Pollution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pollution - Essay Example By steps taken for eliminating toxic substances from production process and by diminishing production of harmful materials people can safeguard the environment and human health. Different forms of pollution Air pollution Air pollution can be caused when pollutants like carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, oxides of sulphur and nitrogen and also materials like dust, smoke and compounds of lead are emitted directly into the atmosphere. Global warming is caused by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (49% to 55%), chlorofluorocarbons (14% to 25%), methane (12% to 18%), nitrous oxides and other gases (13% to 19%). Some natural sources of air pollution are volcanoes, forest fires, â€Å"oceans, swamps, lakes, vegetative matter and insects† (Faiz, Sinha, Walsh and Varma, 1990, p. 3). Other sources which are caused by human activities are fuel like coal and wood burning and most importantly transport which is a major contributor towards air pollution. All the pollutants get dispersed in th e air and pollution is measured by the mass of the pollutants per volume of air. This depends on a number of factors like quantity of emission, altitude and atmospheric conditions. Rain cleans the air which gets rid of harmful materials, but these substances can react with oxides of sulphur and nitrogen to produce acids which may cause damage to buildings, forests and water bodies. This is popularized as acid rain. Solar radiation can produce ozone which can disrupt the atmospheric balance near the ground. (Faiz, Sinha, Walsh and Varma, 1990, pp. 3-5) Air Pollution To reduce air pollution it is necessary to set the standard of ambient air quality. In US there are two sets of standards of air quality and they are primary and secondary. The primary standard of air quality is designed in the way to protect the health of human beings and for this purpose those people who are more easily affected by air pollution (viz. children and the elderly people) are taken into consideration. Second ary standard of air quality is designed for general public welfare. This includes air pollution effect on soil, water, crops, animals, climate, economy and human comfort (Faiz, Sinha, Walsh and Varma, 1990, p. 8). In 1970, Clean Air Act Amendments was enacted and it changed the structure of air pollution control in US. This Act was further amended in 1977 and it imposed restrictions on plants and factories in areas having clean air to avoid any damage to air quality. Public concern about air pollution increased in the late 1980s and numerous bills were passed to improve the existing air pollution regulatory measures and also to deal with new problems like acid rain and global warming. (Bailey, 1998, pp.78, 79) Oil Pollution It was the â€Å"Torrey Canyon† incident in 1967 which awakened the public in regard to oil pollution. Since then the Oil Pollution Compensation has seen numerous changes. The incident caused the public to make loud protests against oil pollution. This led to development of international conventions to provide compensation to those who bear the cost of cleaning up or to those who face pollution damages from continuous spill of hydrocarbon mineral oil from tankers. These international conventions were developed under International Maritime Organisation. (Azab, Shorbagy and Ghais, 2005, p.3) In the Arabian Gulf, concentration of petroleum hydrocarbon (PH) average to about 26 ug/l of surface water and about 5 ug/kg of the bottom. As there will be continuous rise of production and transportation of oil, the concentration of PH in water will keep on growing especially in water areas where there is maximum flow of traffic.

Scheme Evaluation & Future direction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Scheme Evaluation & Future direction - Essay Example The overall rational for this was that the researcher identified that there were core qualities of the original XML labelling platform that needed to be maintained even after the scheme had been designed. These qualities were deemed necessary because of the advantage they offer to data interchange programming. As mentioned already, some of these qualities were query performance, construction time and memory usage (Fennell, 2013). But to get the real measure of the GroupBased scheme’s performance or merits, it was important to introduce a new variable or parameter with which the comparative measure could take place. This necessitated the introduction of the Dynamic Dewey labelling scheme (DDE) on which the experiments were run to allow comparable evaluation under the same circumstances. To test the research hypothesis, the scheme was implemented based on the defined rules and characteristics (Ch.4). The design and implementation specifications were provided in detail in Chapter 5. As explained in the earlier chapters, the DDE scheme was implemented as it contributed to the formation of the proposed scheme. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme, four main experiments were performed to test whether the scheme fulfilled its intentions. The experimental framework of these experiments and an analysis of their results were discussed in Chapter 6 and Chapter 7. Generally, it is fair to state that the research hypothesis was partly supported by the results; some of the results obtained were fully supportive of the hypothesis. For example, it would be seen that the hypothesis was testing three major outcomes as far as performance is concerned. These were the need for the scheme to facilitate node insertions in an efficient way, the need to offer inexpensive labels, and the need to achieve improved query performance. As far as the outcome of facilitating node insertions in dynamic XML data in efficient way, the results of the study as

Online Shopping System (OSS) Application Development

Online Shopping System (OSS) Application Development CHAPTER ONE Introduction 1.1 Introduction: Nowadays, shopping online is occupying an essential part of shopping, big and small companies or stores need to have its commercial website ,any serious business can`t be improved and reaches all over the world unless it has web site, even most families, clubs and pet snakes do, too. Having a web site gives people around the world opportunity to know your business or provided services. It can spread your business so fast, therefore you can achieve success. Its easier for everyone to do shopping online and buy what needed without moving from their home. Also another reason let people buy online, is that one line grocery stores have a wider range of products and various kinds of the same products whereas the online ones don`t have. 1.2 The Project Objectives: The Online Shopping System (OSS) is a web-based application. The purpose of the application is to automate and facilitate the whole process of shopping. This application fixes the limitation and problems of paper based processes. The main goal to increase the quantity of sales by making the new technology of web pages design more attractive and to search a lot of customers and company to their location. By this system we can advertise and send procure to a lot of customer by sending email. 1.3 The scope of the work is: The scope of this work is to design, develop, and test the application according to the time table using Microsoft Access database and Visual Studio 2008. In addition, we will need to use Some Designer software to design the interface and system logo and photos. 1.4 Project Organization: The project is made up of four chapters, besides chapter one (The Introduction and the Objective of the project and finally the project scope) the project is consists of the three chapters are as following:- Chapter Two: in this chapter we will talk about an introduction to the project of what is E-shopping with its advantage and disadvantages, and a comparison between e-shopping traditional shopping. Chapter Three: in this chapter we will talk about requirement, use case and graphical user interface (GUI) design, and also coding. Chapter Four: in this chapter we will talk finally about the conclusion and future work to our project and how to improve. Chapter Two Online Shopping System (OSS) 2.1 Introduction: This chapter presents E-shopping, E-shopping is an easy way to buy your grocery. It can be very effective for the working mothers since they can do all of their shopping easily, they can do it at any place. Online grocery shopping may have unique foods or equipment that your local grocery store doesnt have. An online shopping aims at making shopping comfortable and enjoyable process. 2.2 E-shopping E-shopping is an online grocery store that delvers your food supplies. Its also 24 hour open shopping-shopping considers as the innovative and creative way for shopping. Shopping is no longer needs to waste time and efforts. E-shopping is a successful business in the present days, every product should have its own website, it is the best way to find what you need, these web contains all kinds of grocery stores, that provide you all your needs in a shorter time, the price maybe higher to some extinct, but it can`t be disadvantage since prices differ from place to place and between groceries in the same town. 2.2.1 Advantages: E-shopping has various advantages, it widens the range of target customers. It helps people to find what they need by just pressing a button, also they wont need to drive all the way to the grocery store and deal with traffic and other stuff. Online shopping website serves as the engine for spreading the goods and services. 2.2.2 Disadvantages: E-shopping has its disadvantages which may lack of some targeted quality or these products don`t comply with its promotions. The setup time (first time apply E-shopping) could be one of disadvantage of OSS. 2.3 Compression: The differences between E-shopping and traditional shopping are the following: traditional shopping E-shopping You need to carry the purchased products You neednt carry the purchased products you have to go through the traffic and the parking, experiencing a lot of difficulties You just click on a button then you deliver what you need. You have to deal with the casher line and that always takes time. Saving time and effort and avoid you dealing with cashers. Table (2.1) the differences between E-shopping traditional shopping Chapter Three Analysis, Design Implementation of proposed system 3.1 Introduction: This chapter represents an overview of the system requirements needed to achieve the goals of the study, including description of software requirement, system diagram and use case. 3.2 System Requirements The proposed system needs the following Requirements: Interface Requirements The system will be professional in its appearance and it has a user-friendly interface for the user to input the relevant data and obtain the corresponding results. Usability Requirements a. Ease of use The system will be able to be used quickly and easily. It will be forgiving if an error is made and will ask for confirmation before entering into a timely process. b. Ease of learning. This system will be easy to learn for a novice user. c. Accessibility requirements. It is not currently planned to add accessibility to the application (e.g. large font for the visually impaired). Performance Requirements a. Speed and latency requirements The system will produce a viable Order within a reasonable amount of time and provide feedback on the progress. b. Safety critical requirements There are not felt to be any safety critical requirements for this system. c. Reliability and Availability requirements This program will be available either through the web or on a machine. e. Robustness requirements The program will have sufficient error handling abilities that it will not crash any other part of the system. f. Scalability or extensibility requirements The program will be able to handle a Sales shop with up to 150 user and customers. PC Requirements You will need a PC with an Internet connection. A printer is optional. Software Requirements Internet Browser such as Internet Explorer 6.0 and higher or another browser of the same generation is required to access the application. Maintainability and Support Requirements a. Maintenance of the system New product, category and Vouchers must able to be added by the admin. This system must easily maintainable. b. Supportability There will be online help and/or a printed manual. c. Portability requirements The product is expected to run under any operating system that run explorer IE or other web browser and its successors or through a web browser. Security Requirements a. Access requirements Anyone have ability to enter the system (admin or customer) each one have its own password and user name. The customer can retrieve and create a new orders and the admin can enter new product and can see the customer orders. Each one has its own page. b. Integrity requirements Wherever possible, system will prevent incorrect data from being introduced and shall protect itself from accidental misuse. In the event of lost integrity, complete system (and settings), data, and most recent current Orders will be reloaded from backup source. This may be a manual process analogous to opening a previous copy of a data after system has crashed. c. Privacy requirements The Customer and Order information will be entered into the program and stored. This program will need to be kept on a PC that has adequate security. The program is not providing security. -Cultural and Political Requirements The system will not account for holidays or multilingual display. 3.3 Users of the OSS: Potential users of this system are administrators and Customers of OSS. The Customer will enter the required information in the Order form. Also, the admin must fill his form with required information. However, the Customer will register themselves, enter constraints into the software, and build Orders. The administrator will have familiarity with the way the Order should be filled. The Customer will be anywhere from a novice with using computer programs to an expert. 3.4 The proposed system design In the proposed system design the customer will select category of product and after that the system will show him all product under this category. Customer will select the product and also select the wanted quantity and add this product to the cart shopping. The system automatically will show all cart products with their price and quantity and the total for each product and also the net total for all orders. The proposed system consists of the Order Page Register Page Product Page Admin pages Category Pages ASP.NET: Prior to the advent of ASP.NET, three main technologies and platforms were available to develop Web applications: ASP, Java Server Pages (JSP), and the open source Web platform commonly referred to as LAMP (Linux plus Apache plus MySQL plus either Perl, Python, or PHP as the Programming language). [5] Visual Studio: Visual Studio is a container environment that integrates the functionality of multiple visual designers. You have a designer for building Windows applications, one for building Web sites, one for building Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services, and so on. All items required by your work-such as references, connectors to data sources, folders, and files-are grouped at two levels: solutions and projects. A solution container contains multiple projects, whereas a project container typically stores multiple items. Using these containers, you manage for your solution as a whole or for individual projects. Each item in the project displays its own set of properties though a secondary through a secondary window-the properties window.[6] User Function RegisteredUser : (Customer, Administrator) Loginsystem (Username Password) Customer Fill the Form (with the required Customer Information) Display Old Orders select one of them to display its items Start New Orders select required product and quantity Fill Payment Details and send order 4. Administrator Display Product Details and add new products. Display Category list and can add/modify theme. Create, Modify Display main category. Create Modify Display payment type. Register new admin employee (CreatesuserIDsfortheadmin and Employeesinordertologin). Change current user password after log in. Display customer orders. Create, Modify Display Country Information. SCHEMA Products Product_ ID (PK) Product_ name Product_ Description CountryID CategoryID Unit_ price Balance _Qty Min_ Level Max_ Discount Brand_ ID Customer Customer _ID (PK) Customer _Name Address House _tel Mobile _tel Work_tel Email_1 Email_2 Customer _pwd Orders Order_ID (PK) Order _Date Customer_ID (FK) Payment _Type Card_Type Card_ Number Expiry_Date OrderStatus Order Details Order_ID (FK) Product_ID (FK) Quantity Unit_Price Row_Discount Payment Type Payment_ID (PK) Payment_name Category CategoryID (PK) CategoryName MainCategoryID (FK) MainCategory MainCategoryID (PK) MainCategoryName Country CountryID (PK) Country Name Brand_Tbl Brand_ID (PK) Brand_Desc Table (3.1) Data Base Scheme 3.5: Use Case Diagram: The login system used by Customer or administrator: form filling, displaying Customer Order Information: Form filling by Customer: Administrator use cases: Brand name DB Theuserswillusethe (usecases)asfollows: # Actor Use Case 1 RegisteredUser (Customer, Administrator) Loginsystem (Username Password) 2 Customer Fill the Form (with the required Customer Information) 3 Customer Display Old Orders select one of them to display its items 4 Customer Start New Orders select required product and quantity 5 Customer Fill Payment Details and send order 6 Administrator Display Product Details and add new products 7 Administrator Display Category list and can add/modify theme 8 Administrator Create, Modify Display main category 9 Administrator Create, Modify Display payment type 10 Administrator Register new admin employee (CreatesuserIDsfortheadmin and Employeesinordertologin) 11 Administrator Change current user password after log in 12 Administrator Display customer orders 13 Administrator Create, Modify Display Country Information Table (3.2) Use Case 3.6 The proposed system Implementation: Cart shopping system is an online system that enables any customer to order his precuts from internet without going to any place. The system is very easy to use and for any one can. In the below system user can select his product in easy way. And the administration can manipulate the product and customer order by easy way. Most of the work is doing by mouse. Administration can change the price in any time and this will not effect on the previous order. System has one page for orders and many pages for administration. The system categories all products under main category and each category divide to another category to facilitate the dealing with the system. This system can be used for any shopping for example Food shopping Car spare parties shopping †¦ etc. 4. Cart Shopping Figure 3-4 shows the product list of the selected category and customer can select the required quantity and add the product to shopping cart by clicking on the button add to Cart 5. Product Details Figure 3-5 will show the product information to the administration and enable user to add, modify, and delete any product from the system and enable user to update product price 6. Add new product Figure 3-6 will used to add new product to the system and upload the product photo. 7. Payment Types Figure 3-7 will used to enter or delete or modify the payment type. 8. Main Category Figure 3-8 will used to create new main category or update old main category name 9. Category Figure 3-9 will used to create new category or update old category name 10. Country Figure 3-10 will used to create new category or update old category name 11. Brand Name Figure 3-11 will used to create new Brand name or update old Brand name. Chapter Four Conclusion Function 4.1: Conclusion: Having an online grocery web site would make other life easier, it would reduce the traffic on the local grocery store, and the buyer will feel comfortable buying from his/her own home. These days computer is an important device that is a must have in every house. Computers made our life much easier and practical. 4.2: Future Work: In the future I will improve my web site by adding coupons and wish list so; the buyer can have some of things for free.

