The Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology

Good afternoon everyone. The topic for our debate is that technology is making us less alienated, more sociable and more human. We, the negative team believe this statement is true. The first speaker Lily of the affirmative team has tried to tell you that†¦ this is wrong because†¦ the second speaker Lin of the affirmative team has tried to tell you that†¦ this is wrong because†¦ the third speaker of the affirmative team Moha has tried to tell you that†¦ this is wrong because†¦ our first speaker Bob has told you that†¦ he also spoke to you about†¦ our second speaker MB has told you that†¦ e lso spoke to you about†¦ our third speaker Ahemed has told you that †¦ he also spoke to you about†¦ so, in conclusion, our team†¦. We cannot escape from the absolute need of technology in our daily life. We are so dependent on technology that we cannot do without them. Starting from computers to keeping fit, we require technology at e very step. Technology helps us to keep in touch with people who are away from us. We use the telephones and computers to talk to them and even see them. Our daily office work is also technology based. No longer do people use the pen and paper to complete their work.We maintain our health by going to the gyms. There are machines in the gym which help us reduce our weight and keep fit. The use of technology has made our life comfortable. We cannot think of a life sans technology. We get to keep a lot of information in a small device and use it when we like. Cars have also become better with the use of technology. Thus technology is undeniably an important of our life. Communication has been made easier for example the internet has brought email and chatting facilities. Instead of sending letters to respective destinations, it is very easy to send an email which will be received instantly.

‘No Dialects Please’ by Merle Collins Essay

Task: Using any literary or linguistic approach with which you are familiar, write about how the impressions of the speakers are created in the poem ‘No Dialects Please’ by Merle Collins. The poem takes the form of a reply to a competition â€Å"looking for poetry of worth† but the entry requirements, to the discus of this writer who is of African origin, state they must use â€Å"NO DIALECTS PLEASE†. In response the poem is written in the African accent, using phonetic structures of words, and including dialectical vocabulary but still containing a point both strong and emotive giving the poem the ability to fit the requirement for, â€Å"poetry of worth for a writin that could wrap up a feelin an fling it back hard with the captive power to choke de stars†. This is done in the poem, which tells of the writer’s feelings due to the suggestion that a dialect could not meet these requirements for poetry. Throughout the writers feelings are conveyed to the reader and are obviously strong, making the poetry that of the category which the competition was looking for which was exemplified by the powerful metaphor â€Å"captive power to choke the stars†. The feelings in the poem are clear, disgust, outrage and even pain due to the competition’s lack of respect for her dialect, which indicates their lack of respect for the writer’s culture, a feature the writer relates back to the slave trade. In the poems graphology two main characteristics indicate the emotions of the writer. The use of uppercase characters and explanation marks indicate an exaggeration in the tone of the words, for instance â€Å"AFRICAN SLAVES PLEASE!† The presence of this exaggeration indicates the disbelief of the write at the statements, which is further demonstrated by the presence of the â€Å"please† at the end of most the statements acting as a softener to the command prior as a pathetic attempt to prevent the insult that the writer feels. Another simple way that feelings are conveyed is through evaluative adjectives in the direct speech of the writer provided by the monologue form, for example when the writer is speaking about the lack of knowledge the British population has about the history of their language she says, â€Å"how dis British education mus really be narrow† The strength of the writer’s feeling can also be seen in the syntactical repetition of â€Å"Is not only dat ah think†, throughout the second verse and the pattern of three in the third verse, â€Å"bout a culture o we own a language o we own a identity o we own† The writer also says, â€Å"But if dat not enough pain for a body to bear†, indicating the suffering she feels is almost unbearable causing her a great amount of suffering. The writer’s defiance from the English when she states, â€Å"Make me ha to go and start up a language o me own† shows she feels like she does not want to be included when they are told, â€Å"We’re all British!†, but would rather have her own culture conveyed through her language including her dialect. Overall the whole poem acts as an example to show how the competition is wrong to remove dialect from poems, as it will prevent the conveyed feelings to be received by the audience. This is done by the whole poem being in the writers dialect but still being intelligently, shown by the cohesion and educated lexis, and effectively powerful.

Ethical Theory of Karl Marx Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethical Theory of Karl Marx - Term Paper Example A significant portion of the great ethical theories developed by Karl Marx, were the reflection of the social environment, and were directly related to the manner in which the society functioned during those times (Truitt, 2005). The views of Marx with regard to ethics and morality have been an issue of debate among researchers and scholars alike, since a considerable period of time. Various researchers have debated Marx's preference for ethics, and have rejected the claims suggesting that he had no ethics or morality. In fact, he is known to have developed a scientific approach, which seeks to achieve the desired objectives in a morally neutral manner. However according to some others, he pioneered and conceived the idea of ethics based on his observations in the society. The same can be documented with the help of the following: "The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas: i.e., the class, which is the ruling material force of society, is, at the same time, i ts ruling intellectual force. The class that has the means of material production at its disposal has control at the same time over the means of mental production so that, thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of material production are subject to it. The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas". (Truitt, 2005, Pp. 42) According to some authors, Marxism is starkly different as compared to other socialist systems, which is highly synonymous with its anti-ethical approach. They believe that there is no mention or presence of ethics in his ideologies, and hence no form of ethical judgment (Tucker, 1971). The ethical ideology as proposed by Karl Marx has become obsolete today, due to the application of historical materialism in a socialist society. The laws governed by morality and ethics were introduced to resolve issues related to social antagonism, but at the same time retaining the b asic objectives through moral intimidation. The demands related to ethical doctrines, symbolizes the acknowledgment that the said perspectives do not lead to / encourage social antagonisms. Marx’s revolutionary ideologies with regard to philosophy overtly rejected the conventional normative philosophical ethics and at the same time, asserted the legacy of a constructive science (Hodges, 1962). Thus on the basis of the facts presented by several authors, it was claimed by many that Marx did not endorse ethics in his theories, as the basic element of ethics was missing in most of his works. Moreover, according to them the theories put forward by Marx, hardly reflected his preference to and attitude towards ethics and morality. This perspective was also challenged by several authors. They believed that the instances quoted by other authors to reject Marx’s attitude towards ethics and morality, and dismiss the same on those grounds, reflected a highly empiricist notion of science. However, it is highly doubtful to assume that Marx indeed in fact, endorse such a notion of science. In order to better understand the claims made by Marx, they could be studied in the light of those made by Hegel, with regard to science, since his views were largely influenced by those of the latter. Also, it was argued that Marx was not a scientist but a philosopher, and hence expecting him to be impartial and unflustered in his writings and observations would be a far-fetched idea. This claim could be

Communication Theory Applying Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Communication Theory Applying - Essay Example Many theories try to explain the enigma of relationships. The rules theory tries to understand the expectations that the two entities of a relationship have for their partner and how it affects relationships (Baxter, 289). The phenomenon of heterosexual relationships is uncovered through exploring the rules of interaction in relationships. Two research areas have been covered to try to decipher the rules of interaction and breakup. The two areas include the study of interaction rules, and the study of closed relationships. Here, the studies are carried out using information accounts of couples on why their relationships broke up. The study employed of the accounts given by the couples, the most prominent reason given was it was due to relationship rules when one party deviated from the norms of this set of rules since couples feel that the partner is obligate to fulfill these expectations (Miller, 171). In this study, we also realize that relationship differ with commitment. Expectat ions for couples in a marriage and a romantic relationship out of marriage are different. Complains of this two relationships are different since the roles of the parties are different in the two. Therefore, the reasons for their breakups are also significantly different. It is also revealed that women are more pragmatic on in relationship than males. Males are said to be entertain more the notion of true love and romance. They entertain fantasies on love and relationships than their female counterparts (Young, 4). The Structural Theory in Work Communication theories are also applicable in trying to understand the formation, and functions of structures in the society. The structural theory is a vital theory in trying to understand how societal hierarchies work and how they are formed. In theories of communication and sociology, structural theory is defined as the formation of social issues using the analysis of two factors that include structures and agents that lead to the formatio n of these structures. These two factors are indistinguishable in that they are a prerequisite of each other. Although the structure theory is considered complex, it gives valuable insight of work and life balance in an organization (Hoffman, Renee, 206). Communication is a key element, in the formation of societal structures and this is evident through the structural theory. In societies, structures are crucial since, without structures in place: there will be anarchy. It is in human nature to look for a leader, hence leading to the formation of a command chain. This translates to all areas of the human life, from the family to bigger social groupings like communities. These structures are also employed in the workplace where there is a structure of authority (Gilsdorf, 25). Structures come as result of the interaction between resources and rules. Rules are predetermined guidelines that may be learned through life’s experience or may be official (Giddens, 455).rules guide ou r actions in work, certain rules are expected to be followed, for example, an employee should never miss work without permission. This is an example of an official rule. In this theory, recourses are a prominent determinant of power. Another important factor to consider in the structure of life is the duality in life. Life always has two sides to it, in the workplace; we have the employer and employee. In the workplace, the employer is rarely willing to make exceptions for the employee. The

