that stage Sarah burnt the midnight oil to continue her sincere efforts. Success had to kneel before her; she showed the strong defense for the Cayley-Purser algorithm in the face of multi-pronged family attacks. She gives the detailed account, step by step, how her project needs to be judged, and the related explanation for the algorithm, with unassailable proofs.In the 1999 Irish Young Scientists Competition., she quotes from her journal, â€Å"On one occasion,† she writes, â€Å"I looked out of our little huddle and it felt really strange—our conversation was so very intense that just to look around was like coming up for air† (p. 222). The finest moment of her judging was, she writes: â€Å"Before they left, [the judge] asked me the simplest question of all, and I could see he was wondering whether or not I would be able to answer it.The answer was the fast exponentiation algorithm, and I must have smiled before I replied, because I knew it was the perfect end to the perfect session. I had been able to defend my project at all levels. The last question was a check to see if I knew the fundamentals. They smiled at each other on my final answer, which I’ll never forget.† (p. 223).It was the perfect culmination. The excitement was about how gracefully Sarah walked up to the stage to accept the title of Irish Young Scientist of the Year. It was one of the extraordinary moments of her life. The charm of youth was on her side.And the algorithm she talked held excellent possibility of rich dividends. The inquisitive media stood alerted and the unexpected bonus arrived, when London Times front-paged an article on her mathematical exploits. Overnight she entered the portals of stardom in mathematics. It did not take long time to transform her academic achievements towards the commercial gain.The would-be cryptograph entrepreneurs were seeking her services. She received many offers to give lectures in Singapore. Mention of her name was made in the official magazine of the Spice Gils. She also received a request from Profile Books in London to write up the experiences and all that prompted to advance on the tough path of mathematics.The budding young mathematician’s book had the firs print order of 35,000 copies, the marketing budget of $ 65,000 and an eight-city author-tour.About the contents of the book, Sarah often   sweetly apologizes for going deep into number theory; before explaining matrices, she writes, â€Å"I promise that from then on there will be no more explicit mathematics, only light explanations of mathematical ideas.†The hard-core mathematics in the book is restricted to two chapters. For those who wish to learn more, there are appendices. Her main project is about how the most famous current encoding system works, and in the meantime, she had invented one of her own. She takes extensive pains to explain both the systems and goes deep into the number theory along the route.With the winning of the prize, fame and the monetary gains consequential to the fame arrived like an avalanche. Pepsi wanted her to concede that the mathematics brain and that of the family was due to lavish consumption of Pepsi, but the offer of c ontract was promptly turned down. A good mathematical calculation viewed from the humanitarian angle; they were aware perhaps of the harmful effects of such addictive drinks on the health of the younger generation!â€Å"I have no doubt that I am not a genius,† said the prize winner of the 1999 European Contest for Young Scientists. Bu who would believe her and at the same time remain without deeply appreciating her modesty! She was the media sensation within days after getting the prestigious award. She was about to be hailed as an instant celebrity, for the public key to cryptography, the method used to transmit secure data over the Internet, but destiny played its part.When everyone in the knowledgeable circles thought that her encryption algorithm is worth the millions, a security hole was discovered. Nevertheless she had done a great job. Now she met her father on equal terms, a mathematician talking to another senor mathematician.There is an interesting interaction betwe en the father-daughter mathematical duos. To be taught lessons from her father in the drawing room of the house was one thing. To be part of his lecture fraternity, and listen to his mathematical revelations in an organized way sitting as one among the audience was altogether a different experience. The previous day, he had a serious, purposeful conversation with Sarah. Her father said, â€Å"Now that you have decided to do transition year, I must do some math with you.† He continued, â€Å"I'd like to show you how some beautiful but reasonably elementary mathematics is applied, stuff that you wouldn't ordinarily come across in school.†She could not understand the immediate intentions of her father. She thought he was inviting her to the kitchen blackboard, as she was aware of his enthusiastic ways; how he got inspired at the most unsuspected moment and wished to unleash his mathematical knowledge on her, whether she was mentally prepared   for it or not.Perhaps, at that moment she was not ready to receive the tough lessons of mathematics. She replied, â€Å"Dad, whatever you do, do something structured!† That set him thinking, as to the proper, most effective and appropriate way to teach and take her to the world of mathematics. He remembered his past. The debt he owed to the one who taught him mathematics. How the torch of mathematical knowledge was passed on to his hand.It now depended, what he would do, with what his teacher did for him, and from where he left.   He strongly felt that he must transfer the knowledge to some one else who richly deserved it. Who else could be that individual except his own daughter, in whom he must have noticed the latent mathematical genius?He told his daughter, â€Å"Of course, only if you are genuinely interested-I wouldn't force it on you.† She was genuinely interested. The evening lecture by her father proved to be the foundation stone for the grand mathematical edifice that she was going to build.Sarah was now part of the class of serious students studying mathematics. The evening classes from seven ten, with the student strength of 8, continued for twenty five nights. The daughter was the youngest student, just 15 years and six months, but a couple of other students too were young.There were adults who came from various backgrounds. Computer scientists, a secondary school mathematics teacher, a chemistry graduate working for a medical laboratory. They were the ones who loved mathematics, and who regretted their inaction in not pursuing the mathematics study, when young. It was a class that had its own specialties.The cause of study was great, not the career out of the study. No credits were given. It was not part of any major. No home work or study was demanded. It was David Flannery’s way of â€Å"getting back into math† with no holds barred approach. You wee encouraged to come up with your most silly questions. He loved and appreciated those who mad e fools of themselves, as according to him, only those will learn and had the chance of success.These assurances, coming from a reputed Professor, were greatly appreciated by the students. They looked forward to the classes with expectancy and with hope that they will be exposed to something interesting about the mathematics in the next session.Sarah though had peculiar problem that the teacher was her father, she was able to mentally sort out the issue. Her dedication and the serious approach when she meant study, paved the way or her progress.From the teacher’s perspective, what one teaches is important. But how one teaches, what one teaches is more important. Towards this end David Flannery filled the bill admirably. He was the one who enjoyed his teachings and encouraged his students to learn in style.No time-bound hard tasks were expected from the students. Each one was encouraged to estimate one’s level of understanding, and progress accordingly. He was able to m aintain an atmosphere of affection at home and in his classes.The brain teasing puzzles enticed the students to know more and more, and the hours spent by the students in the association of David Flannery, proved highly fructifying. His company kindled their curiosity further. They eagerly awaited his next class and firmly believed that something more interesting would be in store for them.The class was not all fun as was made out initially by David Flannel. That was his style of making the students interested in the subject. Soon, the intensive part of his chartered syllabus for the students began and his forays were in the  Ã‚     elementary number theory, with cryptography as the final destination.He would the take the students entirely to different horizons of mathematics, interesting sights that were rich in content, may not be of use for the immediate application.When David Flannery was a student, the application of the number theory were so few (industrial and internet re volutions had not taken off), and yet the number theory was of prime importance to the mathematicians, its study was considered pure. By the end of 1970s, the situation had drastically changed.The various technicalities involved in the message system and their readings gave a shot in the arm for cryptography. It became a much sought after subject and millions of dollars were invested into the development of this subject. The demand for expertise in this area became tremendous.The book is a treat to read for the simple reason that it is a great human story as well, a success story, a management and pubic relation story etc. The way she prepared for the competitions would set the standard for any youngster who wishes to be an achiever.What a careful and great teacher her father was! The concepts of teaching itself have undergone metamorphic changes, and mathematics is no exception. The style of teaching has become more student-friendly.As for Sarah, her mathematician father was her gr eat career-asset. But her mother also continuously encouraged her by telling interesting anecdotes about the subject. ‘Mathematics is the queen of the sciences and number theory is the queen of mathematics.’ Such sweet nothings said about the subject during formative years of a young girl had great positive impact on her.Her Mom said Mathematics and the number theory was like the Sleeping Beauty Fairly Tale, and Sarah Flannery writes, â€Å"I thought about those who had toiled away through the centuries at unraveling the mysteries of this subject, motivated by nothing more than a passionate desire to know. They could have hardly dreamt of the applications that some of their results would one day find.I wondered what it was they had discovered, and what they would think if they could see how some of these discoveries are now being used. I was eager to learn the subject and surmise for myself whether they would be surprised or not.