Images and Imagery in Shakespeares Macbeth Essay -- GCSE English Lite

Imagery in Macbeth     Ã‚     In Shakespeare's tragic play, Macbeth, the use of imagery is connected with character development as well as theme throughout the play.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the beginning of the play the image of darkness is introduced.   Darkness was called upon by Banquo, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.   Banquo, in his aside to Macbeth says,    But tis strange and oftentimes, to win us to our harm, /the instruments of darkness tell us truths, /win us with honest trifles, to betray us in deepest consequence (I.ii.131-135).      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Banquo shows he is immediately aware that the witches are associated with darkness. He chooses not to act on the witches' prophecies, but to be wary and reluctant.   He is not ready to involve himself with the witches, since he sees them as a dark force.   However, Macbeth is on opportunist and the image of darkness reveals his deepest, darkest desires.   This is shown in Macbeth's aside,    The Prince of Cumberland!   that is a step/ On which I must fall down or else o'ver-leap, / For in my way it lies.   Stars, hide your fires;/ Let not light see my black and deep desires" (I.iv.55-58).      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It becomes apparent that it bothered Macbeth a great deal to hear that Malcolm was named successor to King Duncan.   In response, Macbeth calls on darkness to hide his evil thoughts.   Lady Macbeth also conjures up the forces of darkness to ensure the heavens don't see her having these thoughts,    Come, thick night, /And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, /That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, / N'or heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, /To cry, "Hold, hold" (I.v.53-57!      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By the end of Act I, we can see that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have... ...er fit in and was never comfortable with a role he obtained by evil means.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shakespeare's images are not only connected to his characters and theme but also are woven into a moral message.   Shakespeare is warning his audience to refrain from getting caught up in the pool of blood and darkness. One will never be satisfied with his achievements if he obtains them by unholy means.   Self-gratification comes from the honest pursuit of worthwhile goals.      Works Cited Shakespeare, William, Macbeth, Toronto: Harcourt Brace and Company, Inc, 1988. Webster, Noah, New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, New York: Rockville House Publishers, Inc, 1965. "Shakespeare's Use of Imagery." 1997: 1-4. Prestige Web. Internet. 10 Dec. 2001. "Symbolism in Macbeth." 1996: 1-3. Stanford Online Archives. Internet. 10 Dec. 2001.   

Human Services Skills

Recently, released from prison Todd and Reggie, in an interracial relationship are seeking couples counseling and are both having a difficult time integrating into society. They have no one on the outside that is able to help them. Reggie is still on probation while Todd is done. Both men have come in for couples counseling however there may be more issues in their relationship that needs to be worked on. The human service professional is there to empower the clients to help to find and locate resources needed to make meaningful changes and ability to trust and respect one another.Human service professionals are in the business of helping. It is the goal to provide people with the basic needs in order to help individuals sustain and maintain a better and healthier lifestyle. The human service professional will take on many roles, job titles and descriptions, such as counselor, interventionists, social worker, substance abuse counselor all of which in Todd and Reggie’s case are needed. She may need to use techniques such as open-ended questions, paraphrasing and reflecting into the lives in order to identify and to clarify the problems that are plaguing Todd and Reggie.Personal values, beliefs, prejudices and stereotypes can help or harm the helping process, I think it would do both harm as well as help. I would generally be hesitant in the beginning of meeting with Todd and Reggie only because of my personal values and of my Christian beliefs but again that is only my initial thought. They have sought out help and that is the reason the human professional is there to assist. I’m sure that these feelings pass through all HS professional minds.Stereotypes lead to prejudice and prejudice leads to negative biases, poorly informed opinions, or unjustified assumptions about individuals who belong to a certain group or fit into a particular category (Murphy, Dillion 2010). In order to comply with Reggie and Todd, all those feelings and beliefs will have to be put aside in order to fully help them both. If not there would be more harm than help. Human service professionals should be trained extensively to work with same sex realtionships.â€Å"If therapists fail to invest in personal exploration before working with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients, they are at risk for potentially harming clients, because they may unknowingly project their own issues onto clients or miss key components of assessment or intervention† (Godfrey et al. , 2006). Potential ethical and legal issues surrounding this case and my obligations, probably would be the confidentiality requirements it is also my ethical issue to report any information I may have about either individual hurting the other I think with all of their drug and abuse issues I feel that if not addressed it may become a problem.Since Todd has already voiced his fear of Reggie and of his alcohol and drug abuse and physical abuse piled on with the stress Reggie is already feeling, I may fear Todd could possibly be in danger. And it would be my obligation to report such actions if it arises, also Reggie is still on probation which could endanger his freedom if he violates it. Because Reggie and Todd have come in seeking couples counseling, I must first address how good it was for them to come in, it shows how important their relationship is to each other trying to save what they have.First I will go through the confidentiality and ethical requirements. I will advise them of the process of how we will be addressing each issue. And that maybe later I will ask to speak individually with them both, it seems as Todd is the speaker and Reggie does not have much to say while Todd is in the room and this might give me a better idea on Reggie’s concerns as an individual. See how we can incorporate the help of family members to help in the relationship. I feel it may be able to alleviate some of the family stress they both are feeling.It may also help relieve some stress and anxiety on both Reggie and Todd. And next the importance of seeing how abuse will continue to weigh heavy on the relationship if not addressed soon. Then this maybe just a brief description of some of the issues that need immediate attention, but after collecting and gathering all the information on both Reggie and Todd we can discuss the possible outcome and the effects of counseling and how each of the individual feel and any concerns they may have, then we can hope to achieve their goals. Human Services Skills Recently, released from prison Todd and Reggie, in an interracial relationship are seeking couples counseling and are both having a difficult time integrating into society. They have no one on the outside that is able to help them. Reggie is still on probation while Todd is done. Both men have come in for couples counseling however there may be more issues in their relationship that needs to be worked on. The human service professional is there to empower the clients to help to find and locate resources needed to make meaningful changes and ability to trust and respect one another.Human service professionals are in the business of helping. It is the goal to provide people with the basic needs in order to help individuals sustain and maintain a better and healthier lifestyle. The human service professional will take on many roles, job titles and descriptions, such as counselor, interventionists, social worker, substance abuse counselor all of which in Todd and Reggie’s case are needed. She may need to use techniques such as open-ended questions, paraphrasing and reflecting into the lives in order to identify and to clarify the problems that are plaguing Todd and Reggie.Personal values, beliefs, prejudices and stereotypes can help or harm the helping process, I think it would do both harm as well as help. I would generally be hesitant in the beginning of meeting with Todd and Reggie only because of my personal values and of my Christian beliefs but again that is only my initial thought. They have sought out help and that is the reason the human professional is there to assist. I’m sure that these feelings pass through all HS professional minds.Stereotypes lead to prejudice and prejudice leads to negative biases, poorly informed opinions, or unjustified assumptions about individuals who belong to a certain group or fit into a particular category (Murphy, Dillion 2010). In order to comply with Reggie and Todd, all those feelings and beliefs will have to be put aside in order to fully help them both. If not there would be more harm than help. Human service professionals should be trained extensively to work with same sex realtionships.â€Å"If therapists fail to invest in personal exploration before working with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients, they are at risk for potentially harming clients, because they may unknowingly project their own issues onto clients or miss key components of assessment or intervention† (Godfrey et al. , 2006). Potential ethical and legal issues surrounding this case and my obligations, probably would be the confidentiality requirements it is also my ethical issue to report any information I may have about either individual hurting the other I think with all of their drug and abuse issues I feel that if not addressed it may become a problem.Since Todd has already voiced his fear of Reggie and of his alcohol and drug abuse and physical abuse piled on with the stress Reggie is already feeling, I may fear Todd could possibly be in danger. And it would be my obligation to report such actions if it arises, also Reggie is still on probation which could endanger his freedom if he violates it. Because Reggie and Todd have come in seeking couples counseling, I must first address how good it was for them to come in, it shows how important their relationship is to each other trying to save what they have.First I will go through the confidentiality and ethical requirements. I will advise them of the process of how we will be addressing each issue. And that maybe later I will ask to speak individually with them both, it seems as Todd is the speaker and Reggie does not have much to say while Todd is in the room and this might give me a better idea on Reggie’s concerns as an individual. See how we can incorporate the help of family members to help in the relationship. I feel it may be able to alleviate some of the family stress they both are feeling.It may also help relieve some stress and anxiety on both Reggie and Todd. And next the importance of seeing how abuse will continue to weigh heavy on the relationship if not addressed soon. Then this maybe just a brief description of some of the issues that need immediate attention, but after collecting and gathering all the information on both Reggie and Todd we can discuss the possible outcome and the effects of counseling and how each of the individual feel and any concerns they may have, then we can hope to achieve their goals.

Odysseus As An Epic Hero Essay

In the story of the Odyssey, Odysseus was put through many ordeals through which we see his moral and physical characteristics. After evaluating such characteristics we can see that Odysseus is a great epic hero. We can see that not only is he superior to most mortal men, he also shares many of the same desires, therefore fulfilling all the technical requirements of a â€Å"hero†. Odysseus has insight about his own fate and destiny, but lives intertwined with the Olympic Gods. He also shares many of the same desires as the common man, but has more insight and strength to obtain them. Lastly, the story of Odysseus is tragic, and involves both love and death, which then shows his true strength. When Odysseus ventures out on his journey, he is told by Athena that he is destined to be great, and through the whole war he knows that. When the war is finished he continues his journey home to his wife, his mother and his son. On his journey home he is faced with several obstacles put in place by the Gods to prevent his return. The whole time he was detained from retuning to Ithaca he told himself that he was meant to return home; that it was fated to him. When he was trapped on the Island with Calypso, he told her that he was supposed to return home, and that he would do it no matter what stood in his way. Through these acts we can see that he had his own opinions on his destiny, but that he was closely intertwined with the Olympic Gods. Secondly, Odysseus shares many of the same desires as the common man, but he has more insight and strength on how to obtain them. Odysseus wanted more than anything to return home to his family, however, throughout his journey he was constantly held back by the Gods. He was made to observe horrendous things such as visiting Hades, and shortly after he has to witness each of his crewmates be eaten alive. This would have been enough for the common man to give up hope and settle in on Calypso’s island. Odysseus, however, never gave up and always found the strength and the wisdom to carry on. This shows that if put in the same position, Odysseus would succeed over the common man because he is heroic. Lastly, the story of Odysseus is filled with both love and death, which is a main characteristic of a heroic tale. While Odysseus is trying to return home he sees a vision of his dead mother. She explains to him how she took her own life because she could no longer bare waiting for him. On top of this painful information, she discloses that his home; his palace has been taken over by ruthless men who are trying to steal his wife. After learning of this horrible news he continues on his journey even more determined than before. Shortly after this event, he loses his entire crew to monsters that eat each one alive. He still continues on alone. This proves that even through the tragic events that happen in his long journey he manages to stay strong and make it home. Through close evaluation of all events that took place in The Odyssey we can clearly see that Odysseus is in fact a great epic hero. We see that he has insight about his own fate and desires, he shares many of the same desires as the common man, but has greater insight and strength, and lastly he manages to survive through several tragic evens simply for the love of his family. Taking these events into consideration we can deduce that Odysseus is a great epic hero.

How Far Women Have Come essays

How Far Women Have Come essays It is truly amazing to see how far things have come for women over the last century. So many freedoms are so easily taken for granted everyday. The stories I read opened my eyes and even shocked me a little to situations I never considered or was aware of. Thanks to the convictions and courage of so many women we have been able to emerge form insubordinate creatures to people, actual citizens, with rights, freedoms, needs, and control over what happens to our bodies, our children, our community, and our government. Relating too far back in time to the actual roles of women and their place in society is very difficult, almost impossible to do. A small group of women, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, started what would be an incredibly long journey in pursuing the most basic of human rights for women. The Declaration of Sentiments was a document signed by hundreds of women at the Convention of Seneca Falls in 1848. This document, and the articles it contained, is the foundation of the rights and liberties several women would devote their entire life to making a reality for all. I found Susan B. Anthonys argument in her defense against legal charges for voting in the presidential election, extremely articulate and moving. Her arguments were so compelling and worded so eloquently as if anyone who had merely glanced at the constitution would have to support her stance. There are few people that can say so much in so little words. Stantons Introduction to The Womens Bible is also a very powerfu l argument. It takes another person pointing out how women are inferior and subordinate in the religion that they so strongly and actively support. It reminds of women today talking about quietly getting men to do what they want by making them think that whatever the situation is was the mans idea. I feel like we figured this one out from years of experience. Along with the Declaration of Sentiments, The Introduction to ...