Pornography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Pornography - Essay Example Lynne uses his experience as a civil rights campaigner, and his understanding of the constitution, to argue that those who make and use pornography have unalienable constitutional rights. By approaching pornography in this manner, Lynn challenges previous defenses of this subject, who have mainly focused upon aspects of the Freedom of Speech. Lynn firstly addresses the issue of campaigns by groups attempting to challenge non-pornographic works: "All this is of concern because of the belief that speech, written or visual, has the power to alter (or at least reinforce), perceptionsthus to shape attitudes and in the long run, actions" (Lynn, page 366). Lynn points out that the First amendment prevents such efforts to coerce government into limiting free speech, while admitting that those who believe in free speech also believe in the ability of that speech to change people's minds, or alter their opinions. (Lynn, 366). This, then is Lynn's conception of the battleground between those who wish to ban pornography, and those who believe it should continue to be allowed: do words and images have enough power to permanently affect a person's attitude Lynn considers the position of certain groups of feminists (Lynn, 366), who have picketed pornographic films; and others which have used civil rights laws to make those who produce or sell pornography uncomfortable about doing so, resulting in a reduction in those making or selling such items. Lynn adds that these laws would include scenarios including those where women are "'presented as sexual objects who enjoy pain or humiliation' to those which depict women in 'posturesof servility or submission or display'". Of course, not all of those images involve women being treated badly, and it is this conception of pornography by those opposed which disturbs many who are not opposed. Lynn states that the definition of pornography is not objective, and that it is as much of a loaded phrases as other anti-pornography words and descriptions. Lynn does not believe that pornographic images or words are responsible for the behavior of those who make or watch them. In his view, pornographers are as entitled to constitutional speech, insisting that it is necessary to understand that pornography is a communication. While it may not communicate primarily though words, he says, this is no restriction to citing the constitution in its defense. Providing evidence that other laws have upheld this non-linguistic speech: "The courtupheld the claim that live nude dancing was "Speech", and lower courts have accorded First Amendment protection to the 'emotive'communication of rock and roll (Lynn, 368). Though Lynn's argument, the defense of the rights of pornographic communication is the defense of the rights of many other forms of communication which are similarly non-verbal. Lynn also uses another of speculative methods to suggest that pornography has a positive role to play in creating images of women, being especially important in revealing the sexual needs or desires of older women, differently abled women, and those of shape and size not usually depicted in films or novels, and even invokes feminists in support of this idea: "Depictions or ways of living and acting that are radically different from our own can enlarge the range of human possibilities open to us" (Lynn, 368). After arguing for the

Critically discuss the relationship between knowledge and power in one Essay

Critically discuss the relationship between knowledge and power in one or more of the public institutions i.e (Universities, schools, museums) referring to specific examples or case studies - Essay Example Many researchers have concurred that knowledge is always a product of power. Power and knowledge have always been intimately connected in the institutions of higher learning. Universities all over the world are practicing under the power relations of their societies. For example a number of research activities in the universities are often funded by the industries as well as political institutions holding power. There are a number of cases at the University of Cambridge where the relationship between power and knowledge is displayed. For example knowledge and power have been significantly used together to enhance the freedom of individuals as well as assert discipline on the members of the University community. The use of new technologies in public institutions and particularly in the universities and colleges has significantly reshaped the relationship between power, knowledge and learning. The current information explosion driven by rapid adoption of internet all over the world has led to more questions regarding the relationship between power and knowledge. On the other hand, the new knowledge acquisition methods have also significantly changed the relationship between the learners and the sources of knowledge. With regard to the relationship between power and knowledge, University of Cambridge has developed an institutional framework that manages the relations of power in the university. For example although the private donors can not directly influence the key academic appointments, they usually fund various academic posts or faculties and this only means that the study programs at the university are determined by those wielding power. On the other hand, the knowledge produced is often a product of the university procedures. This paper uses Cambridge University as a case study to analyze the relationship between knowledge and power in public institutions. Power and knowledge are often used hand in hand in public institutions to enable the

Ethnography. People are Attending Religious Services on Sunday Research Paper

Ethnography. People are Attending Religious Services on Sunday - Research Paper Example The main purpose behind conducting a comprehensive research on this topic includes the exploring the general views and opinions of the church attendants about their religious belief and its impact on their social, professional and domestic life. The study is also interested in finding out the people’s level of satisfaction regarding the religious services being offered at modern churches. The paper also throws light on the reasons behind the considerable decrease in the number of the people attending the religious services in the churches of London city. The research will be conducted in Kensington and Chelsea districts of London city, over 58% population of which consists of the followers of various Christian sects. Thesis Statement: It is a universally accepted notion that performing of religious obligations and praying to God en masse serves as a source of mental relief and spiritual uplift for humans. Somehow, the trends of collective prayers are in decline during the cont emporary era. People’s engagement in financial activities, absence of encouragement from the elders, and flow of various foreign ethno-racial and religious groups have decreased the people’s interest in attending religious services at the church (Barnes & Lowry, 2006, p.1). ... In that context, the term is most closely related to ‘trust’ – trusting God and God’s promises. In this sense, faith is more of an attitude than a state of belief or knowledge.† (Lacewing, 2006, p.1) By looking into the available statistics on faiths and religions, it becomes crystal clear that there exist hundreds of belief systems, (Trimarco, 2005, p.1), the followers of which make over six billion in number. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Jainism, Hinduism and others are among the most dominant faiths of the world; while Christianity is the most popular one in respect of the number of followers at global perspective. History shows that the apostles and saints underwent severe trials for the projection and promotion of Christianity; it is therefore the religion witnessed unabated growth all over the globe. Somehow, the followers of Christianity are stated to be observing lack of interest in going to the churches for prayers and meditation, as Midwest Diocese Organisation states: â€Å"Church is place where the Holy Spirit dwells in God’s people as they respond to His call to salvation and eternal life.† Taking the phenomenon as a challenging issue in Kensington and Chelsea districts of the London city, I have decided to conduct a participant observation of the religious rituals performed by the Christians on Sundays at church. Brief Overview to Christianity: The Christian faith is the second one in the list of three Abrahamic faiths, along with Judaism and Islam (Latourette, 1975, p. 8). It maintains unconditional belief in the divinity and Oneness of God; and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as the two other members of Holy Trinity. Christianity seeks spiritual guidance from the Bible, which consists of the Old and New Testaments. The

Response Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Response - Article Example In fact, besides cleaning, washing, cooking, child care and teaching, meticulous economists consider that a woman works as a private economist-accountant; in addition she gives first aid, care and psychological support for sick family members at the level of nurses. But always it is taken for granted. The reason for such existing underestimation of women’s labor author sees in difficulty of its treating from the standpoint of price. The concept of the value, firstly distinguished in relation to the market by Adam Smith, comes to be far from â€Å"moral† value expression. Thus, â€Å"value† comes to be only the price one can get for goods and services distribution. So women turn to be a kind of nature resources which worthless when preserved to future generations and only their use establish their validity. Both environment and women’s household labor are constituted to be free gift of nature and their preservation may be considered only as a cost. Women are seen to be â€Å"economically inactive†, though their housework is implicitly taxed by not being valued. Thus, the problem comes when women’s everyday work is not recognized in the distribution of benefits. Though money payments are not necessary for the work to be done, when work becomes a concept in institutionalized economics payment should inevitably enter the picture, as â€Å"money should change hands†. Thus it proves that women are being totally ignored as creators of wealth, though for ages they’ve been at least cultural wealth accumulators. But while women cannot exchange their family production on the market, they make no use of own labor power. The other problem women just came conscious about is that they are being seen just as instruments of economic system, though any time women need convincing about the necessity of household work. The solution of this problem may be seen (at least from V. Lenin’s point of view) in involvement of women into social production. However, from my point

Learning Team Deliverable Essay Example for Free

Learning Team Deliverable Essay Credibility is the most important part of the group’s discussion last week. The members of the team agreed that credible sources must have a backup make a valid argument otherwise an argument or claims could become an opinion or an invalid argument. One disadvantage of not having credible information is it could tarnish one’s reputation and mistrust from audiences. Once the information has been put out to the public, the receiver or audience could verify the information to ensure that it comes from credible and reliable information. The speaker builds trust among the audiences when a claim or an argument presented are credible information and comes from a trustworthy source. The group also discussed the process of a claim becoming a belief using critical thinking. When a claim occurs, active listeners will analyze the total image of the message. The message image includes the words they heard, the emotion they felt and all the nonverbal cues they saw. They evaluate all the information they received against what they know to be true, to verify the credibility with the claims content and source. When fallacies in the claim get uncovered, they must be further dissected taking out the rhetoric and emotive instigators thus, leaving the contents of a valid argument and a response to the claim formulated. If the response shared, the communication cycle has a chance to circle back to the sender to further argue their claim. The message is successful when a claim is found favorable. Since the internet is where we get most of our information, it is important  to examine the source of the information and ensure factual evidence and not the author’s point of view. In evaluating the credibility of internet sources, one must examine whether information is a fact or the author’s opinion. Does it contain original information or simply just links? Is the information accurate? The information needs to be validated against other reliable resources for comparison and evaluate the author of the information. The author should come from a reputable and known organization in his field of expertise. The website must have a list of biographical information of the author to include his position, education, affiliation, and address. Judging the reliability of sources and site on the internet is crucial since there are no regulating body that monitors its reliability and authenticity. The lists of criteria to consider are as follows; the author or sponsor of the webpage should be identified and have apparent qualifications, must contain a copyright symbol and no obvious reason for biases. Reference Moore, B.N. Parker, R. (2009). Critical thinking. (9th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Retrieved from the University of Oklahoma website: http://www.ou.edu/deptcomm/dodjcc/groups/02A/