†But everything about the number t heory is not all that sweet. It is a deceptive theory. When you think that you are on the verge of success, you are suddenly knocked out by a lethal punch. The simple questions that you will ask your Professor may look so simple to you. The same questions were asked by many brilliant students in the past. The answers to such questions have not been found until this day, and the most intelligent ones are raking their brains to find out the solutions.But the toughest obstacle lay in waiting for Sarah. The sharp attacks on the Cayley-Purser algorithm arrived with Michael Purse alerts, making her mathematical advancement difficult. Sarah was on the defensive; she made efforts to repair the algorithm, but could not succeed. She stated that it is not salvageable as a workable encryption system.The theoretical interest stood in her favor through this testing time. She included a postscript explanation on the successful attack. It brought her further success when she was conferred the title of European Young Scientist of the Year for 1999. They say, â€Å"When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!†It is very easy to say that Sarah climbed the stage to receive the award. But behind this glorious moment in the life of this sports-loving teenager from Blarney in Country Cork, Ireland, lay the extraordinary talent and matching efforts of relentless research and discoveries in Internet cryptography.At the age of sixteen to get the international recognition and to be hailed as â€Å"brilliant† by the London Times, is no ordinary achievement. Newspapers and periodicals hailed it as â€Å"a wonderfully moving story about the thrill of the mathematical chase† (Nature) and â€Å"a paean to intellectual adventure† (Times Educational Supplement).The dinner-time conversation with her father led her to the hall of fame. Her burning curiosity, the inner joy of persistence paid off handsomely. What is the meaning of the wise saying, â€Å"Have a wil l to grow and grow you will!†Ã¢â‚¬â€ask Sarah! David Flannery lectures on mathematics at Ireland’s Cork Institute of Technology. Sarah Flannery is now a student at Cambridge University.Some shortcomings of the book†¦.To say that it is the combination of a set of two books, would not be a far-fetched criticism on the book. Two narrative segments of the book, at the beginning and the end, do not serve the actual cause for which the book stands for. The 150 pages, though there is no doubting the merit of the contents, it is right thing at the wrong place. It makes the tough and prolonged reading, and causes obstruction in understanding the life of Sarah in a systematic, chronological order.The book goes on an aim-less wandering, and it defeats the structure of the book. But those who do not like mathematics intensely, for those who are not the serious students of the subject, these 150 pages are a good read! However, this can not be considered as the serious lapse of the book, but the professional critics of this literature, would not like to miss this   point, as a matter of their duty.The mathematical exposition part of it is flawless in contents and style. The beginning holds the interest of the common reader as well. The elementary examination of the prime numbers is detailed. The idea of primality about Mersenne primes, the Sieve of Eratosthenes and also primalaity testing are the important topics.Then is the chapter on Modular arithmetic, Fermat’s Little Theorem, and pseudo primes. For complete understanding of the RSA algorithm, the last two of these three mathematical chapters are necessary. But they can be avoided by those who are desirous of the elementary feel for public-key cryptography.The author has no problem with the English language, the exposition and style of writing is lucid. In fine, Sarah has given a very interesting book. The theme of the book and the author’s attitude towards the theme of mathematics, bot h evoke and sustain curiosity. The book deserves an outstanding position not only for the awards that it brought to Sarah, but also for the real contribution   it made to the cause of mathematics, for all time to come.There is something uniqueness about the book. Some more remarkable books should be expected from Sarah’s pen. The author has dealt with the topic in an excellent manner and the contents of the book gain stature, without losing its ground and reality. The book is the creation of the child, with father’s blessings. What more is required for the child and what does a father expect from the child? Both see the fulfillment of their respective mathematical missions through this book.When a child gives the account of her experiences that ultimately led her to great heights of success, the reader’s interest is all the more, for the simple reason that every parent wishes to visualize and  Ã‚   aspires for the success of their children.From the point of view of human psychology and management principles that lead to success, this book is the torchbearer. Her thoughts are playful, yet never missing the mathematical purpose of the book.The number of high school students who enjoy mathematics is not very high and many do the subject, as they have to do as it is the unavoidable subject up to a certain level. But an introduction and interaction with this book should change their perspective.Many may not be lucky enough get a mathematics genius Professor-father. In the case of Sarah, her pastime of solving the mathematical puzzles with her father paid her rich dividends. It started as a game and slowly turned into a thrill of the mathematical chase. Nothing succeeds like success and one good thing in her life, led to the other.A great lesson for the psychologists and sociologists who study the parental impact on the life and future of children! But for the encouragement and influence of her mathematician father, Sarah would have been yet another university student, pursuing the syllabus-oriented degrees for a routine career.Conclusion:God made the natural numbers, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 0 and what all ‘complications’ the human being has created under the subject-banner mathematics! But for becoming the mathematician, Sarah would have been a storyteller.The art comes naturally to her. She has dealt with a highly intellectual subject, without any pretensions, without the sense of overbearing. At times, the writing takes the serious turn, but that is what the subject matter is. Her childlike descriptions maintain the essential dignity. If she tries her hand at other subjects of writing, we may be in for surprises.That’s what her imagination, wit and charm throughout the book reveal. â€Å"In Code†, has the makings of a very good novel and her pen holds out great promises for even better works. It is a twice-blessed book. Primarily it is a book on mathematics, and more importantly it is an int eresting book of human endeavor, the human spirit, the book on positive qualities like grit and determination. Few children are lucky to have such great upbringing.The black board in the kitchen truly speaks about the studious family. She and her four brothers made it the perfect class at home, and mostly issues related to mathematics were discussed at the dining table. At lunch, the distraction would be not be like the television set in the modern drawing room, but the attractions were puzzles appearing on the blackboard days after day, without intermission. David Flannery had a clear purpose about the puzzles.They encouraged the children into enjoying abstract reasoning. But do no imagine, Sarah liked all these intensely. She was not a book worm. She liked to ride horses, played hurling and basketball, did boating and liked other adventurous team sports.She carried that adventurous spirit to her mathematics research as well.So to say, Sarah was a philanthropist mathematician and d id not possess any motivated desires about her accomplishments. Mathematical community offered the talented Sarah all co-operations. Experts in the field of cryptology were eager to help her.Initial reactions to her code system, was that it was patentable and she had the possibilities of becoming the millionaire. The exchange of vital information with other mathematicians could have damaged her interest for financial gains. Yet, she shared the information bearing in mind the overall interest of mathematics.She was only 17, when she was a guest speaker at an IBM leadership conference for women. Sarah was also given an invitation to attend the Nobel Prize ceremonies in Stockholm. To write an interesting readable book on mathematics, normally considered a dry and brain-racking subject is no mean achievement. She has set the trend for the budding young scientists, and great scholars in any subject need not be men and women with silver hair.The book provides to all concerned, the parents , the teachers and above all the combustible younger generation, who wish to achieve something in life, but do not know the correct procedures and steps to achieve very valuable information. Sarah provides good solutions to one’s ambitions and the way to achieve them.This makes the book even greater, than her contribution to cryptography. Bertrand Russell once talked about ‘the silent beauty’ of mathematics. Sarah has demonstrated how the skills of the mathematician and the skills of the fiction & fantasy writer can be clubbed together to create an outstanding contribution to the world of literature. Here is the combination of great human experience mixed with intellectual stuff. It is very easy to record and offer her congratulations for all that she achieved at the young age of 16.But think of the hard work she did, the relentless pressure she was able to endure at such a young age, and all this she did at the same time enjoying and pursuing her hobbies. So, if you have young children, and do not have many ideas as to how to inspire them, give this book to them—it would be more appropriate if the parents read and discuss the contents of this book for their benefit. The results are bound to be far fetching as for their future. The contents of the book have the lessons in ‘moral counseling’ as well.The application of cryptography has caught up fast with the internet revolution. Many of the big companies are willing to sponsor researches and Sarah is eminently suited to take advantage of this situation. Her achievements have changed her perspective of life. The career opportunities that arrive at her doors are perhaps too much for her to handle. She has traveled to important destinations all over the world, met cryptography figureheads like Ronald Rivest and Whitfield Diffey. But the best is yet to come, and Sarah Flannery knows it well.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  References Cited:In Code: A Mathematical Journey (Paperback)by Sarah Flannery (Author), David Flannery (Author}Paperback: 352 pagesPublisher: Algonquin Books (December 30, 2002)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1565123778ISBN-13: 978-1565123779PlanetMath: Sarah Flanneryplanetmath.org/encyclopedia/SarahFlannery.html – 19k – Cached, Retrieved on January29,2008