Consecuencias de no presentarse a una cita con USCIS

Consecuencias de no presentarse a una cita con USCIS Si un migrante recibe una citacià ³n del Servicio de Inmigracià ³n y Ciudadanà ­a (USCIS, por sus siglas en inglà ©s) para presentarse en una de sus oficinas tiene la obligacià ³n de acudir a la misma el dà ­a y a la hora indicada. Sin embargo, si no puede presentarse en esa fecha, puede intentar cambiarla.  ¿Para quà © envà ­a el USCIS la citacià ³n? El USCIS puede enviar una carta (appointment letter, en inglà ©s) para comparecer en un Centro de Apoyo de Aplicaciones (ASC, por sus siglas en inglà ©s) o en una de sus oficinas, conocidas como Field Offices. La razà ³n es que necesitan entrevistar a la persona citada o realizar otra labor sobre una solicitud o aplicacià ³n pendiente. Por ejemplo: examen para la adquisicià ³n de la ciudadanà ­a americana por naturalizacià ³ntoma de huellas digitales y otros datos biomà ©tricosentrevista de esposos para remocià ³n de condiciones de green card, etc. Quà © hay que hacer si no se puede acudir a la cita con el USCIS el dà ­a seà ±alado En primer lugar, deben seguirse las instrucciones que puede haber en la carta en la que se hacà ­a la citacià ³n. Probablemente, se pida el envà ­o de una carta explicando la razà ³n para cambiar la fecha. Adems, si habà ­a que presentarse en un Field Office se puede llamar al telà ©fono de Servicio al Cliente marcando al 800-375-5283. Si se tiene problemas auditivos, se puede utilizar el servicio TDD llamando al 1800-767-1833. En todos los casos, la razà ³n para pedir un cambio de la cita debe ser urgente y grave. Ser el propio USCIS quien decide si acepta o no posponer la cita. Y tambià ©n si hay que mostrarle evidencia de la razà ³n por la que se solicita el cambio es cierta. Cabe destacar que, frecuentemente, en los casos en los que USCIS pospone la fecha lo hace por menos de 30 dà ­as aunque depende de la carga de trabajo de la oficina correspondiente. Consecuencias del cambio de dà ­a en la citacià ³n Si el USCIS est de acuerdo en cambiar la fecha de citacià ³n, la à ºnica consecuencia del cambio es que se producir un pequeà ±o retraso en la tramitacià ³n de la aplicacià ³n. Adems, dependiendo del caso es posible que niegue temporalmente el derecho a recibir algà ºn tipo de beneficios. Sin embargo, si el USCIS no accede a cambiar la cita  y, a pesar de eso, la persona citada no acude es posible que eso signifique la negacià ³n de la solicitud o peticià ³n que se està © tramitando. Obligacià ³n de notificar el cambio de domicilio Nunca se podr alegar ante el USCIS que no se recibià ³ la notificacià ³n para presentarse en sus oficinas porque hubo un cambio de vivienda  y no se recibià ³ la carta en la nueva si no se ha notificado el cambio de domicilio.   Todos los extranjeros que estn legalmente en Estados Unidos por ms de 30 dà ­as tienen la obligacià ³n de informar al USCIS de todos sus cambios de domicilio permanentes, es decir, no por vacaciones. La regla general es llenar y enviar el formulario AR-11, que se puede descargar gratuitamente de la pgina oficial de USCIS o llenar electrà ³nicamente en la misma. Cabe destacar que los estudiantes internacionales y sus familiares con visa F-2  y los visitantes extranjeros con visas de intercambio J-1 y sus derivados J-! tienen sus propias normas. Finalmente, esta obligacià ³n de notificar los cambios de domicilio tambià ©n aplica a los ciudadanos estadounidenses que han firmado un affidavit of support en favor de un familiar o amigo en el proceso de peticià ³n de una tarjeta de residencia. Informacià ³n importante a tener en cuenta Si USCIS cita a un migrante indocumentado es recomendable asesorarse con un abogado. En la situacià ³n actual que vive el paà ­s se han dado casos de detenciones en oficinas migratorias. No confundir las consecuencias de no presentarse a una cita con el USCIS a las de no acudir a una cita con la Corte de Inmigracià ³n. Esta à ºltima es muy grave ya que podrà ­a suponer una declaracià ³n de una orden de deportacià ³n in absentia.   Finalmente, si un migrante no se siente cà ³modo hablando en inglà ©s y tiene una entrevista en Inmigracià ³n, puede ir con un intà ©rprete. Puntos Clave: Cita con USCIS Si un migrante recibe una carta de USCIS citndole a una de sus oficinas debe presentarse o intentar un cambio de fecha.El cambio de fecha se solicita siguiendo las instrucciones de la carta en la que USCIS notifica la cita. Siempre debe ser por causas justificadas.Si el USCIS accede al cambio de fecha, frecuentemente pospondr la cita un mximo de 30 dà ­as.Si un migrante no se presenta a una cita, su solicitud puede ser negada.Los migrantes deben comunicar a USCIS los cambios de domicilio, excepto por vacaciones. Esta regla no aplica a indocumentados. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

12 Hour Shifts in Nursing

7 October 2011 Effects on Nurses Working Long Hours Patients in a hospital and/or healthcare facilities have to be cared for all day and all night, everyday of the week by nurses. The usual way to fulfill this need is to divide up the day into three 8-hour shifts. Different shifts have been put into place to help improve nurse satisfaction, decrease the nursing shortage and save the hospital money. The 24-hour day is made up of two 12-hour shifts; 12 hours in the day and 12 hours at night. There has been quite an ongoing debate over the years regarding this issue of nurses working over 8 hours in a single day. Many people, such as hospital nursing administrators, have reason to believe that working long hour shifts causes more errors in the workplace due to fatigue and irregular sleep schedules. Along with these reasons and other beliefs, 12-hour shifts in nursing should be revoked. The risks outweigh the benefits for extended hour shifts in hospitals and/or healthcare facilities, for both the patients and nurses. Nurses who work 12 or more hours in a single shift put at risk the health of themselves along with the health of the patients who they are treating. Working extended shifts causes fatigue, stress and lack of productivity. Errors are most common in nurses who are fatigued from working long and grueling hours. It is estimated 1. 3 million health care errors occur each year and of those errors 48,000 to 98,000 result in patient deaths. Many of these errors lead to malpractice suits and thousands of dollars lost (Keller, 497). This proves that working long hours in a health care environment will make nurses more prone to making error that may lead to patient death. Patient death is what the hospital and faculty members are trying to avoid, revoking long hour shifts seems like a proper way to start. As for the health of the nurse, nurses who work long hours are affecting their health in many ways. Some health problems that may occur in nurses are sleep problems, listlessness, and unable to think clearly. According to The American Heart Association, shift workers are inclined to drink more caffeinated beverages such as, coffee and energy drinks, smoke, and exercise less often. Along with these problems, working shifts and extended hours interfere with the body’s natural circadian rhythm, especially if working night shift. Human beings are designed to work during the daylight, not at night. â€Å"Symptoms of fatigue can include muscle weakness, lethargy, inability to think clearly or concentrate, listlessness, decreased cognitive function, anxiety, and exhaustion† (Keller, 499). This would not be acceptable for the high demands of nursing. Nurses need to be able to think clearly and stay sharp to make flash decisions incase the patients health rapidly decreases. If they are tired, they may lose this capability. Nurses also have to be able to work in high-pressure situations. If anxiety were a symptom of fatigue, this would jeopardize both the nurses and the patients. The nurse may lose her job for working while fatigued, and the patient may lose their life for not having proper care. Todays nurses would most likely oppose this argument. Most of todays nurses work long 12-hour shifts and favor them than five eight-hour shifts. They prefer working three 12-hour shifts, and then having four days off in a week. Nurses who work this shift can take a couple vacation days or sick days and be off for weeks at a time. They believe that working these long hour shifts do not affect their ability to care for patients, because they can drink coffee or soda and can take a nap on their lunch breaks. This argument may seem plausible, but reality is that these are only temporary fixes and may feel even more exhausted than before. In addition, during the four days they have off, they may feel weak and dazed so they will not be able to work a second part-time job if wanted or be with their loved-ones. After working that many hours in such a short period of time, they would need those four days off to compensate for the hard work they just endured. Health care administrators argue that having only two shifts a day (day and night) will help improve patient care because there would only be two nurses who would take care of a patient during a 24-hour shift. But still, it takes more hired nurses to fill a weeks schedule to accommodate each 12 hour shift is covered because a nurse can only work so many hours in a week. Annette Richardson claims that nurses who work extended hour shifts will be less productive during the last 2 to 3 hours of their shift. Signs of nurses being unproductive are; if he/she is taking a longer time to be with a patient than necessary, not completing patient charts and not being thorough on reports (Carson, 830). Nursing administration is there to help make patients and nurses happy and healthy. Health care administration wants the most work productivity as possible, and with having the last 3 hours of a nurses shift being unproductive will diminish that goal. Studies have shown that the most productive work schedule is working an eight-hour shift because it has the least number of errors due to workers fatigue and exhaustion. Nurses who also work long hour shifts may experience work ‘burnout’. A Burnout is a form of chronic stress related to ones job. Burnout occur most frequently in nurses who work long hours in high stress areas, such as critical care, oncology, or burn units. Symptoms of burnouts include fatigue, frequent colds, headaches, and insomnia. Mental symptoms may include decreased ability to solve problems and unwillingness to face problems and change. Nurses who suffer from burnout may quit their job or change jobs outside of the nursing profession. This causes shortages, which is currently a big issue in todays world. Not enough people are interested in the nursing career because of the high burnout rate. Linda Wilson was burning out because she worked the 3pm to 11pm shift in the critical care unit. The hospital was understaffed and had a lot of overtime. She barely got five hours a sleep a night (Ellis, 599). This proves that working too many extended hours a week with not enough sleep will cause burnout that leads to lost jobs. Lost jobs makes the shortage of nurses even higher and affecting patient care by not having enough nurses necessary to provide proper care and support to their patient during their stay. Overall, long hour shifts in nursing may have its pluses such as, a four-day weekend to be home with their loved-ones, but it also has its negative effects. Extended shifts may causes nurses to make errors while working from a lack of sleep and fatigue. This may end up in patient death or malpractice, which is the opposite of what nurses, and administrators are there to do. 12-hour days will eventually cause harm to him/herself because our bodies are not meant to work long and grueling hours because fatigue disrupts their ability to think clearly and quickly and may cause stress. With all of these going against them, they might get burned out and decide to quit or change jobs. An abundance of burnouts will create a larger nursing shortage than there already is, making the whole situation worse. I believe working 8-hours a day with three total shifts to make up a 24 hour day is the best way for both the nurses and the patients sake. It will reduce the amount of errors made do to fatigue and it will increase productivity in the workplace because nurses would not be affected by exhaustion. Works Cited

She v. Her Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

She v. Her - Assignment Example For example, when a gay employee who hits on another employee of the same gender who isn’t gay. In the video clip, two employees working in the same department, Cara who is gay hits on Alisha who isn’t gay. They are the same gender. This is illegal because Alisha is being forced to work in an offensive, intimidating, hostile, humiliating, and sexually offensive work environment. According to the law, same-sex sexual harassment is forbidden under state law in spite of the sexual orientation of the parties. In this scenario, Cara is hitting on Alisha and its making her comfortable. On one hand, the courts have to conclude that a victim need not say or do a particular thing to indicate unwelcomeness. But it’s kind of odd or unexpected because it is the same type of behavior that if it was coming from a guy towards Alisha and she is feeling uncomfortable, I consider that as sexual harassment because it is â€Å"unwelcoming† for Alisha. Things like Cara putting her arms around Alisha, hugging her, leaning way down and putting her face way too close when they are looking at something on Alisha’s monitor while complementing on her outfit, how it makes her body look can be considered as sexual harassment because of the sexual advancements towards Alisha. Alisha can’t be blamed for feeling uncomfortable, any sanctions prohibiting Cara to stay away from Alisha can’t be laid down because they work in the same work environment and department and must have contact, this does not justify Cara to harass Alisha sexually out of her free will. If I brought that issue upon Cara, she can be bent out of shape because she would think I have a problem with her being gay because it will be out of her choice to be gay. Many people if asked to choose between Cara and Alisha’s sexual lifestyle, many would take Alisha’s side and move on. This situation cannot be let go off easily because touching someone in a nonsexual way

Crisis Prevention & intervention in healthcare Essay

Crisis Prevention & intervention in healthcare - Essay Example The patterns in assaultive behavior are common in different groups, genders and persons. In every cycle different behaviors can be observed in particular phases. The five phases of the assault cycle include: trigger, escalation, crisis, recovery phase and post crisis. An individual begins to detect threats to their security or welfare. Feelings of being denied, being ignored or being refused something important to them step in. The aggressor then becomes frustrated as Linsley (2006, p. 48) highlights. A person in trigger phase perceives that they have lost control. They review the issues facing them and see the magnitude of the conflict as huge. Fear is real and the person in crisis endeavor is to compensate what they are denied. They may be in denial and reason with self to justify events. The trigger is as a result of other people actions, an argument with another person, upsetting information and in ability to do something they have been denied such as consuming alcohol. Crisis can be eliminated if the problems and conflicts are solved. Trigger phase is not associated with experiences of medication or hallucinations. Poor communication is experienced in the trigger phase. Interpersonal relations are poor and characterized by a lot of tension. The person in crisis may try to control self from causing outburst and motivating another person to have an outburst. The appropriate response towards the potentially aggressive person would be to divert their mind and destruct them. Exercising good communication skills where one remains neutral would be helpful. A healthcare professional can alert others and record observations. The healthcare professional should remain calm and avoid showing signs of fear. Keep distance, show the hands and stay close to exit. The person in crisis begins to prepare for aggression. Threats are presented verbally to the prospective victim if they are

Mac VS Windows Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mac VS Windows Security - Essay Example Afterward, the attacker tricks the victim into connecting with him before the attacker establishes connection to the target, receives the 8-byte challenge. Subsequently, the attacker sends the 8-byte challenge to victim, who then responds to the attacker with the password hash. Attacker responds back to the targets challenge with the victims hash and finally Target grants access to attacker† (SkullSecurity, 2008). The Protective measure of this problem is to remove NetBIOS from any network card to reduce the possibility of abusing SMB. In addition, the following steps can help mitigate this weakness: â€Å"Enable (and require) NTLMv2 authentication -- this will prevent pre-computed attacks, because the client provides part of the randomness. Enable (and require) message signing for both clients and servers -- this will prevent relay attacks. Install ms08-068 -- this will prevent a specific subset of relay attacks, where its relayed back to itself.† (SkullSecurity, 2008) RPS attack (Remote procedure call) is used over SMB to offer file and printing sharing. Attacker can compromise the system by sending RPC request to gain access. This usually happens through port 139, which is known as the NetBIOS. â€Å"NetBIOS over the Internet is an enormous security risk. The NetBIOS protocol gives people the ability to obtain all kind of information from your systems like your domain, workgroup and system names, as well as account information. To prevent this from happening make sure that on your border gateways you filter out all in- and outgoing traffic for ports 137, 138 and 139.† (Dennis Leeuw dleeuw, 2011) That being said, Mac, UNIX/Linux machines also use these ports, due to a Windows-file-sharing-compatibility package called Samba. Another vulnerability we are introducing is the Abusing remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is a protocol developed by Microsoft, which provides a user with a