Can Parental Involvement be promoted effectively

Can Parental Involvement be promoted effectively This review aims to contemplate some of the fundamental issues that need to be addressed in order for schools to promote PI effectively. It starts by placing PI within a political and historical setting. It then discusses the difficulty in defining PI and how differing perceptions might actually pose as a barrier to promoting it effectively in schools. The review goes on to explore two theories/models of PI (Epstein, Hoover-Dempsey Sandler) which are thought to merit particular consideration in terms of schools developing a framework conducive to the effective promotion of PI. Communication is also discussed in order to highlight some of the basic issues in schools surrounding this area and some of the strategies that might enhance it. The review concludes that some of the language associated with PI can be ambiguous and therefore problematic due to the differing perceptions of meaning. It is important for schools, parents and pupils to all agree on a definition of terms and this is likely to be unique to every school. It is also suggested that in order for schools to promote participation effectively, it is best to have a framework in place which takes account of sociological and psychological factors regarding the agencies involved. The theories/models of Epstein and Hoover-Dempsey provide useful tools for schools in developing an individualised framework designed to accommodate the various dimensions associated with PI, including those advocated by the Scottish Government. However, care has to be taken so that frameworks do not become too pre-occupied with the goals of the school at the expense of the needs of pupils and parents. Successful PI depends largely on the level and type of communication between schools and homes. If schools do not seek to utilise strategies which enable deeper two way communication with parents then it is unlikely that any attempts to promote it will be effective in the long term. Rationale: The division between home and school was a very clear one, marked symbolically by the white line in the playground which parents were not expected to cross (Edwards Redfern, 1988, p.11). The white line symbolising a division between home and school is no longer visible in playgrounds, but does this legacy live on through what could be interpreted as a lack of commitment in schools towards building solid working relationships with all parents? The benefits of Parental Involvement(PI) in education are widely recognised and there is now consensus regarding a link between the above and positive student achievement (Desforges Abouchaar, 2003), with home involvement in particular thought to have the greatest impact (Desforges Abouchaar, 2003, Harris Goodall, 2007). Nevertheless, accounting for this knowledge, it could be said that many schools still struggle when it comes to creating and sustaining an environment which make parents feel part of the school community. Having experienced some time in schools as both parent and teacher, I have observed the difficulties a school faces when trying to promote the involvement of parents in school life, as well as the difficulties parents can face when trying to become accepted as part of the school community. I was a member of a parent school partnership for two years within my childrens primary school. Six was the highest number of parent members at any one time out of a school that had a roll of 350 children. I am also now a member of the Parent Council in my childrens secondary school and there are currently only seven parent members out of a school with a roll of 750 children. Although it is acknowledged that being involved in ones childs education does not have to include a presence in the classroom or being a member of a formal body, the above observations might make some question how effective schools are at promoting PI and if there is, in general, a lack of real commitment or understanding at a basic level, towards promoting and embedding it in whole school practice. My personal experiences in schools as both parent and student teacher have served to fuel my interest within this area of education. Indeed my involvement in my own childrens education has played a major factor in helping me find the confidence to return to higher education and embark on a teaching career. I have experienced firsthand how involving parents can be mutually beneficial for all concerned. I hope that my research into this area will further my own professional development by providing me with insight and knowledge for maintaining positive relationships with all parents as well as insight into how involvement can be promoted most effectively in primary schools. Introduction and Methodology Research, Government legislation and accountability are certainly some of the reasons why PI can no longer be regarded as token gesture and it could be said that schools are well versed on appropriate strategies for promoting it. Despite this, many still appear to struggle when it comes to developing and sustaining meaningful PI in practice as well as policy. Consequently, this raises the question: How can Parental Involvement be promoted effectively in primary schools? Within contemporary education there is an understanding that the word parent is taken to mean any person who has primary responsibility regarding the care of a child not necessarily the natural parents. (Education Act 1996).The above definition will therefore accommodate the word parent where used in this paper. The Scottish Government indicates a distinction between PI at school and PI at home and gives recognition to the fact that successful involvement is dependent on effective relationships between homes and schools (Scottish Executive 2006; SEED, 2006). For the purpose of this paper, the effective promotion of PI will therefore be taken to mean that schools maintain a degree of success in building meaningful relationships with parents whilst encouraging them to become involved in their childrens education both at school and at home. Accounting for demographics, socio-economic factors, cultural differences and individuality, what might be considered effective for one school promoting the involvement of parents might not be for another. Indeed it could be said that to apply a one size fits all approach is tantamount to denying children the right to be treated as individuals. Individual children have individual parents after all (Crozier, 2001). However, this review is based on the premise that there are basic matters relating to PI which are common to all schools and it is only by initially addressing such foundational matters that schools can begin to promote it effectively. The following review endeavours to give an insight into the above by highlighting various definitions and dimensions of PI, examining two influential theories and models, as well as exploring some of the issues surrounding communication. Some contemplation will also be given to addressing these issues in practice. Any literature that did not indicate relative information on the above was duly disregarded. The paper is informed by the review of selected national and international literature including: books, government documents, government policies, research papers and reports, previous literature reviews, and academic journal articles accessed via Athens. The literature has been sourced from libraries, internet searches, and searching databases such as ERIC, Informaworld and Emerald. Key words or phrases used were: Parental involvement Parental engagement Parent school partnerships Perceptions Home school communication Reference lists from relevant articles and books were also used to help refine searches and identify key experts and theorists within this field. Two experts whose names were recurring features in almost every search and reference list were the Americans, Epstein and Hoover-Dempsey. Their work was therefore probed further for this paper and it was decided it was applicable and indeed appeared to have been influential within the current Scottish PI context. Crozier was also identified as a notable British influence. Apart from outlining a history of PI, it was the intention to keep any literature as current as possible. However, one must account for the fact that there appears to have been a surge in the amount of interest and theories on PI during the late 1980s 1990s and as a consequence, this is the era where some of the important work regarding this area lies. Some of the theories and work put forward during this time still hold strong. Specifically, Epstein and Hoover-Dempsey appear to be continually referred to in even the most recent of literature. It has therefore been considered justifiable to include relevant literature, where appropriate, that may exceed the recommended 10 year threshold. Parental Involvement: A Historical Context Parental involvement within education has been emerging since the early twentieth century. Margaret McMillan, a Christian socialist, born in America to Scottish parents, was one of the first to highlight the importance of parental influence within education, especially in the early years (Fitzgerald, 2004). In the United Kingdom, PI was first given emphasis as a possible factor in the improvement of primary education by Lady Plowden (Fitzgerald, 2004). Her report was written on the basis of a review commissioned by the Central Advisory Council for Education in the 1960s, relating to children and their primary schools. In it, she set out numerous recommendations for enhancing education in England. For instance, she advocated that the individual child should be at the heart of an education system that promotes creativity and spontaneity. She also suggested that improving the relationship between parents and schools was a key element for progression (Central Advisory Council for Education, 1967). Although criticised by many at the time (Gillard, 2004), Browne suggests that this report was behind many of the aspects of PI which are still evident today. For example, school reports, choice regarding the schools that parents send their children to, parents evenings, PTAs (now replaced by paren t forums and councils in some countries) and school open days are all still common place (Browne Haylock, 2004). It could be said that many elements of her report appear to be evident today; guidance on the new Scottish Curriculum for Excellence also emphasises creativity, the importance of educating the individual child as a whole and the need for parents to be part of this process (Scottish Government, 2008). On a social level, the 1980s saw a shift within Western culture between professionals and everyday people. This resulted in the emergence of parents as consumers in education and schools were therefore destined to become accountable to parents as well as governments and local authorities. (Merttens et al., 1996).This is certain to have contributed towards the rising status of PI in Britain during the 1980s. However, on an educational level, Brown Haylock (2004) cite several research reports, within the area of reading specifically, as having a significant impact on attitudes towards PI at this time. Some of these reports include the Haringey Project (Tizard et al., 1982 cited in Brown Haylock, 2004)) and the Belfield Reading Project (Hannon Jackson 1987 cited in Brown Haylock, 2004). Both these reports (and similar studies) found that childrens reading achievement and motivation in school were likely to be higher when parents were involved in reading to their children as well as h elping with reading at home. Research such as this has ensured that the PI movement has been gaining momentum over the past few decades, helped by the agreement of Governments regarding the benefits associated with it. Parents in Scotland can also expect to be consulted as part of HMIE school inspections. International and National Policy Recent government strategies aimed at improving education in many countries are a reflection of how important PI is now perceived to be internationally. For example, Americas No Child Left Behind Act [ NCLB] highlights strengthening partnerships between schools and parents as a key component in its strategic plan to improve education ( US department of Education, 2001) as does The Schooling Strategy in New Zealand (Ministry of Education, 2005). The same year also saw the UK government release the white paper Higher Standards, Better Schools for All. It too emphasised the importance of schools communicating with parents (Her Majestys Government, 2005). Focusing on the Scottish context, this was just ahead of Scotlands Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 which made it a legal responsibility of every education authority in Scotland to promote the involvement of parents in the education of their children (Scottish Executive, 2006).This act links to and builds on many other S cottish legislative policies. For example: The standards in Scotlands Schools Act (SEED 2000) and Education, (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (Seed 2004) also give recognition to the important role parents can play in their childrens education. What is Parental Involvement? Parental involvement is a phrase that is generally used when referring to the role parents play in their childrens education. There appears to be no universal definition. It can mean different things to different people and this in itself may prove problematic for research and implementation. The current Scottish Government guidelines intonate that PI should include 3 specific dimensions: Learning at home, Home/school partnership, and Parental representation (Scottish Executive, 2006). Learning at home covers strategies to help parents to support their childrens learning and development at home. Home/school partnership is about promoting the idea of education being a shared responsibility and encouraging parents to engage with their childs school and education, and Parental representation is about ensuring that the views of parents are put forward and considered i.e. parent forums and councils (Scottish Executive, 2006). Harris Goodall (2007) argue that the phrase Parental Involvement constitutes little value in terms of helping improve education and raise achievement. They use the phrase Parental Engagement (PE) and see this as being distinct from involvement. They make the point that: Parental involvement can encompass a whole range of activities with or within the school, but if they are not directly connected to learning then they will have little impact on pupil achievement (Harris Goodall, 2007, p.6). If promoting PI effectively in schools were to be defined by the measurement of how successful it can be in improving student achievement alone then this point might be indisputable. However, as pointed out in Crozier (2000), it is a complex concept involving relationships, behaviours, actions and attitudes; therefore promoting it effectively in schools surely must take account of all 4 of the above. Although PI as defined by Harris Goodall may have little effect on raising student achievement (which is likely to be a desired result in most schools), they do concede that getting parents into the school is an important first step towards building positive relationships between the two parties (Harris Goodall, 2007). PI will therefore continue to be the general term used in this paper. Parents as Partners Much is made of the word partnership when involving parents in education. The Scottish Government, along with many other countries, advocates that schools should embrace parents as partners. However, one also has to be careful about the meaning of this word (Katyal Evers, 2007; Crozier, 2000; Crozier Reay, 2005). For some, the word partnership