Promote children’s welfare and well being Essay

1.1) Explain the welfare requirements & guidance of the EYFS. The statutory welfare requirements were set up to help guide childcare staff in what is expected of them as part of their role. There are five welfare requirements which Ofsted will check are being met. Safeguarding and Promoting Children’s Welfare This section covers a lot of the day-to-day activities which that you will be involved in, for example, food and drink, medicines and behaviour management. There must be written consent for any medicines which need to be administered to children. All staff within the setting must be trained in paediatric first aid and fresh water should be available to the children at all times. Staff can smoke outside as long as there are no children present. Fire doors must be able to be opened easily from the inside. It is important that there is one toilet and hand basin for every ten children over the age of 2 so that these areas can be easily accessed. All children within the setting must have a key person to allow the child to settle in easily and make it easier to carry out assessments. Children are only allowed to go home with another adult if their parents have given permission. In my setting the parent should tell a member of staff when they drop their child off if they are getting picked up by somebody else. We use a password system meaning that each child has a unique password on their records that the parent and the person picking the child up should know. This tells us that the child is going with the right person. Suitable People Anybody working with children in any way needs a separate CRB check for each childcare setting that you work in. You should never use physical intervention when disciplining children, this could be seen as a serious offence and may lead to disciplinary or even dismissal. All unqualified staff who are working with children should be encouraged to gain a level two qualification to gain a better knowledge and understanding in their role. The ratios for staff-children vary depending on the age of the children. The  younger the children are, the more staff will be needed. Suitable Premises, Environment and Equipment This aims to ensure that children are looked after in suitable and safe premises. The layout of the room is also important as it should allow children to play and communicate appropriately. There are many legal requirements that apply to this section, for example, checking that toys and furniture are safe and that the outdoor area is clean and secure. Organisation This section of the EYFS relates to the promotion of children’s learning and development. This will include planning activities for the children. It is important that you choose activities carefully which have a positive effect on the children’s development and they will enjoy at the same time. It is important that you show the children a routine whilst giving them support and allowing them to have independence at the same time. Documentation This applies to records for children, students doing placement at the setting, and staff working at the setting. These should be kept in a secure, locked cupboard in a private area. These records may need to be changed if there is a change of address or contact number. 1.2) Explain the lines of reporting & responsibility within your setting Within my setting if there is an issue concerning a child then depending on the issue you may report it to the child’s key person first of all. If it is a serious issue then you may choose to go straight to your line manager or child protection officer. In my setting my line manager is my child protection officer so I would go straight to her. If it is a small issue then I could tell my room supervisor. If there was an issue concerning a member of staff then I would straight to my line manager to avoid breaching confidentiality. 2.4) Explain giving examples, why minimum requirements for Space and Staff  ratio’s are necessary for children’s safety. Minimum space requirements and staff ratios are necessary for the children’s safety because it is important that there are a sufficient amount of adults to supervise the children and meet their needs. Generally the younger the children are, the higher the requirement for space and staff ratio. Most settings will easily meet these requirements. There should be at least one member of staff present when there are three children in care. There should be at least two members of staff present when there are 4-7 children in care. There should be at least three members of staff present when there are 8 or more children in care. It is important that children have enough room to move freely without having accidents. The room should be laid out in a way that makes more space for the children. If there are accidents then the furniture or equipment should be moved to prevent it from happening again. 3.1) Explain how you promote children’s health & well being in your setting Within my setting we promote children’s health and well-being in many ways. Healthy Eating If children have not had breakfast before the come into the setting then we offer them toast or cereal and a drink of milk to make sure they have the energy they need for the day. The children are provided with a healthy snack in the morning and afternoon. This usually includes toast, various fruit and milk. The children are provided with a healthy meal for lunch, for example roast chicken dinner. Fresh air and Physical activity We then try to get the children outside for about an hour to ensure that they are getting the necessary exercise and vitamin D. This allows the children to breathe in more oxygenated air and ensures appropriate ventilation to prevent the spreading of infections. We also try to include an activity in the planning which will ensure the children are being active, for example dancing or an obstacle course. Hygiene We make sure that the children’s nappies are changed morning and afternoon, more if needed. If the children’s clothes are dirty or wet from play then we will change them. We make sure that children wash their hands after going to the toilet and before eating. Health surveillance We always keep a close on children to monitor their health. If we think a child may be ill then we will take the appropriate actions. This may mean just taking the child’s temperature and giving them a drink and taking clothing off if they are too hot. Depending on how ill the child is and how long it is till they get picked up we may ring their parents to collect them. Rest and sleep The children usually have a story or songs before their snack in the morning and afternoon and before their lunch. This is a time where the children can rest and sit quietly. If the children are tired then we allow them to have a sleep in a quiet area of the room. Provide an example of a week’s menu, showing balanced meals, snack & drinks for children, following current government guidance on nutritional needs. This menu follows the government guidance on nutritional needs because it includes a lot of fruit and vegetables. It is very varied in different meals and includes most, if not all of the elements of the Eatwell Plate which is recommended by the government. Why is it important to follow carers’ instructions in respect of their child’s food allergies or intolerances? It is important that you follow carer’s instructions on their child’s food allergies and intolerances as it can lead to serious consequences. Key workers should be aware of children in their group who have allergies or intolerances. Posters should be made to be displayed within the setting to remind staff. However these should be displayed in the staff room and kitchen; areas where other parents cannot see them. How would you recognise signs & symptoms of food allergies/intolerances? Signs and symptoms of food allergies can include swelling of lips or eyes, redness of the face, itching and difficulty breathing. Children with serious allergies may be given an Epipen. Children with severe food allergies may also have an inhaler. Training will be given to staff on how to use this and the child’s key person will be in charge of it. Food intolerances are usually noticed by the child having diarrhoea. Due to diarrhoea having more than one cause it is important that parents talk to their GP about a suspected food intolerance. Including: Portion control It is important that children and parents are aware of what is the right size portion for the child. This is because this can lead to them becoming under or over weight. This could also include the types of food that are included in the portion of food as some foods are healthier for children than others. For example fizzy drinks, chocolate and cake aren’t good for children and can make them become hyperactive and fruit and vegetables are good for children and will provide them with the vitamins that they need. However some fruit juices can also be high in sugar so sometimes it is best just to stick to water. Tackling under and over weight children The weight of a child is mainly due to the types of food that the child is eating and the size of the portion. The right amount of exercise is also key in the child being the correct weight. It is important that you are doing the right amount of exercise as too much exercise could mean that you become underweight and too little can mean that you become overweight. Sugary foods like fizzy drinks, cakes, chocolate and sweets will make you put on weight a  lot quicker so it is best to avoid these, however you do need a small amount in your diet. Parents should be advised early if it is thought that their child is under or over weight so that action can be taken. Parents will often choose to believe that their child is just ‘cuddly’ as they don’t want to believe that they are overweight. There are many leaflets and websites that parents can go to for more information on the subject. Being under or over weight can also lead to the child having self-confidence issues so it is best to avoid this. If a child is under or over weight then there may be other issues leading to this so it is important to take the time to discuss issues carefully with the child. Food phobias Many children will have phobias of certain foods. This may stem from a bad experience or from them not liking the food. It could also come from watching important adults in their life not eating certain foods and thinking that they shouldn’t either. This can lead to many problems when trying to get children to eat a proper balanced meal. Therefore it is important that parents or carers are provided with tips on how to tackle this. 6.2) Explain the regulations concerning management of medicines & how these are interpreted in the setting. (Cross ref. Unit CYP 3.4-4.2, Unit CYP 3.6-2.3) Where medical treatment is required the manager will inform the insurance company in writing. Medical forms must be filled in where medicine is administered to children. These must include the date and times to be given, the name of the medicine and how much to give to the child. The form must be filled in by the parent or carer of the child in the presence of a member of staff, at the start of the child’s session. The medication must be kept in the correct place, i.e a fridge or a cool, dry place and a first aider must give the child the medication. We have a child within our setting with asthma who has an ongoing medicine form for his inhaler. 6.3) Explain how you protect yourself when lifting & handling children &  equipment in the setting. It is important when lifting anything that you lift with your knees and not your back. Some children can be quite heavy so it is best to avoid lifting them or getting another member of staff to help you. Poor lifting and handling results in many back injuries. Every member of staff should attend a lifting and handling course. You should always follow your settings policy on lifting and handling. Your manager should have carried out a risk assessment covering daily activities that require you to lift and handle children and resources. You should assess the situation before you move a child or equipment. It may be a good idea to make the object you are lifting smaller or make two trips. To conclude your assignment, consider how your research has impacted on your knowledge and understanding in this area of learning. The main sources for my research for this assignment were the book and knowledge from my work setting. I have learnt about dietary needs for different cultures and religions and how to store breast and formula milk.

The Transition from Song to Yuan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Transition from Song to Yuan - Essay Example This was a crucial Chinese era which saw was impacted by many artists including Xu Xi. His Snow Bamboo painting is a notable representation of his creativity. The Snow Bamboo painting by Xu Xi (lived in the early Song period) has been described as being â€Å"worth more than 500 pieces of gold† by historians keen on the Song era. Painted on silk using grey ink, the painter manifested marvelous insight and deep sense of realism. The brushwork (bifa) is massively compliant of descriptive detail achieving magical results. One can hardly believe that this is the creation of human hands. Xu Xi presents the painting using a reserve skill where the bamboo plants are lightened against a dark background. This technique is then reversed in some parts of the painting where the bamboo leaves and stalks are darkened on a lightened silk. This technique went on to define the Song period and many artists â€Å"return† and creatively present their contemporary work using the reserve-rev erse method. Xu Xi creatively switches between the two methods unnoticeably and carefully draws attention away. Suggestions have been proposed that he used wax-resist method to achieve this feat. However, even the wax-resist skill cannot even reach the high standard portrayed by the painting above. The details that Xu Xi technique achieves are extraordinary. The light and dark effect illuminates an incredible measure of realism. The admirer is left engrossed on the subject depicted on the picture, subconsciously drifting away from the artist’s hand.

Write a letter to the editor Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Write a letter to the editor - Assignment Example In 1960 people accepted the appointment of Robert Kennedy as the attorney general of United States. However when President Bill Clinton announced his intention to place his wife Hilary Clinton on some key government post in 1992, he accrued much disapproval from the masses. People tolerated the appointment of Robert Kennedy but did not favorably react to the appointment of Hilary Clinton because they did not want to see the concentration of state power within one family. For it is a fact that when an individual is granted a government post on the basis of one’s connections and not on the basis of true merit, there does stand a valid possibility that, that person may not have the capability to do justice to the post one is appointed to. Such a practice demines the transparency within government and makes the states hiring and contracting activities, the concern of one single family, rather than being a sacred trust and

Distinguishing Any Parallels and Variations within The Texts, Discuss Essay

Distinguishing Any Parallels and Variations within The Texts, Discuss To What Extent Female Power Could Be Said To Exist In The Colour Purple [Alice Walker] A - Essay Example Still, it is immediately difficult from Celie’s â€Å"Dear God,† letters to discern the exact date, but the post slavery setting is obvious by the ownership of property; and that the only â€Å"enslavement† that is apparent is the enslavement of black women, especially very young black women, to black men (Walker, pp. 11-15). Celie, her mother, her sister Nettie, and the other women introduced into Walker’s story seem not to be aware of a lifestyle where they had a choice other that of being subservient to men. Nor do they have any control over the use of bodies by the men in the lives (p16-18). Walker’s protagonist, Celie, begins experiencing the subservient demands and physical demands made by men in their society at the time; she has no choice, she is physically used and abused, although Walker does convey the idea that Celie may have been somewhat prepared for her role even if only by observing her mother’s condition of subservience and as a witness to the physical abuse her mother suffered. That Celie’s first physical experience was at the hands of the man she believed to be her father, worried Celie only to the extent that it caused a crack in the relationship between herself and her mother. Still, Celie sees the man, Albert, who comes to the family initially to negotiate for Celie’s sister, Nettie, as an escape; knowing that she will continue in a subservient role in Albert’s household (Walker, pp. 16-18). At this point, the themes of mental and physical enslavement are evident, even in the post Civil War setting. In Atwood’s story of The Handmaid’s Tale, it’s as though time has moved backward, away from the contemporary life and lifestyle that the young protagonist can still recall in the quiet moments she finds for herself (Walker, pp. 3-4). We do, however, quickly become aware that a â€Å"war† is going on (Atwood, p. 19)She, like Celie, has been relegated to a life of subservience to the male authority, left with no choice