Child observation paper Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Child observation paper - Case Study Example The room has a big glass window wherein, children can easily view the farm. That Laboratory School has a small farm behind for children to roam around and exploration of nature. During the day, there are enhancement activities and training given to children to facilitate their learning and help them grow smart and healthy. Children use to play with each other, solve physical problems using interactive games and materials, and do creative works and taking appropriate responsibilities to develop personal discipline and responsible behavior. Here, children learn to mingle with one another; and "my child" is one of them. My child is a 4 year-old boy. He attends day in a day care at our community college. He seems to be healthy physically and emotionally and is quite well adjusted showing no sign of any developmental concerns. He is pretty doing well in a day care; he interacts normally with other children and seems rather smart as he knows his way around a computer screen already. He is curious on anything new to him and is always willing to try or investigate objects that catch his attention. He always finds things very interesting although the toys he plays on are already old. He is active, likes to play and look tireless all day. As I observe, my child seems to manifest both the physical and emotional healthy condition as he has no problem in interacting with others and is showing quite remarkable positive attitudes towards everything which a normal healthy kid would likely to have. Over-all Impression of His Development My child is quite following a normal developmental stage. He seems to be excited on new things and his mind full of wonderful imaginations of things that are not there. This manifests in his works of arts like drawing, painting, and building blocks. He is a bit intelligent, he likes doing things on his own with out asking the help of the teacher. He is excited to find out what will happen after trying to fix one object to another, he is very independent. While other kids are roaming around their teachers to explain to them what to do, my child easily get the instruction from the teacher and start doing it all by himself with no fear of mistakes. His positive interaction with others as I observed him, show no sign of developmental concerns or problems. He interacts casually and participates well in the group. He is confident in himself and is rather smart in doing the right thing. He even suggests something to his playmates what to do to make the game really much interesting. This positive social attitude of my child may not simply part of the developmental process but I guess, a manifestation of advance intelligence for a four year old kid, maybe a normal reaction of a growing child being curious about many things. Socialization Inside the room, the children have all the opportunity to interact with other children and adults. In this case, I saw my child intermingle with other kids of his age and with his teachers. My child seems to have developed a good self-esteem; he did not have difficulty adjusting with the new environment as well as with his interpersonal relationship. He is well-adjusted despite new faces and authority. My child, in my observation, feels a sense of belongingness and quite confident about his accomplishments for the day. Other kids would show

Team Development (SLP) Module 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Team Development (SLP) Module 2 - Essay Example As in traditional teams people communicate with each other directly. They work at the same place. On the other hand, in diverse teams people work in different locations. However, it has become necessary as it allows organizations to have access to top personnel throughout the world (Casey & Richardson, 2006; Gould, 2006). In addition, diverse work teams can be based on a multicultural collaboration framework. In this scenario, multicultural work team consists of organizations or groups, each team comprising members from different cultural orientations and backgrounds such as Native American Indian, Latino or white. In some cases with specific missions or goals oriented to populations with differing cultures such as Asian-American or African-American. In this scenario, the cultural differences can vary from team to team which can be related to values, ethnic heritage, traditions, history, languages, and sense of self and racial attitudes. Though, any of these cultural attributes can turn out to be a challenge to working together. If not they turn out to be an element of the association, the cooperation and collaboration will almost certainly be challenged (Brownlee, Schultz, & Rabinowitz, 2013). Moreover, a diverse team is normally composed of team members who work from home or any other location however this is not for all time the case since diverse team associates can work in offices also. There are a number of reasons why I prefer to have a diverse team in my unit. In this scenario, the basic reason is the reality that we live in the information age, as different to the industrial age. In view of the fact that the information travels at the speed of light, and those who have access to the most modern and fastest communication and collaboration technologies are capable to send data quickly. The capability to transmit data and information at fast speeds, combined with the power of the web, has caused the formation of "diverse teams." However,

Mac VS Windows Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mac VS Windows Security - Essay Example Afterward, the attacker tricks the victim into connecting with him before the attacker establishes connection to the target, receives the 8-byte challenge. Subsequently, the attacker sends the 8-byte challenge to victim, who then responds to the attacker with the password hash. Attacker responds back to the targets challenge with the victims hash and finally Target grants access to attacker† (SkullSecurity, 2008). The Protective measure of this problem is to remove NetBIOS from any network card to reduce the possibility of abusing SMB. In addition, the following steps can help mitigate this weakness: â€Å"Enable (and require) NTLMv2 authentication -- this will prevent pre-computed attacks, because the client provides part of the randomness. Enable (and require) message signing for both clients and servers -- this will prevent relay attacks. Install ms08-068 -- this will prevent a specific subset of relay attacks, where its relayed back to itself.† (SkullSecurity, 2008) RPS attack (Remote procedure call) is used over SMB to offer file and printing sharing. Attacker can compromise the system by sending RPC request to gain access. This usually happens through port 139, which is known as the NetBIOS. â€Å"NetBIOS over the Internet is an enormous security risk. The NetBIOS protocol gives people the ability to obtain all kind of information from your systems like your domain, workgroup and system names, as well as account information. To prevent this from happening make sure that on your border gateways you filter out all in- and outgoing traffic for ports 137, 138 and 139.† (Dennis Leeuw dleeuw, 2011) That being said, Mac, UNIX/Linux machines also use these ports, due to a Windows-file-sharing-compatibility package called Samba. Another vulnerability we are introducing is the Abusing remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is a protocol developed by Microsoft, which provides a user with a

Team Development (SLP) Module 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Team Development (SLP) Module 2 - Essay Example As in traditional teams people communicate with each other directly. They work at the same place. On the other hand, in diverse teams people work in different locations. However, it has become necessary as it allows organizations to have access to top personnel throughout the world (Casey & Richardson, 2006; Gould, 2006). In addition, diverse work teams can be based on a multicultural collaboration framework. In this scenario, multicultural work team consists of organizations or groups, each team comprising members from different cultural orientations and backgrounds such as Native American Indian, Latino or white. In some cases with specific missions or goals oriented to populations with differing cultures such as Asian-American or African-American. In this scenario, the cultural differences can vary from team to team which can be related to values, ethnic heritage, traditions, history, languages, and sense of self and racial attitudes. Though, any of these cultural attributes can turn out to be a challenge to working together. If not they turn out to be an element of the association, the cooperation and collaboration will almost certainly be challenged (Brownlee, Schultz, & Rabinowitz, 2013). Moreover, a diverse team is normally composed of team members who work from home or any other location however this is not for all time the case since diverse team associates can work in offices also. There are a number of reasons why I prefer to have a diverse team in my unit. In this scenario, the basic reason is the reality that we live in the information age, as different to the industrial age. In view of the fact that the information travels at the speed of light, and those who have access to the most modern and fastest communication and collaboration technologies are capable to send data quickly. The capability to transmit data and information at fast speeds, combined with the power of the web, has caused the formation of "diverse teams." However,

Compare the attitudes to war in the three poems Essay Example for Free

Compare the attitudes to war in the three poems Essay Rule Britannia was written in 1740. The title Rule causes the reader to think that this is a command by God. Rule Britannia is an extremely patriotic poem which creates the image that Britain is the place of the Lord and Britain is the best. This image is implied by: Arose from out the azure land, This was the charter of the land, And guardian angels sung the strain This quotation would make the reader think that Britain was born from the sea, by guardian angels who are the messengers from God. This implies that God created Britain and how it came out from the sea, so we Britain should rule the sea. Another way that the patriotic image is implied is by the chorus: Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; Briton never will be slaves. This leads the reader to think that the British are extremely arrogant, how they think they will never be slaves also how Britain think they are the Gods of the sea. A 21st century reader would of seen this poem as patriotic and arrogant but a person reading this in 1740 would of seen this as true. Britain did rule the sea and the British at the time would have never thought they would be slaves, they thought they were too big and important for that. This poem is very rude about other countries in particular Spain. James Tompson describes other countries as Tyrants, in the context that this word is used it implies that other countries are arrogant harsh arbitrary people, some readers my think that the use of tyrant is referring to these foreigners being criminals. This is another way that the poem shows arrogance, how the Britain is great and how all the other countries are criminals. The writer uses the image of the oak tree to create a patriotic image again: Still more majestic shalt thou rise, More dreadful from each foreign stroke; As the loud blast that tears the skies Serves but to only root thy native oak. What this is saying basically is that every time Britain gets attacked it gets stronger. When an oak tree normally gets hit with thunder of lightning( a metaphor for canon fire from Britains enemys) which is being implied in line three of that quotation you would expect it to get destroyed and split in half. This does not happen though, it just makes Britain stronger. This would create an extremely patriotic image of how Britain is just getting stronger from each attack and how the enemy is never going to destroy Britain. Near the end of this poem another patriotic image is created, and manly hearts to guard the fair. This implies the image that the British guard their women and how the British are true gentlemen. Rule Britannia sees war as a holy thing, war is something that God would not condemn. This is achieved by the chorus Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; this gives the impression that Britain should rule the waves, the word rule is used in an interesting way. When I first read this poem I thought that the word was Royal, as in it was a holy thing. I believe this is a deliberate effect, the word rule is there to make the reader think that Britain should rule the sea but I think it is also there deliberately as a simile to make the reader to think of Royal which would make the reader think that ruling the sea is a command from God. If it was a command from God it would mean that he was telling Britain to rule the sea so fight any wars they need to accomplish this. Rule Britannia is a very confident poem, no where in the poem does doubt creep in. . Rule, Britannia, rule the wave Briton will never be slaves When you read this you see the image of people singing this loud, confident of what they have to do. This implies that this poem is for war, the writer James Tompson implies that war is a jolly thing something that has to be done, this is accomplished by the poem. The chorus of poem is meant to be sung, when I think of singing I associate it with singing things which are right and merry, it is not very often you sing about sad things, when the poem was written James tompson knew this and deliberately made it so the chorus would be sung. In Royal Britannia they poet fails to mention of the negative, he even goes to the extent of saying that war just makes Britain stronger, this can be seen in my third quote on page 1. This helps to build the confidence of the poem because no negatives have been mentioned; this is implying that there are no negative things about war. The charge of the light brigade is very confident on the surface but then some doubt seems to creep in. The crucial line in this poem is Some one had blundered: this line is extremely impersonal. It is the first sign of doubt creeping in. Later on in the charge of the light Brigade the same line is repeated twice, this line is All the world wondered. This line shows that people were question why these men were fighting, what was the point of this. This view of doubt never entered the first poem, it was like everyone was agreed that war was a great thing, in the second poem this doubt comes in and Tennyson is showing that not everyone thinks that war is so glorious. Unlike the Rule Britannia the charge of the light Brigade mentions negative things about war. I believe Tennyson is trying to show the reader that the war is not all great, people do die. As I mentioned before the line about someone blundering is extremely impersonal, this implies to the reader that in war there are no individuals, everyone is just seen as cannon fodder, if you die no one cares. The way the line is said makes this event sound like it happens often, normally when someone blunderers or dies you would be shocked but the way it is said makes it sound like a common event of war, Tennyson has deliberately not used !, I believe this is him trying to show there is no shock. In war there are deaths all the time, it is nothing special I believe this is what the author is trying to show. Rule Britannia sees war something that is necessary, it needs to be done to control the tyrants, without war these criminals would take the seas, Rule Britannia even gives the impression that the ruling the sea is a command from God. The charge of the light brigade is completely opposite to the view that war is backed by God, Tennyson associates war with death, Back from the mouth of Death, this implies that when these men where charging they were going into hell, so they when they fight and have a war they are entering hell, Tennyson is saying that was is thing of the Devil so it is evil. The charge of the light brigade implies that war creates heroes. This can be seen by Stormed at with shot and shell. While horse and hero fell and Honour the charge they made Honour the light Brigade When the soldiers started they were described in a very impersonal way, now they are being described as heroes. This would make the reader think that the poet opinion is that the people who fight in war become heroes. The charge of the light Brigade was written 1854. The word charge implies the image that this attack was very uncontrolled, unorganised attack. The charge of the light Brigade is very confident on the surface but doubt does creep in the further you go in. This poem has a rhyme which imitates horses galloping. All through the charge of the light brigade there are associations with death and the devil, Jaws of hell and Into the valley of Death. The charge of the light Brigade has two endings, the first one was edited so it was suitable for the reader. The ending which is printed in this booklet honours the men who took part in the charge more that the other ending. The second ending describes the actions of the men as bold, this implies that the actions of the men were stupid and not thought out. To be continued.