might suggest equal responsibility between parent and teacher regarding the education of children. This could be off- putting for parents; they may feel they lack the confidence and knowledge to assume such a role. For others partnership could suggest more power to parents and this could be off -putting for teachers ; they might feel that their professional status is under threat in some way (Crozier, 2000).Perhaps the definition of partnership suggested by Armstrong (1995) cited in Hodge Runswick-Cole (2008, p 638) is one for schools to consider within the context of promoting PI. Armstrong suggests that partnership should imply: Mutual res pect, complimentary expertise and a willingness to learn from each other. This seems to capture the essence that teachers are experts in education and parents are experts in their own children. In summary, the literature examined above appears to highlight ambiguity within some of the language associated with PI. This could perhaps be detrimental to any efforts to promote it effectively. A message common to all schools might be individual establishments need to think carefully about how they define this concept, in terms of what is legally expected of them, in terms of how it might be construed by parents and professionals, and in terms of what goals it is hoped will be achieved by promoting it. Two Theories There are many theories regarding PI; two in particular seem to have had major influence, remaining dominant in literature over the years. It is perhaps of no coincidence then that both appear to stand out as imploring specific relevance within the context of schools working effectively with parents. One seeks to explain parental participation mainly from a socio-ecological perspective and the other primarily from a psychological viewpoint. A Sociological Perspective Joyce Epstein, founder and now director of The National Network of Partnership Schools and the Centre for School, Family and Community Partnerships in America, is a leading figure in the field of PI and has produced a wealth of research- based literature. Epstein appears to focus on a socio-ecological approach which has links to Bronfenbrenners meso-system; relating to ecological theory and the interrelationships between children, peers, family and school (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, cited in Doherty Hughes, 2009). She argues that society has overlapping spheres of influence connected to education. These overlapping spheres of influence are within schools, families and communities (Epstein et al 2002). She puts forward the term school, family and community partnerships and emphasises the idea of education and socialisation being a shared responsibility between these 3 agencies. (Epstein et al 2002).Epstein sets out a comprehensive, multi-dimensional framework, highlighting six main types of PI: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. Her book Schools, Family and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action- gives detailed definitions of each type and the challenges that go with them [see Epstein et al. (2002) P 14-15] She suggests that categorising possible contributions in this way can help to accommodate all social circumstances, therefore allowing all parents to become involved in their childrens education (Epstein et al., 2002). On the other hand, it is unrealistic for all parents to want or be able to become involved in all six of these areas and Epstein advises schools of the need to tailor this paradigm in order to meet the individual goals and needs of the parents, pupils and schools. Epstein intonates that PI is likely to be more successful when promoted as part of a whole school initiative, in correlation with the goals of the school. For instance, if the goal of the school for a particular year is to improve achievement in maths, she recommends that any participation should be conducive to this goal. It could be said that this also helps to convey the message that parents are important and part of the school plan. She talks of an Action team of representatives involved in any partnership and recommends a yearly review of goals. In Scottish schools, it might make sense to try and tie this in with any existing parent councils. There is, however, research (Henderson Mapp, 2002) which shows formal PI is likely to include middle class parents, with working class parents more inclined to be involved at home. The Henderson Mapp study focused on a sample of American parents but nonetheless, these results might question the extent of which parent councils in Scotland are representative of the diversity in Scottish society. The Scottish Government has perhaps tried to address this issue by making all parents automatic members of a Parent Forum, allowing them to approach the Parent Council at any time to raise concerns regarding school issues. However, there appears to be no studies in Scotland at the moment attempting to find out if all parents are satisfied with the Parent Forum/Council set up. This may be an area for further research within Scottish schools. This said, Epsteins theory and model appears to be consistent with Scottish Government guidelines on PI. Despite the fact that it is written by an American and therefore more likely to be aimed at American Policy, it does seem to promote the aspects involvement that have been emphasised in the Scottish Parental Involvement Act (Learning at home, Home/school partnership and Parental representation), it does give emphasis to partnerships with parents and community as advocated by CfE (Scottish Government, 2008) and it does seem to be adaptable to the differing goals and interpretations surrounding PI. A Psychological Perspective Hoover- Dempsey Sandler (1997) whilst acknowledging the impact of social interactions, highlight a psychological perspective.They conducted a study into why parents become involved (or not) in their childrens education; three psychological constructs are identified. The first is parents role construction: this takes account of what parents actually believe their role should be in their childrens education, including activities and time spent with their children learning. The authors suggest that this is likely to have been influenced by parents own experiences of school and how involved their parents were. The second is parents sense of efficacy: this is defined as the extent to which parents believe they can make a difference to the outcome of their childs achievement by being involved in their education. (Hoover-Dempsey Sandler, 1997) It could be argued that school-based practice can make a difference to negative attitudes by educating parents about the benefits of contributions. A study, carried out by the Scottish Executive in 2005, found that Scottish parents were happy to maintain a supporting role in their childrens education and felt that it was the teachers who should have the principal role. However, it also concluded that many parents were unaware of the potential positive impact their involvement could have on their childrens education. They may also often be unaware of schools expectations of them regarding involvement issues such as homework (Deslandes Rousseau, 2007). Perhaps if parents were more aware of their potential impact and of what schools expect, they might be inclined to want more involvement. Maybe in order to promote PI effectively, schools need to try harder in attempting to get this message across to all parents. This is consistent with be the view of Harris Goodall (2008) who ask the question Do parents know they matter? They concluded the above article by stating that effective parental involvement will not happen unless: Pare nts know the difference that they make, and unless schools actively reinforce that all parents matter. (Harris Goodall, 2008, p.287). Finally, the third construct identified by Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler is: general invitations, demands and opportunities for involvement.This relates to how parents perceive their involvement to be wanted by the school and the child. (Hoover-Dempsey Sandler, 1997). Although the attitude of parents towards the school is very important to the successful promotion of PI, schools should not underestimate the influence of the attitude of the school towards parents. They need to attempt to reach out to all parents and provide opportunities for involvement. This theory/model stresses the need to consider the beliefs and attitudes of individual parents and the roles they construct for themselves .The model was revised in 2005 and identified a need for a distinction to be made between PI at home and PI in school when considering the above. (Green et al., 2007).The Scottish Government also appears to acknowledge this distinction (Scottish Executive, 2006), indicating that schools should promote involvement at home and at school, in an attempt to accommodate the roles that parents feel most comfortable with. Differing perceptions The above serves to highlight what might be seen as a criticism of Epsteins framework. It could be said that although her theory provides a very useful model for participation, which promotes a multi-dimensional approach, it could be interpreted as being very school focused and perhaps does not pay enough attention to the needs and perspectives of parents or how they perceive their role within the school and their childrens education. Barge Loges (2003); Lawson, (2003); Poulou Matsagouras (2007) and Harris Goodall (2008) all give emphasis to the differences in perceptions of PI between teachers, students and parents. While most studies found that all parties agree it is important that parents are involved in childrens education, Lawson (2003) concluded that the ideas of what this involvement should entail were significantly different. Crucially, Barge Loges warn of the dangers of assuming that all parties are on a par as far as parents and involvement is concerned and point out t hat: The differences among these groups expectations can influence the success of implementing parental involvement programmes, (Barges Loges, 2003, p.142).Some might say that this points to a need for individual schools to adopt a collegiality approach and engage in discussion and collaboration with parents, teachers, and students where appropriate, about the goals of the school and expectations of any PI policy or activity. Communication Experts agree communication is critical to the success of PI (Epstein et al. 2002; Desforges, 2003; Hughes Greenhough, 2006; Harris Goodall, 2007; Katyal Evers 2007) and there are many issues surrounding it. It is beyond the parameters of this paper to even attempt to address them all. However, while maintaining a focus on basics, it is thought the following is pertinent to promoting PI effectively in primary schools. Before going any further, it might be useful to consider the meaning of communication. Katyal Evers (2007) acknowledge the complexity of this word with regards to interpretation. It can simply mean: the giving or exchange of information, signals or messages or on a deeper level it needs to account for: the effect the message has on the receiver (Berger 1995 cited in Katyal Evers, 2007, p.67). It could be said that all schools need to contemplate the latter if PI is to be promoted effectively. Superficial communication is unlikely to instil the trust or mutual respect that is required for building solid relationships. Hughes Greenhough (2006) found that schools on the whole are good at giving information to parents regarding activities and events but are less inclined to ask for parental perspectives or opinions. They compare their findings with the views of Hallgarten. He intonated that information in schools was designed to: Increase the flow of information from school to home rather than promote communication between home and school (Hallgarten 2000 cited in Hughes Greenhough, 2006 p. 472).This is suggestive of a lack of regular two-way communication; perhaps indicating that strategies enabling information from homes to be communicated to the school are not being considered enough. Katyal Evers (2007), point out that teachers may gain valuable information, about their pupils, by communicating with parents in informal situations. It could be said that in order for this to happen, teachers need to give parents the impression that they are approachable and available; they have to be visible. He nce, a simple strategy might be for teachers to spend 5 or 10 minutes in the playground before and after school. Once or twice per week could be enough to initiate some valuable two-way communication with parents .Some schools also hold parent breakfasts which the head or deputy attend. This also promotes 2-way communication in a more informal setting which makes the management team visible to parents. A decade into the 21st century and some might say it is imperative that schools consider the use of technology to promote communication and involve parents. Clay (2005) stresses the importance of teachers moving with the times and finding ways of integrating the use of technology to communicate with parents. She cites school web sites, interactive home-work web pages, phone calls, online learning plans and digital portfolios as ways of keeping parents informed using technology. The Scottish Government also appears to see the potential in using technology to enhance communication with parents and Her Majestys Inspectorate of Education (HMIe) identifies this as good practice within the glow ICT initiative starter pack (HMIe, 2010). Glow is a new ICT initiative in Scotland, forming a national intranet that will help with the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence. The pack notes indicate that the use of glow has: real potential for improving home-school communication..and, most imp ortantly, allowing greater parental involvement in their childrens learning. A future area of research within PI in Scotland could therefore involve determining the scale of impact glow has had on improving PI in schools. Of course an ethical consideration would have to be that not all parents have access to a computer. As parents develop busier lifestyles, and at a time when teachers also appear to struggle to find the time to do all that needs doing, Graham-Clay (2005, p 123) cites a valid point made by Brewer Kallick, (1996): Technology also holds promise to allow teachers communication opportunities not limited by school hours or location. Perhaps, most noteworthy for the effective promotion of PI, Graham -Clay also warns of the need to: retain a human touch. Conclusions It is hoped that this review has offered a fundamentalist view on how PI can be promoted more effectively in schools. PI is multi-dimensional in nature and should be guided by the needs of individual schools, parents and pupils, as well as research and government legislation. What is therefore deemed to be effective for one school working with parents may not be for another. It is accepted that this review is perhaps critically limited due to the above, as well as the fact that the criteria surrounding it (set word count) did not make it possible to address the wide array of more sophisticated factors (such as cultural differences, language barriers and socio-economic status) that can impact on efforts to include parents. Whilst recognising the above, the paper took the stance that there are however, basic matters regarding PI which demonstrate commonality in all schools and it is often said that attending to the basics is the key to success. Agreement between all parties concerned, regarding a definition of PI and the roles within it, could be considered a fundamental issue in promoting it effectively. With regards to defining it, the review indicates that schools need to consider that it c