The september 11 attacks on the twin tower, the death of Osama Bin Essay

The september 11 attacks on the twin tower, the death of Osama Bin Laden, and their significance to local community - Essay Example This paper helps to examine the impact that the September 11 attacks had on America and the world, as well as the significance of Osama Bin Laden’s recent death on the local community. Following the attacks on the twin towers, the entire American community began to hate people that had a different skin colour and were averse to the idea of letting other religions, especially Islam, persist within their country. However, they needed to remember that not everyone that practised Islam was a part of the terrorist attacks. A number of people that had been killed had been Islamic too. Americans shed hatred towards other cultures for a long time following the attacks and burned down a temple as well. One sikh man, mistaken to be a Muslim, was even shot and killed by American haters. All this led to a very gory separation among the people as trust was betrayed and people began to flee to their homes in order to stay safe. All over the world, borders closed temporarily as people did no t want to accept anyone belonging to different cultures into their countries for some time. Most people were even afraid to sit on flights because they feared that they would be hijacked. However, at the time it was important to understand that the attacks had already taken place and not much could be done about it. There were memorials and vigils held in memory of those that had died in the tower crashes. Since March 2002, the ‘Tribute in Light’ had been set up on Ground Zero, which were beacons of light arranged in the same squares as the twin towers, that shone in the night in order to complete the skyline. ("About 9-11: Pop Culture and Remembrance.") A number of books and publications were released following the attacks, by writers in Germany, France as well as America, condemning the fact that the 9/11 attacks were not only Al-Qaeda related. These writers stated that there were a number of conspiracy theories which involved involvement from the Israeli as well as t he American government itself. A number of people began to question the politics that George Bush was heading at the time. Several movies depicting the crash were also released and cried, raged, sang and remembered alike. A number of fund raisers were held by musicians and pop stars in order to give back money to the families of those affected. However, what was surprising was that the US went to war dropping bombs on Afghanistan just a month after all the commotion had taken place. (Lehrer, Jimmy) In recent times, in May 2011 itself, it was reported that Osama Bin Laden was captured and killed by American militants and that the world need not fear his plans anymore. It must be understood that more than half the Islamic community as well as other people around the world were as overjoyed about the capture as Americans because they too wanted justice to prevail. â€Å"Like most Americans, I remember September 11 well and remember that he was behind it. I looked forward to the day he would be brought to justice,† says Mike Frechs in an interview with the general American public with regard to Osama Bin Laden’s death. However, the American outlook has still not changed towards the local Islamic community because airports still frisk anyone they suspect to be a Muslim extremely interrogatively as compared to other people. It must be brought to notice that just

How does social reproduction relate to our understanding of the global Essay

How does social reproduction relate to our understanding of the global political economy How is it defined in the context of IPE - Essay Example From an overarching perspective there is the recognition that social reproduction has been situated within the global political economy in hierarchical ways. For instance, Bakker noted, â€Å"social reproduction is not confined to the household, but forms the foundation of Braudel’s hierarchical model of the economy† (Bakker, p. 542). This hierarchical structure is then view in terms of systematic interaction between the different levels. Notably, this view of social reproduction views it as necessarily in a conflicting relationship with the demands or processes of capitalism. One example of such systematic interaction is given in terms of witch hunts. In this way hundreds of women were executed on the grounds that they were witches. Within the context of the political economy this is viewed as a means of the capitalist apparatus reclaiming power. The fundamental recognition in this sense is that as ‘witches’ demonstrated alternative forms of morality, it w as necessary to execute them to reclaim the power of reproduction. Ultimately the extent this systematic interaction is dependent on conscious or unconscious perspectives is contingent on a variety of notions of social reproduction in the political economy. In the context of international political economy social reproduction takes on another mode of interpretation. Social reproduction not only involves the processes of human reproduction, but also the moral and cultural implications tied into these processes. An extensive array of research has examined this in the context of the international economy. Steans & Tepe consider the ways that international political organizations have worked to change the policy regarding specific groups or demographics. Considering one study they note it examines, â€Å"social reproduction, especially through the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) development

Financial Reporting, Leasers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial Reporting, Leasers - Essay Example In an operating lease, lease payments are recognized as an expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term unless another systematic basis is more representative of the time-pattern of the entity's benefit. In the case of a finance lease, the lessee recognizes the lease as assets and liabilities in their financial statements at an amount equal to the fair value of the leased property. If the amount is lower, then at the present value of the minimum lease payments, each calculated at the start of the lease. When calculating the present value of the minimum lease payments, the discount rate used is the interest rate implicit in the lease. If this is not practicable to determine, then the lessee's incremental borrowing rate is used. All initial costs of the lessee are capitalized to the asset amount recognized. Minimum lease payments are apportioned between finance charge and the reduction of the outstanding principal liability. The finance charge is set in such a way that it produces a constant rate of interest on the outstanding balance of the liability. Lessors present assets subject to operating leases in their balance sheets according to the nature of the asset. Lease income from operating leases is recognized in income on a straight-line basis over the whole lease term, unless another systematic basis is more representative of the time-pattern of the entity's benefit. ... Treatment in the book of lessors Operating Leases Lessors present assets subject to operating leases in their balance sheets according to the nature of the asset. Lease income from operating leases is recognized in income on a straight-line basis over the whole lease term, unless another systematic basis is more representative of the time-pattern of the entity's benefit. Initial direct costs incurred by lessors in negotiating and arranging an operating lease is to be added to the carrying amount of the leased asset and recognized as an expense over the lease term on the same basis as the lease income. According to paragraph 56 of the incumbent IAS 17 Leases, Lessors shall, in addition to meeting the requirements of IFRS 7, disclose the following for operating leases: The future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases in the aggregate and for each of the following periods: 1. Not later than one year; 2. Later than one year and not later than five years; 3. Later than five years. Finance Leases For initial recognition, lessors recognize their assets held under a finance lease in their balance sheets and present them as receivable at an amount equal to the net investment in the lease. The recognition of finance income is to be based on a pattern reflecting a constant periodic rate of return on the lessor's net investment in the finance lease. Analysis Now, the above introductory information should put us in a position so as to judge the effect of the proposed changes in the IAS against the benchmark incumbent IAS 17 Leases. Disadvantages The proposed changes in the IAS would render the operating lease to be treated in the same way as a finance lease. For the

Rethinking the social responsibility of business Essay

Rethinking the social responsibility of business - Essay Example Every organization works with the goal of making some money. Either they consider that as profit earned or that contribute to the society by providing value addition to their stakeholders or they need that money to re-invest and cover the cost of their running business. But in any-case money is required. Thus, if a businessman complies to the social responsibility only, he/she will be required to behave in many ways which provide no benefits and in some cases loss to the owner of the business. For example, if he starts hiring hardcore unemployed people in the organization for contributing to reducing unemployment from the society and not well equipped and highly qualified workers, the company’s performance will greatly suffer and the owner will be in great debts ultimately. Jhon Mackey has made a major mistake in statement where he openly declared that the shareholders have the right to leave the company and invest their money elsewhere. This portrays his un-professional attitude, as the investors and the shareholders are the major assets for the company form where all the funding is coming in. For any business, it is very essential that the shareholders and the investors remain happy with the company’s and its employee’s performance, else the company will not survive and go bankrupt.

Usage of Magic and Supernatural Elements in Childrens Literature Research Paper

Usage of Magic and Supernatural Elements in Childrens Literature - Research Paper Example Women began to slowly make their voices heard as an oppressed gender and philosophers were beginning to gain a greater understanding of the workings of the human mind. The child, often considered either a sinful and wild creature or a miniature adult, was beginning to be recognized as something still developing. There was a â€Å"veritable explosion of information about this period of physiological and cognitive development in human beings† and literature became â€Å"a central vehicle for expressing ideas about the self and its history† (Steedman 5). Although perhaps initially introduced as a means of breaking with the strict moralistic attitudes of the past, the use of magic and the world of the supernatural proved effective in teaching children in a way they could understand. Breaking from the ‘normal’ world with the introduction of the supernatural or the magical realm makes it possible for authors to personify various behaviors, values and character traits and thus give children more accessible avenues to complex concepts in keeping with their varying levels of understanding. Cognitive ability begins with birth, but improves upon skills acquired during the preschool years to apply to things outside of the self. There are four main categories of skills developed during this period (Santrock 1997). The first of these are self help skills in which the child learns to take care of their everyday needs such as dressing themselves. They also learn social help skills in which they begin to perceive the importance of helping others through activities such as household chores and demonstrating their ability to think outside of themselves. School skills are introduced in which the child learns the academic tools necessary for success in that arena, particularly in developing the analytical skills necessary for logic and mathematics. The final main category is play skills, in which the child