The Life And Work Of Carl Rogers Philosophy Essay

The Life And Work Of Carl Rogers Philosophy Essay Carl Rogers was born on January 8 1902 in Chicago, Illinois and was the fourth of six children. His father was a successful civil engineer and as such was often away from home, leaving his mother to raise them and so he grew up closer to his mother than to his father. His family was very close, however, and highly religious but friendship outside the family was discouraged; reason being that others behaved in ways that were inappropriate and contrary to the familys beliefs. These included smoking, drinking, going to the movies etc. and so the family decided that it was better to live separate from such folk and to avoid communicating with them, but the best that they could do was to be tolerant of them. Rogers was a loner in school and as such took refuge in books. He read everything possible including dictionaries and encyclopaedias. When Rogers was 12 his father moved his family to a farm such that they could live in a more wholesome and religious atmosphere. There his father insisted that they run a farm and it was here that Rogers developed a deep interest in agriculture. After high school he enrolled in the University of Wisconsin in 1919 to study agriculture, however because he was still very active in church activities he was chosen in 1922 to attend the World Student Christian Federation Conference in Peking, China. This trip was a life changing experience for Rogers that lasted six months and which, for the first time, allowed him to experience people of different religions. This new experience made such an impact on Rogers that he wrote to is parents declaring his independence from their conservative religion, and almost immediately developed an ulcer that caused him to be hospitalized for several weeks. Rogers changed his major upon returning to university and graduated in 1924 with a degree in History. Shortly after graduation he married his childhood sweetheart, Helen Elliott, and they eventually had two children together. Soon after marriage Rogers move to New York and enrolled in the liberal Union Theological Seminary while also taking courses in psychology and education at neighbouring Columbia University. However, doubts about the religious approach to helping people caused him to transfer to Columbia University full-time and where he then earned his masters degree in clinical psychology in 1928 and his doctorate in 1931. His dissertations concerned the measurement of personality adjustment in children and thus lead him to work for the Child Study Department of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to children in Rochester, New York. As a result of his experiences here he developed his own brand of psychotherapy. While working at the Society he wrote his first book entitle d The Clinical Treatment of the Problem Child. Thereafter he was offered a position at Ohio State University at the rank of full professor, and it was then at the age of 38 that he decided to begin a new career in the academic world. In 1944 Rogers took leave from Ohio State to become director of counselling services for the United Services Organization in New York. After one year he moved to the University of Chicago as professor of psychology and director of counselling and it was during this time that he wrote what others thought to be his most important work, Client-Centered Therapy: Its Current Practice, Implications, and Theory (1951). In 1957, Rogers returned to the University of Wisconsin where he held the dual position of professor of psychology and professor of psychiatry. In 1963, he joined the Western Behavioural Sciences Institute (WBSI) in La Jolla, California where he eventually formed the Center for the Studies of the Person. Rogers continued to work on the Vienna Peace Project and peace workshops in Moscow until his death on February 4, 1987 from cardiac arrest following surgery for a broken hip. Carl Rogerss revolutionary and most important work brought out in his book Client-Centered Therapy: Its Current Practice, Implications, and Theory (1951) marked a change in his approach to psychology. At first his approach was called nondirective, because he believed that in a positive therapeutic atmosphere clients would solve their problems automatically, but his practice became client-centered when he realized that the therapist had to make an active attempt to understand and accept a clients subjective reality before any real progress could be made. Rogers set out to use a method called the Q-technique in order to measure the effectiveness of therapy where he had clients describe themselves as they were at the moment (real self) and then as they would like to become, (ideal self). The two selves were measured in such a way as to allow the correlation between them to be determined. Normally when the therapy begins, the correlation between the two selves is very low, but if therapy is effective it becomes larger, that is the real self becomes more similar to the ideal self. This technique helps the therapist to determine the effectiveness of his or her procedures at any point during, or after, therapy. Rogers rejected the deterministic approach of psychoanalytic theory and behaviourism brought about by Freud and other psychologists. Instead Rogers believed that behaviour is a response to the individuals perception/ interpretation of external stimuli. As no-one else can know how we perceive, were the best experts on understanding our own behaviour. Rogers also sees human nature in a very positive and optimistic light, quoting: There is no beast in man; there is only man in man. A description of self, which is an organised, consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself, helped to set the pace on Rogerss humanistic approach, describing that the awareness of who a person is and what they can do influences both their perception of the world and their behaviour. By evaluating every experience in terms of self, most human behaviour can be understood as an attempt to maintain consistency between ones self-image and ones actions. This self image may not always be achieved and self-image may differ quite radically from our actual behaviour and from how others see us. For example a person may be highly successful and respected by others, and yet regard him/herself as a failure. This is what Rogers called an incongruent person that is a person whose internal guidance system or organismic valuing process is replaced by positive regards of persons we look up to who would only love us based on whether or not we do what they want us to do, also known as conditio ns of worth, as a guide for living. When incongruent experiences, feelings, actions, etc come into conflict with self image they can be threatening and as such access to awareness may be denied through actual denial, distortion or blocking. These defence mechanisms prevent the self from growing and changing and widen the gap between self-image and reality. The more the self-image changes and becomes unrealistic; the incongruent person becomes more confused, vulnerable, dissatisfied and eventually seriously maladjusted. As a contrast the congruent person is flexible and changes realistically as new experiences occur, thus when our self-image matches what we really think and feel and do, we are in the best position to self-actualise. Like Maslow, Rogers assumed every human being has an innate drive toward self-actualisation, and if people use this tendency in living their lives, there is a strong likelihood that they will live fulfilling lives and ultimately reach their full potential. This is what was earlier described as the organismic valuing process. Persons who uses this process is motivated by his or her own true feelings and is living what the existentialists call an authentic live, that is, a live motivated by a persons true inner feelings rather than beliefs, traditions, values or conventions imposed by others. Rogers once remarked that all of my professional life I have been going in directions which others thought were foolish, but I have never regretted moving in directions which felt right, even though I have often felt lonely or foolish at the time. Experience is for me, the highest authority. Neither the Bible nor the prophets, neither Freud nor research, neither the revelations of God nor man can take precedence over my own experience. Rogers claim that most people do not live according to their innermost feelings. He claims that the problem begins at birth where there is need for positive regard where such regards involves receiving such things as love, warmth, sympathy, and acceptance from the relevant people in a childs life. This positive regard given freely to a child would not pose a problem however the problem arises only when there are conditions of worth which happens when relevant persons in that childs life only give positive regard if they act or think in accordance with those relevant people in their lives. Rogers conclude that as long as people live their lives according to someone elses values instead of their own true feeling, experience will be edited and certain experiences that would have been in accord with the organismic valuing process will be denied. Rogers offer one way to avoid imposing conditions of worth on people, and that is to give them unconditional positive regard where they are loved and respected for what they truly are; and as such allowing that person to become a fully functioning person. Since Rogers viewed incongruency as the cause of mental disorders, he therefore believed that the goal of psychotherapy is to help people overcome conditions of worth and again live in accordance with their organismic valuing processes. He states The path of development toward psychological maturity, the path of therapy, is the undoing of this estrangement in mans functioning, the dissolving of conditions of worth, the achievement of a self which is congruent with experience, and the restoration of a unified organismic valuing process as the regulator of behaviour. Thus here lies the need for Rogerss person-centered therapy. Rogers believe that therapy needs the right climate, which rests not on technique but on the relationship between therapist and client. He proposed three core conditions that he claimed are both necessary and sufficient for this relationship. These include: Warmth where the therapist must have respect for the client and display complete acceptance of the person in his or her own right at that moment in time, which should be accompanied by a non-judgemental attitude towards the client. Genuineness where the therapist must show that they are a real person, with thoughts and feelings, which should be expressed where appropriate. This enhanced by self-disclosure. Empathy where the therapist must enter the clients inner world which can be achieved through genuine, attentive listening and restating what the client says, in order to clarify its emotional significance. Also the therapist must be sensitive to the clients problem and sense the pleasure or hurt of the client as if it were his own. The therapists main task is therefore to create a therapeutic atmosphere in which clients can become fully integrated again. This can be achieved only if clients reduce their conditions of worth, and increase their unconditional positive self-regard. The therapists job is to create a situation in which clients can change themselves, and this is aided by an emotionally warm, accepting, understanding and non-evaluative relationship in which the person is free from threat and has the freedom to be the self that he/she really is. Rogerss person-centered psychology has been applied to such diverse areas as religion, medicine, law enforcement, ethnic and cultural relations, politics, international conflict, organizational development education, personal power and marriage. The humanistic approach popularised by Carl Rogerss person-centered theory which believes that human beings who are free to plan their own actions, and ultimately their own destiny are struggling to grow and to make difficult decisions that will profoundly affect their lives; and as a result of these decisions, each of us becomes unique and responsible for our own behaviour. Rogerss person-centered therapy is based on the assumption of freewill and the therapist helps clients to excercise free will in such a way as to maximize the rewards of their lives. To conclude, I must say that I find Carl Rogerss humanistic approach of person-centered therapy as very insightful and interesting. His theory of self and concentrating thereupon making ones self perception more important than that of others perception is one that I would support even though I am of the opinion that other persons perception of another do matter but not to the highest degree. I am also excited and supportive of the process of reconciliation between ones real self which who one is at the moment and ones ideal self which is what one would like to become. This brings about the self-actualisation aspect of person-centered therapy and I strongly agree with it in that I think that everyone should aspire to be the best that they can be while living and as such they may be able to live a more fulfilling (authentic) life. I also agree with a persons need for positive regard in that in order for us to strive to do our best we need some sort of support system, not necessarily ou r parents, but others also to encourage us and affirm us that we can be better at anything and everything that we do, which indeed should start from birth. Although I agree that it is important for persons to be motivated and to esteem self to a high degree, I also think that we are interdependent beings who need each others guidance on matters which we are not yet familiar and thus we cannot rule out others opinions and perceptions of us which might add significantly to our growth. Also, we live in a world where there are extremists, who are persons who old fast to personal views and liberalists who are persons who feel like anything goes and those who have a balance between the two. We are brought up by these groups of people and it is inevitable that we should suffer as inefficient beings who lack unconditional positive regard, however when we are old enough to decipher the best possible group to be associated with the better it is for us to be able to live an authentic life. I think that Rogerss view where he stated that Experience is for me, the highest authority is based entirely on his experience with his family and their conservative religious lifestyle compared to that which he experienced after declaring independence from their beliefs; and although a I respect his views I totally disagree that experience is the highest authority. This is so because I believe with all of my mental capacity that God above anyone or anything else can do for us, through us, in us and about us what we can never conceive. The bible says that He is able and willing if we just ask and believe. So I all in all I would prefer and would encourage other to try and live a more holistic life rather than a more authentic life and if we have problems achieving this then seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all things shall be added unto you. I think that person-centered therapy, despite its discrepancies, is a fairly reasonable approach and I would recommend it second to God.

Engle v. US :: essays research papers

SUMMARY Engle v. Vitale was the first case brought to the Supreme Court that used the establishment clause to remove religious activities that until this point had been used as a part of public observances. The First Amendment bars any enforcement of any law â€Å"respecting an establishment of religion† and the Fourteenth Amendment makes this applicable to the States. For that reason, state officials can not write an official state prayer and require that it be recited in the public schools, even if the prayer is nondenominational and students who wish to remain silent or be excused are allowed to do so during the recitation of the prayer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The parents of ten students brought this issue to the New York State Court maintaining that the use of the official prayer in the public schools was â€Å"contrary to the beliefs, religions, or religious practices of both themselves and their children.† The question that was reviewed by the Supreme Court of The United States was whether New York overstepped the boundaries when they financed a religious exercise. The New York Court said that â€Å"the prayer given does not conform to all of the tenets of the Jewish, Unitarian, and Ethical Culture groups. The Supreme Court ruled that, though the prayer was nondenominational and students had the option of whether or not to recite the prayer and not be penalized for failure to do so, the state of New York and the school board had violated the Constitution of the United States and the rights of the students attending the public schools. Though many Americans still disagree with the verdict of the court, the rul ing still stands today. OPINIONS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The opinion of the Court was delivered by Justice Black. The Court said: â€Å"Shortly after the practice of reciting the Regents’ prayer was adopted by the School District, the parents of ten pupils brought this action in a New York State Court insisting that use of this official prayer in the public schools was contrary to the beliefs, religions, or religious practices of both themselves and their children. The New York Court of Appeals, over the dissents of Judges Dye and Fuld, sustained an order of the lower state courts which had upheld the power of New York to use the Regents’ prayer as a part of the daily procedures of its public schools so long as the schools did not compel any pupil to join in the prayer over his or his parents’ objection.

Bill Bundy Essay -- essays research papers

Ted Bundy The name Theodore Bundy, more commonly known as Ted Bundy, is a household name. Not only is Ted Bundy a household name, it is one that sends chills through the bodies of those who hear it mentioned. This bone gnawing effect is felt more so through those who have daughters away from home, in college. For over two decades now, the mentioning of his name has gotten this exact reaction and will continue to do so for decades to come. Over the course of his killing career, Ted Bundy made himself one of the most notorious serial killers of all time, while going undetected for years. "He hid his murderous 'hobby' from all those who knew and loved him," (Faces of Ted 1). He was a very deceiving man, through his actions, his speech, everything about him. It was very easy for Ted to deceive his victims. "He was described at various times as the perfect student, a genius, as handsome as a movie idol, a sensitive psychiatric social worker, and 'a young man for whom the future could surely hold only success'," (Sears 1). All of these are traits that are incredibly dangerous in a serial killer. Serial killings have been one of the most terrifying, violent crimes in the United States for a great deal of time now. Serial killers "Typically commit their murders over a considerable span of time - sometimes years," (Serial Killers). Serial murderers tend to have a bit of down time between murders. They also tend to target a certain type of victim and commit their murders in similar places (Serial Killers). "Serial murder has become one of the central concerns in homicide investigation†¦" (Keppel 3). There are two distinct reasons for this. One is because it happens so frequently. The other is because it befuddles investigative agencies with its unique problems (Keppel 3). Ted Bundy grew up in what today's society would call "a dysfunctional home." For the first 23 years of his life, Ted believed that his grandparents were his parents and his mother was his sister. He was born Theodore Robert Cowell on November 24, 1946 to 22- year-old Eleanor Louise Cowell (Bell 2). Throughout his entire life, Ted never knew his real father, Lloyd Marshall. The confusion that Ted lived his life through came into play shortly after his birth. He and his mother moved back to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to live with her paren... ...y is a four-year-old child who has spent most of his life on the road with his mother, whom he thinks is his sister. He has never seen his real father, although he did live with his grandfather for a while and thought he was his father. Then he was pulled away from a home where he thought he lived with his parents, brought across the country to live with different relatives, and forced to change his name. Granted, at the age of only four, Ted might not be able to grasp all that has been going on, but he must have been a bit confused. Ted then grew up and went to school, only to be made fun of and bullied. He then grew older and moved on to college, only to have his heart broken, an event that would lead directly to his twisted ways. So right from the day he was born, Ted Bundy was basically living a false life. He was not Theodore Robert Cowell as he was at birth. Nor was he Theodore Robert Nelson as he was when his name was legally changed. The entire time, he was Ted Bundy, the demented serial killer who got his thrills through brutally torturing and tormenting beautiful, young women. Now, the name Ted Bundy will forever be synonymous with murder (Bell 2).

Indian Cultural Background Essay

I have two cultural background which are Cherokee Indian and African American . Cherokee is really pronounced as â€Å"CHAIR-uh-kee† in our language. Cherokee comes from a Muskogee word meaning ‘speakers of another language’. Cherokee Indians originally called themselves Aniyunwiya â€Å"the principal people,† but today they accept the named Cherokee. But in their language it is pronounced Tsadagi . The Cherokees are original residents of the American southeast region, particularly Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Most Cherokees were forced to move to Oklahoma in the 1800’s along the Trail of Tears. The Cherokee Indians who survived this death still live in Oklahoma today. Some Cherokees escaped the Trail of Tears by hiding in the Appalachian hills or taking shelter with white neighbors. These people live scattered throughout the original Cherokee Indian homelands. Trail of Tears was the Cherokee name for what the Americans called Indian Removal. During the 1800’s, the US government created an â€Å"Indian Territory† in Oklahoma and sent all the eastern Native American tribes to live there. Some tribes agreed to this plan with no problem. Other tribes didn’t like this plan at all , and the American army forced them. The Cherokee tribe was one of the largest eastern tribes, and they didn’t want to leave their homeland. The Cherokees were peaceful with the Americans. So they asked the Supreme Court for help. The judges decided the Cherokee Indians could stay in their homes. But the President, Andrew Jackson, sent the army to march the Cherokees to Oklahoma . They weren’t prepared for the journey, and it was winter time. Thousands of Cherokee Indians died on the Trail of Tears. Many Native Americans from other tribes died too. It was a terrible time in history. There are three federally recognized Cherokee tribes: the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the United Keetoowah Band in Oklahoma, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina. Other Cherokee communities in Alabama, Georgia, and other states are considered unofficial by the US government. The Eastern Cherokee people live on a reservation. Indian reservations are lands that belong to Native American tribes and are under their control. The Oklahoma Cherokee people live on trust land, though many Cherokees call it a reservation anyway. The Keetowah Cherokee do not have a land base. Each Cherokee tribe has its own government, laws, police, and services, just like a small country. However, Cherokee Indians are also US citizens and must obey American law. In the past, each Cherokee group was led by one war chief and one peace chief. Cherokee chiefs were chosen by a tribal council. Cherokee war chiefs were male, but the peace chief could be a woman. Today, Cherokee tribal councils and chiefs can be either gender and are popularly elected, like senators and governors. Most Cherokee people speak English today, but 20,000 people also speak the Cherokee Indian language. Cherokee is a complex language with soft sounds. The Cherokee language has an innovative writing system that was invented by the Cherokee scholar Sequoyah. Sequoyah’s writing system is a syllabary. That means one character represents each syllable. The other cultural background is African American .