Understanding The Moral Viewpoint Philosophy Essay

Understanding The Moral Viewpoint Philosophy Essay What is the moral point of view, and why is it regarded as important? ¿Ã‚ ½ Defend or criticize the view that business people must operate from the moral point of view. The moral point of view as stated by Partridge, (2010) assumes that a morally mature individual possesses a cognitive capacity which just might be unique to our species: the capacity of each of us to recognize in others the personal qualities such as emotions, aspiration, values, and consciousness, that we immediately experience ourselves. Whereas Kurt Baier holds that one is taking the moral point of view if one is not being egoistic, one is doing things on principle, one is willing to universalize one principles, and in doing so one considers the good of everyone alike. (Gensler, Spurgin Swindal , 2004). Yet, Hume thought that the moral point of view was that of sympathy. (Gensler, Spurgin Swindal , 2004), When we take the moral point of view, we seek to adjudicate disputes rationally, we assume that other persons are neither more nor less important than ourselves, and we assume that our own claims will be considered alongside those of others in an impartial manner. These three components of the moral point of view are respectively concerned with rationality in the sense that it involves the application of reason rather than feeling or mere inclination, universalizability in the sense that the principles or propositions ascertained therefrom apply to all persons and to all relevantly similar circumstances, and impartiality in the sense that principles or propositions ascertained therefrom apply to persons irrespective of arbitrary considerations (Beauchamp, Bowie, Arnold, 2008). Thus in a collective sense, the moral point of view may be understood as the point of view of every person and could be defined as approaching a problem from the perspective of its being morally right or wrong, or morally excellent. The Moral Point of View has two key features: a commitment or willingness to seek out and act on reasons in that the best action is the one supported by the best reasons and a commitment to impartiality, of regarding the interests of everyone as equally worthy of consideration. A commitment to these two key features is justified by the fact that we are rational and communal beings; acting this way, therefore, best fits with who and what we are. The application of the moral point of view within business is one that is needed. According to Beauchamp, Bowie, and Arnold, (2008), a business organization that is solely guided by economic considerations is an amoral or unethical organization. An organization that operates under the pretense that what and how they do business does not impact or affect others is destined for a short and rocky history. An organization must understand they not only impact or interact with suppliers, employees, other business, but also those not directly involved with their operations, but those second or third removed, with association through the suppliers, through the employees, and through other business and the community. When a business is amoral or unethical, they present themselves as less of a competitor and will find their profit margin shrink, as they do their customer base. References Beauchamp, T. L., Bowie, N. E., and Arnold, D. G. (2008). Ethical Theory and Business (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Gensler, H. J., Spurgin, E. W. and Swindal, J. (2004). Ethics: contemporary readings /. New York: Routledge Partridge, E., Ph.D (2010). Environmental Ethics and Public Policy [Website]. The Online Gadfly, Retrieved December 4, 2010, from www.igc.org/gadfly Question 2 Provide an exposition of the stockholder view of the corporation as defended by Milton Friedman. ¿Ã‚ ½ What would Friedman likely say about the NYSEG Corporate responsibility program? ¿Ã‚ ½ Provide an exposition of the stakeholder view of the corporation as defended by R. Edward Freeman. ¿Ã‚ ½ What would Freeman likely say about the NYSEG Corporate responsibility program? ¿Ã‚ ½ With whom do you agree more? Answer The traditional or classical Stockholder View, the one presented by Milton Friedman, is that the corporation seeks to maximize profits in the interest of increasing the wealth of its owners, the shareholders (Beauchamp, Bowie, Arnold, 2008) in the simplest of terms ?to make money.? Managers are morally and legally obligated to serve as agents of the stockholders, and advance their interests regardless of how those decisions might affect the other stakeholders. The only group that has a moral claim on the corporation is the people who own shares of the stock. Regarding Friedman?s view on NYSEG Corporate Responsibility Program, Friedman would tow the hard line. Based on his theory, he would say it was good business to cut off services to those that are unable to pay, since it did not violate a law or regulation, and it was within the organizations right to do so. Sitting at the other end of the spectrum is the Stakeholder View, essentially a balanced accountability approach, presented by R. Edward Freeman. The corporation is obligated to seek balance in striving to serve justly the particular demands of each of its stakeholder groups (Beauchamp, Bowie, Arnold, 2008). The key is finding the correct balance of returns provided and contributions expected for each stakeholder group, including owners, management, employees, customers, suppliers, government, the community, and society as a whole. This involves trade-offs, while profit generation is one goal, this has to be balanced against other goals and sometimes profit may be sacrificed in order to help out other stakeholders. Managers are morally and legally obligated to serve as agents of all stakeholder groups, and try to advance all of these interests collectively, without favoring any one group. Many groups have a moral claim on the corporation that derives from the corporation potential t o harm or benefit them these groups would includes the owners, corporate managers, local community, customers, employees and suppliers Regarding Freeman?s view on NYSEG Corporate Responsibility Program, Freeman would support the program. Based on his theory, the customers are a stakeholder group that is worthy of consideration. Striving for the balance of profit, and support of those customers requiring assistance. With Freeman?s view, I find myself in total agreement, his view provides for a stable and balanced approach. In that developing a strong relationship with the customers, provides to a degree the possibility of profit gain to the shareholder, as well as providing a marketing prospect for new customers. References Beauchamp, T. L., Bowie, N. E., and Arnold, D. G. (2008). Ethical Theory and Business (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Question 3 What are the main features of Kantian ethics? What are the main features of utilitarian ethics? ¿Ã‚ ½ Which view do you find most persuasive? Why? Answer Kantian ethics In Kantian ethics the main guiding principle is known as the categorical imperative also called Formula of Universal Law, or Formula of the Kingdom of Ends; what everyone, everywhere, ought to do. A key feature of the categorical imperative is its universal nature in framing goodness, but there may be exceptions, and only if they can be universalized (Beauchamp, Bowie, Arnold, 2008). Although Kantian ethics contain several main principles, the primary concept is the idea that certain principles are intrinsically moral, and that a moral person or society must observe these categorical imperatives in all situations. Moral rules should be based on the premise of reason and rational agents, not on human nature or conscience (Beauchamp, Bowie, Arnold, 2008). Intentions, motives, will of the person and actions-in-themselves are morally relevant and more important than consequences. When considering an action an individual must ask whether they can imagine their intentions for an action as a general rule for everyone. If a person does something out of a sense of duty to moral law, to make an informed, uncoerced decision, free of external authority, then his actions have moral value. Treating people with ?dignity? and respect is a moral consideration. Respect for the person, people are intrinsically valuable and should not be used or treated as a means to an end. People should be respected as ends in and of themselves. Utilitarian Theory According to Beauchamp, Bowie, and Arnold, (2008), John Stuart Mill argues that unconvincing and incompatible theories can be coherently unified by a single standard of beneficence that allows us to decide objectively what is right and wrong, developing Utilitarianism. The principle of utility, or the ?greatest happiness? principle, dictates that the given action or practice is right when compared with any alternative action or practice if it leads to the greatest possible balance of beneficial consequences or to the least possible balance of bad consequences. Mill also holds that the concepts of duty, obligation, and right are subordinated to, and determined by, that which maximizes benefits and minimizes harmful outcomes (Beauchamp, Bowie, Arnold, 2008). Utilitarianism is a moral principle that holds that the morally right course of action in any situation is the one that produces the greatest balance of benefits over harms for everyone affected. So long as a course of action produces maximum benefits for everyone, utilitarianism does not care whether the benefits are produced by lies, manipulation, or coercion. In evaluating the goodness of an action, utilitarianists look for the effect or consequence that the action may have, and whether or not the greatest happiness by all will be achieved. Utilitarianists do not necessarily view an action as having any intrinsic worth in and of itself. They do not require we know every possible consequence of an action, but that we take into account what can reasonably be anticipated to result from the action. Utilitarianism offers a relatively straightforward method for deciding the morally right course of action for any particular situation we may find ourselves in. To discover what we ought to do in any situation, we first identify the various courses of action that we could perform. Second, we determine all of the foreseeable benefits and harms that would result from each course of action for everyone affected by the action. And third, we choose the course of action that provides the greatest benefits after the costs have been taken into account. Which is more persuasive, Kantian or Utilitarian? Kants theory of imperatives, though quite rational, seems to be a utopian concept that cannot be fully realized in a complex society. Whereas Utilitarian calculation requires that we assign values to the benefits and harms resulting from our actions and compare them with the benefits and harms that might result from other actions; this in itself would be a tremendous undertaking. Kantian ethics focuses more on the actual action or motive and the morality of that action as opposed to utilitarianism, which focuses more on the morality of the consequence and, not of the action or motive. Kantian ethics state the treatment of everyone should be as an end in themselves and never exploit them as means, as opposed to utilitarianism, which states the treatment of people should be as means to improve everyone?s situation. Looking at Kantian and Utilitarian philosophies, the two appear as polar opposites. But in the end, they both seek a morally right and virtuous life. Each brings a different aspect to a given situation. The two theories are not all encompassing for every situation; it is in this that both are persuasive for a given event.