Statement of Purpose Essay Example for Free

Statement of Purpose Essay As a small child I remember trying to make a pyramid of cards and failing repeatedly. What I had always been missing those days was the need to focus on creating a strong base rather than abruptly rushing on to reach the top. With my undergraduate study at an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), the best technological institutes in India with inarguably the toughest selection ratio (~2%) in the world I am sure that the strong base required to build the pyramid is laid and the next level to reach my goals would be to do my graduate studies at University of California, Santa Barbara. Born in an era of technological revolutions, witnessing the advent of cell phones, mp3 players, digital cameras, computers, laptops, internet, DVDs to name a few, I developed a strong liking for technology from my childhood. It was clear that Mathematics and Science were the subjects which fascinated me and my accomplishments in various quizzes and competitions in school fuelled my exploration of these subjects. It was in my eleventh standard when I got 12th rank in the Regional Mathematics Olympiad, conducted by NHBM, Govt. f India that I got exposed to elements of Discrete Mathematics, particularly Combinatory and Graph Theory, outside the regular school curriculum at an early stage. The intensive training programs we were put through for the Olympiads gave me a lot of confidence in dealing with abstract mathematical problems. I represented my region among around 200 students from all over India in the National Mathematics Olympiad. Next year my dedication towards my work got rewarded when I cleared the various prestigious national level examinations of India which made it further clear what I was meant to do in life. It began when I cleared the KVPY Examination, which is one of the highest valued and most competitive scholarship examinations conducted by Govt. of India and received a call letter from IISER Pune (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research) for admission to their BSc course with the KVPY Fellowship. Next I secured a rank of 290 in National Entrance Screening Test making me eligible for admissions to NISER (National Institute of Science Education and Research) whereby the selection rate is only 0. 325 %. But finally I choose to pursue Electrical Engineering from IIT Bhubaneswar after envisaging the broad range of research areas this field would provide me like control and automation, telecommunications, signal processing, analogue and digital electronics and Power systems. The undergraduate study at IIT Bhubaneswar has been a defining step in giving shape to my dreams. The cut throat competition among the best of students in India demanded sincere efforts and meticulous planning. I honed my analytical skills, technical prowess and aptitude for innovation. Moreover, I learnt the significance of proper planning and resilience to prevail over hard times, thus helping me mature as an individual. It was just a few months in my undergraduate studies, that I realized that the true charm of engineering existed in its application and to gain an insight into the wider domains of Electrical Engineering I pursued internships every year during the summer vacations. The excitement to explore new things and learn new concepts kept me busy during the off college hours. At the end of first year I choose to explore the area of embedded systems and took an internship in DOEACC, a Govt. of India Center, which not only offered me an insight to microcontrollers but made me realize the grandness of the field, motivating me to explore even more. I developed a snake game using 8051 series of controller as a small project in the internship. Returning back to college after the vacations my first task became to join the Robotics Society of the Institute and to share my experiences and to motivate juniors and fellow students to enjoy and discover the aspects this field had to offer. I became the core member of the Robotics Team and offered various seminars and made various robots including line follower, glider etc. as a part of the team. This fascination for robotics was widened in next semester when I learnt new topics in class and in topics like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Digital Signal Processing (DSP) I found my particular interest. Thereby I choose to do my second internship in IIT Delhi where I did work on Artificial Intelligence based Biometric Authentication. This period of 3 months led me to get insights into topics which I haven’t explored till then . Here I not only got the idea of various image processing techniques but also about various classifiers and soft computing techniques like Neural Networks and Evolutionary Algorithms which proved handy throughout my undergraduate studies. Here I coauthored my first research paper which was published in Springer LNCS as a part of proceedings of international conference SEMCCO11. Unable to resist my immaculate desire to learn even new things and filled with the inspiration to make something useful for the people I kept researching and this time speech processing caught my eye. I was selected for internship in Deutsche Telekom laboratories- TU Berlin (The RD Center of the largest telecommunications company in Europe). These 3 months of internship in a technologically advanced country gave me an international exposure. My continued interaction with scientists, professors and students from all around the world working in the lab filled me with extreme motivation and broadened my thinking. I worked on emotion recognition from speech and we extracted a new set of features which helped in improvement of accuracy and my paper got accepted in International conference ICECIT 2012, India and will be published by Elsevier. The interest in speech processing I developed in Berlin was to be further intensified as I choose to work on making a novel speaker and emotion recognition system in my final year B. Tech project under the supervision of an eminent professor in the field of Digital Signal Processing Prof. Ganapati Panda, Deputy Director and Head of school of Electrical Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar. Realizing the fact that Indian languages have not been studied much with the aspects of emotional speech, my first task became to create an Indian language database for the study. I experimented and found out that the traditional speaker recognition system failed in an emotional environment and needed to be modified to take emotions into account and I am working on it. To supplement and strengthen my domain knowledge, I am taking up course on Biomedical Signal Processing in my final year at IIT. Looking back and introspecting I have figured out the true meaning of the quote late Mr. Steve Jobs said in his 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech: â€Å"You cant connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. Connecting the dots I have realized my true ambition to do research work oriented towards the areas of machine learning, signal processing and pattern recognition aiming towards development of something useful for the mankind and a Masters course in Electrical Engineering would provide me an excellent platform for achieving the same. From the development of Intelligent Robots with the ability to learn natural language, understand emotions, having an improved vision system to the use of signal processing in medical applications all these have considerably motivated me to choose my future in this field. With the Mars Rover Curiosity marking a technological triumph, imagining a world in future where robots would be assisting humans in their daily work, where technology would be providing the cure for the differently abled people, where there will be an ceaseless growth of automation and where human computer interaction will reach to newer domains has not just remained a dream. I believe that my ambitions, academic excellence, research work are all in unison with what UCSB MS program in Electrical Engineering expects. In the research activities going on in various labs and research groups like Advanced Graphics Lab, Vision Research Lab, System Bio Imaging Lab I have found a marvelous synchronization of my ongoing research work. The amazing research work by Prof. Pradeep Sen in the field of computer graphics such as development of augmented reality based systems, the work by Prof Manjunath on image processing, the work by Prof. L. Rabiner on speech processing and many other works going on in an interdisciplinary environment such as in IGERT program have not only motivated me to join UCSB Electrical Engineering Dept. ut has left a deep influence on my mind to be a part of the change towards a better future. The intellectually rich, vibrant and multi-cultural student community at UCSB will manifold my process of learning and exploring the unexplored. It is said – â€Å"Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan†. Here I am standing at an important path of my career and connecting all the dots I am sure about my goal, my future and sure about the perfect master’s program which will help me achieve my dreams.