Procurement Ethics and Quality of Goods Procured in Uganda

MAKERERE UNIVERSITY PROCUREMENT ETHICS AND QUALITY OF PRODUCTS PROCURED IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR (A CASE STUDY OF THE MINISTRY OF WORKS AND TRANSPORT) BY KIYO MWENDA MUCHIRI 07/K/3250/EXT SUPERVISOR MR ANTHONY TIBAINGANA A RESEARCH REPORT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF COMMERCE OF MAKERERE UNIVERSITY. JULY 2011 DECLARATIONI Kiyo Mwenda Muchiri, do hereby declare that procurement ethics and quality of products procured in the public sector is entirely my own original work ,except where acknowledged,and that it has not been submitted before to any other institution of higher learning for the award of degree. Signed†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Date†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Name:Mr Kiyo Mwenda Muchiri APPROVAL This research report has been submitted for examination with my approval as the candidate’s university supervisor. Signed†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Date†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Name:Mr Anthony Tibaingana DEDICATION This research work is dedicated to my dear mother MERCY MUTHONI MUCHIRI for the continued love support and motivation may God bless you very much. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the contribution provided by the individuals and insituition mentioned below. First and foremost i would like to recognise the constant support and contribution provided by supervisor Mr Antony Tibaingana. Special acknowledgement goes to my loving aunt Nelly Karimi for her continued moral support love and care.Special thanks goes to the staff of ministry of works and transport and amproc international for their contribution to the completion of this work. My sinc ere gratitudes also goes to collegues George,Nelson,Kibet,Dickson. Omar,Oscar and Nyambati who i have shared my time of study with for their support throughout the course of my study. TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTPAGE DECLARATIONi APPROVALii DEDICATIONiii ACKNOWLEDGMENTSiv TABLE OF CONTENTSv LIST OF TABLESix LIST OF FIGURESx ACRONYMSxi ABSTRACTxii CHAPTER ONE1 1. 1Background of the Study1 1. 2 Statement of the Problem3 1. 3 Purpose of the Study4 . 4 Objectives of the Study4 1. 5 Research Question4 1. 6Scope of the Study4 1. 6. 1Time Scope5 1. 6. 2Subject Scope5 1. 6. 3Geographical Scope5 1. 7Significance of the Study5 CHAPTER TWO6 LITERATURE REVIEW6 Introduction:6 2. 1Ethics6 2. 1. 1Procurement Ethics6 2. 2How Ethics is ensured in Public Procurement6 2. 3Ethical Issues in Procurement. 8 2. 3. 1Corruption8 2. 3. 2Conflict of Interest11 2. 3. 3Donor Interest12 2. 3. 4Delayment of Funds13 2. 4 Quality13 2. 4. 1Quality of Products13 2. 4. 2Determinants of Quality14 2. 4. 3Public Procurement and Effective Quality Products and ServiceDelivery. 15 2. 5Public Procurement16 2. 5. 1Procurement in the Ministry of Work and Transport17 2. 5. 2Procurement Cycle in the Ministry of Works and Transport18 2. 5. 3Procurement Methods Followed in the Ministry of Works and Transport19 2. 6Effects of Unethical Procurement20 2. 7Conclusion:21 CHAPTER THREE22 Introduction:22 3. 1Research Design22 3. 2 Survey Population22 3. 3 Sampling Design22 3. 3. 1Sampling Size22 3. 4Source of Data23 3. 4. 1Primary Data23 3. 4. 2Secondary Data23 3. 5Data Collection Methods23 3. 5. 1Observation23 3. 5. 2Survey24 3. Data Collection Instrument24 3. 6. 1Questionnaire24 3. 6. 2Documentary review24 3. 6. 3Interview guide,24 3. 7Data Processing Analysis and Presentation24 3. 7. 1Data processing. The researcher after gathering the data then edit code classify and tabulate the data. 24 3. 7. 2Data analysis. 24 Data presentation. 24 CHAPTER FOUR25 PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS, DISCUSSION AND INTERPRETATION25 Introdu ction:25 4. 1Demographic Characteristics of Respondents25 4. 2Findings on how products are purchased in the organization27 4. 3 Findings on causes of unethical practice in procurement31 4. Findings on the relationship between ethics and quality of goods procured33 4. 5Ethics in the Organization38 CHAPTER FIVE39 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS39 Introduction:39 5. 2Summary of findings39 5. 2. 1Findings on the procurement procedure followed under the Ministry of Works and Transport. 39 5. 2. 2Findings on the causes of unethical conduct in procurement in the ministry of Work and Transport. 39 5. 2. 3 Findings on what is the relationship between procurement ethics and quality of product procured. 39 5. 3Conclusions:40 5. 4Recommendation:40 5. 5Areas for further research40REFRENCES41 APPENDICES42 APPENDIX ( i)Questionnaire42 APPENDIX (ii)Interview guide47 LIST OF TABLES TABLEPAGE Table 1: Showing Sample Size23 Table 2: Showing response rate of respondents25 Table 3: Showing the age of the respondents25 Table 4: Showing the Level of Education26 Table 5: Showing Marital status27 Table 6: Showing how long one has worked for the Organization27 Table 7: showing whether purchase requisition are handled on time28 Table 8: Showing whether procedures followed helps in procuring quality products29 Table 9: Showing whether products procured are of quality30Table 10: showing whether weak enforcement measure of procurement law contributes to unethical practice31 Table 11: Showing whether moral degradation in the society is a cause of unethical conducts32 Table 12: Showing whether unethical practice of bidder contributes to unethical conduct by staff33 Table 13: showing whether the organization code of ethics contributes to quality products being procured35 Table 14: showing whether suppliers meet organization specification of quality products36 Table 15: showing whether unethical practice staff has resulted in procurement poor quality products. 36LIST OF CHARTS FIGURE. PAGE Chart 1: Showing gender of the respondents26 Chart 2: Findings if purchase requisition used are from the user unit28 Chart 3: Showing whether PPDA procedure is followed29 Chart 4:: Showing relationship between ethics and procurement30 Chart 5: Showing how low pay has contributed to unethical practices†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 32 Chart 6: Findings if there is relationship between ethics and quality of goods procured33 Chart 7: showing whether organization have a mean of checking unethical practice of employees. 36 ACRONYMS PPDA Public Procurement and Disposal of Public assets AuthorityIGGInspector General of Government CHOGMCommonwealth Heads of Government Meeting PDEProcurement and Disposal Entitity SPSSStatistical Package for Social Sciences MOWTMinistry of Works and Transport ISOInternational Standards Organisation ABSTRACT The principle objective of carrying out this study was to assess the impact of procurement ethics on the qu ality of products procured in the public sector a case study of the ministry of works and trasport,and to come up with particular issues that need to be addressed in order to improve their effectviness and efficiency in their procurement activities.The study used cross section design where data was gathered just once over a period of time in the ministry of works and transport ranging from the period (2000-2010). The research used descriptive research design which describes the phenomenon it was undertaken in order to ascertain and be able to describe the characteristics of variables of interest. The study used a sample size of 37 respondents who were purposively selected. Self administered questionnaires and interview guides were the main instruments of study and data was analyzed using frequencies, percentages and charts using Microsoft excel.Findings on procurement ethics was that there some ethical issues that arise such as bribery, nepotism, tribalism, leaking of confidential i nformation, pressure from those in authority above, awarding of contracts to those who are not the best evaluated bidders, conflict of interest, lack of transparency and single sourcing, embezzlement of funds and also harassment this was attributed to greed and low pay offered to the employees. Findings on quality of products procured were that when the PPDA procurement procedures are followed majority of the employees were of the view that it contribute to procurement of quality products.Recommendation on the issue of ethics and quality is that procurement officers should always be sensitized on the importance of ethics and the society as whole needs to be educated on the importance of ethics to reduce on the unethical practices by bidder CHAPTER ONE 1. 1Background of the Study According to (Kenneth Lyson 2007) procurement ethics is the principle conduct governing an individual or group concern to what is right or wrong.Ethics is about fairness deciding what is right or wrong defin ing practices and rules which underpin responsible conduct between individuals and group it is a sense of upright both of conviction and action. (International standards organization 8402) defines the fundamental terms relating to quality concepts, it states that quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product that bears on the ability to satisfy stated or implied needs and they go ahead to give the dimensions of quality as performance, reliability serviceability conformance durability aesthetics and perceived quality.According to research done by (Edgar Agbar and Niegel shipman 2006) titled public procurement reform in developing countries: the Ugandan experience, procurement in Uganda consists 70% of the national budget and yet according to the inspector general of government 90% of complaints about corruption in the office are procurement related, and according to the (African pear report 2006) pubic sector losses 268. 6 million dollars directly due to unethi cal practices.In 2005 procurement audit carried out by the public procurement and disposal authority in Uganda out of the 322 contracts audited only 7 of the contract were clean that is only 2% of the contract reviewed. According to the (parliamentary accounts committee report on commonwealth heads of government meeting 2009) focusing on ministry of works and transport most of the products procured by the ministry were not of the right quality. For example over one billion shillings were lost due to purchasing of poor construction materials like asphalt, sand, stones, steel which were not of the right quantity and quality.This was attributed to the lapse in the procurement ethics and procedures. The auditor general also pointed on the poor quality of the roads and wanted the contracts for construction of those roads terminated and government money refunded or contractors make good of there works, because most of the roads constructed or reconstructed had potholes or ripped and some stretches of the roads poorly done and not of the recommended design and in some cases the roads were designed and not constructed at all for example the Manyago road (62kms) the Najjanamkumbi-Makindye road 1. km designed by MBW consulting engineers. According to the parliamentary accounts committee on commonwealth heads of government meeting 2009) the ministry of works and transport was responsible for procuring vehicles for transport. The vehicles were to include executive vehicles for the majesty and other heads of government, police vehicle and motor cycles, ambulances command and patrol vehicles at cost Shillings 20 billion.This was supposed to be done through a competitive process and the last two best evaluated bids were by spear motors and motor care Uganda limited, spear motors had the best bid but the ministry decide to use direct sourcing and the contract was awarded to motor care Uganda limited owned by 56 percentages by a cabinet minister Hon. Kuteesa.The company claime d to be importing BMW’S from Germany but they were importing them from Austria and Denmark the initials cost was 38,000 euro’s for a brand new BMW from Germany but the ministry of work and transport spent over 47,000 euro’s for second hand BMWs from Austria and Denmark which did not conform to the standards set by the procurement entity under the ministry. They were 204 BMWs but it is believed that 174 of he BMW’s were not of the required standard.Also Toyota (u) limited was given a direct contract to supply ambulances at a cost shillings 2,893,469, 700 billion. The ambulances were supposed to be 23 and all of ambulances did not conform to the set standard of quality and specification. They lacked oxygen cylinders, hooks, drug cabinets, emergency lights. Although the manufacturers acknowledged these defects and the low quality of the ambulances nothing was done to rectify the situation. The committee also found out that only 21 of 23 ambulances were deliv ered. 1. 2 Statement of the ProblemThe lack of procurement planning, corruption and conflict of interest and political interference has led to procurement of poor quality products in the ministry of works and transport for example minister for works Hon Byabagambi outside of the commonwealth heads of government budget he directed the consultant engineers (M/s Multiplan) to carry out additional works which were not well stated outside the law in total disregard for the law this variation led to a loss of shillings 1. 7billion. This was flouting of the public procurement and disposal authority law.The procurement system in Uganda varies in major way due to the fact that most projects are donor funded institutions like the world bank, international monetary fund and the European union and thus there is no consistency in the ministry of works and transport for a certain procurement system and creating loopholes for unethical staff to embezzle money through means like defining specificat ion to fit single contractors, substituting specified goods with inferior goods selective release of information to favor contractors, charge for skills below those specified which is causing poor quality being procured. . 3 Purpose of the Study The study is carried out in order to establish the relationship between procurement ethics and quality of products procured. 1. 4 Objectives of the Study (i) To establish procurement procedure used/ followed under the ministry of works and transport. ii) To identify the cause of unethical conduct by procurement personnel in ministry of works and transport. iii) To assess the relationship between procurement ethics and quality of product procured. 1. 5 Research Question i) How are procurement procedures followed under the ministry of works and transport? i) What are the causes of un-ethical conduct in procurement in the ministry of works and transport? iii) What is the relationship between procurement ethics and quality of products procured? 1. 6Scope of the Study The scope include three major areas that is; 1. 6. 1Time Scope: The research will be done between January to June 2011 and the research intends to concentrate on the literature published between 2000-2010 in order to identify the variable problems. 1. 6. 2Subject Scope: The study shall be done in the ministry of works and transport and shall concentrate within Kampala city.The people to be interviewed in the study are the employees of the ministry under the procurement department. The contextual scope of this study will focus on the impact of procurement ethics on quality of products procured. 1. 6. 3Geographical Scope: The study will be carried out in the ministry of Works and Transport in Kampala district plot 4/6 Entebbe Uganda. 18 Significance of the Study The research will be significance in the following ways: †¢ The study will help improve my skills and knowledge as a researcher in doing research. The study will also help improve the ministry of Wo rks and Transport in appreciating procurement ethics and thus improving quality of product and services offered by the ministry. †¢ The research will also contribute knowledge as literature review to researchers interested in the same area of research. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction: This chapter deals with review of the related literature on the study of the variables specifically procurement ethics and quality of products procured in the public sector in Uganda. . 1Ethics Moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity, It can also be described as the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principle (oxford dictionary 2001). Ethics can also be described as principle of conduct governing an individual or a profession. (Webster’s third new international dictionary) (According to Kenneth Lyson 2006) Ethics is the principle of conduct governing an individual or groups, concern for what is right or wrong, good or bad. 2. 1. Procurement Ethics The main principle of procurement ethics are impartiality or objectivity, openness and full disclosure, confidentiality, due diligence, competence and duty of care, fidelity professional responsibility, avoiding potential or apparent conflict of interest. These can be characterized by accountability, responsiveness, professionalism, transparency, open competition, confidentiality, non discrimination and fair play. (Kenneth Lyson 2006). 2. 2How Ethics is ensured in Public ProcurementEthics in the ministry of works and transport has been ensured through a put in place code of ethical conduct in business which must be signed by employees which is listed below 1. Employees shall not use their authority for personal gain and shall seek to uphold and uphold reputation of the Ugandan government. 2. Employees shall reveal any personal interest that may impinge or might be deemed by others to impinge on employee’s business dealing. 3. (i) Employee’s sha ll respect the confidentiality of information received in the course of business dealing and shall never use such information for personal gain. ii) Information given by employees in the course of business dealing shall be true and fair and not designed to mislead. 4. Employees shall avoid any business arrangement that might prevent effective operation of fair competitive. 5. Employees shall not accept business gifts from current or potential government suppliers. 6. Employees shall refrain from any business hospitality that might be viewed by others as having an influence in making a government business decision. public procurement and disposal of public asset authority act 2003) Also there deterrent measures put in place by the (public procurement and disposal authority act 2003)to ensure ethics are maintained in the government ministries like ministry of works and transport where in section 95 a list of offences are listed like colluding to commit fraudulent or corrupt act, exert ing undue influence on any officer or employee, refusal to answer summons and on conviction one is liable to a fine of 250 currency point and each currency is worth 20,000 Uganda shillings or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or both. . 