Price Test Triggers Outrage on Internet :: Essays Papers

Price Test Triggers Outrage on Internet Will dynamic pricing become the next trend in e-commerce? Maybe, to unsuspecting consumers, it already is. The Internet provides consumers with many shopping advantages including the ease and availability of shopping from home, and the benefit of easily comparing merchandise and prices at various online retail locations. Dynamic pricing is a process where retailers (in this case, online) adjust their pricing according to information directly related to the purchasing consumer, or the conditions around them. An example of dynamic pricing in the physical world might be the local coffee shop charging more for hot coffee in the wintertime. This seems rather harmless, does it not? In e-commerce this kind of price fixing is worrisome because of the type of information a web site developer can retrieve from, or add to a visitor's computer using a variety of programming tools. There are few laws or regulations governing the use of the Internet, or protecting consumers' privacy. This c reates a wide open door for online marketing schemes that take advantage of, or deceive the consumer. David Sheffield, or the Washington Post, writes that Amazon.com, one of the leading online retailers, has been implementing a questionable pricing test. Using advanced technology, Amazon was able to place an electronic tag into the computer systems of all their web site visitors. When a consumer visited their web site, it would look for that tag on the visitors system to see if the visitor is a new or existing customer. By knowing this, the site would know what prices to display. Though one would think the repeat customer would benefit from this by getting price breaks, it was actually just the opposite. Amazon.com was charging higher prices for returning customers! Bill Curry, spokesman for Amazon.com, is quoted as saying the price test "was done to determine consumers' responses to different discount levels." However, in an email exchange with a DVDTalk member, an Amazon customer service representative stated "I would first like to send along my most sincere apology for any confusion or frustration caused by our dynamic price test". Whether it was dynamic pricing, or not, the deeper issue of consumers' online privacy still remains. Amazon.com was able to perform this "price test" because of a lack of laws regulating e-commerce, and consumer privacy. There are only a few laws now pertaining directly to Internet related issues, and most of these are state laws, not national. Price Test Triggers Outrage on Internet :: Essays Papers Price Test Triggers Outrage on Internet Will dynamic pricing become the next trend in e-commerce? Maybe, to unsuspecting consumers, it already is. The Internet provides consumers with many shopping advantages including the ease and availability of shopping from home, and the benefit of easily comparing merchandise and prices at various online retail locations. Dynamic pricing is a process where retailers (in this case, online) adjust their pricing according to information directly related to the purchasing consumer, or the conditions around them. An example of dynamic pricing in the physical world might be the local coffee shop charging more for hot coffee in the wintertime. This seems rather harmless, does it not? In e-commerce this kind of price fixing is worrisome because of the type of information a web site developer can retrieve from, or add to a visitor's computer using a variety of programming tools. There are few laws or regulations governing the use of the Internet, or protecting consumers' privacy. This c reates a wide open door for online marketing schemes that take advantage of, or deceive the consumer. David Sheffield, or the Washington Post, writes that Amazon.com, one of the leading online retailers, has been implementing a questionable pricing test. Using advanced technology, Amazon was able to place an electronic tag into the computer systems of all their web site visitors. When a consumer visited their web site, it would look for that tag on the visitors system to see if the visitor is a new or existing customer. By knowing this, the site would know what prices to display. Though one would think the repeat customer would benefit from this by getting price breaks, it was actually just the opposite. Amazon.com was charging higher prices for returning customers! Bill Curry, spokesman for Amazon.com, is quoted as saying the price test "was done to determine consumers' responses to different discount levels." However, in an email exchange with a DVDTalk member, an Amazon customer service representative stated "I would first like to send along my most sincere apology for any confusion or frustration caused by our dynamic price test". Whether it was dynamic pricing, or not, the deeper issue of consumers' online privacy still remains. Amazon.com was able to perform this "price test" because of a lack of laws regulating e-commerce, and consumer privacy. There are only a few laws now pertaining directly to Internet related issues, and most of these are state laws, not national.

Radioheads OK Computer :: Music Musical Essays

Radiohead's OK Computer In the mid-1990s, rock and roll experienced another of its many transitions. During the early ‘90s, the â€Å"grunge† scene, emanating from Seattle and its surrounding area, enthralled the youth of the time with the music of such acts as Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. This surge in high-distortion, high angst rock snapped the genre out of the doldrums of glam-metal, which, for a long time, dominated the â€Å"rock music† racks of record stores across America. By 1997, grunge was dead, its end spurred by the death of Kurt Cobaine, the impending breakup of Soundgarden, and the increasing vapidity of Pearl Jam. At the same time, bubble gum pop made its comeback, thanks to acts like Hanson and the Spice Girls (even today, irritatingly saccharine acts like the Backstreet Boys and their seemingly infinite clones dominate pop charts). Fortunately, in the summer of 1997, the British rock band Radiohead released OK Computer, which received both critical acclaim and commercial success, a rare combination in today’s music scene. The album caught enough attention in both respects that it was later nominated for both best alternative album and album of the year, and received the former award (Hilburn C-6). OK Computer is important because it is one of the few albums released in this decade that has an underlying message; Radiohead, while never coming out and stating it, does an excellent job a blending subtlety with clarity. By both its lyrical and musical complexity, OK Computer covers a broad emotional range, evoking, as David Cheal puts it, â€Å"gloom and alienation; but you also get warmth and yearning† (15). Dimitri Ehrlich adds that, as a whole, the album is â€Å"unglossy, unhandsome, and every bit as complex as modern life† (56). â€Å"Paranoid Android† expresses this complexity at a level in which frustration and alienation come hand in hand. The song, clocking at nearly seven minutes, begins with the elegant plucking of an acoustic guitar and lead singer Thom Yorke’s statement of bitterness: â€Å"When I am king, you will be first against the wall.† After a brief guitar break, the song begins its tremulous diatribe on the loss of identity: â€Å"Why don’t you remember my name? / Off with his head now, off with his head.

Engaging in Cio-Cxo “Conversations That Matter”