John Lewis Partnership Analysis

John Lewis Partnership Analysis This paper focuses on the strategic formulation of John Lewis partnership in initial phases of the firms online services, Ocado the online service that delivers Waitrose groceries) and the online shopping (johnlewis.com) website development from the 2000 to 2010. In the first instance, account of the company will be briefly discussed, together with the main activity, market share, key stakeholders and also financial overview of the company. Secondly, the identification of its generic strategy by using Porters model of generic strategy will be clearly defined. This will follow the discussion of the key activities that underpin the chosen generic strategy, a value chain analysis and how the added value creates a distinctive competence which leads to competitive advantage of the business. Companys overview John Lewis was first founded in 1864 by John Spedan Lewis partnered with his two brothers in Oxford Street, London. Waitrose joined the partnership in 1937 as a chain of 10 specialist food, followed shortly in the John Lewis partnership is Greenbee which is now called John Lewis Insurance and partnership card (John Lewis Partnership, 2010). Main activities of the company include providing customers with high quality groceries and non grocery items such as electrical goods, furniture, fashion, flowers and also financial services such as insurance and credit card services. As one of UKs top ten retailers, the company has about 31 John Lewis and 235 Waitrose supermarkets, an online and catalogue business, a direct services company, one production unit and a farm and continues to grow at a rapid pace (John Lewis Partnership, 2010). John Lewis Partnership argues to have a visionary and successful way of doing business, boldly putting the happiness of Partners at the centre of everything it does (John Lewis Partnership, 2010). It strives to differentiate itself from competitors by giving 100% ownership to partners who are also permanent staff of the company who are committed to serve customers with flair and fairness.(John Lewis Partnership, 2010, Bloomberg Business Week, 2010, Hambrick Fredrickson, 2005, Times Online, 2008). In addition, due to the Partners dedication and hard work, the company was ranked as the 3rd of the top 100 biggest privately owned companies in the UK during the year 2008 (Times Online, 2008) despite the economy downturn which led to drop one rank from previous year (Times Online, 2008). However, in the survey conducted by Which? revealed that in January 2009 John Lewis was ranked at the top of the list and also was voted as the Britains favourite retailer in 2010 the UK Consumer Satisfaction Index from the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) (John Lewis Partnership, 2010). Never Knowingly Undersold is the companys motto that has been used over 75 years, to promise customers that the company will always sell the lowest price in town (John Lewis Partnership, 2010, Bloomberg, Business Week, 2010). Charley Mayfield, the chairman of John Lewis partnership reports a strong performance within the first six month of 2010, an increase of gross sales by 12.4% and operating profit by 15.1% compared to last year (London Stock Exchange, 2010). Mayfield further reported a market share gain and strong growth in both John Lewis department store and Waitrose, one of the most notable increases was the underlying operating profit which rose by 59.4% (Bloomberg, Business Week, 2010) despite of the credit crunch. The benefits and profits gained from the business are shared equally among partners who are also permanent staff and co-owner of the business (John Lewis Partnership, 2010). The Formulation of strategy: Strategic aims Strategy is defined as the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term, which achieve advantage in a changing environment (Scholes et al., 2008). It is important for all organisations to have a strategy as without it, time and resources can easily be wasted (Hambrick Fredrickson, 2005). Organisations should analyse the competitive position of the market, formulate strategic aim then acquire the needed resources for implementing those chosen strategies (Porter, 1980). Furthermore, it is possible for the organisation to increase its resources and capabilities through sharing and generation of knowledge, learning and redeployment of existing resources in a new and more effective ways (Steve B. Alex H., 2007, Barney, 1991). In 1929, the founder of John Lewis partnership gave up the ownership of the company to the employees for the purpose of balancing the employees happiness and successful business (John Lewis Partnership, 2010). John Lewis (2010) had an ambitious vision of co-ownership by making employees happiness whilst developing steady business profit at the same time. This assertion has left a remarkable commercial history and is as alive today as it was 80 years ago (John Lewis Partnership, 2010). In addition, the founder created a governance system that is both commercial and democratic which will allow the company to gain competitive advantage by moving ahead quickly and also giving voice to every Partners who also co-owned the company (John Lewis Partnership, 2010). A recent study conceded that the more satisfied workers are with their jobs, the better the company is likely to perform in terms of profitability and particularly productivity (Hobson, 1998) with a variation of between 19% profitability and 18% productivity which are accounted in the way people are managed (Hobson, 1998, Steve et al.). According to the John Lewis partnership (2010) financial statements as shown on Table 1 below, illustrates that the business has grown significantly over the past 10 year, the turnover increased by 50% and net profit were also increased by 96% over the past 10 years. Therefore, the findings of the study (Hobson, 1998) conceded with the performance outcome of John Lewis (2010). At the onset, the strategic aim of the partnership was to experiment in industrial democracy and to establish a better form of business (John Lewis Partnership, 2010). As first movers of employee owned-business model, the partnership takes advantage of the resource and capability extending sources as the company was already in maturity. The resources that the company possessed extended the advantages of co-ownership structure that the partnership needed to sustain and enhance the strategic position as an outstanding retailer and a thriving example of employee ownership (John Lewis Partnership, 2010). Many public sector workers are now consider utilising John Lewis employee owned-business model after John Lewis staffs who are also partners embrace a big bonus of 15% that is equivalent to almost twice of monthly salary whilst public sector workers are threatened for a job loss due to government spending cuts (Julia, 2010). Therefore, the companys key strategic aims were built around the capabilities that employee owned-business model offered for creating added value to partners and customers (John Lewis Partnership, 2010). However, the long term strategic aims of John Lewis partnership were to give personal satisfaction to Partners by becoming members of a co-owned enterprise, retain customers loyal by giving value, choice, service and honesty, and create real influence over working lives whilst sustain business strength and gain competitive advantage which will allow continued development. To achieve these aims John Lewis Partnership would have to demonstrate the benefits of co-ownership and competitive behaviours that will differentiate the company from its competitors including outperforming the conventional companies. Internal Analysis: Generic strategy How firms compete and what strategies they choose are important questions for the economy (Ormanidhi Stringa, 2008) and a vital decision have to be made in order to determine the generic strategy of a business (Porter, 1980). In the case of John Lewis Partnership the choice was relatively simple. Although the Partnership sought to create a happy working environment, the key to competitive advantage lay in the real influence over working lives whilst providing added value and unrivalled service to the customers. The employee-owned business model for the retail venture entailed employees ownership and responsibilities for the business success by delivering the right experience for all customers whilst generating profits for the partners to share. In effect, John Lewis Partnership is a top ten retail company in the UK. It operates department stores, supermarkets chain and John Lewis Direct website which focus on home and giftware that have been ranked UKs top online shopping destinations consistently. A well known for its high customer satisfaction rating, upmarket chain targeted middle to upper class customers. However, the Partnership expanded its marketing strategy and has recently introduced a Value and Essential range to target all types of customers (John Lewis Partnership, 2010). The ability and efficiency to engage customers loyalty and trust by providing outstanding value, choice and service, the more customers would be retained and attracted to their departments, supermarkets and websites. The key to achieving this was to differentiate the benefits of co-ownership and partners behaviours against rivals including conventional retail companies. The key differentiators were to offer security, stability and fulfilling employment for the Partners who are also permanent employees of the company. Another compelling differentiator was the lower prices John Lewis could offer using Never knowingly undersold slogan. It was the first mover retailer to offer its customers the confidence that promised the customers cheapest price in the town. This principle has been used to monitor competitors and reduce own price if being undersold. Thus, this allows the Partnership to retain customers loyalty and trust by giving them confidence that they will never purchase similar product elsewhere which is undersold and if that is the case, then the customer is guaranteed to get a refund. As the employee-owned business model continue to grows in a rapid pace, in 2000 the Partnership successfully managed a network of over 31 major department stores and over 235 supermarkets stocking around 350,000 products. Particularly, the launch of Ocado online service that delivers Waitrose groceries and online shopping site (Johnlewis.com) led the business to be complex. The Partnership incorporate the use of RedPrairies Warehouse and workforce management system in order to build and retain customer loyalty whilst increase sales growth by maximise efficiency, ensure the product availability and speed delivery. This was another differentiator that underpinned the companys strategy for competitive advantage. John Lewis Partnership noticed that the cost reduction, sales growth and make the business profitable can be gained through the use of warehouse and workforce management system. Thereby, this allows them to practice Never knowingly undersold slogan thus reducing the cost burden to customers and offer products at a lower price. The Partnership and customers relationship depends on the ability of the company to sustain its competitive advantage (Scholes et al., 2008) despite many potential rivals imitating their business model (Pearce Robinson, 2008). Internal Analysis: Value chain analysis The value chain analysis focuses on how much value an organisations activities add to its products or services compared to the costs incurred in utilising resources in the productive process (Scholes et al., 2008, Raypor, 1995). Rayport (1995) further states that efficiency and effectiveness can be improve significantly if managers redesign their internal and external processes by doing value chain analysis. As value chain analysis helps managers to focus attention on configuring and coordinating resources on those activities that produce the product in the most efficient and effective way (Scholes et al., 2008, Pearce Robinson, 2008). Porter (1980) states that in order for the company to achieve competitive advantage, the managers should focus on two main areas when conducting a value chain analysis, one is the identification of the activities in which the company should perform and also the configuration of the firms activities that best enables added value to the product and allo ws the firm to compete. As previously mentioned, John Lewis Partnership can be described as a retailing company conducting its businesses online and in store. Primary activities have been described as directly concerned with the creation and delivery of product and services (Sholes, 2008, Porter, M. 1980). Thus, the key value adding activities that is associated with John Lewis Partnership can be identified using Porters Value Chain model (1985) are inbound and outbound logistics. Service can be added to these as ultimately, the success of the business model is determined by the superior service provided to customers. The use of warehouse and workforce management system allows optimisation in people, inventory and equipment to create a more agile, efficient and least distribution and also focus on performance culture. The Partnership in return, sees the productivity increased by 16%, labour costs reduced by 8%, enhanced stock availability, 40% improved of warehouse order picking and also delivery time decrease by 25%. Thus, the support activity underpinning the added value is in technology development. The ease of use system allows the company to cut overheads thus led to business growth and value-added developments that increase customer service and also when combined with other attributes as illustrated earlier creates a distinctive capability that rivals find difficult to match and hence lead to a competitive advantage. Conclusion The strategic aims of John Lewis Partnership depicts high level coherence between the partnership and the strategic choices, resources and capabilities that have been used to achieve its aims. The strategic choice of differentiation/narrow focus has enabled the company to focus on developing capabilities that improve performance and add value to customers. This, in turn, has led to the exponential growth of the business throughout the period 2000 to 2010 evidenced by increasing market share, turnover, profit, (as shown on Table 1) including increase in sales of products and services and strategic alliances and partnerships were also increased. Therefore, the key findings of the work clearly show that a competitive advantage has been achieved.