3Ethical Issues in Procurement. 2. 3. 1Corruption One of the major factors that affect quality of products procured in the public sector is corruption; few activities create greater temptation or offer more opportunities for corruption than the public sector procurement. Hardly a day will pass by without another major scandalous public procurement activity in the papers (Pope 2000).For example in the ministry of works and transport out of the 91 billion offered for construction of roads during the common wealth heads of government meeting 21 billion was lost due to corruption by the officers in the ministry (Parliamentary accounts committee report 2009). The main purpose of the procurement procedure is to ensure openness to all stakehol ders involved in the procurement exercises. (Robert 1988) argues that corruption can be equated to the formulae = (M + D – A) where corruption equals to monopoly, discretion minus accountability. J M Ntayi 2009) on the other hand notes that corruption in least developed countries occurs when there is motive and opportunity, corruption is a crime of opportunity, the opportunity being institution inefficiencies. Corruption procurement is â€Å"grand† and at alarming levels, the integrity and ethics of procurement staff and those helping out with technical activities is highly questioned since they do not seem to adhere to any code of ethical conduct to guide there ethical responsibilities.According to (Wade 1995) corruption may increase transaction cost by 50%. A purchaser who wants violate the law has a couple of opportunities in his possession through which he can manipulate the process in a desired direction, these include arranging the composition of a tended in such a way that one may avoid the application of tendering procedures above the threshold and instead use simplified procedures including designing the technical specification or terms of reference to favor a certain product or service or to exclude potential bidders.Others are including the award criteria in tender evaluation which are completely irrelevant to the actual procurement and evidently discriminatory towards certain suppliers. Manipulation of the process can include using non- open tendering procedures such as restricted procedure or direct procurement , designing contract arrangement with obvious ambition to favor a certain suppliers, accepting false information and misleading documentation from bidders and manipulation of the decision making process (Westring and jadoun 2001).The (World Bank report 2000) rates public procurement as an area of government activity in which the risk of corruption are very high. The World Bank further asserts that to offer total solutions whic h would continue to deliver advantages and to be responsible to the future needs of clients the key strength lie in the skills and professionalism of staff. This requires the ability to gain a close understanding of the clients business through training and capacity building.It should be noted that corruption in procurement is not exclusive domain of the buyer who controls the purse strings but the supplier or contractor who makes an unsolidated offer can easily initiate it, corruption in procurement also takes form of tailoring specification to favor particular supplier restricting information about contracting opportunities and creating situations of emergencies and urgency so as to use single source bidding simultaneously supplier can corrupt the procurement process by colluding to fix bid prices offering bribes and interfering in the evaluation process and thus affecting quality of goods, works and supplies procured ( Pope 2000). The most frequent source of corruption public pro curement takes the form of commissions paid or purchased items to officials in the procurement process.This practice threatens sound decision making by those involved in the procurement process for the higher commissions the better the opportunities of purchasing from the firm and thus affecting quality of goods, works and supplies (Vinold journal of trade 2001). The recipients of clandestine money in the case of government contracts are not only public officials but also members of parliament, political parties and their office bearer. The national laws allow such contributions provided the payment are disclosed and are made without expectation of favors, in practice however the business firms making such payments try to obtain assurances from the recipient that they would helped by persuading the government the take decisions that would benefit there companies (Vinold journal of world trade, 2001).The (Inspector general of government report 2005) further shows that there has been persistent flouting of the laid down procedures and guidelines by procuring entities. This has resulted into colossal loss of high sums of public funds and the procurement of goods, works and supplies that barely meet their intended objectives. 2. 3. 2Conflict of Interest (According to Pope 2000) conflict of interest in procurement is the order of the day. This arises when people in the public sector are influenced by personal and financial consideration when doing their jobs thereby influencing their decisions. Decisions are made for the wrong reasons in favor of people to whom they are close thus impairing the objectivity and independence of their judgments on quality specifications.In procurement when handling a tender, all conflict should be noted recorded and the official involved should then exclude themselves from further involvement in the tender awarding decisions. (Pope 2000) further asserts that the procurement process should have clearly stated and well understood polici es and procedures as well as written codes of conduct to deal with actual, potential and perceived conflict of interest. He is of the view that if a relative is unquestionably the best evaluated bidder they shall be awarded the tender if the correct procedure is followed. In the ministry of works and transport there is a precision for directing sourcing to favor one company supplying every time there is a conflict of interest either among the officers involved in procurement or when there is olitical pressure coming from above for example the ministry in 2007 opted to lease vehicles at a cost of 4. 17 billion shillings from motor care Uganda limited for use for a short period of times rather than buying vehicles from motor spears at a cost of shillings 6 billion of which the vehicles would have been completely purchased by the ministry this was a result of cabinet ministers interest in the purchase of the goods (Parliamentary account committee report 2009) Leakage of information dur ing the tendering process is a serious ethical procurement issue. This is where some officers leak information to their preferred bidder in advance of the advertisement and afford them an advantage in the preparation of bids. Celentani and Ganuza 1989) consider a procurement problem when potential bidder have private information about their production cost since the procurement agent is also in charge of verifying delivered quality in exchange for a bribe, they argue that the agent can allow an arbitrary firm to be awarded the realization of the project and to produce a quality level lower than announced. According to (Strombom 2001) government procurement contracts for construction project such as airports deems and highways generate immense opportunities for bribes, kickbacks and other payoffs and this is the reason for the below par works done by the firms awarded the contracts. 2. 3. 3Donor InterestDonor interest sometimes hinders the best practices in procurement, in cases wher e donor favor firms from their own countries of origin even though there are other firms that can offer superior quality products. In cases of big construction and other contracts even after tenders are issued, pressure is applied by foreign government at a high political level for the contracts to be awarded to their companies it is common to hold out a promise for additional provisions of financial aid if the contract is awarded to them (Vinold journal of world trade, 2001). Procuring can conclude with contractors by omitting required advertisement or calling for bids with shortened bids submission periods.Splitting of contracts can be done to avoid exceeding threshold set by the tender boards. 2. 3. 4Delayment of Funds The ( Inspector general of government report 2002) stipulates that the lack of funds on a timely basis from ministry of finance planning and economic development has also led to procurement malpractices procuring entities claim they cannot advertise tender when the y are not sure of the availability of funds from the ministry of finance, planning and economic development so when the funds are received later procurement procedures are not followed in the acquisition of goods, works and services resulting in low quality of goods works and services purchased.Entities usually cite cash flow constraint and therefore end up splitting amount which would require different methods of purchasing, contract for such suppliers are usually renewed extended for much longer period these unethical practices are the reason why the government keeps on procuring low quality goods which do not meet their objectives as a result of lack of competition in the tendering process. 2. 4 Quality (International standard organization) ISO defines quality as the totality of feature and characteristics of a product that bears on the ability to satisfy stated or implied needs and they go ahead to give dimensions of quality as performance, reliability serviceability conformance durability aesthetics and perceives quality. 2. 4. 1Quality of Products (According to Garvin 2007) quality of a product procured can be seen through five approaches which are as follows: Transcendent approach; quality is absolute and universally recognizable. The oncept is closely related to comparison of product attributes and characteristics. Product based approach; quality is a precise and measurable variable in this approach difference in quality reflects difference in quality of some product characteristics. User based approach; quality is defined in terms of fitness for use or how well the product fulfills its intended functions. Manufacturing based approach; quality is conformance to specification that is targets and tolerance determined by product designers. Value based approach; quality is determined in terms of cost and prices, here a quality products one that provides performance at an acceptable price or conformance to an acceptable cost.Quality is therefore determined by balancing technical consideration such as fitness for use performance safety and reliability with economic factors including price and availability it is therefore the optimum quality for the application that should be sought rather than the highest quality. Quality of goods procured can be determined by if they meet technical specification, delivery, environmentally sound, quality assurance, and accuracy of documentation speed of response and customer service. 2. 4. 2Determinants of Quality According to (Kelly and Male 2003) the following are the determinants of quality in purchasing Customer satisfaction; another benchmark for quality is the ability to meet customer expectation or even exceeds them. Conformance to specification; a product is be deemed to have high quality if it conform the specification spelt like design, size, color, weight.Product attributes: This is what leads to certain dimension of qualities for example performance, features, reliability, serviceability, d urability safety and aesthetics. Budget cost; a product is deemed to be of quality if it is within cost and its performance is at an acceptable cost. Timing; product quality can also be determined by the time which it is delivered on, is it at the right time that was specified or has the product delivery been delayed. Leadership; how is the executive team and all the managers inspiring and ensuring total quality for continuous improvement in the organization. Goals/policy; how the companies goals and policies reflect the principle of total quality of products. 2. 4. Public Procurement and Effective Quality Products and Service Delivery. Effective procurement practices are defined as those systems offering a high level transparency, accountability and value for money. (Ministry of defense procurement handout, 2004). The principle aim of procurement should be to obtain goods and services of the right quality in the right quantity from the right source, delivered to the right place and at the least cost and price (Lyson 2000 Telgen 2007). Successful and efficient procurement practices are those that meet the need of customer’s achieve optimum condition and value in regard to allocating of scarce tax payers resources (J. M Ntayi 2009).The practice needs a labor force with effective management skills that develop clear and professional specifications with full knowledge of a competitive process negotiation and monitoring skill. (Hunja Steane et al 2003) continues to say that procurement system implemented with sound management practices in place ensure successful quality and service delivery to stakeholders. The sound practices demand that those responsible for implementing procurement should ensure that the objectives are clear and that quality is sustained (Walker and Sidwell 1996) continues to say performance quality should not be measure on the basis of time and cost only but also quality of product and services as well as other relevant measures.Accordi ng to research done assessing competitive procurement procedures, findings indicate that it is a fact that competition in public procurement does improve efficiency and effectiveness. Competition is the tenet of a free market economy and it is the basis for cost effective purchasing quality and timeliness. It keeps providers on their toes it is an incentive for innovation improvement in quality and reduction in cost in improves proper allocation of government resources, high quality and timely procurement and budgetary saving. (Lemke 2003) 2. 5Public Procurement Acquisition by purchase, rental, lease, hire purchase, license, tenancy franchise or any other contractual means of goods or services by the government. (Telgen 1998). 2. 5. 1Procurement in the Ministry of Work and TransportPublic procurement is a powerful instrument for the transformation and realization of social economic goals and open and competitive public procurement and contracting procedure begins with the government description of its requirement and initiation of suppliers to indicate their interest in the contract and there professional capacity to fulfill it. (Sigma policy brief 2000). The government identifies potential suppliers and invites them to submit bids. The process must ensure that supplier can infarct meet the specification of product quality, delivery dates and continuity. After the bidding phase most procurement system require a public declaration of competitors names and bid price of the successful bidder (Sigma policy brief 2000). The procurement cycle is often high complex process.There is a series of closely interrelated activities between the initial identification of needs and the final delivery of quality product and services which requires coordination and quality control to achieve the best value. However this can be undermined by unethical practices by the officers in the procuring entity. (Westing and jadoun 1996) Effective procurement is considered to be a key strat egic management tool in driving down cost and improving operational efficiency while ineffective procurement wastes money resources and time (Westing and Jadoun 1996). 2. 5. 2Procurement Cycle in the Ministry of Works and Transport The following are the procurement procedures that are followed in the ministry of works and transport as per the guidelines issued by the (public procurement and disposal of public assets authority 2003). ) Procurement plan and budget: this procedure is undertaken by the user department, procurement unit, board/ council and the accounting officer. b) Procurement requisition: This is the responsibility of the user department c) Confirmation of available funds; the accounting officer is the one to undertake the function. d) Review of specification, procurement methods; potential supply market procurement method evaluation criteria and potential supply market. This is the duty of the procurement unit and the user department. e) Procurement methods approval; is the responsibilities of the contracts committee. f) Preparation of bidding documents; this roles is played by the procurement unit. ) Approval of bidding documents ;This role is played by the contracts committee h) Advertisement and invitation of bids; the advertisement is done by the procurement unit and it should be in a newspaper of wide circulation. i) Receipt and opening of bids this is the procedure is undertaken by the procurement unit but it must be done in front of bidders. j) Evaluation of bids; the evaluation of bids is the role of the procurement unit and the user department which will provide technical inputs. k) Review of evaluation report ;this is the responsibility of the contracts committee l) Award of contract; this is the responsibility of the contracts committee.. ) Signing of contract, communication of awards, administrative review; this is the work of the accounting officer he does this on behalf of all the members of procuring disposing entity. n) Contract management and monitoring; the responsibilities of contract management and monitoring fall to the user department and procurement unit the user department shall report any departure from the contract by bidders. o) Contract performance evaluation and report; the duties will be performed by the user department and the procurement unit. 2. 5. 