Individual Assignment Engaging in CIO-CxO â€Å"Conversations that Matter†: An Interview with Peter Keen. MIS Quarterly Executive 9(1): (2010). Hamza Lahkim Bennani 10-24-2012 MIS 3301 Dr. Chihab Benmoussa Reflection Q1: I have heard you say more than once that CxOs are not interested in â€Å"IT. † Can you explain what you mean by that? Peter Keen, The chairman and advisor of Keen Innovations, answered this question very clearly, where he stated that it is important that CxOs know the importance of information systems in their company and how it can extend and integrate relationships between the companies processes.For the majority of CxOs, knowing the innards of an information system is not as crucial as knowing how the plateform developed is used and how it can increase the performance of a company. He talked about Facebook where he showed how 300 million people use it daily but don’t know how the plateform works, they just use it for communicating with people . CxOs are tuning out, and the more comfortable they are about the value of IT, the less they want or need to tune in on the old technology discourses† said Peter Keen, which means that even when CxOs start using IS in their company and giving it importance, they don’t regret it and think that is enables more business capacities. â€Å"Over the last five years, the whole business has become much moreIT-aware and IT-literate, and sees the need to get more involved in IT so that business benefits are delivered.As a result, It has become more influential and more proactive. , and has driven an increasingly an entreprisewide culture. † (Andrew Mullock, CIO, BNP Paribas) As far as CIOs are concerned, Peter Keen thinks that their role in the corporation is as important as the role of any other CxO, sometimes even more important. CIOs know exactly what is going on inside the comany, and through information technology they know how to solve problems in a very efficient a nd effective way.CIOs should be among the decision making commitee inside the company; their influence on strategical decisions could be very important and fruitful. Peter Keen thinks that business-savvy CIOs are the ones who know how to communicate with other people inside the company, from the CxOs to the emloyees in the IS or IT departement. Key skills of today’s CIO include the ability to translate Board requirements into solutions. He needs to talk the language of the Board and the investors. All innovation in our industry will be technology- led or technology facilitated. (McGill, 2011)As I see it, CxOs and CIOs are interdependant in an organization, they should all work in a harmony that will enable the company to perform better in terms of solving inner problems that will eventually enhance profi making and more revenues. It is illustrated in the example Peter Keen gave by saying that and General is not an army without his subordinates. In this case, the general are t he CxOs, and the subordinate are the CIO and the people working in the IT department. To put it in a nutshell, companies should not think that It is involved only when there is something not working weel inside the company and work is not well synchronised.Q2: As you look back at the last 30 years, how do you think that the role of the CIO has changed in terms of its focus on the operations mission vis-a- vis business strategy, and what does that suggest for CIO role changes in the future ? For Peter Keen, the role of the CIO nowadays compared to 30 years ago underwent some changes. Before, a CIO was just a technology shop manager that is considered one of the costs to be controlled; but years later, the role of the CIO has changed to be a crucial part of an organization, that is now responsible for many tasks such as cost containment and operations liability.Insourcing and outsourcing is also one of the tasks a CIO is responsible of, and it is bringing competitive advantage to orga nizations. CIOs have got a lot of attention recently despite the economic turdowns in the recent years. CIOs have some skills and capabilities that can help comapnies concentrate on business operations and help them solve some cross-functional problems that still confuses many entreprises. â€Å"For yesterday’s CIOs, and many of today’s as well, it was enough to have two out of three key capabilities – personal leadership, technology leadership and business acumen. Tomorrow’s CIO will need all three. † (Brumby, 2010)I think that CIOs should be in charge of more strategic tasks. Being a CIO and evolving well inside the company is difficult and requires certain skills that not all CxOs have. As for Peter keen, he assumes that the CIO’s role will have more importance and gets more attention within time in the future. The following diagram illustrates the role of a CIO in an organization and how it works. (IBM, 2008) Q3: At your ICIS 2009 presen tation you talked about â€Å"conversations that matter. † Could you expand on that? Peter Keen in the answer of this question focused most on innovation, and how the CIOs innovation can better help an organization.Besides, Professor Keen talekd about the importance of use of the appropriate language to between CIOs. He also pointed that for a conversation to be effective, the things that should be discussed are things that are worth sharing, questioning and arguing about rather than shop-talk and social chat. For Peter keen, some intersections that are between CxOs, CIOs, IT proffesionals and educators’ dialogs, are the kind of discussions where CxOs are present and that are never cancelled anr successful because there is someone high up in the organization who cares about them as personal and leadership riority. In these intersections, some irreversible business decisions are made, where most fruitful discussions are about how to enter a market overseas and other imp ortant subjects. CIOs are usually present in those conversations for the aim of bringing somme innovation in sloving some issues like costs of operations and not discussing them. Few years ago, moving IT as a profession towards business awareness has well progressed as CxOs came late to see that IT is a great opporunity for them to evoluate the coordination of technology for thei company, saying that they were unimaginative ever before.As I see it, companies have been losing or badly investing in some things that are worthless relatively to what IT has done in the business domain. Q4: Why do conversations that matter in CxO circles address innovation, rather than invention? Dr. Keen thinks that innovation is better than innovation because invention is bout product features the logic of benefits, however innovation is about inventing value. As far as CxOs are consered, Peter Keen stated that they should be among the exclusive people in an organization to be able to talk about innovat ion.For him, no invention nor innovation should be under/overestimated. RFID is an example of the problems happening while going from invention to business value. â€Å"Successful companies actively cultivate new ideas, put those ideas to work quickly and efficiently, and harvest the business value benefits of successful innovations. Discussions of innovation often focus on what a company offers, that is, its products and services. In Managing Information Technology Innovation for Business Value, Esther Baldwin and Martin Curley show how successful IT innovations pay back handsomely as well.Innovation is not just about what a company offers, innovation is also about how a company conducts business and how IT innovation can transform an organization into a significantly more efficient company. † (Baldwin & Curley , 2009) What Peter tried to say here is that investing in an innovative IT solution provides even greater business value. Practicing innovation is necessary to make a firm’s IT investment successful, and that is what some Intel Corporation IT managers have learned through many years of experience. Q5: Can you give us some examples of conversations for innovation?Peter Keen explained and showed what conversations for innovation talk about, mostly about how IT is changing the financial structures of the enterprise in a deleveraged world, and how we are moved to a variable cost business model. He used Amazon as an example to show that IT makes organizations decrease their costs the maximum; for Amazon for instance, thei have over 2 million storesbut did not invest in fixed capital assets. For him, the discussions and conversations between the CIO and the CFO is very important, and that a good collaboration between the two is very advised for the better making of money.Both of them can learn from the other, and so come up with very good ideas and make strategic decisions when needed. He also said that these one of a kind companies like Google , Amazon, Apple and Wal-Mart inspire other companies and help them make better decisions based on one of a kind companies. There is the famous example of Wal-Mart, where CIOs and other CxOs work in harmony and have conversations mostly on implementing new strategies that will help them minimize costs as much as they could. The strategy of Wal-Mart is having no warehouses.When they run out of stock, people in the IT departement can have access and check their suppliers warehouse and see if the product they run out of stock from is available, if so they just order it through this database. This strategy helped Wal-Mart minimize the cost of the warehouses, their electricity bills, less employees to pay, and finally decrease their phone bills fee. Q6: Let us take the example of a currently-hyped technical issue such as cloud computing. How can we transform that into a conversation for innovation?For this question, Peter Keen said that when talking about cloud computing as a conversation for innovation, things that could be discussed are about how can cloud computing change the variabe cost structure of the entreprise, and how it can add flexibility and speed of responde for the IT organization. For Dr. Keen, chaning the customer experience is very important, and IT can help do that. He said that it is useless if CxOs are going to talk about virtualization or open cloud standards. Cloud computing has present an attractive opportunity to both small business and large enterprise.Traditional information systems were predominately operated on physical machines that were in house. The emergence of cloud computing makes it possible to develop information systems on virtual machines that are hosted by cloud service providers. For the companies that IT is not their core business, cloud computing presents an opportunity to save costs on the development of information systems that support their major business operations. (Chou, 2007) Q7: What is it that you think the IT prof essional worker in general knows that brings special value to the organization?What is their distinctive competence in the next decade? For Peter Keen, the competences that distinguish IT professionals are bein good at analyzing business processes and multi-functional at the same time. It is in usually necessary and plays a crucial role in the innovation conversation because CIOs know how to integrate and put all pieces together. He gave the example of people in the organization not kowing how things work in other departements, but stated that people in the IT departement have an idea about the general processes of the organizations they are working for.What also distinguishes IT people is that they really understand data assurance, data integrity and version control, which are distinctive competences thay have. For Keen, it is important not to underestimate the difficulties of implementing the innovation of a new genration technology. The IT coordination skills can equally live in the business, the IT organization, or in a third-party provider. In a world where achieving results can often require the participation of a multitude a loosely related resources, effective coordination skills are paramount. Among these skills we find coordination, analysis and innovation. (Reichental, 2011)Q8: What does all this mean for IS academics as researchers and teachers? Keen briefly stated that executive education needs to be reinvented in order to develop the next generation of IT leaders, for him CIOs and CxOs who innovate have their efforts becoming practice by other IT professionals who are growing in order to become next CIOs or CxOsIn terms of their educational function, IS academics need to consider their role in the wider context of social and political changes. These include the delivery of generic IS/IT skills through all levels and types of education (Gough, 2000). (Hemingway, 2000) References Charles, B. (2002).Successful e-business strategy: The potential of e lectronic marketplaces. Sydney: Pearson Education Australia. David , K. , & Richard , H. (1993). Business information systems. (5th ed. ). New York: McGraw Hill. Hemingway, C. , & Gough, T. (2000). The value of information systems teaching and research in the knowledge society. In Fluency with information technology (Vol. 3). Cranfield: Hussain, K. M. , & Hussain, D. S. (1995). Information systems for business. (2nd ed. ). Padstow, UK: T. J Press. Judith, C. S. (2001). Introduction to information systems. Crawfordsville: R. R. Donnelley. DOI: www. wiley. com/college/simon Kroenke. & Hatch, (1994). Management information systems. (3rd ed. ). Watsonville: McGraw Hill. Leonard, J. , & Joseph, V. (2003). Information systems today. New JErsey: Prentice Hall. Paul, L. (1994). Information-systems development. Great Britain: Clays Ltd, St Ives pls. Richard, N. (2002). Service management: Strategy and leadership in service business. (3rd ed. ). Weinheim: John Wiley & sons, LTD. Stuart, B. (2 002). Knowldege management systems: Theory and practice. (2nd ed. ). London: The Alden Press. Turban, R. P. (2003). Introduction to informatin technology. (2nd ed. ). Danvers: John Wiley & sons, Ltd. DOI: wwww. wiley. com/college/turban