History And Pestel Analysis Of Russia Economics Essay

History And Pestel Analysis Of Russia Economics Essay This document is an overview of political, social, economical, legal and technological of Russia. The federation of Russian or Russia is the country which located in the north of Europe and Asia. It is considered as the bridge between those two continents. The country was found in the 12th century, in the history of this state, the country had been through different regime of politic, from Russia imperial era to the Soviet Union, post Soviet democratic till the federation of Russian today. The country shares borders with fourteen different states such as Norway, Finland, China, North Korea and so on. Russia also shares the marine border with America and Japan. It is the biggest country in the world with 17,075,400 square kilometres. Russia is one of the countries which are really rich in natural resources. Russia is the land of winter but it does not mean that they have snow all over the year. Russia has variety weather, depends on the region. It can be death cold in the far north to dramatically hot in the desert of the south part. In the country, there is only two distinguish weather which are winter and summer, the other two does not last for long and is not really well defined. The capital of Russia was named after the Moskva River which starts from East Europe and flows into the Russias central. The name Moscow was found by Goerge I, Yuri I Dolgorukiy in 1147. Even Russia is a big country; the population is just in the rank of 9th in the whole world with 141,927,297 people. In each region they have their own language but Russian is the official language of the winter land. People here follow dissimilar religion, even though there are four main religions which are Orthodox, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism. The currency of Russia is Rouble. Comparing to other currency such as US dollar or Europe, this currency is currently not a strong one. The natural resources, agriculture and technology play an important part in the economy of this country with the estimation of GDP in 2010 is $15,807. The main partners in export are CIS, China, The US and Japan. According to the development of the economy, Russia is considered as the strongest growth amongst the developing countries. The living standard of Russian decreased after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it started to improve from 2007 and now it rank at 65. It is the result of the development in economy and politic strategy. The life expectancy for men is 59 years old and 73 years old for women. Furthermore, the culture side of this country is very comparable to others developed countries. Russia becomes a destination which attracts tourist and other social and culture activities with international scale such as the winter Olympic 2014 in Sochi which will contribute an important part in building up the image of the Russia. From all points of view, Russia is one of the strongest developing countries. With the policies which focus on attracting investors, on the near future, Russia will be on the list of new developed country. This is the main background of the country with some interesting fact of it, further on in this document; each sector will be discussed in detail. Reasons for Selection Russia is a developing country with rich in history and tradition. This country in this new century has lots of opportunities and challenges. It plays an important role in the social and political of the world. Russia is the member of different important organization in the world such as World health Organization (WHO), United Nation (UN), G8 and G20. This gives Russia a possibility to contribute as well as give out its opinions for the development of the world in term of social, health care, political and economic. In this report, I and my group mates chose Russia as our country for the international trade project is because of three main reasons. First of all, it is a big country with more than fourteen millions of population, this country have the policies in economic which are supportive for the national as well as the international investors. They update the policies bases on the development of their economic in order to facile and make Russias economy more attractive to investo rs. Further, looking to the growth of the business as well as their competitive currency, it is really a promises land for people who want to create wealth and business. Not to mention the fact that they have a big improvement in the economy despite all the natural disaster that happened during summer 2010 and the economy crisis that affects the economy and trade of countries all over the world. Below is the graph which shows the growth of GDP in Russia over years. Russia-GDP-Growth-Rate-Chart-000001.png From the graph we can see that even 2010 is not a successful year for Russias agriculture because of the weather and climate issue; the extension of GDP in the 3rd quarter of the year is at 2.7, which differentiate the country from others which play main roles in the economy. This figure is a strong proves for all the investors about Russias economy. Last but not least, Russia has an advantage of their geographical location. As being mentioned in the first part of this document. Russia is the connection between Europe and Asia. This is the advantage that not all the country can have. It enables Russia to trade easily with countries in Asia such as Japan, China and North Korea as well as other countries in the north of Europe and countries in the European Union. It brings good opportunities for Russia to exchange and gain experiences from the developed countries in Europe. It is an opportunity and also a challenge for this country. PESTLE Analysis: Political In 1993, after the crisis in the constitution of Russia and with the support from most part of the population, the 12th Dec 1993, Russia was officially became the federation of Russia with semi presidential republic. They keep going with the same regime until today. It is very important to have a constant regime and policy to attract more investors. It is also important to have the policies which provide more benefit and advantages for people who want to contribute or get into the business. The current president is Mr Dmitriy Medvedev and the prime Minister is Mr Vladimir Putin. According to Mr Putin, they do not want to have the copy of the USs political system. Russias government has it own system which closes to its convention and situation. The advantage of Russia is that it is consider as the country which will take charge of all the roles of the Soviet Union in different international organization. Russia continues the commitment of the USSR with United Nation Security Council and the seats of USSR in other international organization. Even though Russia is a federation but there is still the involvement between the main government and the region or local government. According to the Human Rights Watch, Russian citizens do not have freedom. Despite the fact that they have a very strong judicial system, the rate of prisoners in Russia is still high at 628 out of 100,000. It leads to the fact that the prison is not in the good condition and sometime over loaded. Russia has an open foreign relationship strategy. Until the year 2009, they have official relationship with 191 countries and 144 embassies. It is a good opportunity for the trade and economic of the country, not mention to the fact that Russia is playing a very important role in preserving peace and safety of the world. Another advantage of Russia is that they implemented the technology and the militaries force from the USSR. This country has the biggest store of nuclear weapon with the military which includes navy, ground force and air force. Russia is one of the countries with well developed and home-grown arms industry. They also have the plan of growing their military and put more invest on that until 2015. Russia is in the world first rank of producing and exporting weapons. They are not only producing enough for their own need but also for selling to 80 different countries around the world. It contributes a considerable part in the revenue of this country. The development of t echnology in military is also support to the position of Russia in the World. Under this regime and maintain the same foreign relationship policy play the major role in the stability and growth of the countrys economic. With the strong and peaceful relationship with others countries, it is push factor for Russia to expanse the economic as well as attract more and more investors from inside and outside of the country. The political side takes the main role in order to run the business of the whole country. It is the main feature to keep the stability of the social as well as the economic. The investor need to have the impression of safety and security as well as the space to growth inside the country in order to persuade them to invest in the country. Economic: The economics of Russia depends mainly on the natural resources. There are two major resources are oil and gas. This country has the GDP in the rank of 10th.biggest in the world. Russia is the country with the advantage of natual resources, the big area with the area for agricuture 4th largest in the world and a perfect location between Europe and Asia. Despite all the advantage that the country has, its economic is not comparable to other countries in Europe. It is because the growth of the economy of Russia is depending the price of the oil in the market. Russia-GDP-per-capitaConstant-Prices-Since-2000Chart-000001.png It is shown from the chart that the economy is growing instantly. The problem of Russias economic is that it is too dependent on the price of crude oil. In order to cope with this situation, the government need to have a conventional budget to deal with the productivity of the lalor. Along with that, they should have a reasonable tax system and a suitable monetary policy that make the ruble become the competive currency but also make sure the price is not to low. In order to have a strong economy situation, they also need to pay more attention on the education of the new generation. The change of the political regime and the economic system lead to the fact that they need more people with open minded, flexible and willing to learn and be active in the econmic. It is another weakness that make Russia position is lower than others european countries. Another challenges for Russias economy is that the process of tranforming from communism to free market was later than the other countries in the West. Russia got into the post industrial economic after other so that there is the gap between Russias economic growth compare to other developed countries . Russia is the country with resources, high technology and lobor. In order to fulfil the space between Russia and other contries, Russia need to have a policy that get them out of the Soviet Unions shadow. They need to chose the right market for their product. Social: From 1990, with the changes in the regime of politic, the society stepped forward. They convert from a society with autocratic structure to a society with democratic character. This change enlarges the gap between the poor and the rich people in the society. Even there is no obvious classification structure in society, the stratification is judged by wealth. The most obvious evident of capitalism in the society is that people started to spend in a wasted scale with expensive cars, clothes and outfit that a normal Russian can not afford. The revolution in society structure leads to the changes in mentality and mindset. For example, People have different perception toward the family plan. From 1990, the rate of birth is decreasing remarkably, along with that is the increasing of death rate. The death rate is raising cause of the health care system. In Europe continent, Russia is one of the countries that being affected strongly by HIV and alcohol poisoning. 300px-Natural_Population_Growth_of_Russia.PNG   Ã‚  Birth rate   Ã‚  Death rate   Ã‚  Natural growth rate A part from that, we can not mention to the development of the social activities. The development of entertainment and social activities contribute a main part in the improvement of Russians living standard. Russia is well known with literature, music, ballet dance with all the famous artist, composers, and philosopher such as Leo Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, Pushkin and Lenin. Russia is also known for all the sport even with international scale such as summer Olympic in 1980 and winter Olympic which will be hold in 2014. The life in some of the big city such as Moscow, St Petersburg is as lively as the life in New York. Moscow and St Petersburg are the most popular venue for MICE industry (Meeting, incentives, conferences and exhibition) with professional service, high technique support, good facilities as well as social activities. Russia is a folklore country which is always a mystery for everyone to discover. Technology: Russia is a country which is rich in science tradition. The technology sector of Russia started to be recognized from the early of 18th century and continue to develop until today. Russia has a good reputation on science and technology with the contribution of Mikhail Lomonosov, Pafnuti Chebychev and so on. They many impressive work of art in different filed such as Mathematic, Chemistry, Structural engineer, earth science and aerospace engineer which contribute a significant part in the development of the countrys technology. Because of the advance in this field, it contributes to the position of Russia in many different international organizations. The well developed in military materials and weapons add a stronger voice to the role of maintaining peace and security of Russia and all the countries around the world. In the 20th century, the whole world was surprised because of their advance in aerospace engineer. Russia was the 1st country who sent people in the space. Not to mention the fact that Russias air craft is on the list of the most produced air craft. The 20th century is not only the notice moment for the development of technology for Russia itself but also for the whole world with a new generation of knowledge. Even they have a good base and remarkable success in technology but somehow it does not contribute much to the revenue of the country. In contrast with the development of the technology is the economic. They have the economic which mainly depends on exporting oil and other natural resources. The development and success of the economic is totally depending on the price of the product in the market. Russia can not take the initiative on the growth of economic and which direction will it go. In order to be more active in the economic, it is the must for this country to focus a pro duct where they are really in advanced compare to other countries. Noticing the important role of technology and its effect to the development of economic, the president, Mr Medvedev has paid more attention on the modernization and advance technology such as Rosnano and Nano technology. The government started to put more fund on this field and they are ready to support any of Russian who want to develop their career in this field. The aim of this is to get the best out of the Russia. Looking back to the Soviet Union era, compare to now, and the technology industry of Russia is far behind other countries. Technology has to be things that made in Russia and by the innovation of Russian. The most important thing at the moment is that they need to motivate people, they need more innovation which can be leapfrog their own success in years behind and also to conquer with the well developed science and knowledge of other Western countries. The president wants to develop the