3Procurement Methods Followed in the Ministry of Works and Transport The following are some of the methods of procurement that are used in the ministry of works and transport to ensure quality products are purchasedOpen domestic bidding; this method is open to participation on equal terms by all providers through advertisement of procurement or disposal opportunity. Open international bidding; this method is open to participation on equal terms by all providers through advertisement of the procurement disposal activity and which specifically seeks to attract foreign providers. Restricted domestic bidding; is the procurement or disposal method whe re bids are obtained by direct invitation without open advertisement. Restricted international bidding; is the procurement or disposal procedure where bids are obtained by direct invitation without open advertisement and the invited bidders include foreign providers.Quotations and proposals are simplified procurement and disposal method which compare price quotation obtained from a number of providers. Direct procurement is a sole source procurement disposal method which shall be used for very low value requirement. Micro procurement this method is used for very low value procurement requirement. The above methods are recommended by the (public procurement and disposal authority act 2003). According to J M Ntayi (2009) the continuing preference by the ministry of works and transport for direct procurement and micro procurement has hindered competition and thus affecting quality of products and resulting in increased cost. 2. 6Effects of Unethical Procurement According to the parliam entary account committee on common wealth heads of government meeting report 2009)The following are some of the effects of unethical procurement – Poor quality of materials purchased. – There will be inflated prices. – Loss of government funds. – Slows down economic in economic development of a country. 2. 7Conclusion: In conclusion, the ministry of works and transport is falling behind in implementing effective procurement of quality product as a result of increasing discriminatory and non transparent means of procurement that do not favor accountability this was highlighted in the research by (Edgar Agbar and Niegel shipman 2006) titled public procurement reforms in developing countries.According to them public procurement and disposal of public assets authority act (PPDA ACT 2003) gives the organization the mandate for the following functions advisory, data management, capacity building and audit function so as to improve good governance fight corrupti on and promote economic development and thus make key changes in procurement in Uganda and thus helping improve government function in the statutory bodies, central government and local government, However the organization is not autonomous enough to ensure implementation.. CHAPTER THREE Introduction: This chapter discusses how the study will be carried out. It discusses the research design the sampling design, sources of the data, data collection methods, tools, data processing, analysis, and presentation. 3. 1 Research Design The design used will be cross section study where data will be gathered just once over a period of time in the ministry of works and transport ranging from the period (2000-2010).The research will use descriptive research design which describes the phenomenon it will be undertaken in order to ascertain and be able to describe the characteristics of variables of interest. The research sought to explain the relationship between procurement ethics and quality of products procured in the ministry of works and transport. 3. 2 Survey Population The survey population will include the management and employees of the purchasing function and firms offering technical expertise to the purchasing function, the survey population were of 60 people. 3. 3 Sampling Design Purposive and simple random sampling without replacement will be used. 3. 3. Sampling Size The sample size using the krejcie and Morgan (1970) method will be of 37 members, where the sample will be from the ministry of works and transport and consultant firms offering technical expertise. Table 1: Showing Sample Size |Sample group |Sample size | |Procurement office |25 | |Technical experts |12 | |Total |37 | Source: primary data. 3. Source of Data 3. 4. 1Primary Data Primary data will be obtained from the ministry of works and transport through the use of interviews and questionnaires. 3. 4. 2Secondary Data Secondary data will be obtained from the already existing information both inter nal sources which are found within the organization and external sources were collected from publication and journals. 3. 5Data Collection Methods 3. 5. 1Observation The researcher intends to use none controlled non participant observation where the researcher will not participate and will watch everything from a distance while watching the researcher will be noting down the phenomenon. 3. 5. 2SurveyThis will be done through collecting information about the variables that is procurement ethics and the quality of products procured in the ministry of works and transport and technical experts in the sample. 3. 6Data Collection Instrument 3. 6. 1Questionnaire Semi structured questionnaires will be distributed to respondents who will be given time to answer them and return them for solving and analyzing by the researcher. 3. 6. 2Documentary review Secondary data will be obtained from reading already existing notes and taking notes of materials that is related to the research and a conclu sion was reached from them. 3. 6. 3Interview guide, Informal interviews will be conducted using open ended questions the interview guide will help the researcher to carry out dialogue that is meaningful. 3. Data Processing Analysis and Presentation 3. 7. 1Data processing. The researchers after gathering the data will edit code classify and tabulate the data. 3. 7. 2Data analysis. The researcher will use computer programs like Microsoft excel and (SPSS) statistical package for social sciences. This will result in computation of certain measures finding the relationships transforming and modeling data in order to highlight useful information. 3. 7. 3 Data presentation. The researcher will put the results of the research into graphs charts and tables into visual way of looking of data. CHAPTER FOUR PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS, DISCUSSION AND INTERPRETATION Introduction:This chapter presents analysis done in relation to the study objectives and research questions in chapter one, of this re port under the topic procurement ethics and quality of products procured in the public sector case study of ministry of public works and transport. 4. 1Demographic Characteristics of Respondents Table 2: Showing response rate of respondents |Response |Frequency |Percentage (%) | |Actual response |33 |89. 2 | |Non response |4 |10. 8 | |Total questionnaires issued |37 |100 | Source primary data: Table 2: According to Table 2 above it shows that out of the questionnaires issued the number of response was 89. % which is a good response rate which one can depend on to make conclusion and recommendation and the non response was 10. 8% Table 3: Showing the age of the respondents |Age |Frequency |Percentage (%) | |20-29 |13 |39. 4 | |30-39 |8 |24. 2 | |40-49 |6 |18. 2 | |50 and above |6 |18. 2 | |Total |23 |100 | Source: primary dataMost respondents were in the age group 20-29 comprising 39. 4 % followed by age bracket 30-39 with 24. 2% with the age bracket 40-49 and 50 and above both compr ising 18. 2% this implies that most of the employees are aged 40 years and below. Chart 1: Showing gender of the respondents [pic] Source: primary data According to chart 1 above most of the respondents were male comprising 57. 5% and only 42. 5% of the respondents were female this implies more males are employed than females. Table 4: Showing the Level of Education |Level of education |Frequency |Percentage (%) | |Certificate |3 |9. | |Diploma |9 |27. 3 | |Degree |14 |42. 4 | |Post graduate |6 |18. 2 | |Others |1 |3 | |Total |33 |100 | Source: primary data From table 4 above the level of education was found to be as follows those holding a certificate in procurement were 9. 1%, 27. % of the respondents were diploma holders while majority of the respondents were degree holders 42. 4% with 18. 2% being post graduates while 3% were holding other qualification Table 5: Showing Marital status |Marital status |Frequency |Percentage (%) | |Single |14 |42. 5 | |Married |18 |54. 5 | |Widowe d or divorced |1 |3. 0 | |Total |33 |100. 0 | Source: primary data From the above table 42. % of the respondents were single while 54. 5% are married with 3% being widowed or divorced this shows that most employees working for the organization are married. Table 6: Showing how long one has worked for the Organization |Number of years worked |Frequency |Percentage (%) | |Below 5 years |14 |42. 4 | |Between 5 and 10 years |11 |33. 3 | |Between 11 and 15 years |5 |15. 2 | |Above 15 years |3 |9. | |Total |33 |100. 0 | Source: primary data From the above table showing the number of years the respondents has worked for the organization 42. 4% have worked there for below 5 years, 33. 3% have worked for the organization between 5 and 10 years and 15. 2% have worked for the ministry between 11 and 15 years while 9. 1 % of the respondents have worked for the organization above 15 years. 62 Findings on how products are purchased in the organization Chart 2: Findings if purchase requisition use d are from the user unit [pic] Source: Primary data From chart 2 above it indicates that 36. % of the respondents strongly agreed that purchase requisition from user units are used, 45. 5%agree that purchase requisition from user units are used while 6. 1% are not sure with 12. 1% disagreeing that requisition from user units are used while none of the respondents disagreed this means that purchase requisitions are used. Table 7: showing whether purchase requisition are handled on time |Response |Frequency |Percentage (%) | |Strongly agree |2 |6. 1 | |Agree |13 |39. | |Not sure |8 |24. 2 | |Disagree |7 |21. 2 | |Strongly disagree |3 |9. 1 | |Total |33 |100 | Source: primary data From table 7 above 6. 1% strongly agree there is handling of requisition on time while 39. 4% agree that requisitions are handled on time 24. 2% are not sure whether requisition are handled on time while 21. 2 disagrees with 9. strongly disagreeing this means that purchase requisitions are not handled on time Chart 3: Showing whether PPDA procedure is followed [pic] Source primary data From chart 3 above 21. 2% strongly agree that PPDA procedure are followed 42. 4% agree that PPDA procedures are followed 12. 7 % are not sure whether PPDA procedure is adhered to with 21. 2% disagreeing that PPDA procedures are followed while 30% strongly disagreeing with the statement this implies that PPDA procedure are followed Table 8: Showing whether procedures followed helps in procuring quality products |Response |Frequency |Percentage (%) | |Strongly agree |11 |33. | |Agree |15 |45. 4 | |Not sure |6 |18. 2 | |Disagree |1 |9. 1 | |Strongly disagree |0 |0 | |Total |33 |100 | Source: primary data According to table 8 above 33. 3 % of the respondents strongly agree that procurement procedure followed result in procuring of quality goods with 45. 4% agreeing also, 18. % of the respondents are not sure whether the procedures followed results in procuring quality goods while 9. 1 % disagree with none of the respondents strongly disagreeing this implies that the procedure followed results in procuring quality products. Table 9: Showing whether products procured are of quality |Response |Frequency |Percentage (%) | |Strongly agree |9 |27. 3 | |Agree |13 |39. 3 | |Not sure |6 |18. | |Disagree |4 |18. 2 | |Strongly disagree |1 |3. 0 | |Total |33 |100 | Source: primary data From the findings in table 9 above27. 3% of the respondents strongly agree that products procured are of quality,39. 3% also agree that the products procured are of quality while 18. 2% are not sure 12. 7% of the respondents disagree goods procured are of quality while 3. 0% strongly disagree.Most employee’s think that me reason goods, being procured now are now are of quality is because of the PPDA procedure’s put in place this implies that products procured are of quality. 4. 3 Findings on causes of unethical practice in procurement Chart 4: Showing relationship between ethics and procurement [pic] So urce: primary data The presentation from chart 4 above shows that there is a relationship between ethics and procurement because 91% of the respond agreed with the statement while 9% stated that there is no relationship, They gave the main reason being that that an ethical person is willing always to conducts himself in a moral way and this guides procurement. Ethics was defined by many as a discipline governing conduct in on organization.Table 10: showing whether weak enforcement measure of procurement law contributes to unethical practice |Response |Frequency |Percentage (%) | |Strongly agree |9 |27. 3 | |Agree |14 |42. 4 | |Not sure |2 |6. 0 | |Disagree |4 |12. 1 | |Strongly disagree |4 |12. | |Total |33 |100 | Source: primary data According to the results of table 10 above 27. 3% of the respondents thought that weak enforcement measure of the law contributed to unethical practices with 42. 4% agreeing while 6. 0% were not sure 12. 1% disagreed and 12. 1% strongly disagreed this indicates that weak enforcement measures of the law contributes to unethical practices. Table 11: Showing whether moral degradation in the society is a cause of unethical conducts |Response |Frequency |Percentage (%) | |Strongly agree |8 |24. | |Agree |10 |30. 3 | |Not sure |7 |21. 2 | |Disagree |5 |15. 2 | |Strongly disagree |3 |9. 1 | |Total |33 |100 | Source: primary data Results from table 11 above shows that 24. 2% of the population strongly agreed that moral degradation in the society causes unethical conduct with 30. % agreeing while 21. 2% were not sure with 21. 2 disagreeing that moral degradation in society causes unethical conduct and 9. 1% strongly disagreed this means that the respondents agree that moral degradation of the society contributes to unethical conduct. Chart 5: Showing how low pay has contributed to unethical practices. [pic] Source: primary data According to the presentation in chart 5 above, 45. 5% of the respondents agreed that low pay has contributed to unethical practices with 15. 1% not being sure and 9. 1% disagreeing non of the respondent strongly disagreed that low pay does not cause unethical practices this indicates that 90. % of the respondents agree that low pay contributes to unethical practices. Table 12: Showing whether unethical practice of bidder contributes to unethical conduct by staff |Response |Frequency |Percentage (%) | |Strongly agree |10 |30. 3 | |Agree |10 |30. 3 | |Not sure |4 |12. 1 | |Disagree |6 |18. | |Strongly disagree |3 |9. 1 | |Total |33 |100 | Source: Primary data According to the results in table 12 above, 30. 3% of the respondents strongly agreed that unethical practice of bidder contributes to unethical practice of employees with 30. 3% also agreeing while 12. 1% were not sure. 18. 2% disagreed that unethical practice of leader contributes to unethical practice of employees while 9. 1% strongly disagreed this gives the implication that conduct of bidder can affect the conduct of procurement staf f.Some of unethical practices cited by the respondents include corruption, favoritism, fraud, extortion and sexual harassment, bribery with the respondents citing greed, low payment, and lack of effective reporting system as the main causes of unethical practices 4. 4Findings on the relationship between ethics and quality of goods procured Chart 6: Findings if there is relationship between ethics and quality of goods procured [pic] Source: Primary Data Most of the respondents from the findings of chart 6 above agreed that there is a relationship between ethics and quality of goods procured comprising 94% while 6% stated that there was no relationship. According to the respondents when one is ethical it results to award of bids to best evaluated bidders and that the procurement procedures will be adhered to resulting to procurement of quality goodsTable 13: showing whether the organization code of ethics contributes to quality products being procured |Response |Frequency |Percentage (%) | |Strongly agree |9 |27. 3 | |Agree |11 |33. 3 | |Not sure |6 |18. 2 | |Disagree |4 |12. 1 | |Strongly disagree |3 |9. | |Total |33 |100 | Source: primary data From table 13 above, 27. 3% strongly agree that the organization code of ethics contribute to quality products being produced with 33. 3% agreeing while 18. 2% of the respondents were not sure, 12. 1% of the respondents disagree that the organization code of ethics has contributed to procuring of quality products with 9. 1% strongly disagreeing this implies that organization code of ethics contributes to procurement of quality products. Table 14: showing whether suppliers meet organization specification of quality products Response |Frequency |Percentage (%) | |Strongly agree |7 |21. 2 | |Agree |14 |42. 4 | |Not sure |4 |12. 1 | |Disagree |5 |15. 2 | |Strongly disagree |3 |9. 1 | |Total |33 |100 | Source primary dataThe results in table 14 show that 42. 4 % of the respondents agree that suppliers meet organization specif ication with 21. 2% strongly agreeing while 12. 1% are not sure. 15. 2% of the respondents disagree that suppliers meet organization specification with 9. 1% strongly disagreeing this indicates that suppliers meet specification Table 15: showing whether unethical practice staff has resulted in procurement poor quality products. |Response |Frequency |Percentage % | |Strongly agree |10 |30. | |Agree |14 |42. 4 | |Not sure |4 |12. 1 | |Disagree |3 |9. 1 | |Strongly disagree |2 |6. 1 | |Total |33 |100 | Source: primary data From table 15 above 30. % of the respondents strongly agreed that unethical practice of staff have resulted in procurement of poor quality products with 42. 4% agreeing while 12. 1% were not sure. 9. 1% of the respondents disagreed that unethical practice of employees does not lead to procurement of poor quality products with 9. 1 strongly disagreeing this means that unethical practice of staff contributes to procuring poor quality products. Chart 7: showing wheth er organization have a mean of checking unethical practice of employees. [pic] Source primary data: According to the presentation in chart 7 above 27. 3% of the respondents strongly agree that the organization has a means of checking unethical practice with 48. 5% agreeing, 6. % of the respondents are not sure. With 12. 1% of the respondents disagreeing that the organization has a means of checking unethical conduct of employees with 12. 1% strongly disagreeing this implies the organization has means of checking unethical practice of employees. 4. 5Ethics in the Organization An interview with the employees of the procurement Department in the Ministry of Works and Transport (MOWT) the researcher found out that the PPDA act and regulation section 49 and 87 respectively