Energy crisis

An energy crisis Is any great shortfall (or price rise) In the supply of energy resources to an economy. It usually refers to the shortage of oil and additionally to electrlclty or other natural resources. The crlsls often has effects on the rest of the economy, with many recessions being caused by an energy crisis in some form. In particular, the production costs of electricity rise, which raises manufacturing costs.For the consumer, the price of gasoline (petrol) and diesel for cars and other vehicles rises, leading to reduced consumer confidence and spending, higher transportation osts and general price rising. AIM 2. The aim of this assignment is to highlight the crises which Pakistan is facing in terms of energy. MAIN BODY 3. Energy resources have depleted! Whatever resources are available are simply too expensive to buy or already acquired by countries which had planned and acted long time ago.Delayed efforts In the exploration sector have not been able to find sufficient amoun ts of energy resources. Nations of the world which have their own reserves are not supplying energy resources anymore; only the old contracts made decades ago are active. Airplanes, trains, cars, motorbikes, buses and trucks, all odes of transportation are coming to a stand still. Many industries have closed due to insufficient power supply. Price of oil has gone above the ceiling. At domestic level, alternate methods like solar, biogas and other methods are being tried for mere survival 4.The above is a likely scenario of Pakistan and around the globe after 25 years. A pessimistic view, but realistic enough to think about and plan for the future. But are we doing anything about it? Lets have a look at the current energy situation of Pakistan and the world. Pakistan's economy is performing at a very high note with GDP growing at an exceptional rate, touching 8. 5% in 2004-05. 1n its history of 58 years, there has been only a few golden years where the economy grew above 7%.This year official expectations are that GDP growth rate will be around 6. 5 – 7. 0%. For the coming years, the government Is targeting GDP growth rate above With economy growing at such a pace, the energy requirements are likely to increase with a similar rate. For 2004-05, Pakistan's energy consumption touched 55. 5 MTOE (Million Tons of Oil Equivalent). 5. The energy consumption is expected to grow at double digit if the overall economy sustains the targeted GDP growth rate of 6% by the government.Pakistan's energy requirements are expected to double in the next few years, and our energy requirements by 2015 is likely to cross 120MTOE. By 2030, the nation's requirement will be 7 times the current requirement reaching 361 MTOE. Pakistan's energy requirements are fulfilled with more than 80% of energy resources through Imports. 6. Pakistan is most likely to face a major energy crisis in natural gas, power and oll In the next three to four years that could choke the economic growth fo r many years to come, official estimates and energy experts suggest.Pakistan's total energy requirement would Increase by about 48 per cent to 80 million ons of oil equivalent (MTOE) in 2010 from about 54 MTOE currently, but major petroleum minister on condition of anonymity for the simple reason that he had also served the present government. 8. Major shortfall is expected in the natural gas supplies, he said. According to official energy demand forecast, he added, the demand for natural gas, having about 50 per cent share in the countrys energy consumption, would increase by 44 per cent to 39 MTOE from 27 MTOE currently.Partly contributed by gas shortfalls, the power shortage is expected to be little over 5,250MW by 2010, he said, adding that the oil demand would also increase by over 23 er cent to about 21 million tons in 2010 from the current demand of 16. 8 million tons. This would leave a total deficit of about nine million tons of diesel and furnace oil imports, he said. Sinc e the gas shortfalls were expected to be much higher, the country would need to enhance its dependence on imported oil, thus increasing pressure on foreign exchange situation, he added. 7.According to the former minister, the government had planned five major initiatives to meet these energy requirements. They included three gas import pipelines, Gwadar port as energy hub and LNG import. However, four of these measures, including the three import pipeline projects, show no signs of progress for various reasons while concentration on energy facilities in Gwadar would chiefly depend on security situation, besides oil and gas import pipelines. 8. Planning Commission sources said the government had planned to add an overall power generation capacity of about 7,880MW by 2010.Of this, about 4,860MW is to be based on natural gas, accounting for 61 per cent of capacity expansion. However, the gas-based power expansion of about 4,860MW would remain in doubt since these estimates were based o n gas import options for ompletion in 2010, 201 5 and 2020, said the sources. The fifth initiative of LNG import was on schedule and would start delivering about 0. 3 billion cubic feet of gas (BCFD) by 2009 and another 0. 5 BCFD by 201 5, said the sources. 13. Pakistan's gas reserves are 32. TCF at present, with reserve-production ratio in the order of 27 years, considering that domestic production does not grow substantially. Power sector demand represents 41 per cent of total gas consumption, general industries 24 per cent, fertiliser 7. 8 per cent and domestic-commercial 22. 8 per cent, cement 1. 5 per cent and CNG 2. 8 per cent. . Demand growth has been up to 8. 5 per cent in recent years and is expected to be seven per cent with power industries and domestic consumption accounting for 82 per cent.Gas demand already displays seasonal pattern with national demand growing in winter beyond transmission capacity. Therefore, supplies to large users mainly industries and power plants are curtailed during winter months to ensure supplies to domestic, commercial and small industries. Annual production at present is about 1. 16 TCF. 10. The country may plunge into energy crisis by the year 2007 due to rising electricity demand which nters into double digit fgure following increasing sale of electrical and electronic appliances on lease finance, it is reliably learnt Thursday. The country may face energy crisis by the year 2007 following healthy growth of 13 per cent in electricity demand during the last quarter, which will erode surplus production in absence of commissioning of any new power generation project during this financial year,† informed sources told The Nation. 11. As per Pakistan Economic Survey 2003-04, electricity consumption has increased by 8. 6 per cent during first three-quarter of demand surged up to 13 per cent during last quarter. The survey said household sector has been the largest consumer of electricity accounting for 44. per cent of total electricity consumption followed by industries 31. 1 per cent, agriculture 14. 3 per cent, other government sector 7. 4 per cent, commercial 5. 5 per cent and street light 0. 7 per cent. 12. Keeping in view the past trend and the future development, WAPDA has also revised its load forecast to eight per cent per annum as against previous estimates of five per cent on average. Even the revised load forecast has also failed all assessments due to which Authority has left no other option but to start load anagement this year, which may convert into scheduled load shedding over a period of two year, sources maintained.The country needs a quantum Jump in electricity generation in medium-term scenario to revert the possibilities of load shedding in future due to shrinking gap between demand and supply of electricity at peak hours. 13. According to an official report, the gap between firm supply and peak hours demand has already been shrunk to three digit (440 MW) during this fiscal and will slip into negative columns next year (-441 MW) and further intensify to (-1 ,457 MW) during the financial year 2006-07.The report maintained that the difference between firm supply and peak demand is estimated at 5,529 MW by the year 2009-10 when firm electricity supply will stand at 1 5,055 MW against peak demand of 20,584 MW. 14. Chairman WAPDA Tariq Hamid at a Press conference early this year warned about the possible energy crisis and stressed the need for ‘quantum Jump' in power generation. The experts say it could only be possible through a mega project of hydropower generation, otherwise the gap between firm supply and peak demand will remain on the rise.They said the power generation projects, which are due to ommission in coming years are of low capacity and will not be able to exceed the surging demand of the electricity. 15. They say no power generation project will commission during this fiscal year and the total installed capacity of electricity generatio n will remain 19,478 MW to meet 15,082 MW firm supply and 14,642 MW peak demand. Giving details of projects, the sources said Malakand-lll (81 MW), Pehur (18MW) and combined cycle power plant at Faisalabad (450MW) are planned to be commissioned during the year 2007.Mangla Dam raising project would also add 1 50 MW capacity to the national grid by June 2007. Besides this, Khan Khwar (72MW), Allai Khwar (121 MW), Duber Khwar (130MW) and Kayal Khwar (130MW) are expected to be completed in 2008 along with Golan Gol (106MW) and Jinnah (96MW). Moreover, Matiltan (84MW), New Bong Escape (79MW) and RaJdhani (132MW) are expected by 2009 while Taunsa (120MW) is likely to be completed by 2010. Sources say WAPDA has also planned to install a high efficiency combined cycle power plant at Baloki (450MW), which is expected to be completed by 2010.In addition of these, power plant 1 & 2 of 300 MW each at Thar Coal with the assistance of China are also lanned for commissioning in 2009, sources said. Moreover, efforts are also under way with China National Nuclear Corporation for the construction of a third nuclear power plant with a gross capacity of 325 MW at Chashma, they added. 23. RECOMMENDATIONS that is generally considered feasible for tropical and equatorial countries.Even though the accepted standard is 1,000 W/m2 of peak power at sea level, an average solar panel (or photovoltaic † PV † panel), delivers an average of only 19-56W/m2. Solar plants are generally used in cases where smaller amounts of power are required at remote locations. PV is also the most expensive of all options making it less attractive. b. Industrialization around the world has taken place because of the abundance of reliable and cheap electrical power (infrastructure, human resource and government incentives follow).Reliable and cheap availability of electric power in Pakistan will lead to large-scale investment in industry, creation of Jobs, elimination of unemployment and poverty, g reater manufacturing and exports, trade surplus and the reduction of deficits. It will lead toa prosperous Pakistan. c. Smaller windmills are also very feasible for remote villages, and in desert, mountainous and oastal regions, cutting down on the cost of power transmission and distribution networks. In remote farmlands, they have been successfully used for decades in the United States and Europe d.The supply of natural gas in Pakistan has been depleting over the years, and the country is now looking at the option of importing gas from Qatar and Central Asia. This leaves the possibility of exploring nuclear, coal and other alternative energy sources. e. Nuclear energy and coal form the lowest source of power production in Pakistan. On the other hand, the world average for nuclear energy is 16 per cent and for coal 40 per cent. There have been alarming predictions by groups such as the Club of Rome that the world would run out of oil in the late 20th century.CONCLUSION 24. Although technology has made oil extraction more efficient, the world is having to struggle to provide oil by using increasingly costly and less productive methods such as deep sea drilling, and developing environmentally sensitive areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The world's population continues to grow at a quarter of a million people per day, increasing the consumption of energy. The per capita energy consumption of China, India and other developing nations continues to ncrease as the people living in these countries adopt western lifestyles.At present a small part of the world's population consumes a large part of its resources, with the United States and its population of 296 million people consuming more oil than China with its population of 1. 3 billion people. Efficiency mechanisms such as Negawatt power can provide significantly increased supply. It is a term used to describe the trading of increased efficiency, using consumption efficiency to increase available ma rket supply rather than by increasing plant generation capacity.