technology side which already has the strong base, thanks to the Soviet Unions knowledge and development in this field. With all the work of science from years ago, it is very positive that Russia will take back its place of leading in the technology industry. He believes that with the technology of Russia can take advantage over the western with the advance technology. The success of this will push the expansion of trade and industry. It opens a new opportunities to grow in economic, which make the trade of this country becomes more and more initiative and be more active with the changes of market. With the success in this plan, there will be the big improvement in living standard, help the country out of inflation and the increase of unemployed rate. Legal: On the way of developing and transforming itself from a communism to a capitalist country, Russia also changed it law in order to be match with the new regime. The new law is more Western approach, very systematic and market oriented. It is totally different from the law of the Nordic countries. The new law of Russia is mainly base on the legislation, so that why there are still some gaps on the law system. The corruption rate is still high in the last few years: According to the transparency international organization, in 2010 the corruption rate of Russia is staying at the rate of 2.1 which consider as one of the country which have very high corruption rate. This takes into consideration for people who think about investing in this country. Above is the chart to calculate the degree of freedom in the trade and industry of Russia. In order to attract more investment, the government pass the law which make no different between foreigner investors and national investor. Even thought there are some areas that foreigner must have the improvement of the government in order to get into the business. It is the strategies that focus the investment of foreigner in some of the sector which are in need of it. There also some other restriction in term of ownership as well as payment. However, there is the need of changes to reduce the corruption as well as to be more open to investors. Balance of payments Russias Balance of payments history from 1995 ~ 2010 From year 1995 to year 1997, the current account of Russia decreased from 6963 million US$ to negative 80 million US$ because of the Economic crisis in 1997 which reflected less import and investment from foreign country. During Vladimir Putin Presidency, he had led Russians current account to a downward pressure on exchange rate and the opposite of upward pressure on Russians ruble. Therefore in year 1998, Russia exports and imports were growing because of the devaluation of ruble. Coming towards year 2003, Russias has grown from 35410 million US$ to 94367 million US$ in 2006. However, in 2007 the current account of Russia had shrunk by 18% to 78390 million US$. With the decreased of current account surplus, it reflected an increased in foreign reserves funds to 148.9 billion US$. In year 2008, the current account had a positive growth of 102400 million US$. The reason is because of the volume of exports and imports increased. Throughout the year from 1998 to 2008, Russia depends on their main export of oil and gas which gave them a positive surplus on current account and trade balance. Therefore in mid 2008, both economic and exchange rate policy had backed up by the balance of payments with the measures of government in order to overcome the crisis. However in 2009, Russian balance of payments was affected by the external economic situations as well as the loss of confidence by the investors towards the market of Russia. This had made Russias economy decrease in financial account operation. The current account dropped 50% to 47514 million US$ because of the economic crisis. In year 2010, the balance of payments increased by 47% to 77569 million US$. The total exports revenue has a number of 398 billion US$. Within this amount, 300 billion US$ came from oil and 98 billion US$ from the gas. Trade Balance Russias Trade Balance history from 1995 ~ 2010 Trade balance (in bln US$) From year 1995 until year 2000, the number of goods that exported from of Russia started to grow, where as goods the imports to Russia decreased. However starting from year 2000, Russias export rate maintain on a constant growth which reached 411 Billion US$ in year 2008. With this stable growth; it had led Russia to a stronger economy. In addition, with the substantial growth within year 2000 until year 2008, each of the years Russia had gained a lot of surplus, mainly because the exported goods was more than imported. In year 2000 until year 2008, the surplus had increased from 67 billion US$ to 131 billion US$. With the sufficient trade surplus, Russia invested a lot on their countrys resources such as gas and oil rather than invest on other economy sector. The investment had made Russia become the dominance player on energy resources. Besides that, Russias main revenue came from exported products. Goods that Russia exports such as petroleum products, wood products, metals, natural gas, grain, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures. Main imported were vehicles, plastics, machinery and equipment, medicines, iron, steel, consumer goods and metal products. The main export countries are Netherlands, Italy, Germany, China, Turkey and Ukraine. Russia chooses these neighbor countries because Russia has the fundamental pipelines and storage facilities to supply them with energy sources in the most cost effective ways. Therefore, Russia became dependent on European markets as well as the power to control over the domestic markets. In 2004, Exports earning started to have multiplier effects which generated above 50 billion US$ each year until year 2007. The main reason is because of the European Union, 29% of natural gas and 26% of oil are imported to European countries. In 2008, the energy sources demand had increased almost twice as in year 2004, 40% of gas and 33% of oil were exported to those countries. Moreover in year 2008, Gross Domestic Product of Russia reached to the highest point at 1.677 trillion US$, which had made Russia the worlds 8th richest country. Besides that, as the worlds 8th richest country, Russia made 471.6 billion US$ of export in 2008. Unfortunately the result turned out bad in year 2009. It decreased 37% and amounted 295.6 billion US$ export rate. Imports slightly decreased as well, from 291.9 billion US$ to 196.8 billion US$. The trade surplus decreased from 119.1 billion US$ to 91.8 billion US$. The main reason is because of the economic crisis on late 2008. The crisis effect the exchange rate badly, the value of Ruble it decreased from 24.853 Ruble per 1 US$ to 32 per 1 US$. One of the main reasons is because of oil prices, the price fall from $150 to $39 a barrel as Russia depend on energy sources market. The world crisis led Russians companies access to cheap foreign credit. Business, companies and employees started to reduced working day or even fired staff as well as the bank, they increased the interest rate caused less investment and scaled down mortgage program. Money value depreciated caused them to spend more on exporting their resources. Therefore, Russias capital flows reversed tremendously in 2009. Besides that, GDP (real growth rate) decreases from 5.2% from 2008 to -7.9% in 2009. A GDP decrease is because of negative result from exports, import, personal consumption expenditures and investment. On September 2008, Russians president Dmitry Medvedev ordered ministers to put in 500 billion Rubles of state budget funds into the market in order to rebuild the financial system of Russia. In 2010, Russias economic got back to the normal status because of the rising price of oil and improved capital inflows. Exports earning has a number of 350 billion US$ and 237 billion US$ on Imports. In year 2025, we predict that Russia will become the top 10 best economy country. The economy of Russia will be strong mainly because of the sufficient natural resources. Apart from that, it is the fact that the worlds oil resources is getting lesser and lesser, this benefits had given Russia to increase in their oil prices and generates more revenue in exports. In 2025, Russians oil and gas exports enabled Russia to become the energy dominance market in Europe once again. With location, currently Russia is in the middle of China and Europe which is the fitness location to trade. Despite of the location, we believe that Russias government will remove some of the import restrictions to improved relations mainly with China. With the investment flows from China, we believe that it will strongly boost Russia economic as China will be the most developed country in the future. The surplus will keep on track with strong exports and weaker imports. Therefore, we believe that in the next 10 years Russia will have a deficit free budget because of the exports of oil and gas as well as GDP maintained at 3.5%. In 2010, foreign investment in Russia accounted on 301 billion US$ while in the next 15 years we accumulated investment will grow twice as year 2010 to 600 billion US$. It is estimated that oil extraction in Russia could fall by 20% in year 2025. Besides that, Russias oil and gas pipeline and refineries almost reach the end of their vitality as well as the aging oil field had made the companies in Russia think that it is too expensive to discover new oil fields. As a result, we predict that in the future, Russia government will create better conditions for investor to invest in oil and gas system and bring in better technologies which can provide better return in gas and oil production. Although in year 2025, the global economic had regained its momentum as well as the global energy resources price had leveled off. Countries such as Iran maybe reentered the global gas and oil market. Therefore, there is an increase in supply of oil and gas which will result a decrease in energy prices. As a result, we predict that before year 2025, economic downturn once again occur which will badly affect the economics of Russia. In addition, we also agree with BRICS, they had forecast that in 2050 India and China will become the dominant ma rket of goods and services manufacturer. On the other hand, Russia and Brazil will become the dominant market of raw materials. Exchange Rates In 1998 Russia was undergoing a major financial crisis which in fact started in the Asian market. Russia mainly depended on their natural resources to keep the flow of currency stable.. Inflation during that period rose to roughly 84%, creating no value for the Ruble. Due to this the price structure for basic commodities also increase by over 100% as the currency value kept depreciating. Russia then regained stability as the demand for oil increased which enabled their exports to reduce inflation. During 2000 and 2002, the value of the Ruble became stronger leading to the exchange rates for other currencies. The Graph above illustrates how the exchange rate average was compared to the United States dollar and the Euro. The government mainly focused on reducing the inflation rate and believed that by doing this, it would have a positive impact on the exchange rate. Within the period from 2002 to early 2007 the USD dollar prices increased steadily. In late 2007 when the global financial crises hit, the value of the ruble decline and people began to exchange the ruble to the US dollar and euro. A plunge in the value of the USD was due to the financial crises but as towards the end of 2008, the values on the exchange rate increased The current position of the ruble is valued at 0.033 USD and 0.024 Euros. As Russia is considered to be a fast growing economy, the value of the ruble would gradually become one of the most dominant currencies to trade with. As majority of the European countries get their oil and gas supplies from Russia, they would as a result increase the GDP within the economy. Depending on how the US markets would be developing, if they become stronger and the value of the USD becomes much stronger then it would slightly depreciate the value of the ruble. Another factor would be the foreign investment which could contribute in determining how strong the value would get. The major benefit is the oil exports as that brings majority of the revenues towards the economy and future prospect of trade with major countries would be an assurance to the money supply stream. After the global economic crisis, Russia had to set its path to recovery, stabilizing all sectors which are their co-components holding their economy in place. Below shows a graph of the inflation trend throughout 14 years; In 1998 and 1999 we notice that the inflation had boost up tremendously due the Asian financial crisis. Moving from a centralized to a free market system, it was difficult for them to implement fiscal reforms which mainly emphasized in raising government revenues and relying on short term borrowing in order for them to finance their budget deficits. The major export earners having lower prices together with a lack of confidence levels from their investors made the situation even worse off. A sharp steep decline in the value of the ruble created hyper inflation within the economy. After recovering from the major financial crisis, the economy enjoyed a reasonable growth average for a strong 9 years. The inflation rate kept decreasing year by year as strategies were put in place to monitor key economic reforms such as labor, tax brackets, banking, and favorable prices implied to commodities. When the global financial crisis hit the economy, their stock market collapsed as top businesses began to sell their shares in order for them to pay off some of their debts to international lenders. The global demand, the prices of goods as well as the tightening of credit prevented the economy from growing. The major factor during 2001 and 2006 was of the government growing surpluses by saving some of the revenues from oil exports. The revenues were then generated into the economy in order not to face most of the impacts of the crisis. The inflation rate last recorded in 2010 was 5.5% and has now a very strong stable economy. They noticed that they had passed the crisis phase and as a result began to develop new strategies in order to overcome other pressures. As the government is monitoring the inflation rate carefully and with statistical data shows that the inflation rate has been kept at a minimum level and the government does control it even in crucial times. This would not be one major factor for them to consider as their GDP is increasing constantly though the financia l crisis which had a small impact on it. Looking at the GDP rates shows a marginal difference within the last decade. Again the recession played a part in lowering the standard of living in 1998 and 1999. A steep increase in investment enabled the GDP to increase severely and maintained the standard growth. By 2008 the GDP almost increase by 5.6% but the decline forced the value of the Ruble to decline marginal and as a result their dominating industry of oil and gas exports also crashed to a certain extent. Currently the GDP of real growth rate is approximately 3.8% and is said to increase it to 4.2% by the end of this year. The current GDP per growth rate Analysts believe that if continues growth of the GDP would be constant, Russia would be considered one of top 5 countries with the largest economy. They predict that the GDP will almost double within the future decade having a rate of 14 to 16%. The table below shows you statistics taken by the IMF and the World Economic Outlook. I strongly believe that the GDP would increase to that level as their exports are increasing for oil and gas. This is one major benefit which would help them in times of recession and also to maintain their GDP.